Skip to content
Thurston Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Thurston 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.

$743k
Granted FY2024still arriving
39
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$150k
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.

Human Services$802kEducation$695kFood & Nutrition$445kHealth$334kHousing & Shelter$266kYouth Development$200kCrime & Legal$98kArts & Culture$86kOther$0
02FY2024 · 39 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $76k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $314k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $353k
$8,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE OAKS ACADEMY$150,000
GLEANERS$100,000
SERVANTS AT WORK$52,500
OUTREACH INC$50,250
FAMILY PROMISE OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS$45,000
DOVE RECOVERY HOUSE$40,000
SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER$40,000
GENNESARET FREE CLINICS$40,000
SEEDS OF CARING$25,000
PAWS AND THINK INC$20,000
HOPE ACADEMY$15,000
GREATER INDY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$15,000
CONCERTS FOR A CAUSE$14,000
HELPING VETERANS AND FAMILIES IN INDIANA$10,000
SECOND HELPINGS$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 (FY19–24, $829k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CONCERTS FOR A CAUSE: $20k → 5%HENDRICKS COUNTY SENIOR SERVICES: $2k → 5%JOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR SERVICES: $5k → 8%CONCERTS FOR A CAUSE: $14k → 5%INTERCHURCH FOOD PANTRY: $1k → 8%JOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 8%GATEWAY SERVICES: $1k → 8%DAMAR SERVICES INC: $3k → 16%PAWS AND THINK INC: $20k → 16%JULIAN CENTER: $15k → 16%JULIAN CENTER: $10k → 16%PAWS AND THINK INC: $5k → 16%JULIAN CENTER: $3k → 16%TRINITY HAVEN: $15k → 16%JULIAN CENTER: $1k → 16%TRINITY HAVEN: $10k → 16%SERVANTS AT WORK: $75k → 16%SERVANTS AT WORK: $55k → 16%SERVANTS AT WORK: $53k → 16%SERVANTS AT WORK: $42k → 16%SERVANTS AT WORK: $40k → 16%SERVANTS AT WORK: $10k → 16%PATHWAY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $4k → 16%OUTREACH INC: $50k → 16%OUTREACH: $50k → 16%OUTREACH: $50k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $40k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $40k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $35k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $35k → 16%OUTREACH: $16k → 16%WESTMINSTER NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $15k → 16%WESTMINSTER NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $15k → 16%OUTREACH: $12k → 16%OUTREACH: $11k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 16%WESTMINSTER NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $8k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $6k → 16%OUTREACH: $3k → 16%BURMESE AMERICAN COMMUNITY INSTITUTE: $4k → 16%BOSMA VISIONARY OPPORTUNITIES FOUNDATION INC: $3k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $1k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $1k → 16%TRINITY HAVEN: $10k → 16%TRINITY HAVEN: $6k → 16%MLK CENTER: $5k → 16%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 6% of Thurston Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 95% of the giving stays in IN; by stated purpose, 90%.

Thurston Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.8M · 34 repeat orgs$308k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2024, 12 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
28

Total granted

$2.8M
$238k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+30%

Still filing today

79%
54%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $70k 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 ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterHealthInternationalOther
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

  • TO
    The Oaks Academy Inc
    6× · 2019–2024 · $546k · revenue +84%
  • GF
    GLEANERS FOOD BANK OF INDIANA INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $320k · revenue +80%
  • SA
    Servants at Work Inc
    6× · 2019–2024 · $275k · revenue +110%

Funded once

  • FB
    FAY BICCARD GLICK NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
  • IF
    INSTITUTE FOR SHELTER CARE
    one grant, 2023 · $30k
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER NW INDIANA
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
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
Leadership Indianapolis Inc

Educate, Inspire, Connect and Mobilize Community Leaders to serve and strengthen greater Indianapolis.

Public Benefit
2
Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council Inc

To empower its peers with disabilities to lead and control their own lives.

Human Services
3
Feeding Indiana's Hungry Inc

By drawing on varied resources within public agencies and the private sector, we hope to provide hunger relief for those in need throughout Indiana.

Human Services
4
Enroll Indy Inc

Enroll indy helps families choose schools that meet their children's needs by providing a one-stop enrollment process, school information that is relevant and easy to understand, and data to inform school improvement in indianapolis,…

Education
5
Kipp Indianapolis Inc

KIPP Indy is a network of tuition-free, open-enrollment, college preparatory, public charter schools. KIPP Indy's mission is to create a network of schools that provides educationally underserved children with a rigorous education that…

Education
6
Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana

To enhance the competitive position and fulfill business requirements of independent agents and brokers, advocating buyer interest, and continually striving to be the premier trade association.

—
7
Faith in Indiana

Faith in Indiana (formerly IndyCAN) is a catalyst for faith communities and marginalized peoples to act collectively for racial and economic justice in Indiana. FaithIN develops civic leaders directly impacted by inequality, awakens the…

Human Services
8
Indiana Guardianship Services

At indiana guardianship services, inc., we are dedicated to providing our clients with the same compassion, attention, and patience as our own family. through competence, service, and dignity, we uphold the values of the national…

Human Services
9
Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse and Suicide

Child advocacy organization that focuses on the prevention of child sexual abuse and youth suicide.

Youth Development
10
Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media Inc

Trusted journalism, inspiring stories and lifelong learning.

Arts & Culture
11
Colorado Springs Independence Center

We work with people with disabilities, their families and the community to create independence so that all may thrive.

Human Services
12
Lifetime Housing Group Inc

Plan, coordinate and provide affordable housing to low-income individuals and families in Southeastern Indiana.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Child Advocates Inc; the most unlike its peers is Paws & Think Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

56 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. 56 of the 79 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/56
Grantees still filing
39/56
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GLEANERS FOOD BANK OF INDIANA INC: $320,400 · OtherGLEANERS FOOD BANK OF INDIANA INCDOVE RECOVERY HOUSE: $196,200 · OtherDOVE RECOVERY HOUSEFAMILY PROMISE: $66,000 · OtherFAMILY PROMISEFAY BICCARD GLICK NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $50,000 · OtherGIGIS PLAYHOUSE INC: $42,000 · OtherCHILD ADVOCATES INC: $60,000 · OtherCHILD ADVOCATES INCPACE INC: $37,500 · OtherGOODWILL LEGACY GROUP FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · OtherUMOJA PARTNERSHIP INC: $37,000 · Other+26 more: $236,800 · Other+26 moreServants at Work Inc: $274,750 · Human ServicesServants at Work IncOUTREACH INC: $191,500 · Human ServicesOUTREACH INCShepherd Community Inc: $166,400 · Human ServicesShepherd Community IncTRINITY HAVEN INC: $41,000 · Human ServicesWESTMINSTER NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES INC: $38,000 · Human ServicesCONCERTS FOR A CAUSE INC: $34,000 · Human ServicesTHE JULIAN CENTER INC: $28,500 · Human Services+12 more: $64,500 · Human Services+12 moreThe Oaks Academy Inc: $546,250 · EducationThe Oaks Academy IncTHE HOPE ACADEMY INC: $55,000 · EducationTHE HOPE ACADEMY INC+7 more: $65,500 · Education+7 moreGENNESARET FREE CLINIC INC: $115,500 · HealthDOVE RECOVERY HOUSE FOR WOMEN INC: $11,000 · Health+2 more: $3,500 · HealthFamily Promise of Greater Indianapolis Inc: $62,500 · Housing & ShelterHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS INC: $45,000 · Housing & ShelterDayspring Center Inc: $16,000 · Housing & Shelter+2 more: $4,500 · Housing & ShelterDREAM ALIVE INC: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentSEEDS OF CARING: $46,500 · Youth DevelopmentINDIANA TROOPERS YOUTH SERVICES INC: $10,000 · Youth Development500 Festival Foundation Inc: $4,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $6,000 · Youth DevelopmentSECOND HELPINGS INC: $105,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$1,095,900Human Services$838,650Education$666,750Health$130,000Housing & Shelter$128,000Youth Development$116,500Food & Nutrition$105,000

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 budgetThe Oaks Academy Inc: $546,250 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetGLEANERS FOOD BANK OF INDIANA INC: $320,400 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetServants at Work Inc: $274,750 over 6y, 6.9% of budgetOUTREACH INC: $191,500 over 6y, 2.9% of budgetShepherd Community Inc: $166,400 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetGENNESARET FREE CLINIC INC: $115,500 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetSECOND HELPINGS INC: $105,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetFamily Promise of Greater Indianapolis Inc: $62,500 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetCHILD ADVOCATES INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE HOPE ACADEMY INC: $55,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetGOODWILL LEGACY GROUP FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetDREAM ALIVE INC: $50,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetSEEDS OF CARING: $46,500 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTRINITY HAVEN INC: $41,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetWESTMINSTER NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES INC: $38,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetPACE INC: $37,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetUMOJA PARTNERSHIP INC: $37,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetCONCERTS FOR A CAUSE INC: $34,000 over 2y, 9.0% of budgetTHE JULIAN CENTER INC: $28,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetPAWS & THINK INC: $25,000 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetKijana Educational Empowerment Initiative Inc: $20,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetIndiana University Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDayspring Center Inc: $16,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetJOHNSON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetDOVE RECOVERY HOUSE FOR WOMEN INC: $11,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetINDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $11,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINDIANA TROOPERS YOUTH SERVICES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetJOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR SERVICES INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetHUTSON SCHOOL INC DBA FORTUNE ACADEMY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMARTIN LUTHER KING MULTI-SERVICE CENTER INDIANAPOLIS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGreater Indianapolis Multi-Faith Alliance Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budget500 Festival Foundation Inc: $4,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetElevate Indianapolis Inc: $4,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY ALLIANCE OF THE FAR EASTSIDE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAMPTOWN INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHRISTAMORE HOUSE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPATHWAY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBURMESE AMERICAN COMMUNITY INSTITUTE: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSoul Food Project Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSaint Florian Center Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOLLEGE MENTORS FOR KIDS INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BOSMA VISIONARY OPPORTUNITIES FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDamar Services Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEADERSHIP JOHNSON COUNTY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetILADD: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBrooke's Place for Grieving Young People: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% 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 Oaks Academy Inc ↗
  • Who funds GLEANERS FOOD BANK OF INDIANA INC ↗
  • Who funds Servants at Work Inc ↗
  • Who funds OUTREACH INC ↗
  • Who funds Shepherd Community Inc ↗
  • Who funds GENNESARET FREE CLINIC INC ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HELPINGS INC ↗
  • Who funds Family Promise of Greater Indianapolis Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHILD ADVOCATES INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HOPE ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds GOODWILL LEGACY GROUP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds DREAM ALIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds SEEDS OF CARING ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS INC ↗
  • Who funds TRINITY HAVEN INC ↗
  • Who funds WESTMINSTER NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds PACE INC ↗
  • Who funds UMOJA PARTNERSHIP INC ↗
  • Who funds CONCERTS FOR A CAUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE JULIAN CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds PAWS & THINK INC ↗
  • Who funds Kijana Educational Empowerment Initiative Inc ↗
  • Who funds Indiana University Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Dayspring Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds JOHNSON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds DOVE RECOVERY HOUSE FOR WOMEN INC ↗
  • Who funds INDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS EDUCATION FOUNDATION 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.

Central Indiana Commu…The Indianapolis Foun…Lilly Endowment IncNicholas H Noyes Jr M…United Way of Central…Nina Mason Pulliam Ch…Hoover Family Foundat…The Brave Heart Found…Richard M Fairbanks F…Hamilton County Commu…Maurer Family Foundat…Lumina Foundation for…
Central Indiana Community Foundation IncIN70.7× affinity35 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Central Indiana Community Foundation Inc · The Indianapolis Foundation Inc · Lilly Endowment Inc · Nicholas H Noyes Jr Memorial Foundation · United Way of Central Indiana Inc · Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust · Hoover Family Foundation · The Brave Heart Foundation Inc · Richard M Fairbanks Foundation Inc · Hamilton County Community Foundation Inc · Maurer Family Foundation Inc · Lumina Foundation for Education 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 Thurston Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Thurston Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    26report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 Thurston Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Thurston 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 79 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 Thurston’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