Skip to content
Thornton Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Thornton Charitable 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.

$5k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Education$215kYouth Development$8kAnimals$7kCommunity Improvement$5kHealth$1kPublic Safety & Disaster$1kInternational$500
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$3,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$12k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CURREY INGRAM ACADEMY$3,000
A FREEDOM JOURNEY INC$2,000
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 (FY17–17, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%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.
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$202k · 3 repeat orgs$35k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +84% since the first grant, against +66% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
6

Total granted

$202k
$35k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+84%
+66%

Still filing today

67%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EducationHuman ServicesReligionYouth DevelopmentAnimalsCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • FA
    FOSTER ACADEMY
    5× · 2017–2022 · $129k
  • CI
    CURREY INGRAM ACADEMY
    5× · 2017–2024 · $66k · revenue +84%
  • AF
    A Freedom Journey Inc
    2× · 2023–2024 · $7k

Funded once

  • MA
    MADISON ACADEMY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue +66%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTH ALABAMAgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $8k · revenue +88%
  • SA
    SHOALS AREA CHAMBER FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue -31%
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
Walnut Grove Christian School

We are a k-12 christian school founded under the following (4) pillars: academics: we provide an amazing accredited academic program utilizing 100% certified teachers. schedule: we provide our students and their families an opportunity on…

Education
2
Cambridge Academy Inc

Cambridge academy provides students with an academically excellent curriculum, while fostering physical, social, and spiritual wellness within a nurturing environment.

Education
3
Salisbury Academy

To provide an enriching and challenging curriculum and educational community which encourages students to be life-long learners, develop strong character, serve their community, and deepen their faith.

—
4
No Limits Academy Inc

No limits academy seeks to glorify god by providing disabled students with the academic resources, technology, adaptive equipment and self-respect that they need to achieve their fullest potential.

Education
5
Hunter Classical Christian School

Provide an education to children in lower and middle school using classical christian methodology.

Education
6
Ingenuity Prep

Ingenuity prep public charter school was formed to prepare students to succeed in college and beyond as impactful civiic leaders.

Education
7
Portersville Christian School

The mission of portersville christian school is to glorify god by preparing students to serve christ and instilling high standards spiritually, academically, socially, and physically. the school provides a high-quality academic program, a…

Education
8
The Academy of the New Church

The mission of the academy is to study and teach the truths of the natural and spiritual worlds in the light of the old testament, the new testament, and the writings of emanuel swedenborg. this is done at the academy of the new church…

Education
9
Atlanta International School

The mission at atlanta international school is to develop courageous leaders who shape their world for the better. at our core is creating a joy of learning and purposeful effort, and mutual respect and understanding, in an inclusive and…

Education
10
The Samuel School

To daily provide children with the opportunity to experience a holy spirit anointed atmosphere where sacrifices and offerings can be made unto god, with one form being artistic expressions, and where the voice and person of god can be…

Education
11
Pacific Northern Academy

To educate students to be exceptional learners and independent thinkers of vision, courage, and integrity.

—
12
Independence Academy

The mission of independence charter school (iacs) is to educate students of diverse ages and backgrounds - helping them understand, thrive in, and enhance our community, our environment,and our world. iacs regards learning as a continuing…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Currey Ingram Academy; the most unlike its peers is Samaritan's Purse. 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

9 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. 9 of the 10 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/9
Grantees still filing
6/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FOSTER ACADEMY: $129,000 · OtherFOSTER ACADEMYMADISON ACADEMY INC: $20,000 · OtherMADISON ACADEMY INC+1 more: $500 · OtherCURREY INGRAM ACADEMY: $65,500 · EducationCURREY INGRAM ACADEMYBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTH ALABAMA: $7,500 · Youth DevelopmentA Freedom Journey Inc: $7,000 · AnimalsSHOALS AREA CHAMBER FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Community ImprovementTHE HUNTSVILLE HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONINC: $1,000 · HealthAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $1,000 · Human ServicesSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $500 · Religion
Other$149,500Education$65,500Youth Development$7,500Animals$7,000Community Improvement$5,000Health$1,000Human Services$1,000Religion$500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCURREY INGRAM ACADEMY: $65,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMADISON ACADEMY INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTH ALABAMA: $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetA Freedom Journey Inc: $7,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE HUNTSVILLE HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONINC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENGATE SCHOOL INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

The Blackbaud Giving …American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Blackbaud Giving FundSC10.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Blackbaud Giving Fund · 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 Thornton Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Thornton Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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.

    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 10 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 Thornton’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