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· Private foundation

William S Knight Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
31
Grants FY2024still arriving
14
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0198% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2024.

Education$4.9MPublic Benefit$1.3MArts & Culture$494kCivil Rights$320kYouth Development$315kSocial Science$203kCrime & Legal$160kInternational$137kOther$0
02FY2024 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $303k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $832k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$25,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$39M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS$250,000
NORTHSHORE CLASSICAL ACADEMY$140,725
HILLSDALE COLLEGE$104,000
PRAGERU$100,000
BENEDICTINE COLLEGE$82,740
YOUNG AMERICA'S FOUNDATION$75,000
TRINITAS CLASSICAL ACADEMY$70,000
BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE$60,000
TURNING POINT USA$50,000
ROCK COUNTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$50,000
LIBERTAS INSTITUTE$50,000
REAL CLEAR FOUNDATION$50,000
WISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY$35,000
BADGER INSTITUTE$30,000
FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES$28,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 75% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%TURNING POINT USA: $50k → 11%INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE: $50k → 10%PRAGERU: $100k → 14%MANAHATTAN INSTITUTE: $50k → 17%YOUNG AMERICANS FOR LIBERTY FOUNDATION: $50k → 10%Mason Classical Academy: $100k → 10%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $304k → 14%BENEDICTINE COLLEGE: $83k → 15%COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS: $500k → 14%NORTHSHORE CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $141k → 6%GREEN COUNTY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $90k → 7%TRINITAS CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $70k → 15%WISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY: $50k → 17%BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE: $60k → 12%LIBERTAS INSTITUTE: $50k → 8%REAL CLEAR FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%YOUNG AMERICA'S FOUNDATION: $75k → 6%INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE STUDIES: $50k → 7%PRAGERU: $100k → 14%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $104k → 14%BENEDICTINE COLLEGE: $60k → 15%COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS: $500k → 14%LAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $250k → 5%YOUNG AMERICA'S FOUNDATION: $75k → 6%PRAGERU: $100k → 14%Hillsdale College: $100k → 14%BENEDICTINE COLLEGE: $52k → 15%COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS: $250k → 14%LAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $140k → 5%Beloit College: $160k → 10%LAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $110k → 5%ROCK COUNTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $120k → 10%INSTITUTE FOR REFORMING GOVERNMENT: $75k → 10%LAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $500k → 5%Rock County Christian School: $65k → 10%LAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY: $200k → 5%ROCK COUNTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $65k → 10%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF DANE COUNTY: $150k → 10%TURNING POINT USA: $150k → 14%ROCK COUNTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $65k → 10%GREATER PRAISE COMNTY DEVEL CORP-JOS PROJECT: $80k → 17%TURNING POINT USA: $125k → 14%TURNING POINT USA: $125k → 14%BADGER INSTITUTE: $90k → 17%BADGER INSTITUTE: $90k → 17%Brodhead Historical Society: $335k → 10%BADGER INSTITUTE: $90k → 17%KELCH AVIATION MUSEUM: $123k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

IL
WI
MI
NY
OH
CA
UT
MO
VA
AZ
KS
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$6.4M · 29 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +47% since the first grant, against +9% for the ones you funded once.

29 repeat relationships — 22 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
20

Total granted

$6.4M
$870k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
+9%

Still filing today

79%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $335k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24
EducationPublic BenefitYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementSocial ScienceCivil RightsOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • CO
    COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS
    3× · 2020–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +49%
  • LC
    LAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $1.2M · revenue ×30
  • TP
    TURNING POINT USA INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $550k · revenue ×14

Funded once

  • BELOIT COLLEGE
    one grant, 2017 · $160k · revenue +6%
  • BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF DANE COUNTY INC
    one grant, 2021 · $150k · revenue -28%
  • KA
    KELCH AVIATION MUSEUM
    one grant, 2020 · $123k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
2
Gettysburg College

Gettysburg college is a residential, undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences.

Education
3
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
4
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
5
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
6
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
7
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
8
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
9
Washington & Jefferson College

To graduate people of uncommon integrity, competence, and maturity, who are effective lifelong learners and responsible citizens, and who are prepared to contribute substantially to the world in which they live.

Education
10
Liberty Classical Academy

Liberty classical academy is an independent private school offering college-preparatory academics and christian faith in the classical tradition for minneapolis-st. paul students in preschool and kindergarten through the 12th grade.

Education
11
Liberty Classical Schools Educational Services Inc

To form, organize, operate, and support k through 12 charter schools that develop students in mind and character through a classical, content-rich cirriculum that emphasizes the principles of virtuous living, traditional learning, and…

Education
12
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Freedomworks Foundation Inc and the most unlike its peers is Benedictine College. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyCommunity FoundationsFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Policy Research and AdvocacyYouth Development ServicesIndependent K-12 SchoolsYouth Development Centers
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 34 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%9%<5yr14%5%5–10yr19%26%10–20yr16%12%20–35yr13%23%35–55yr16%26%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%3%<5yr14%18%5–10yr19%20%10–20yr16%8%20–35yr13%15%35–55yr16%37%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 9% of your grantees by number, and just 3% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/44
the rest of the field
13%
240,396/1,819,521

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

42 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 42 of the 58 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/42
Grantees still filing
32/42
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS — $1,250,000 · EducationCOLLEGE OF THE OZARKSLAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY INC — $1,200,000 · EducationLAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY INCHILLSDALE COLLEGE — $508,000 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEGEPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION — $330,000 · EducationPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONREAL CLEAR FOUNDATION — $215,000 · EducationBenedictine College — $194,740 · EducationBELOIT COLLEGE — $160,000 · Education+8 more — $577,225 · Education+8 moreTURNING POINT USA INC — $550,000 · OtherTURNING POINT USA INCROCK COUNTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL — $365,000 · OtherROCK COUNTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOLBRODHEAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC — $340,358 · OtherBRODHEAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCYoung America's Foundation — $240,000 · OtherYoung America's FoundationSTATELINE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS INC — $150,000 · OtherSTATELINE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS INCTHE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE — $135,000 · OtherKELCH AVIATION MUSEUM — $123,334 · OtherInstitute for Humane Studies — $115,000 · OtherGREATER PRAISE COMNTY DEVEL CORP-JOS PROJECT — $100,000 · Other+20 more — $414,900 · Other+20 moreBADGER INSTITUTE INC — $380,000 · Public BenefitLeadership Institute — $70,000 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $60,000 · Public BenefitLibertas Network — $50,000 · Public BenefitYOUNG AMERICANS FOR LIBERTY FOUNDATION — $50,000 · Public BenefitCATO INSTITUTE — $30,000 · Public BenefitBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF DANE COUNTY INC — $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentFORGE LEADERSHIP NETWORK — $40,000 · Youth Development+2 more — $6,200 · Youth DevelopmentJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WISCONSIN INC — $137,000 · InternationalWISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY — $120,000 · Crime & LegalGreen County Development Corporation — $89,500 · Community Improvement+1 more — $2,500 · Community Improvement
Education$4,434,965Other$2,533,592Public Benefit$640,000Youth Development$196,200International$137,000Crime & Legal$120,000Community Improvement$92,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetCOLLEGE OF THE OZARKS — $1,250,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLAKE COUNTRY CLASSICAL ACADEMY INC — $1,200,000 over 4y, 4.5% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC — $550,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE — $508,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBADGER INSTITUTE INC — $380,000 over 6y, 10% of budgetPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION — $330,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetYoung America's Foundation — $240,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetREAL CLEAR FOUNDATION — $215,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetBenedictine College — $194,740 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBELOIT COLLEGE — $160,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF DANE COUNTY INC — $150,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetSTATELINE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS INC — $150,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetNORTHSHORE CLASSICAL ACADEMY — $140,725 over 1y, 24% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WISCONSIN INC — $137,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetTHE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE — $135,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR REFORMING GOVERNMENT INC — $125,000 over 3y, 5.3% of budgetWISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY — $120,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetInstitute for Humane Studies — $115,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMASON CLASSICAL ACADEMY INC — $105,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetGreen County Development Corporation — $89,500 over 1y, 17% of budgetTRINITAS CLASSICAL ACADEMY INC — $70,000 over 1y, 83% of budgetLeadership Institute — $70,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNETWORK OF ENLIGHTENED WOMEN INC — $65,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetBELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE INC — $60,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $60,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES — $55,400 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLibertas Network — $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetYOUNG AMERICANS FOR LIBERTY FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetFORGE LEADERSHIP NETWORK — $40,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE — $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFREEDOMWORKS FOUNDATION INC — $30,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE — $30,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDAVID HOROWITZ FREEDOM CENTER — $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFoundation for Economic Education Inc — $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJUST FACTS INC — $10,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetDISCOVERY WORLD LTD — $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMoms for Liberty Foundation Inc — $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWISCONSIN 4-H FOUNDATION INC — $5,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetWISCONSIN COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetOZAUKEE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL INC — $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBADGER BOYS STATE INCORPORATED — $1,200 over 1y, 4.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Bradley Impact Fund I…Donors Trust IncThe Lynde and Harry B…Adolph Coors Foundati…Neese Family Foundati…The Dunn FoundationCharles Koch InstituteHerbert H Kohl Charit…Carol and Richard Bay…Duane & Dorothy Bluem…Dwight and Linda Davi…The Roe Foundation
Bradley Impact Fund IncWI21.6× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Bradley Impact Fund Inc · Donors Trust Inc · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Adolph Coors Foundation · Neese Family Foundation Inc · The Dunn Foundation · Charles Koch Institute · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Carol and Richard Bayerlein Fdn Ltd · Duane & Dorothy Bluemke Foundation Ltd · Dwight and Linda Davis Foundation · The Roe Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization William S Knight Foundation Inc funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to William S Knight Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to William S Knight Foundation Inc 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 58 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    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 camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home
    State money flows
    the interactive map of money crossing state lines