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· Private foundation

Wayfarer 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.

$24M
Granted FY2024still arriving
166
Grants FY2024still arriving
33
States reached
$4.5M
Largest
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$7.5MCivil Rights$6.7MPhilanthropy$6.0MArts & Culture$5.9MInternational$5.5MCommunity Improvement$4.5MYouth Development$4.4MReligion$4.0MOther$0
02FY2024 · 166 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k34 grants · $1.1M
  • $50k–250k115 grants · $13M
  • $250k+11 grants · $9.6M
$90,000
Median grant
33
States reached
$28M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HORACE HOLLEY FOUNDATION$4,500,000
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF THE UNITED STATES$1,750,000
MONA FOUNDATION$650,000
NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER INC$500,000
NEW ERA CREATIVE SPACE$370,000
PARENT UNIVERSITY$362,200
TAHIRIH JUSTICE CENTER$340,000
EQUITICITY$325,000
PALENKE ARTS$290,000
FRIENDS OF GIVAT HAVIVA INC$270,000
MIRACLE MESSAGES$255,000
PROTEUS FUND$225,000
FETZER INSTITUTE$210,000
WORLD FEDERALIST MOVEMENT INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL POLICY$205,000
CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT$203,000
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 (FY21–24, $5.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 62% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE HOPI FOUNDATION: $92k → 26%THE DINNER PARTY LABS: $160k → 10%MIRACLE MESSAGES: $255k → 10%SEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES INC: $52k → 18%NEW ERA CREATIVE SPACE: $370k → 9%CAMINAR LATINO: $38k → 14%CHOCOLATE MILK CAFE NATIONAL INC: $50k → 10%THE NO MORE FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%VIRTUES MATTER INC: $50k → 8%THE HOPI FOUNDATION: $92k → 26%WHITE PONY EXPRESS: $150k → 9%MIRACLE MESSAGES: $125k → 10%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $50k → 14%NEW ERA CREATIVE SPACE: $365k → 9%CHOCOLATE MILK CAFE NATIONAL INC: $17k → 10%THE HOPI FOUNDATION: $50k → 26%WHITE PONY EXPRESS: $150k → 9%NEW ERA CREATIVE SPACE: $365k → 9%RAINBOWS FOR ALL CHILDREN: $60k → 14%WHITE PONY EXPRESS: $100k → 9%MIRACLE MESSAGES: $50k → 10%NEW ERA CREATIVE SPACE: $65k → 9%BLACK PARENT INITIATIVE: $50k → 12%WHITE PONY EXPRESS: $75k → 9%RAINBOWS FOR ALL CHILDREN: $60k → 14%POSSIBILITY LABS: $125k → 10%POSSIBILITY LABS: $125k → 10%POSSIBILITY LABS: $50k → 10%RAINBOWS FOR ALL CHILDREN: $60k → 14%THE CURRENT PROJECT: $105k → 17%THE CURRENT PROJECT: $58k → 17%RAINBOWS FOR ALL CHILDREN: $40k → 14%TANENBAUM CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING: $170k → 17%THE CURRENT PROJECT: $15k → 17%BRAVER ANGELS INC: $50k → 17%TANENBAUM CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING: $490k → 17%TANENBAUM CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING: $130k → 17%TANENBAUM CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING: $67k → 17%ORGANIC ONENESS: $150k → 14%ORGANIC ONENESS: $150k → 14%ORGANIC ONENESS: $150k → 14%ORGANIC ONENESS: $126k → 14%PROJECT I AM: $34k → 14%PROJECT I AM: $25k → 14%PROJECT I AM: $25k → 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

AK
ME
VT
WA
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
SD
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
TN
NC
DC
HI
OK
GA
TX
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$44M · 140 repeat orgs$12M to everyone else

140 repeat relationships: 110 still active in FY2024, 30 since wound down; 51 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

140
50

Total granted

$44M
$3.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
+34%

Still filing today

81%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8.1M went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementYouth DevelopmentHealthOther
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

  • MF
    MONA FOUNDATION
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.8M · revenue +22% · 25% of their budget
  • NU
    NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +86%
  • CR
    CHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +2% · 31% of their budget

Funded once

  • E
    EMBARC
    one grant, 2023 · $450k
  • BF
    BROSS FAMILY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $377k
  • CU
    COMMUNITY UNITED SERVICES INC
    one grant, 2023 · $357k · revenue +239%
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
The Conversationalist
—
2
The Oakland Institute

The Oakland Institute, an independent policy think tank, works to support global struggles for Indigenous rights, human rights, and land rights and to promote public participation and fair debate on critical social, economic, and…

Food & Nutrition
3
Forward Together

Forward Together is a national reproductive justice organization that centers people, families, and communities who experience reproductive oppression. They prioritize queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and other peoples of color and utilize…

Health
4
Black Researchers Collective

The mission of the Black Researchers Collective is to advance racial equity by training and equipping communities with research tools to be more civically engaged and policy informed.

Community Improvement
5
Chicago United for Equity

Connecting and amplifying the power of individuals to build a just, equitable, and inclusive city.

Civil Rights
6
Pro-Equity Anti-Racism Institute
Philanthropy
7
Revolution Institute

Revolution Institute's purpose is to liberate the expansive potential of African-American and Latinx communities through sustainable, future-oriented work, entrepreneurship, and value-aligned collaborations.

Employment
8
Nexus Community Partners

Nexus' mission is to build more engaged and powerful communities by supporting community building initiatives that expand community wealth and foster social and human capital.

Philanthropy
9
Center for International Policy Inc

The center for international policy is a woman-led, progressive, independent nonprofit center for research, education, and advocacy working to advance a more peaceful, just, and sustainable u.s. approach to foreign policy. through…

International
10
National Equity Project

To transform the experiences, outcomes, and life options for children & families who have been historically underserved by our institutions and systems.

Education
11
Washington Ethnic Studies Now

Washington Ethnic Studies Now WAESN is a multigenerational majority POC-led nonprofit advancing Ethnic Studies and racial justice in Washington. We center people of color build youth-centered leadership and learning and organize…

Education
12
Inspirational Workshops

We collaborate with youth of color in their learning and development journey providing experiences and resources for critical thinking, exploring voice, deepening brilliance, and contributing to the health and renewal of their…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Latinos for Education Inc; the most unlike its peers is The John Noffo Kahn and Mark Addison Foundation Inc C/O John Noffo Kahn. 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

189 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. 189 of the 248 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.

36
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
40
Early backer (in before they grew)
184/189
Grantees still filing
99/189
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HORACE HOLLEY FOUNDATION: $4,500,000 · OtherHORACE HOLLEY FOUNDATIONNATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHAIS OF THE UNITED STATES: $2,950,000 · OtherNATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHAIS OF THE UNITED…FRIENDS OF THE HIGHWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY: $1,350,000 · Other+95 more: $18,591,953 · Other+95 moreNATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER INC: $1,550,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL UNDER…CENTER ON MODERNITY IN TRANSITION: $805,000 · Arts & CultureCENTER ON MODE…Palenke Arts: $435,000 · Arts & CulturePalenke ArtsMANIDOO OGITIGAAN: $379,730 · Arts & CultureINTONATION MUSIC WORKSHOP: $367,986 · Arts & CultureJOURNALISM FOR CHANGE INC: $320,000 · Arts & CultureANCIENT CEDARS: $303,000 · Arts & CultureLIGHTHOUSE FOUNDATION OF CHICAGOLAND: $298,000 · Arts & CultureGEORGE FLOYD GLOBAL MEMORIAL: $290,000 · Arts & CultureWABANAKI CULTURAL PRESERVATION COALITION: $250,000 · Arts & Culture+20 more: $2,277,000 · Arts & Culture+20 moreEquiticity: $1,025,000 · EducationEquiticityBOOKS AND BREAKFAST: $650,000 · EducationBOOKS AND BR…Claremont Graduate University: $600,000 · EducationClaremont Gr…TRUTH FOR JUSTICE RIGHTS IN IRAN: $585,000 · EducationTRUTH FOR JU…SERVICE LEARNING MICROSCHOOL ORGANIZATION INC: $426,000 · EducationSERVICE LEAR…LATINOS FOR EDUCATION INC: $350,000 · EducationLATINOS FOR …NEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR ARTS & TECHNOLOGY INC: $350,000 · EducationNEW ENGLAND …PROTEUS FUND INC: $325,000 · EducationCOHERENT DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $277,500 · Education+13 more: $1,601,000 · Education+13 moreNEW ERA CREATIVE SPACE INC: $1,165,000 · Human ServicesNEW ERA CR…TANENBAUM CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING: $856,500 · Human ServicesTANENBAUM …ORGANIC ONENESS: $576,000 · Human ServicesORGANIC ON…WHITE PONY EXPRESS: $475,000 · Human ServicesWHITE PONY…MIRACLE MESSAGES: $430,000 · Human ServicesMIRACLE ME…POSSIBILITY LABS: $300,000 · Human ServicesPOSSIBILIT…THE HOPI FOUNDATION LOMASUMI'NANGWTUKWSIWMANI: $234,000 · Human ServicesRAINBOWS FOR ALL CHILDREN INC: $220,000 · Human ServicesCITY HOPE SAN FRANCISCO: $220,000 · Human Services+10 more: $865,588 · Human Services+10 moreCHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC: $1,228,547 · Youth DevelopmentWOZU INC: $400,000 · Youth DevelopmentPROJECT KINDRED INC: $350,000 · Youth DevelopmentGUITARS OVER GUNS ORGANIZATION INC: $350,000 · Youth DevelopmentAlbany Park Theater Project: $327,000 · Youth DevelopmentYOU MATTER 2 INC: $285,000 · Youth DevelopmentPATRICIA LOCKE FOUNDATION: $270,000 · Youth DevelopmentLOVE UNITY & VALUES INSTITUTE: $220,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $107,000 · Youth DevelopmentMONA FOUNDATION: $1,830,000 · PhilanthropyPLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC: $712,500 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY UNITED SERVICES INC: $357,200 · Philanthropy+4 more: $243,000 · PhilanthropyINNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK: $355,000 · Community ImprovementCHICAGO CARES INC: $350,000 · Community ImprovementHOPA MOUNTAIN INC: $350,000 · Community ImprovementLogan Square Neighborhood Association: $220,125 · Community ImprovementFreedom Community Center: $220,000 · Community ImprovementFIRST ALASKANS INSTITUTE: $190,000 · Community ImprovementCHINLE PLANTING HOPE: $190,000 · Community ImprovementNEW COVENANT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $185,000 · Community ImprovementRURAL AMERICA INITIATIVES: $178,000 · Community ImprovementTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $152,868 · Community ImprovementCHICAGO DEFENDER CHARITIES INC: $150,000 · Community Improvement+3 more: $150,000 · Community Improvement
Other$27,391,953Arts & Culture$7,275,716Education$6,189,500Human Services$5,342,088Youth Development$3,537,547Philanthropy$3,142,700Community Improvement$2,690,993

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetMONA FOUNDATION: $1,830,000 over 4y, 25% of budgetNATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER INC: $1,550,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE HIGHWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY: $1,350,000 over 3y, 32% of budgetCHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC: $1,228,547 over 3y, 31% of budgetNEW ERA CREATIVE SPACE INC: $1,165,000 over 4y, 55% of budgetEquiticity: $1,025,000 over 4y, 34% of budgetTANENBAUM CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING: $856,500 over 4y, 20% of budgetCENTER ON MODERNITY IN TRANSITION: $805,000 over 3y, 91% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR RACE AMITY: $803,500 over 3y, 97% of budgetFRIENDS OF GIVAT HAVIVA: $739,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetPLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC: $712,500 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA: $695,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetTHE TAHIRIH JUSTICE CENTER: $680,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetBOOKS AND BREAKFAST: $650,000 over 4y, 32% of budgetClaremont Graduate University: $600,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTRUTH FOR JUSTICE RIGHTS IN IRAN: $585,000 over 4y, 28% of budgetORGANIC ONENESS: $576,000 over 4y, 40% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR FREEDOMS INC: $520,600 over 2y, 12% of budgetWHITE PONY EXPRESS: $475,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetPalenke Arts: $435,000 over 3y, 34% of budgetMIRACLE MESSAGES: $430,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetSERVICE LEARNING MICROSCHOOL ORGANIZATION INC: $426,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $400,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetWOZU INC: $400,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetMANIDOO OGITIGAAN: $379,730 over 3y, 45% of budgetDARA Inc: $375,000 over 3y, 100% of budgetINTONATION MUSIC WORKSHOP: $367,986 over 3y, 18% of budgetTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $361,640 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetINNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK: $355,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetPROJECT KINDRED INC: $350,000 over 4y, 22% of budgetGUITARS OVER GUNS ORGANIZATION INC: $350,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $350,000 over 3y, 6.6% of budgetJOB PATH INC: $350,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetHOPA MOUNTAIN INC: $350,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetLATINOS FOR EDUCATION INC: $350,000 over 3y, 8.7% of budgetMAIA: $350,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetNEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR ARTS & TECHNOLOGY INC: $350,000 over 3y, 5.8% of budgetFearless Dialogues Inc: $350,000 over 3y, 26% of budgetAlbany Park Theater Project: $327,000 over 3y, 7.2% of budgetPROTEUS FUND INC: $325,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetJOURNALISM FOR CHANGE INC: $320,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR MIND-BODY MEDICINE: $315,000 over 2y, 7.3% of budgetANCIENT CEDARS: $303,000 over 2y, 99% of budgetPOSSIBILITY LABS: $300,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetThe Policy Academies Inc: $300,000 over 3y, 54% of budgetABRAHAMIC HOUSE: $300,000 over 4y, 32% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE FOUNDATION OF CHICAGOLAND: $298,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetGEORGE FLOYD GLOBAL MEMORIAL: $290,000 over 2y, 51% 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.

Field Foundation of IllinoisIL37.8× affinity18 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Field Foundation of Illinois · Ndn Collective Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · First Nations Development Institute · Circle of Service Foundation · Common Counsel Foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · The Joyce 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 Wayfarer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wayfarer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 190%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Black Parent Initiative: 45% of income from government
  • Sharing Sacred Spaces Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Community Service Care Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Third Sector New England Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Guitars Over Guns Organization Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Period Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
19get no government money at all
44report 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 Wayfarer Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Wayfarer 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 248 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

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