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· Private foundation

The Whippoorwill 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.

$887k
Granted FY2024still arriving
42
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$2.3MEnvironment$1.4MPhilanthropy$655kAnimals$529kEducation$406kFood & Nutrition$373kCivil Rights$101kHealth$91kOther$0
02FY2024 · 42 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k26 grants · $81k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $187k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $619k
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$6.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW JERSEY AUDUBON SOCIETY$125,000
LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA$118,600
WATERFRONT BOTANICAL GARDENS$105,000
METRO UNITED WAY$100,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF CANADIAN NATURE INC$70,000
EVOLVE502 SCHOLARS FOUNDATION$50,000
LOUISVILLE BALLET$50,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$36,000
FUND FOR THE ARTS$30,000
LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE$25,000
CANOPY CERTIFIED INC$25,000
Individual grant recipient$23,821
BERNHEIM FOREST AND ARBORETUM$17,500
LOUISVILLE PUBLIC MEDIA$10,000
SPEED ART MUSEUM$10,000
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 (FY20–24, $125k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%YOUTHBUILD LOUISVILLE: $25k → 15%LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE: $25k → 15%LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE: $25k → 15%LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE: $25k → 15%LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE: $25k → 15%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

ME
NH
WA
MN
WI
NY
MA
NJ
CT
KY
VA
MD
KS
TN
DC
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.3M · 48 repeat orgs$510k to everyone else

48 repeat relationships: 33 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
28

Total granted

$5.3M
$379k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+43%

Still filing today

73%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $130k 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 & CultureEnvironmentEducationRecreation & SportsAnimalsHuman ServicesOther
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

  • KD
    KENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL INC DBA LOUISVILLE BALLET
    8× · 2017–2024 · $894k · revenue +78%
  • TL
    THE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $590k · revenue +179%
  • New Jersey Audubon Society
    4× · 2019–2024 · $460k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • LO
    LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA ENDOWMENT FUND
    one grant, 2021 · $250k
  • YA
    YOUNG ADULT DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +138%
  • BF
    BOWMAN FIELD FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $20k
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
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Inc

To improve the quality of life for all kentuckians through research, education and advocacy on important policy issues facing the commonwealth.

Public Benefit
2
Louisville Academy of Music

The louisville academy of music welcomes everyone to join our musical community. lam nurtures lifelong learners, not solely as musicians but also as creative, inspired people. equity in music education is a force to realize potential,…

Arts & Culture
3
Leadership Kentucky Foundation Inc

Broadens the perspectives of current and emerging leaders through experiential education that inspires them to advance kentucky.

Public Benefit
4
Kentucky Natural Lands Trust Inc

Kentucky natural lands trust works to protect, connect and restore wildlands with a commitment to safeguarding biodiversity, mitigating climate impacts and fostering healthy communities.

Environment
5
Cincinnati Museum Center

Cincinnati museum center inspires people of all ages to learn more about our world through science, regional history, and educational, engaging and meaningful experiences.

Arts & Culture
6
University of Louisville Real Estate Foundation Inc

To acquire, maintain, improve, leverage, manage, lease, and convey real and personal property for the benefit of the university of louisville.

Philanthropy
7
The Land Trust for Tennessee Inc

To conserve the unique character of tennessee's natural and historic landscapes and sites for future generations.

Environment
8
Treeslouisville Inc

Our mission is to improve the health and quality of life for louisville's current and future generations through a robust, equitable and diverse tree canopy.

Community Improvement
9
Kentucky College of Art Design

The kentucky college of art and design opens the door to a creative and productive life through an undergraduate education in the contemporary arts.

Education
10
Washington and Lee University

Mission statement of washington and lee university: washington and lee university provides a liberal arts education that develops students' capacity to think freely, critically, and humanely and to conduct themselves with honor, integrity,…

Education
11
Cincinnati Zoo Foundation Inc

Perform fundraising functions, provide financial support, carryout the purpose and otherwise operating for the benefit of the zoological society of cincinnati.

Animals
12
Louisville Preservation Fund Inc Co Community Foundation of Louisville

The louisville preservation fund,inc. revitalizes historic places through direct real estate action and partnerships to enhance community and promote economic development.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Louisville Orchestra Inc; the most unlike its peers is Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary. 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

59 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. 59 of the 87 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
57/59
Grantees still filing
38/59
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY - KY CHAPTER: $500,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY - KY CHAPTERYEW DELL GARDENS: $372,500 · OtherYEW DELL GARDENSTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $356,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYLOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA ENDOWMENT FUND: $250,000 · OtherLOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA ENDOWMENT FUNDEVOLVE502 SCHOLARS FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 · OtherEVOLVE502 SCHOLARS FOUNDATION INCCENTRE ECOLOGIQUE DE PORT-AU-SAUMON: $107,909 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · OtherGILDA'S CLUB KENTUCKIANA INC: $86,500 · Other+35 more: $343,948 · Other+35 moreKENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL INC DBA LOUISVILLE BALLET: $894,262 · Arts & CultureKENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL INC DBA LOUI…THE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC: $589,865 · Arts & CultureTHE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INCFUND FOR THE ARTS INC: $165,000 · Arts & CultureFUND FOR THE ARTS INC+15 more: $230,392 · Arts & Culture+15 moreNew Jersey Audubon Society: $460,000 · EnvironmentNew Jersey Audu…WATERFRONT BOTANICAL GARDENS INC: $235,000 · EnvironmentWATERFRONT BOTA…AMERICAN FRIENDS OF CANADIAN NATURE INC: $70,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN FRIEND…NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $35,000 · Environment+5 more: $43,185 · EnvironmentMETRO UNITED WAY INC: $450,000 · PhilanthropyMETRO UNITED…THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC: $200,000 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNIT…+1 more: $5,000 · PhilanthropyUNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE FOUNDATION INC: $62,500 · EducationPHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY: $45,000 · EducationMILTON ACADEMY: $25,000 · EducationLOUISVILLE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL: $10,000 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton University: $9,000 · Education+3 more: $5,250 · EducationTHE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG ADULT DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $68,820 · Recreation & Sports21ST CENTURY PARKS INC: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $500 · Recreation & Sports
Other$2,266,857Arts & Culture$1,879,519Environment$843,185Philanthropy$655,000Education$156,750Human Services$125,000Recreation & Sports$84,320

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 budgetKENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL INC DBA LOUISVILLE BALLET: $894,262 over 8y, 6.5% of budgetTHE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC: $589,865 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetNew Jersey Audubon Society: $460,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetMETRO UNITED WAY INC: $450,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetWATERFRONT BOTANICAL GARDENS INC: $235,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFUND FOR THE ARTS INC: $165,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTHE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC: $100,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB KENTUCKIANA INC: $86,500 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF CANADIAN NATURE INC: $70,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetTHE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $68,820 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetSOMES-MEYNELL WILDLIFE SANCTUARY: $67,500 over 8y, 14% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE FOUNDATION INC: $62,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY: $45,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSPEED ART MUSEUM: $45,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetKENTUCKY PUBLIC RADIO INC: $36,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COUNCIL FOR CANADIAN AMERICAN RELATIONS INC: $32,400 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE INC: $27,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetYOUNG ADULT DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCANOPY CERTIFIED INC: $25,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetMILTON ACADEMY: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPRACTICE FOUNDATION: $13,060 over 3y, 9.0% of budgetMaine Coast Heritage Trust: $12,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE KENTUCKY SCIENCE CENTER INC: $10,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNOULOU CHAMBER PLAYERS INC: $10,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budget21ST CENTURY PARKS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRECKONING INC: $10,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCENTER FOR INTERFAITH RELATIONS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetLOUISVILLE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH FUND FOR KET INC: $9,900 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMANOMET INC: $8,125 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKENTUCKY SHAKESPEARE INC: $8,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetYEW DELL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSUNFLOWER COMMUNITY FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetNATIONAL CATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK: $5,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetKENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHEUSER HEARING & LANGUAGE ACADEMY: $4,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetOWSLEY BROWN FRAZIER HISTORICAL ARMS MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC: $2,600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLOUISVILLE CIVIC VENTURES INC: $2,500 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetSHAKERTOWN AT PLEASANT HILL KENTUCKY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPACIFIC WILD ALLIANCE INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetIVY 1879 FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHISTORIC LOCUST GROVE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMARYHURST INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE LOUISVILLE INC: $700 over 2y, 0.3% 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 KENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL INC DBA LOUISVILLE BALLET ↗
  • Who funds THE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds New Jersey Audubon Society ↗
  • Who funds METRO UNITED WAY INC ↗
  • Who funds WATERFRONT BOTANICAL GARDENS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC ↗
  • Who funds FUND FOR THE ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds EVOLVE502 SCHOLARS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC ↗
  • Who funds GILDA'S CLUB KENTUCKIANA INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF CANADIAN NATURE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds SOMES-MEYNELL WILDLIFE SANCTUARY ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds SPEED ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds KENTUCKY PUBLIC RADIO INC ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COUNCIL FOR CANADIAN AMERICAN RELATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE INC ↗
  • Who funds DERBY CITY CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds KENTUCKY DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG ADULT DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION INC ↗
  • Who funds CANOPY CERTIFIED INC ↗
  • Who funds MILTON ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds PRACTICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Maine Coast Heritage Trust ↗
  • Who funds THE KENTUCKY SCIENCE CENTER 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.

The Gheens Foundation IncKY52.3× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Gheens Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Depository Inc · LG&E and Ku Foundation Inc · Snowy Owl Foundation Inc · W L Lyons Brown Foundation · The Community Foundation of Louisville Inc · Brown-Forman Foundation · Sociable Weaver Foundation Inc · Republic Bank Foundation Inc · Owsley Brown II Family Foundation Inc · Ina B Bond Ashbourne Charitable Fund Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Corporate Depository Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Manomet Inc: 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • New Jersey Audubon Society: 1% of income from government
  • Milton Academy: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
12report 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 Whippoorwill Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Whippoorwill 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 87 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

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