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The Watterson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Watterson Family 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.

$98k
Granted FY2024still arriving
22
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Community Improvement$248kEducation$245kHuman Services$157kYouth Development$75kEnvironment$51kHealth$38kArts & Culture$28kPhilanthropy$26kOther$0
02FY2024 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $75k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $23k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$338k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OPFOB$12,500
ADA EXEMPT VILLAGE SCHOOLS$10,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE LC$7,500
BLUFFTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN$6,600
DEEP WELL PROJECT$6,600
REAL CHAMPIONS$6,250
UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY$6,000
BLACQUITY SC$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
CHANGING OUR IMAGE NOW PROJECT$5,000
ANTIOCH EDUCATIONAL CENTER$5,000
THE CHILDREN'S CENTER$5,000
SANDALWOOD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY$4,250
VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINIC$3,000
MEALS ON WHEELS$2,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

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

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–24, $56k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 23% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%TRANSFORMATIONS BY AUSTIN ANGELS: $5k → 10%PURE INC DBA PURE CHARITY: $3k → 8%CORNER TO CORNER: $200 → 14%PURE INC DBA PURE CHARITY: $3k → 8%SECOND CHANCE COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $8k → 17%PURE INC DBA PURE CHARITY: $3k → 8%PURE INC DBA PURE CHARITY: $3k → 8%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $5k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $5k → 10%BLUFFTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN: $7k → 10%BLUFFTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN: $6k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $3k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $1k → 10%LOWCOUNTRY GULLAH FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
MI
IN
OH
CA
AR
TN
NC
SC
TX
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$796k · 27 repeat orgs$112k to everyone else

27 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
19

Total granted

$796k
$81k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+37%

Still filing today

59%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesReligionCommunity ImprovementEducationHealthEnvironmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). 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

  • TU
    The University of Findlay
    6× · 2019–2024 · $140k · revenue +4%
  • HH
    HILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $51k · revenue +8%
  • BS
    BLUFFTON SELF HELP INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $39k · revenue +48%

Funded once

  • BT
    By The Hand Club For Kidsgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue +37%
  • HH
    HILTON HEAD ISLAND CHRISTIAN ACAD
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
  • HH
    HILTON HEAD CHRISTIAN ACADEMYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +48%
How this is measured

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

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Charleston Habitat for Humanity Inc

Charleston Habitat for Humanitys (CHFH) vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Seeking to put God's love into action, Charleston Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope. By…

—
2
Brunswick County Habitat for Humanity Incorporated

To provide low-cost housing for those in need in Brunswick County, North Carolina.

—
3
Habitat for Humanity of Berkeley County

Habitat for Humanity of Berkeley County (HFHBC) is a community-level Habitat for Humanity organization that acts in partnership with and on behalf of Habitat for Humanity International. HFHBC seeks to put Gods love into action by brings…

—
4
Charlotte Family Housing

The mission of Charlotte Family Housing is to empower working families experiencing homelessness to achieve long-term self-sufficiency through shelter, housing, supportive services, and advocacy.

Human Services
5
Community Foundation of the Lowcountry

The Community Foundation's mission is strengthening community by connecting people, resources, and needs.

Philanthropy
6
Hope Harbor Home Inc

Hope Harbor Home strives to break the cycle of domestic and sexual violence in Brunswick County, North Carolina.

—
7
East Cooper Habitat for Humanity Inc

To implement the Gospel of Jesus Christ in South Carolina and throughout the United States and the world by working with economically disadvantaged people to help them create a better human habitat in which to live and work.

—
8
South Carolina Community Capital Alliance

Our mission is to facilitate the investment of capital in south carolina in order to improve the quality of life for all her citizens by providing responsible and affordable financial products and services that are a major catalyst for…

Community Improvement
9
Beyond Housing

We strive to serve the community by constructing and rehabilitating homes for affordable homeownership, providing new housing rentals for low to moderate wealth families in south carolina, and providing services that aid in all aspects of…

—
10
Charleston Redevelopment Corporation

To facilitate, develop, and advocate for neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing construction, preservation and economic development in Charleston County.

Community Improvement
11
Hancock County Habitat for Humanity

Partnering with economically disadvantaged individuals and families. Hancock County Habitat For Humanity seeks to eliminate poverty housing and to make decent, affordable shelter a matter of conscience and action.

—
12
South Carolina Network of Children's Advocacy Centers

Empowering south carolina communities and children's advocacy centers to deliver a best practice response to child abuse

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Beaufort-Jasper Eoc Inc; the most unlike its peers is Blacquity Sc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

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

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 35 of the 57 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/35
Grantees still filing
27/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP NETWORK: $210,000 · OtherGLOBAL LEADERSHIP NETWORKOPFOB: $50,000 · OtherOPFOBADA EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOLS: $40,000 · OtherADA EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOLSBLUFFTON SELF HELP INC: $38,700 · OtherBLUFFTON SELF HELP INCTHE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINIC: $30,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUND OF THE LOWCOUNTRY: $29,120 · OtherANTIOCH EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $26,400 · OtherCHANGING OUR IMAGE NOW PROJECT: $24,000 · OtherBLUFFTON MLK OBSERVANCE COMMITTEE: $21,500 · Other+32 more: $129,330 · Other+32 moreThe University of Findlay: $139,700 · EducationThe University of …HILTON HEAD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: $10,000 · EducationHILTON HEAD CHRIST…Bluffton Community Soup Kitchen: $12,650 · Human ServicesPURE INC: $12,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesSecond Chance Community Outreach Inc: $7,500 · Human ServicesTRANSFORMATIONS BY AUSTIN ANGELS: $5,000 · Human ServicesLowcountry Gullah Foundation: $5,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY PROMISE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY: $3,500 · Human Services+1 more: $200 · Human ServicesHILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC: $50,850 · EnvironmentBlacquity SC: $26,500 · Community ImprovementBLUFFTON AREA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $2,500 · Community ImprovementNATIVE ISLAND BUSINESS & COMMUNITY AFFAIRS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 · Community ImprovementREAL CHAMPIONS INC: $25,500 · Youth DevelopmentFellowship Housing Corporation: $21,243 · Housing & Shelter
Other$599,050Education$149,700Human Services$55,850Environment$50,850Community Improvement$30,000Youth Development$25,500Housing & Shelter$21,243

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe University of Findlay: $139,700 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC: $50,850 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetBLUFFTON SELF HELP INC: $38,700 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINIC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBlacquity SC: $26,500 over 3y, 7.4% of budgetREAL CHAMPIONS INC: $25,500 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetFellowship Housing Corporation: $21,243 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetBluffton Community Soup Kitchen: $12,650 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetPURE INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKORE FOUNDATION INC: $10,080 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBy The Hand Club For Kids: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHILTON HEAD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTOGETHER WE RISE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSecond Chance Community Outreach Inc: $7,500 over 1y, 12% of budgetHISTORIC MITCHELVILLE FREEDOM PARK INC: $6,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHOPEFUL HORIZONS: $6,350 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSTOP SOLDIER SUICIDE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTRANSFORMATIONS BY AUSTIN ANGELS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLowcountry Gullah Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetSANDALWOOD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY: $4,250 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY: $3,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBLUFFTON AREA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 89% of budgetCOASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHRISTIANVILLE FOUNDATION INC: $1,600 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF SC INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAGAPE TO THE NATIONS INC: $1,250 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBack 2 Back Ministries Inc: $1,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPITAL AUXILIARY: $1,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetThe Pan-African Family Empowerment and Land Preservation Network Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBEAUFORT-JASPER EOC INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIVE ISLAND BUSINESS & COMMUNITY AFFAIRS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLEGACY COLLECTIVE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCorner To Corner: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

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

  • Who funds The University of Findlay ↗
  • Who funds HILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds BLUFFTON SELF HELP INC ↗
  • Who funds THE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds Blacquity SC ↗
  • Who funds REAL CHAMPIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds Fellowship Housing Corporation ↗
  • Who funds Bluffton Community Soup Kitchen ↗
  • Who funds PURE INC ↗
  • Who funds KORE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds By The Hand Club For Kids ↗
  • Who funds HILTON HEAD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds TOGETHER WE RISE ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ↗
  • Who funds Second Chance Community Outreach Inc ↗
  • Who funds HISTORIC MITCHELVILLE FREEDOM PARK INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPEFUL HORIZONS ↗
  • Who funds STOP SOLDIER SUICIDE INC ↗
  • Who funds TRANSFORMATIONS BY AUSTIN ANGELS ↗
  • Who funds Lowcountry Gullah Foundation ↗
  • Who funds SANDALWOOD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY PROMISE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY ↗
  • Who funds BLUFFTON AREA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds COASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …Heritage Classic Foun…Coastal Community Fou…The Bargain BoxPalmetto Electric Tru…The Church Mouse Thri…Wexford FoundationThe Berkeley Hall Cha…United Way of the Low…Central Carolina Comm…Enstine Family Founda…Ginn Family Foundation
Community Foundation of the LowcountrySC44.6× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of the Lowcountry · Heritage Classic Foundation · Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina Inc · The Bargain Box · Palmetto Electric Trust · The Church Mouse Thrift Shop Inc · Wexford Foundation · The Berkeley Hall Charitable Foundation · United Way of the Lowcountry · Central Carolina Community Foundation · Enstine Family Foundation Inc · Ginn Family Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Watterson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Watterson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    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 a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than 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 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Watterson Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Watterson Family 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 57 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its 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.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Watterson Family’s filings →

    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 endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home