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Verna O Canova Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Verna O Canova Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$267k
Granted FY2024still arriving
26
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% 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$665kHealth$533kHuman Services$323kFood & Nutrition$205kYouth Development$197kEmployment$190kCrime & Legal$180kEducation$176kOther$0
02FY2024 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $37k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $230k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$4.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JAMES P HARRINGTON ORGANIZATION$20,000
KIDSPEACE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$15,000
REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE$15,000
MANITO LIFE CENTER$15,000
CAPE WELLNESS COLLABORATIVE$15,000
VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY$15,000
COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL$15,000
PROJECT OF EASTON$10,000
BLOOM FOR WOMEN INC$10,000
ASPIRE TO AUTONOMY INC$10,000
RIPPLE COMMUNITY INC$10,000
TOUCHSTONE THEATRE$10,000
SHARE CARE FAITH IN ACTION$10,000
GUARDIAN SUPPORT AGENCY INC$10,000
THE LITERACY CENTER$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 (FY17–24, $345k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 78% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%JAMES P HARRINGTON ORGANIZATION: $20k → 8%JAMES P HARRINGTON ORGANIZATION: $20k → 8%THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $20k → 11%THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $20k → 11%PROJECT OF EASTON: $10k → 11%FORWARD (FRIENDS OR RELATIVES WITH AUTISM & RELATED DISABILITIES): $35k → 8%ASPIRE TO AUTONOMY INC: $10k → 11%ASPIRE TO AUTONOMY: $10k → 11%ASPIRE TO AUTONOMY INC: $10k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $35k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $30k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $30k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $25k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $25k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $20k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $15k → 11%VIA OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $10k → 11%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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 38 repeat orgs$235k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against -10% for those funded once.

38 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

38
6

Total granted

$2.5M
$200k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
-10%

Still filing today

61%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $35k 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
Human ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • ML
    MANITO LIFE CENTER
    8× · 2017–2024 · $265k · revenue +21%
  • VO
    Via of the Lehigh Valley Inc
    8× · 2017–2024 · $190k · revenue +32%
  • CM
    COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL
    8× · 2017–2024 · $145k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • MG
    MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED
    one grant, 2017 · $58k
  • AS
    Allentown School District Foundation
    one grant, 2020 · $42k · revenue -38%
  • GS
    GOOD SHEPHERD REHABILITATION NETWORK
    one grant, 2022 · $35k · revenue +5%
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
Melmark Inc

Melmark is a human services provider with premier private special education schools, professional development, training, and research centers. melmark is committed to enhancing the lives of individuals within diverse communities with…

Human Services
2
Philhaven

Philhaven promotes hope, healing and wholeness through the provision of behavioral resources.

Health
3
Merakey Allegheny Valley School

Provide quality programs and facilities to help the individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities entrusted to our care live with purpose, dignity and to provide opportunities to grow and function at their full potential and as…

Human Services
4
Lancaster County Council of the Arts

To enrich the quality of life in Lancaster County by building vibrant and inclusive communities connecting arts, culture, education, and economic vitality.

Arts & Culture
5
Civic Theatre of Allentown Pa

The mission: the theatre is dedicated to providing high-quality performing arts to enhance the quality of life in the lehigh valley community. civic carries out its mission by presenting affordable theatre, music and art-house cinema, and…

Arts & Culture
6
Elwyn of Pennsylvania and Delaware

Elwyn makes life better for people with developmental and behavioral health challenges.

Human Services
7
Variety the Children's Charity of the Delaware Valley

To build independence and self-confidence in children and youth with disabilities by engaging them in vocational, recreational, social, and educational enrichment activities, while connecting families to resources. variety serves children…

Recreation & Sports
8
Potential Inc

Potential engages children and adults with autism in personalized programs that help them realize their full potential.

Human Services
9
The Arc of Centre County Pa Inc

The arc of centre county embodies and protects the human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and practices person-centered planning which actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the…

—
10
Life'swork of Western Pennsylvania

We partner with people with disabilities, people with other barriers, young adults, children, and families to pursue their hopes and dreams through strengthening workplace abilities, building life skills, and developing meaningful…

—
11
Milestone Centers Inc

Milestone provides quality, life-enhancing services that promote wellness and the development of human potential to people with behavioral health and intellectual challenges. each year milestone serves approximately 3,500 residents of…

Health
12
Allentown Symphony Association Inc

Incorporated on july 2, 1951, the allentown symphony association (asa) is the operating organization of the allentown symphony orchestra (aso)and miller symphony hall (msh). the mission of the asa is to provide a first-class orchestra and…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ripple Community Inc; the most unlike its peers is Aspire to Autonomy Inc. 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

34 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. 34 of the 49 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/34
Grantees still filing
21/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES ASSOCIATION: $180,000 · OtherPA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES ASSOCIATIONMEALS ON WHEELS OF LEHIGH COUNTY INC: $135,000 · OtherMEALS ON WHEELS OF LEHIGH COUNTY INCREPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: $125,000 · OtherREPERTORY DANCE THEATREGUARDIAN SUPPORT AGENCY INC: $75,500 · OtherGUARDIAN SUPPORT AGENCY INCShareCare Faith in Action: $65,000 · OtherCHATHAM ORPHEUM THEATRE: $64,300 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $57,750 · OtherMOSSER VILLAGE FAMILY CENTER: $52,500 · OtherTHE BAUM SCHOOL OF ART: $45,000 · OtherLEHIGH VALLEY ITALIAN BAND: $45,000 · OtherRIPPLE COMMUNITY INC: $95,000 · OtherRIPPLE COMMUNITY INC+16 more: $294,080 · Other+16 moreVia of the Lehigh Valley Inc: $190,000 · Human ServicesVia of the Leh…THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN: $40,000 · Human ServicesTHIRD STREET A…James P Harrington Organization Inc: $40,000 · Human ServicesJames P Harrin…FRIENDS OR RELATIVES WITH AUTISM & RELATED DISABILITIES: $35,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS OR REL…ASPIRE TO AUTONOMY INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesASPIRE TO AUTO…+1 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $145,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMUNITY MUS…ALLENTOWN BAND INC: $105,000 · Arts & CultureALLENTOWN BAN…BACH ROOTS FESTIVAL: $40,000 · Arts & CultureBACH ROOTS FE…TOUCHSTONE THEATRE: $25,000 · Arts & CultureTOUCHSTONE TH…MANITO LIFE CENTER: $265,000 · Recreation & SportsMANITO LIFE …FRIENDS OF THE ALLENTOWN PARKS: $22,672 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF T…+2 more: $15,000 · Recreation & SportsBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ALLENTOWN INC: $126,894 · Youth DevelopmentCOMMUNITY BIKE WORKS: $70,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE LITERACY CENTER: $133,500 · EducationAllentown School District Foundation: $42,000 · EducationCAPE WELLNESS COLLABORATIVE INC: $60,000 · HealthGOOD SHEPHERD REHABILITATION NETWORK: $35,000 · HealthKIDSPEACE CORPORATION: $24,000 · HealthHCSC - BLOOD CENTER: $11,742 · Health
Other$1,234,130Human Services$345,000Arts & Culture$315,000Recreation & Sports$302,672Youth Development$196,894Education$175,500Health$130,742

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMANITO LIFE CENTER: $265,000 over 8y, 16% of budgetVia of the Lehigh Valley Inc: $190,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $145,000 over 8y, 4.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF LEHIGH COUNTY INC: $135,000 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetTHE LITERACY CENTER: $133,500 over 8y, 3.9% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ALLENTOWN INC: $126,894 over 7y, 1.8% of budgetREPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: $125,000 over 7y, 26% of budgetALLENTOWN BAND INC: $105,000 over 8y, 12% of budgetRIPPLE COMMUNITY INC: $95,000 over 8y, 15% of budgetCOMMUNITY BIKE WORKS: $70,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetShareCare Faith in Action: $65,000 over 8y, 4.6% of budgetCAPE WELLNESS COLLABORATIVE INC: $60,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetMOSSER VILLAGE FAMILY CENTER: $52,500 over 5y, 42% of budgetTHE BAUM SCHOOL OF ART: $45,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetAllentown School District Foundation: $42,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetBACH ROOTS FESTIVAL: $40,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetTHIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN: $40,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetJames P Harrington Organization Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetGOOD SHEPHERD REHABILITATION NETWORK: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKIDSPEACE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetASPIRE TO AUTONOMY INC: $30,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetTOUCHSTONE THEATRE: $25,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetThe Seed Farm: $25,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetKIDSPEACE CORPORATION: $24,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ALLENTOWN PARKS: $22,672 over 5y, 7.3% of budgetBLOOM FOR WOMEN INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetTHE GREAT ALLENTOWN FAIR FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetFlint Hill Farm Educational Center Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 7.2% of budgetLEHIGH VALLEY COMMUNITY BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION INC: $17,080 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetHCSC - BLOOD CENTER: $11,742 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT OF EASTON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetVELODROME FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% 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 MANITO LIFE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Via of the Lehigh Valley Inc ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS OF LEHIGH COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE LITERACY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ALLENTOWN INC ↗
  • Who funds REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds ALLENTOWN BAND INC ↗
  • Who funds RIPPLE COMMUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY BIKE WORKS ↗
  • Who funds ShareCare Faith in Action ↗
  • Who funds CAPE WELLNESS COLLABORATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds MOSSER VILLAGE FAMILY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE BAUM SCHOOL OF ART ↗
  • Who funds Allentown School District Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BACH ROOTS FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds James P Harrington Organization Inc ↗
  • Who funds GOOD SHEPHERD REHABILITATION NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OR RELATIVES WITH AUTISM & RELATED DISABILITIES ↗
  • Who funds KIDSPEACE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ↗
  • Who funds ASPIRE TO AUTONOMY INC ↗
  • Who funds TOUCHSTONE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds The Seed Farm ↗
  • Who funds KIDSPEACE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ALLENTOWN PARKS ↗
  • Who funds BLOOM FOR WOMEN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GREAT ALLENTOWN FAIR FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Flint Hill Farm Educational Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds LEHIGH VALLEY COMMUNITY BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION 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.

Harry C Trexler EstateLehigh Valley Communi…The Century Fund TrustUnited Way of the Gre…Air Products Foundati…Ppl FoundationSylvia Perkin Perpetu…The Rider-Pool Founda…John a and Margaret P…The Donald B and Doro…Leona Gruber Charitab…Martin Guitar Charita…
Harry C Trexler EstatePA47.2× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Harry C Trexler Estate · Lehigh Valley Community Foundation · The Century Fund Trust · United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley · Air Products Foundation · Ppl Foundation · Sylvia Perkin Perpetual Charitable Trust · The Rider-Pool Foundation · John a and Margaret Post Foundation · The Donald B and Dorothy L Stabler Foundation · Leona Gruber Charitable Trust · Martin Guitar Charitable 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 Verna O Canova Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Verna O Canova Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%13%28%50%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
    2get 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
    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 49 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 Verna O Canova’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