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Watering Pond Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Watering Pond Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$64k
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

International$149kHuman Services$54kEnvironment$33kFood & Nutrition$24kHealth$23kReligion$20kCivil Rights$18kArts & Culture$9kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k27 grants · $51k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $13k
$1,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA$13,000
KRIPALU CENTER FOR YOGA & HEALTH$7,000
ENVIROMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$5,000
MERCY CORPS$5,000
PARTNERS IN HEALTH$4,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$3,589
GUEST HOUSE RETREAT & CONFERENCE CENTER$3,032
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE$3,000
SPIRIT ROCK MEDITATION CENTER$3,000
FEEDING AMERICA$2,500
ACLU FOUNDATION$2,000
SONOMA ASHRAM FOUNDATION$2,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD (PPFA)$1,500
GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE (ABC)$1,000
ABBEY OF REGINA LAUDIS$1,000
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 (FY20–25, $25k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 89% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%KRIPALU CENTER FOR YOGA & HEALTH: $7k → 12%OPERATION BBQ RELEIF: $2k → 8%GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE (ABC): $1k → 12%KRIPALU CENTER FOR YOGA & HEALTH: $7k → 12%GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE (ABC): $1k → 12%KRIPALU CENTER FOR YOGA & HEALTH: $5k → 12%CT COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS: $1k → 11%GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE (ABC): $750 → 12%CT COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS: $200 → 11%NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA: $500 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
DC
AL
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$346k · 47 repeat orgs$9k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

47 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

47
23

Total granted

$346k
$7k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+7%

Still filing today

68%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalHuman ServicesHealthCivil RightsArts & CultureFood & NutritionOther
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

  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $66k · revenue +39%
  • MC
    Mercy Corps
    6× · 2020–2025 · $31k · revenue +16%
  • PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $25k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • OB
    OPERATION BBQ RELIEF
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue -42%
  • CR
    CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
    one grant, 2024 · $1k
  • NO
    NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN INC
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue +19%
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
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
2
Waterorg

Water.org's goal is to bring safe water and sanitation to the world through access to small, affordable loans.

International
3
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
4
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
5
Ceres Inc

Ceres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just, and resilient world. through education and research, we make the business case for action on the most pressing sustainability…

Environment
6
Relief International Inc

Relief international (ri) partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience, and promote long-term health and wellbeing of people in the communities that we serve. relief…

International
7
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
8
Food & Water Watch

Food & water watch conducts extensive research and public education to ensure the food and water we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. so we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of…

Food & Nutrition
9
The International Refugee Rights Initiative

To enhance the protection of rights of the displaced worldwide by the provision of advice and assistance on the application of international law, the conducting of research on the interpretation and application of international law and the…

—
10
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
11
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
12
The Global FoodBanking Network

To nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Medecins Sans Frontieres Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation. 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

45 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. 45 of the 72 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/45
Grantees still filing
30/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $65,500 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INCMercy Corps: $31,000 · InternationalMercy CorpsInternational Rescue Committee INC: $25,000 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INCWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $6,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $4,589 · International+5 more: $4,020 · InternationalENVIROMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: $22,000 · OtherENVIROMENTAL DEFENSE FUNDKRIPALU CENTER: $17,000 · OtherKRIPALU CENTERGUEST HOUSE RETREAT & CONFERENCE CENTER: $9,032 · OtherGUEST HOUSE RETREAT & CONFERENCE CEN…Individual grant recipient: $8,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSPIRIT ROCK MEDITATION CENTER: $7,000 · OtherSPIRIT ROCK MEDITATION CENTERACLU: $6,500 · OtherACLUCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $6,100 · OtherABBEY OF REGINA LAUDIS: $6,000 · OtherSONOMA ASHRAM FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD (PPFA): $4,500 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD: $4,500 · Other+29 more: $19,561 · Other+29 morePARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $25,000 · HealthPARTNERS IN…GUEST HOUSE INC: $9,000 · HealthGUEST HOUSE…Camp Rising Sun Inc: $1,750 · Health+2 more: $805 · HealthKRIPALU CENTER FOR YOGA & HEALTH: $19,000 · Human ServicesGUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE INC GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE INC: $2,750 · Human ServicesOPERATION BBQ RELIEF: $1,500 · Human ServicesCONNECTICUT COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS INC: $1,200 · Human Services+2 more: $700 · Human ServicesAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5,000 · Civil RightsCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $2,000 · Civil RightsNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 · Civil RightsFeeding America: $14,600 · Food & Nutrition+2 more: $205 · Food & NutritionCONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTHE GUILFORD ART CENTER INC: $3,205 · Arts & CultureWOMEN & FAMILY LIFE CENTER INC: $3,105 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $250 · Arts & Culture
International$136,109Other$115,193Health$36,555Human Services$25,150Civil Rights$15,000Food & Nutrition$14,805Arts & Culture$11,560

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 budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $65,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Corps: $31,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $25,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $25,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetKRIPALU CENTER FOR YOGA & HEALTH: $19,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $14,600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGUEST HOUSE INC: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $6,100 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $4,589 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GUILFORD ART CENTER INC: $3,205 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN & FAMILY LIFE CENTER INC: $3,105 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetGUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE INC GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE INC: $2,750 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCamp Rising Sun Inc: $1,750 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetGEOS INSTITUTE: $1,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPrison Dharma Network Inc: $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION BBQ RELIEF: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTICUT COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS INC: $1,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMitchell Farm Equine Retirement Inc: $1,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGuilford Land Conservation Trust Inc: $850 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $720 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC: $700 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET: $500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LEGACY THEATRE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHEELS 4 LIFE: $200 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOLAR YOUTH INC: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDOWNTOWN EVENING SOUP KITCHEN INC: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY SEED INC: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHEAT INC: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTEGRATED REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SERVICES: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOAVES AND FISHES NEW HAVEN INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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 MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds Mercy Corps ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
  • Who funds KRIPALU CENTER FOR YOGA & HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds Feeding America ↗
  • Who funds GUEST HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC ↗
  • Who funds WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GUILFORD ART CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN & FAMILY LIFE CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE INC GUILFORD A BETTER CHANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds COMPASSION & CHOICES ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Camp Rising Sun Inc ↗
  • Who funds GEOS INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Prison Dharma Network Inc ↗
  • Who funds REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION BBQ RELIEF ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN 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.

Newalliance Foundatio…Eder Family Foundatio…The Community Foundat…Joe & Cindy Goldberg …MFUND IncUnited Way of Greater…The Stoddard Family F…Yale UniversityThe Bessemer Giving F…The Guilford Foundati…Liberty Bank Foundati…Peoples United Commun…
Newalliance Foundation IncCT26.1× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Newalliance Foundation Inc · Eder Family Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven · Joe & Cindy Goldberg Family Foundation Inc · MFUND Inc · United Way of Greater New Haven Inc · The Stoddard Family Foundation · Yale University · The Bessemer Giving Fund · The Guilford Foundation Inc · Liberty Bank Foundation Inc · Peoples United Community 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 Watering Pond Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Watering Pond Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • City Seed Inc: 87% of income from government
  • Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness Inc: 54% of income from government
  • Mercy Corps: 47% of income from government
  • Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services: 37% of income from government
  • Solar Youth Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Connecticut Foodshare Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Wheat Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc: 3% of income from government
  • The Guilford Art Center Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Legacy Theatre Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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 72 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Watering Pond’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