Skip to content
The Wheeler Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Wheeler 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.

$167k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$296kEducation$259kHealth$253kArts & Culture$216kPublic Safety & Disaster$205kHuman Services$54kCivil Rights$50kYouth Development$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $3k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $64k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PIANO CLEVELAND$100,000
SENIOR RESOURCE ASSOCIATION$28,850
THE SOLA FOUNDATION$25,000
KIRTLAND COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FUND$10,000
THE CURT KRIEDMAN FOUNDATION$1,000
VNA & HOSPICE FOUNDATION$1,000
NATIONAL TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION$1,000
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 (FY23–24, $54k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SENIOR RESOURCE ASSOCIATION: $29k → 12%SENIOR RESOURCE ASSOCIATION: $25k → 12%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

ND
IL
IN
OH
PA
CA
MD
OK
GA
TX
FL
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.

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$920k · 13 repeat orgs$452k to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
14

Total granted

$920k
$425k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+89%

Still filing today

77%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $27k 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
Arts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyPublic BenefitPublic Safety & DisasterInternationalOther
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

  • TA
    THE AOPA FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2017–2023 · $190k · revenue +85%
  • PI
    PIANO INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF NORTHERN OH
    5× · 2020–2024 · $136k · revenue +162%
  • The Ohio University Foundation
    2× · 2018–2019 · $110k · revenue +97%

Funded once

  • CC
    CLEVELAND CLINIC INDIAN RIVER
    one grant, 2022 · $250k
  • AF
    ALLIANCE FOR WORKING TOGETHER
    one grant, 2021 · $50k
  • NM
    NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR MUSEUM FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +22%
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
Partners of the Americas Foundation

To advance the social economic well being of the americas.

International
2
Robert a Toigo Foundation

Our mission is to shape the future of finance by developing leaders whose innovation, investment excellence, and human-centered leadership advance the industry and its adjacent sectors.

Education
3
Aviation Foundation of America

Promote and preserve general aviation and aviation history.

Arts & Culture
4
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
5
Sarasota Opera Association Inc

Sarasota Opera produces impassioned opera performances true to the vision of the composer, to entertain, enrich, educate, and inspire a life-long love of opera in our diverse and growing communities.

Arts & Culture
6
The Santa Fe Opera

To further the operatic art form by presenting ensemble performances of the highest quality in a varied repertoire of new as well as rarely performed and standard works, to ensure excellence of opera's future through its apprentice…

Arts & Culture
7
Uso Foundation

The mission of the uso foundation (foundation) is to support uso inc.'s (uso) mission to strengthen the well-being of the people serving in america's military and their families.

—
8
Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation

To conduct and support activities for the benefit of the jewish federation of omaha.

Philanthropy
9
Museum of American Finance

Finance impacts everyone. as a socially relevant organization, the museum of american finance seeks to improve understanding of the influence of financial institutions and capital markets on the u.s. and global economies, and on…

—
10
The Vermont Community Foundation

The vermont community foundation helps to build philanthropic resources to sustain healthy and vital vermont communities. the foundation connects and mobilizes people through giving to multiply the impact of philanthropy.

Philanthropy
11
Volunteers of America of Illinois

Volunteers of america of illinois partners with the people we serve to create transformational and lasting change in their lives through programs that support, empower, and transform.

—
12
Air & Space Forces Association

The air & space forces association (afa) is a nonprofit, independent, professional military, and aerospace education association. the association's mission is to promote dominant u.s. air and space forces as the foundation of a strong…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Food for the Poor Inc; the most unlike its peers is Music in Place. 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

20 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 20 of the 31 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
12/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CLEVELAND CLINIC INDIAN RIVER: $250,000 · OtherCLEVELAND CLINIC INDIAN RIVERPIANO INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF NORTHERN OH: $136,000 · OtherPIANO INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF NORTHERN OHKIRKLAND CC SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $76,000 · OtherKIRKLAND CC SCHOLARSHIP FUNDALLIANCE FOR WORKING TOGETHER: $50,000 · OtherALLIANCE FOR WORKING TOGETHERIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION LORAIN COUNTY: $25,000 · Other+11 more: $66,500 · Other+11 moreTreasure Cay Community Foundation Inc: $213,500 · PhilanthropyTreasure Cay Communi…COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LORAIN COUNTY: $50,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION…THE AOPA FOUNDATION INC: $190,000 · Public Safety & DisasterTHE AOPA FOUNDA…The Ohio University Foundation: $110,000 · EducationThe Ohio Unive…THE LEARNING ALLIANCE INC: $50,500 · EducationTHE LEARNING A…THE KIRTLAND COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $20,000 · EducationTHE KIRTLAND C…+1 more: $1,000 · EducationVintage Wings Inc: $35,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Arts & CultureVERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureVERO BEACH OPERA INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureMusic in Place: $5,000 · Arts & CultureSenior Resource Association Inc: $53,850 · Human ServicesTHE SOLA FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Youth Development
Other$628,500Philanthropy$263,500Public Safety & Disaster$190,000Education$181,500Arts & Culture$80,000Human Services$53,850Youth Development$25,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTreasure Cay Community Foundation Inc: $213,500 over 2y, 46% of budgetTHE AOPA FOUNDATION INC: $190,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetPIANO INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF NORTHERN OH: $136,000 over 5y, 4.2% of budgetThe Ohio University Foundation: $110,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSenior Resource Association Inc: $53,850 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE LEARNING ALLIANCE INC: $50,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LORAIN COUNTY: $50,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetVintage Wings Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetNATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SOLA FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE KIRTLAND COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $20,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetFOOD FOR THE POOR INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVERO BEACH OPERA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetON COURSE FOUNDATION USA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTWO FOUNDATION INC TWO CAFE & BOUTIQUE: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION: $1,000 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.

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.

National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA9.1× affinity7 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Wheeler Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Wheeler Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • The Learning Alliance Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Food for the Poor Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 Wheeler Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Wheeler 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 31 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 Wheeler’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