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Foundation Dossiers

Pennsylvania · Private foundation

William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$280k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
16
Grants FY2025
16
Organizations funded FY2024
19%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$15,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$45,500
Organizations funded a year
13 to 20
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
4
Total assets, FY2025
$4.4M
Applications
Takes unsolicited applications
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 19% of the organizations William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn funded were first-time grantees, receiving 10% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesHealthArts & CultureFood & NutritionReligionAnimalsOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving16$280k13%
FY202416$255k19%
FY202318$256k33%
FY202216$280k19%
FY202114$238k0%
FY202014$241k29%
FY201920$245k40%
FY201813$235k23%
97% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$511kFood & Nutrition$423kHuman Services$318kEducation$290kYouth Development$237kReligion$136kArts & Culture$105kCommunity Improvement$75kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
The Children's Home of Pittsburgh$185,00060%
West Virginia University Foundation Inc$129,67440%
North Hills Food Bank$118,113510%
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation$115,00050%
Duke University Health System Inc$100,99430%
Shepherd's Table Soup Kitchen Inc$79,95062%
Coraopolis Community Development Corporation$75,00044%
YMCA of the Roses$75,00030%
Wqed Multimedia$60,00060%
Elfinwild Presbyterian Church$60,0006n/a
Show all 27 grantees
All grantees of William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
The Children's Home of Pittsburgh$185,00060%
West Virginia University Foundation Inc$129,67440%
North Hills Food Bank$118,113510%
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation$115,00050%
Duke University Health System Inc$100,99430%
Shepherd's Table Soup Kitchen Inc$79,95062%
Coraopolis Community Development Corporation$75,00044%
YMCA of the Roses$75,00030%
Wqed Multimedia$60,00060%
Elfinwild Presbyterian Church$60,0006n/a
Boy Scouts of America Tuscarora Council$52,50033%
Shaler North Hills Library$50,0005n/a
Divine Grace$39,9502n/a
North Hills Community Outreach Inc$30,00020%
Pennsylvania State University$25,0002n/a
Reading Is Fundamental Pittsburgh$20,00021%
Light of Life Ministries Inc$20,00020%
Good Samaritan Hospice of Pittsburgh$20,00020%
Northland Public Library Foundation$15,63832%
Friends of Haiti$15,00025%
Civic Light Opera Association of Greater Pittsburgh$15,00020%
Carnegie Institute$10,00010%
Shriners Hospitals for Children$10,0001n/a
Samaritan's Purse$10,00010%
Washington Area Humane Society$7,00011%
Woodlands Foundation Inc$5,00010%
Mars Area Public Library Association$5,0001n/a

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 17 recipients with no EIN on record ($896k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Children's Home of Pittsburgh: $185,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetWest Virginia University Foundation Inc: $129,674 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNorth Hills Food Bank: $118,113 over 5y, 9.9% of budgetChildren's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation: $115,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDuke University Health System Inc: $100,994 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetShepherd's Table Soup Kitchen Inc: $79,950 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetCoraopolis Community Development Corporation: $75,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetYMCA of the Roses: $75,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWqed Multimedia: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBoy Scouts of America Tuscarora Council: $52,500 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetNorth Hills Community Outreach Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetReading Is Fundamental Pittsburgh: $20,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetLight of Life Ministries Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGood Samaritan Hospice of Pittsburgh: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNorthland Public Library Foundation: $15,638 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetFriends of Haiti: $15,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetCivic Light Opera Association of Greater Pittsburgh: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCarnegie Institute: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSamaritan's Purse: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWashington Area Humane Society: $7,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWoodlands Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 21.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

The Pittsburgh Founda…Eqt FoundationSnee-Reinhardt Charit…Howard & Nell E Mille…The Grable FoundationThe United Way of Sou…Pittsburgh Penguins F…Equitrans Midstream F…Richard King Mellon F…Hillman Family Founda…Baird Foundation IncAetna Foundation Inc
The Pittsburgh FoundationPA28.3× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Pittsburgh Foundation · Eqt Foundation · Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation · Howard & Nell E Miller Foundat · The Grable Foundation · The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania · Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation · Equitrans Midstream Foundation · Richard King Mellon Foundation · Hillman Family Foundations · Baird Foundation Inc · Aetna Foundation 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.

Compare William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn with peer funders

About William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn

How much does William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn give?
William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn reported 16 grants totaling $280,400 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 13 and 20 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (23%), Food & Nutrition (19%), Human Services (14%).
Who are William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: The Children's Home of Pittsburgh ($185k), West Virginia University Foundation Inc ($130k), North Hills Food Bank ($118k).
Does William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 19% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Pittsburgh Foundation, Eqt Foundation, Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation.
Where is William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn based?
William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn is based in PA.

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 44 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 William F & Lynn D Gauss Fdn’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