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· Private foundation

The Waterwheel Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.3M
Granted FY2022
78
Grants FY2022
22
States reached
$71k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

67% of The Waterwheel Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to The Vermont Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 49 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2022, the last year The Waterwheel Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 63 organizations, $1M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

33
’17
34
’18
42
’19
41
’20
40
’21
63
’22
60
’23
49
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What you fund
0194% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2024.

Philanthropy$3.9MHealth$2.0MArts & Culture$1.2MFood & Nutrition$1.2MEnvironment$1.0MHuman Services$675kRecreation & Sports$608kInternational$335kOther$0
02FY2022 · 78 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k28 grants · $127k
  • $10k–50k44 grants · $861k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $348k
$10,342
Median grant
22
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONSERVATIVE LAW FOUNDATION$70,907
PHANS FOR RACIAL EQUITY$64,492
THE CONSCIOUS ALLIANCE$61,089
PROJECT HOPE - THE PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE HEALT$51,799
VERMONT LAND TRUST$50,000
BURLINGTON CITY ARTS$50,000
STEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE$49,200
DIVIDED SKY FOUNDATION$44,492
HEAD COUNT INC$44,492
MOCKINGBIRD FOUNDATION$44,492
THE FLYNN CENTER$40,000
LAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMUNITY SAILING CENTER$35,958
COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS$32,400
HUNGER FREE AMERICA$32,400
INTERVALE CENTER$25,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY18–24, $285k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 44% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%ICM FOOD AND CLOTHING BANK: $10k → 11%THE RETREAT: $25k → 7%THE AFYA FOUNDATION: $18k → 9%MIMI FISHMAN FOUNDATION: $20k → 11%ROOTED AND RISING-WASHINGTON PARK: $9k → 17%FRIENDS CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $3k → 12%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $8k → 14%COVENANT HOUSE NEW JERSEY: $25k → 16%OUR TOWN BELFAST: $20k → 15%LONG ISLAND CARES INC: $17k → 7%MIMI FISHMAN FOUNDATION: $13k → 11%FAITH IN ACTION NORTHERN COMMUNITIES: $5k → 9%MIMI FISHMAN FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%FAITH IN ACTION NORTHERN COMMUNITIES: $5k → 9%FAITH IN ACTION NORTHERN COMMUNITIES: $2k → 9%FAITH IN ACTION NORTHERN COMMUNITIES P: $1k → 9%WALDO COUNTY WOODSHED: $8k → 13%VERMONT AFGHAN ALLIANCE: $10k → 10%NORTHEASTERN FAMILY INSTITUTE: $2k → 10%VERMONT RIVER CONSERVANCY: $5k → 9%AGE WELL: $15k → 10%AGE WELL: $10k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $25k → 10%KING STREET CENTER INC: $20k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

ME
VT
NH
WA
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

67%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$6.2M · 84 repeat orgs$3.1M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +38% since the first grant, against +24% for the ones you funded once.

84 repeat relationships — 39 still active in FY2022, 45 since wound down; 112 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call). Read against FY2022, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

84
127

Total granted

$6.2M
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+24%

Still filing today

70%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $587k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentArts & CultureFood & NutritionHuman ServicesHealthEducationOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.” Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • THE DIVIDED SKY FOUNDATION CORPORATION
    3× · 2020–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +356%
  • ST
    STEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $424k · revenue +195%
  • BC
    BURLINGTON CITY ARTS FOUNDATION INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $333k · revenue +218%

Funded once

  • EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
    one grant, 2020 · $94k · revenue -63%
  • CO
    CITY OF HOPE
    one grant, 2017 · $50k
  • PF
    Phans for Racial Equity
    one grant, 2021 · $46k · revenue -81% · 57% of their budget

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Taproot Earth

Taproot Earth works with communities to support strategies around the use of water, energy and land.

Environment
2
Vermont Foodbank

To gather and share quality food and nurture partnerships so that no one in vermont will go hungry.

Food & Nutrition
3
Vermont Public Co

Vermont public informs, educates, and entertains through public service journalism and enlightening content rooted in vermont. our storytelling enriches lives and fosters community connection and understanding.

Arts & Culture
4
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire

NOFA-NH actively promotes organic, regenerative, ecologically sound farming, gardening, eating, and land care practices for healthy communities. NOFA-NH helps people build local, just, and sustainable food systems.

Food & Nutrition
5
Boulder Watershed Collective

The Boulder Watershed Collective is a 501c3 non-profit stakeholder-driven organization established to address forested watershed health,resiliency and stewardship. We have three program areas: ClimateAdaptation and Resilience Watershed…

Environment
6
Wedontwaste Inc

We Dont Waste increases food access and protects the planet by rescuing and repurposing food, while educating and advocating to increase food security and decrease food waste.

Food & Nutrition
7
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
8
Willing Hands Enterprises Inc

Willing hands delivers fresh food to more than 80 social service organizations throughout the upper valley of new hampshire and vermont that serve as food access points to our community. fresh food is recovered from local farms, grocery…

Human Services
9
Energy Action Network Inc

The mission of energy action network (ean) is to support vermont in making evidence-based energy and climate decisions that are grounded in high-quality data and analysis, and collaboratively developed for effective and durable progress.

Environment
10
Kennebunk Land Trust

Kennebunk Land Trust's mission is to permanently conserve and steward land to benefit natural and human communities.

Environment
11
Zero Foodprint

Zero foodprint is mobilizing the food world around agricultural climate solutions. our work aims to create a circular economy that incentivizes practices that actively draw down carbon dioxide and offer our best hope of addressing the…

Food & Nutrition
12
30 Mile River Watershed Association

The mission of the 30 Mile River Watershed Association (30 Mile) is to work as a community for clean and healthy lakes, ponds and streams in our watershed. Since 2008, 30 Mile has led efforts to protect these waters from the growing…

Environment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Meals On Wheels America and the most unlike its peers is Green Valley Film & Art Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyCommunity FoundationsEnvironmental Conservation …Youth Sports ProgramsDomestic Violence ServicesAnimal Rescue and ShelterCommunity FoundationsCommunity Arts CentersImmigrant Worker SupportLocal History MuseumsYouth Development CentersCancer Support ServicesSenior Support ServicesLocal Food System Organizat…Faith-Based Social ServicesElementary Literacy TutoringAffordable Housing Construc…Community Food PantriesChristian Youth CampsAffordable Housing Developm…Health Access Advocacy and …Food Banks and PantriesPolicy Research and AdvocacyOrchestra and Ensemble Perf…Addiction Recovery Services
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 28 years old; the field is 21. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number16%3%<5yr12%13%5–10yr19%21%10–20yr20%27%20–35yr16%30%35–55yr17%7%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value16%1%<5yr12%22%5–10yr19%8%10–20yr20%15%20–35yr16%48%35–55yr17%5%55yr+

The field is 16% startups (under 5 years old) — 3% of your grantees by number, and just 1% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.9% lost their exemption, against 8% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.9%2/221
the rest of the field
8%
488/5,888

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

210 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 210 of the 329 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
59
Early backer (in before they grew)
203/210
Grantees still filing
143/210
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $3,490,000 · PhilanthropyTHE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONTHE MOCKINGBIRD FOUNDATION — $204,900 · Philanthropy+8 more — $410,157 · Philanthropy+8 moreTHE DIVIDED SKY FOUNDATION CORPORATION — $1,433,617 · OtherTHE DIVIDED SKY FOUNDATION CORPORATION+118 more — $4,083,630 · Other+118 moreSTEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC — $424,082 · Human ServicesKING STREET CENTER INC — $75,000 · Human ServicesThe Mimi Fishman Foundation — $43,179 · Human Services+12 more — $211,146 · Human ServicesCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC — $202,899 · EnvironmentVERMONT LAND TRUST INC — $100,000 · EnvironmentTENNESSEE RIVERKEEPER — $50,333 · EnvironmentCATSKILL MOUNTAINKEEPER INC — $35,586 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE WINOOSKI RIVER INC — $35,000 · EnvironmentTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION — $30,342 · EnvironmentWATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC — $28,694 · Environment+15 more — $181,691 · EnvironmentBURLINGTON CITY ARTS FOUNDATION INC — $332,500 · Arts & CultureFLYNN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS LTD — $70,998 · Arts & CultureVERMONT JOURNALISM TRUST LTD — $35,000 · Arts & CultureAtlantic City Arts Foundation — $25,000 · Arts & CultureWHYHUNGER INC — $20,650 · Arts & Culture+6 more — $75,842 · Arts & CultureCommon Roots Inc — $112,000 · Food & NutritionTHE CONSCIOUS ALLIANCE — $83,794 · Food & NutritionMEALS ON WHEELS AMERICA — $70,465 · Food & NutritionFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC — $40,000 · Food & NutritionMICHAEL FIELDS AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE INC — $36,140 · Food & NutritionFULL PLATES FULL POTENTIAL — $36,136 · Food & NutritionTHE AGRIHOOD COLLECTIVE INC — $25,000 · Food & NutritionFeeding America — $20,019 · Food & Nutrition+8 more — $106,244 · Food & NutritionKIIN BEH EDUCATION CENTER FOUNDATION INC — $150,000 · EducationLAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMUNITY SAILING CENTER INC — $130,293 · EducationIronwood Foundation Inc — $20,000 · EducationINDY BOOK PROJECT INC — $17,989 · EducationWorld Systems Solutions Inc — $16,597 · EducationEDIBLE SCHOOLYARD NEW YORK — $13,733 · EducationAlliance for a Green Economy Inc — $13,733 · Education
Philanthropy$4,105,057Other$5,517,247Human Services$753,407Environment$664,545Arts & Culture$559,990Food & Nutrition$529,798Education$362,345

Showing your 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $3,490,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetTHE DIVIDED SKY FOUNDATION CORPORATION — $1,433,617 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetSTEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC — $424,082 over 8y, 4.6% of budgetBURLINGTON CITY ARTS FOUNDATION INC — $332,500 over 8y, 7.2% of budgetTHE MOCKINGBIRD FOUNDATION — $204,900 over 5y, 27% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC — $202,899 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetHUNGER FREE AMERICA INC — $177,160 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetVERMONT PARKS FOREVER INC — $153,500 over 8y, 11% of budgetKIIN BEH EDUCATION CENTER FOUNDATION INC — $150,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetKIDS ON THE BALL INC — $141,000 over 8y, 8.2% of budgetINTERVALE CENTER INC — $140,000 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetVoices for Global Change — $134,481 over 2y, 28% of budgetLAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMUNITY SAILING CENTER INC — $130,293 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetEl Dorado Community Foundation — $118,464 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCommon Roots Inc — $112,000 over 6y, 8.6% of budgetTEAM RUBICON GLOBAL LTD — $110,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR THE GREATER CAPITAL REGION INC — $104,125 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetVERMONT LAND TRUST INC — $100,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHEAD COUNT INC — $94,628 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE — $93,746 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC — $87,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CONSCIOUS ALLIANCE — $83,794 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSTREET MEDICINE INSTITUTE — $81,860 over 3y, 23% of budgetKING STREET CENTER INC — $75,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetFLYNN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS LTD — $70,998 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS AMERICA — $70,465 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB INC DEBONIS — $68,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetGENERATOR INC — $67,500 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetCHAMPLAIN VALLEY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INC — $65,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLINCOLNVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $60,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetGROOVESAFE INC — $57,962 over 2y, 73% of budgetTENNESSEE RIVERKEEPER — $50,333 over 4y, 12% of budgetJUSTICE INNOVATION INC — $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPhans for Racial Equity — $46,378 over 1y, 57% of budgetCOALITION FOR THE HOMELESS INC — $44,028 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Mimi Fishman Foundation — $43,179 over 3y, 16% of budgetPARKS FOUNDATION OF BURLINGTON INC — $42,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC — $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJenna Tatro Memorial Fund — $40,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetWOOD4GOOD LTD — $37,500 over 3y, 17% of budgetMICHAEL FIELDS AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE INC — $36,140 over 3y, 5.3% of budgetFULL PLATES FULL POTENTIAL — $36,136 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCATSKILL MOUNTAINKEEPER INC — $35,586 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetVOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE AMERICA — $35,529 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetJournalism Funding Partners — $35,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WINOOSKI RIVER INC — $35,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetVERMONT JOURNALISM TRUST LTD — $35,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION — $30,342 over 2y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Vermont Community…Ben & Jerry's Foundat…The Windham Foundatio…National Life Group C…PatagoniaorgLintilhac Foundation …George W Mergens Foun…Vermont Council on th…The Onda Foundation I…RUTH & PETER METZ FAM…Antonio B and Rita M …Vermont Afterschool I…
The Vermont Community FoundationVT81.1× affinity57 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Vermont Community Foundation · Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc · The Windham Foundation Inc · National Life Group Charitable Foundation Inc · Patagoniaorg · Lintilhac Foundation Inc · George W Mergens Foundation · Vermont Council on the Arts Inc · The Onda Foundation Inc · RUTH & PETER METZ FAMILY FOUNDATION co THOMAS PHELAN · Antonio B and Rita M Pomerleau Foundation Inc · Vermont Afterschool Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Waterwheel Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 220%5%19%42%75%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 21%
  • Vermont Afghan Alliance — 79% of income from government
  • Lamoille Housing Partnership Inc — 73% of income from government
  • Steps to End Domestic Violence Inc — 71% of income from government
  • North Central Vermont Recovery Center Inc — 69% of income from government
  • Vermont Humanities Council — 67% of income from government
  • Age Well Inc — 60% of income from government
  • Committee On Temporary Shelter Inc — 52% of income from government
  • Newark Public Radio Inc — 51% of income from government
  • Randolph Area Community Development Corporation — 51% of income from government
  • One Arts Inc — 48% of income from government
  • King Street Center Inc — 43% of income from government
  • Vermont Rural Education Collaborative Inc — 43% of income from government
  • Vermont Land Trust Inc — 42% of income from government
  • Connecticut River Watershed Council Inc — 40% of income from government
  • Upper Valley Haven — 38% of income from government
  • Buzzards Bay Coalition — 37% of income from government
  • Covenant House New Jersey Inc — 34% of income from government
  • South Park Inn Inc — 29% of income from government
  • Catamount Film & Arts Company — 27% of income from government
  • Partnerships for Literacy and Learning — 27% of income from government
  • Hansen Foundation Inc — 25% of income from government
  • Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Inc — 23% of income from government
  • Friends Center for Children Inc — 21% of income from government
  • The Vermont River Conservancy Inc — 21% of income from government
  • The Green Mountain Club Inc Debonis — 17% of income from government
  • Intervale Center Inc — 13% of income from government
  • Vermont Parks Forever Inc — 8% of income from government
  • Vermont Grass Farmers Association — 7% of income from government
  • Friends of the Winooski River Inc — 7% of income from government
  • Burlington City Arts Foundation Inc — 6% of income from government
  • Northern Stage Company — 5% of income from government
  • White River Partnership Inc — 4% of income from government
  • Communities Revolutionizing Open Public Spaces — 3% of income from government
  • Stowe Story Labs Inc — 3% of income from government
  • Northeast Wilderness Trust Corporation — 2% of income from government
  • Lake Champlain Maritime Museum at Basin Harbor Inc — 2% of income from government
  • Champlain Valley Exposition Inc — 2% of income from government
  • Vermont Studio Center Inc — 2% of income from government
  • Kingdom County Productions Inc — 1% of income from government
  • Lake Champlain Land Trust Inc — 1% of income from government
  • Columbia Riverkeeper — 1% of income from government
  • Chill Foundation — 0% of income from government
  • Northwestern Medical Center — 0% of income from government
  • Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Ltd — 0% of income from government
  • Vermont Journalism Trust Ltd — 0% of income from government
  • Common Roots Inc — 0% of income from government
  • The Vermont Community Foundation — 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
22get no government money at all
53report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
9rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25

Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending — grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Waterwheel Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Waterwheel Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 329 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines