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Walter R Ferguson Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Walter R Ferguson Charitable Foundation

Its FY2019 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$510k
Granted FY2018
19
Grants FY2018
9
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Walter R Ferguson Charitable Foundation’s FY2019 grant dollars went to National Philanthropic Trust, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2019 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2018, the last year Walter R Ferguson Charitable Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 12 organizations, $510k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

12
’18
0
’19

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2019.

Philanthropy$8.7MHealth$155kAnimals$125kArts & Culture$110kCivil Rights$50kCrime & Legal$25kCommunity Improvement$25kFood & Nutrition$5kOther$0
02FY2018 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2018

  • Under $10k6 grants · $30k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $180k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $300k
$20,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NASHVILLE STEAM PRESERVATION SOCIET$100,000
CANCER ALLIANCE OF NAPLES$100,000
PROJECT LIBERTY SHIP-BALTIMORE$50,000
CEDARS SINAI MEDICAL CENTER$50,000
LABELLE DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION$25,000
SALVATION ARMY CORRECTIONS DIVISION$25,000
PURE THOUGHTS INC$25,000
SOUTH WEST FLORIDA HORSE RESCUE$25,000
IRON GAIT PERCHERONS$20,000
CLINIC FOR THE REHAB OF WILDLIFE$20,000
SENIOR HOUNDSABOUND INC$20,000
GENTLE SOULS ANIMAL SANCTUARY$10,000
THE PENN STATE IFC$10,000
FROTH & BUBBLE FOUNDATION$5,000
ROYAL ANIMAL REFUGE INC$5,000
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 (FY18–18, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FROTH & BUBBLE FOUNDATION: $5k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
OH
PA
CA
MD
AZ
TN
GA
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 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
Florida Pointer Rescue Inc

Rescue pointer dogs and treat back to health and f

Animals
2
Dollys Legacy Animal Rescue

Foster-based animal rescue that rescues homeless and abandoned animals, providing them with veterinary care including specialized care, heartworm treatment, surgery, severe illness treatment & hospitalization, then placing them for…

Animals
3
South Florida Animal Rescue Network Inc

Rescue rehab and rehome dogs and horses in need. We rescue them from auction shelters the streets etc.

Animals
4
Saving Paws Rescue of Florida Inc

To assist in the medical care, misc care and rehoming of animals that do not have a home

Animals
5
2nd Chance Ranch and Rescue

Sanctuary for abused or abandoned animals

Animals
6
Angels for Sara Sanctuary

Rescue senior dogs from shelters; people who go into nursing homes; people who have passed.We get their medical needs taken care of; then we will try to find them their forever homes. We work with seniors who are needing a companion and…

Animals
7
Sweet Dreams Senior Pet Sanctuary

The mission of sweet dreams senior pet sanctuary is to support elderly individuals who can no longer care for their senior pets by providing a safe and loving home for their cherished companions. the sanctuary offers two primary programs…

Animals
8
South Florida Beagle Rescue Inc

beagle rescue

Animals
9
Canine Estates Inc
Animals
10
Missouri Forget-Me-Not Horse Rescue Sanctuary

Our mission is to provide aid and sanctuary to abused, neglected, abandoned or donated horses that come to us in need. to work with law enforcement and other agencies in their efforts to rectify situations in which horses are in peril. to…

Animals
11
Platte Ranch Forever Home Sanctuary
Animals
12
Saving Saluda Strays
Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southwest Florida Community Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. 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

15 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. 15 of the 22 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/15
Grantees still filing
12/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $2,893,176 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTSOUTHWEST FLORIDA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,893,176 · PhilanthropySOUTHWEST FLORIDA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INCCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,893,176 · OtherCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC+8 more: $135,000 · OtherCANCER ALLIANCE NETWORK INC: $100,000 · HealthCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $50,000 · Health+1 more: $5,000 · HealthNASHVILLE STEAM PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $100,000 · Arts & CultureSOUTH WEST FLORIDA HORSE RESCUE INC: $25,000 · AnimalsIron Gait Percherons Inc: $20,000 · AnimalsSENIOR HOUNDSABOUND INC: $20,000 · AnimalsCLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE INC: $20,000 · AnimalsROYAL ANIMAL REFUGE: $5,000 · AnimalsLABELLE DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION CORP: $25,000 · Community ImprovementFroth and Bubble Foundation: $5,000 · Human Services
Philanthropy$5,786,352Other$3,028,176Health$155,000Arts & Culture$100,000Animals$90,000Community Improvement$25,000Human Services$5,000

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 budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $2,893,176 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHWEST FLORIDA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,893,176 over 1y, 13% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,893,176 over 1y, 6.4% of budgetCANCER ALLIANCE NETWORK INC: $100,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPURE THOUGHTS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetSOUTH WEST FLORIDA HORSE RESCUE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetLABELLE DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION CORP: $25,000 over 1y, 33% of budgetSENIOR HOUNDSABOUND INC: $20,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetCLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFroth and Bubble Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetROYAL ANIMAL REFUGE: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetDR BOB'S HOME: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% 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.

Southwest Florida Com…Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Southwest Florida Community Foundation IncFL15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Southwest Florida Community Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Walter R Ferguson Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Walter R Ferguson Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 69%
  • Southwest Florida Community Foundation Inc: 69% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 22 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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