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Willis and Elsie Shenk Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Willis and Elsie Shenk Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$304k
Granted FY2024still arriving
35
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$1.5MArts & Culture$423kEducation$381kHealth$205kHuman Services$191kYouth Development$136kHousing & Shelter$133kPhilanthropy$120kOther$0
02FY2024 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k23 grants · $84k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $170k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$9.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LANCASTER FARMLAND TRUST$50,000
LITTLE CONESTOGA CREEK FOUNDATION$25,000
LANCASTER CONSERVANCY$25,000
LANCASTER CONSERVANCY$25,000
LANCASTER COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$20,000
LANCASTERHISTORYORG$15,000
SOUTHEAST LANCASTER HEALTH SERVICES$10,000
THE EDIBLE CLASSROOM$10,000
HORIZONS AT LANCASTER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL$10,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER$10,000
TENFOLD$10,000
LANCASTER COUNTY FOOD HUB$10,000
LANCASTER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL$8,500
Individual grant recipient$5,000
UNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES$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 (FY17–24, $148k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CASA OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 9%CASA OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 9%CASA OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 9%CASA OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 9%CASA OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 9%CASA OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 9%CASA OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 9%POWER PACKS PROJECT: $13k → 9%POWER PACKS PROJECT: $10k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $5k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $5k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $4k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $3k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $3k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $3k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $3k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $4k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $3k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $1k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $1k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $1k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $1k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $10k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $5k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $5k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $5k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $5k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $5k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $4k → 9%VISIONCORPS: $3k → 9%VISIONCORPS: $3k → 9%VISIONCORPS: $3k → 9%VISIONCORPS: $3k → 9%VISIONCORPS: $3k → 9%VISIONCORPS: $3k → 9%VISIONCORPS: $3k → 9%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.
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 49 repeat orgs$97k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against -38% for those funded once.

49 repeat relationships: 31 still active in FY2024, 18 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

49
12

Total granted

$3.3M
$95k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
-38%

Still filing today

69%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationHealthEnvironmentReligionOther
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

  • LC
    LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY
    7× · 2017–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +137%
  • LF
    LANCASTER FARMLAND TRUST
    7× · 2017–2024 · $197k · revenue +95%
  • L
    LANCASTERHISTORYORG
    7× · 2017–2024 · $160k · revenue +203%

Funded once

  • LC
    LANCASTER CHAMBER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • LC
    LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVATION FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
  • CM
    CENTRAL MARKET TRUST
    one grant, 2017 · $13k · revenue -38%
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
Lancaster Community Safety Coalition

Enhance public safety and the quality of life in lancaster by engaging the community and advancing current crime prevention strategies.

Public Safety & Disaster
2
Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry

The lancaster chamber of commerce & industry's mission is to create the environment, facilitate partnerships, and lead on issues that elevate business success. the chamber has 5 strategic priorities: public policy, workforce, business…

—
3
Lancaster County Council of the Arts

To enrich the quality of life in Lancaster County by building vibrant and inclusive communities connecting arts, culture, education, and economic vitality.

Arts & Culture
4
Library System of Lancaster County

Provide resources, services, and expertise in a collaborative manner to and with the member libraries in order to effectively serve our communities

—
5
Lancaster General Health

Provides managerial and financial support to its controlled organizations and is also responsible for undertaking activities designed to advance the general health of the community.

Health
6
Lancaster Emergency Medical Services Association

To provide comprehensive, skillful, cost effective emergency and non- emergency health care services to the lancaster community while continuing to evolve with changing health care needs.

Health
7
The New School of Lancaster Dba New School Montessori

The mission is to facilitate the unfolding of each child's unique potential through an outstanding montessori education that enables a child to meet future challenges, and that encourages a love of learning, independent thinking, social…

—
8
Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce Inc

Support member businesses through education and promotion, and support the quality of life in lancaster county through promoting compatible economic development.

Community Improvement
9
Lancaster County Academy

Lancaster county academy's mission is to empower non-traditional learners to achieve academic success, career readiness and personal growth through flexible, student-centered programs that values independence, resilience, and real-world…

Education
10
Children's Museum of Lancaster

The children's museum of lancaster (hands-on-house) has the following mission: creating landmark learning experiences for children and their families through play.

Arts & Culture
11
The Community Library Inc

The lancaster community library is a center for the cultural, intellectual, and recreational pursuits of the community. through its materials, programs, and services, the library promotes literacy, provides lifetime learning opportunities,…

Education
12
Assets Lancaster

Assets lancaster is a non-profit that works with start-up and existing businesses to form a more equitable and ethical economy. assets lancaster offers in-depth training and financing for entrepreneurs, and works with established…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lancaster County Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Little Conestoga Creek Foundation. 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

42 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. 42 of the 64 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
40/42
Grantees still filing
32/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY: $1,311,693 · EnvironmentLANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCYLANCASTER FARMLAND TRUST: $196,667 · EnvironmentLANCASTER FARMLAND TRUST+1 more: $14,000 · EnvironmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER INC: $118,500 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER I…MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · OtherMILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITYFULTON OPERA HOUSE FOUNDATION: $87,500 · OtherFULTON OPERA HOUSE FOUNDATIONTENFOLD: $65,000 · OtherTENFOLDLINDEN HALL: $59,000 · OtherLINDEN HALLYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $53,500 · OtherYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIO…LITTLE CONESTOGA CREEK FOUNDATION: $50,000 · OtherTHADDEUS STEVENS COLLEGE OF TECH: $40,000 · OtherSAMARITAN CENTER: $38,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $37,500 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY: $36,000 · OtherHOLY SPIRIT LUTHERAN CHURCH: $35,000 · OtherLANCASTER COUNTY FOOD HUB: $42,500 · Other+21 more: $238,250 · Other+21 moreLANCASTERHISTORYORG: $160,000 · Arts & CultureLANCASTERH…LANCASTER SCIENCE CENTER: $50,000 · Arts & CultureLANCASTER …ROCK FORD FOUNDATION: $46,000 · Arts & CultureROCK FORD …LANCASTER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $19,000 · Arts & CultureLANCASTER …DEMUTH FOUNDATION: $18,500 · Arts & CultureDEMUTH FOU…+2 more: $15,000 · Arts & CultureLANCASTER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $153,500 · EducationTHE EDIBLE CLASSROOM: $32,500 · EducationTHE JANUS SCHOOL: $27,500 · EducationPENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN: $25,000 · EducationLANCASTER PUBLIC LIBRARY: $12,500 · EducationADAMSTOWN AREA LIBRARY: $10,000 · EducationMILAGRO HOUSE INC: $38,500 · Human ServicesCASA OF LANCASTER AND LEBANON COUNTIES: $35,000 · Human ServicesAARON'S ACRES: $23,500 · Human ServicesPOWER PACKS PROJECT: $22,500 · Human ServicesWATER STREET MINISTRIES: $22,500 · Human ServicesVISIONCORPS: $17,500 · Human ServicesFRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $10,500 · Human ServicesLANCASTER COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $55,000 · PhilanthropyLANCASTER GENERAL HEALTH FOUNDATION: $45,500 · PhilanthropyWEST LAMPETER TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropyJEFF MUSSER FOUNDATION: $35,000 · HealthUNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES: $27,500 · HealthTHE ARC OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $13,500 · Health+1 more: $2,500 · Health
Environment$1,522,360Other$1,001,250Arts & Culture$308,500Education$261,000Human Services$170,000Philanthropy$115,500Health$78,500

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 budgetLANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY: $1,311,693 over 7y, 7.1% of budgetLANCASTER FARMLAND TRUST: $196,667 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetLANCASTERHISTORYORG: $160,000 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetLANCASTER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $153,500 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER INC: $118,500 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetTENFOLD: $65,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetLANCASTER COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $53,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetLANCASTER SCIENCE CENTER: $50,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetLITTLE CONESTOGA CREEK FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetROCK FORD FOUNDATION: $46,000 over 7y, 2.2% of budgetLANCASTER GENERAL HEALTH FOUNDATION: $45,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetLANCASTER COUNTY FOOD HUB: $42,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetSAMARITAN CENTER: $38,500 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetMILAGRO HOUSE INC: $38,500 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetJEFF MUSSER FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetCASA OF LANCASTER AND LEBANON COUNTIES: $35,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetTHE EDIBLE CLASSROOM: $32,500 over 3y, 8.5% of budgetTHE JANUS SCHOOL: $27,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetUNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES: $27,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN: $25,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetLANCASTER HEALTH CENTER: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAARON'S ACRES: $23,500 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetPOWER PACKS PROJECT: $22,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetLANCASTER CITY POLICE FOUNDATION: $22,500 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetWATER STREET MINISTRIES: $22,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetLANCASTER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $19,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetDEMUTH FOUNDATION: $18,500 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetVISIONCORPS: $17,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS IN THE HEART OF PA: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION: $14,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ARC OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $13,500 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetLANCASTER PUBLIC LIBRARY: $12,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCENTRAL MARKET TRUST: $12,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetFRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $10,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH MUSEUM CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetADAMSTOWN AREA LIBRARY: $10,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetLANCASTER MENNONITE CONFERENCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetFULTON THEATRE COMPANY: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKEYSTONE HUMAN SERVICES: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLIFECYCLES INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.8% 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 LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER FARMLAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTERHISTORYORG ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER INC ↗
  • Who funds TENFOLD ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER SCIENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE CONESTOGA CREEK FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ROCK FORD FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER GENERAL HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER COUNTY FOOD HUB ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MILAGRO HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds JEFF MUSSER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CASA OF LANCASTER AND LEBANON COUNTIES ↗
  • Who funds THE EDIBLE CLASSROOM ↗
  • Who funds THE JANUS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds UNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER HEALTH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds AARON'S ACRES ↗
  • Who funds POWER PACKS PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER CITY POLICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WATER STREET MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds DEMUTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds VISIONCORPS ↗
  • Who funds WEST LAMPETER TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Lancaster County Comm…The Steinman Foundati…Ferree FoundationClark Associates Char…High FoundationFulton Family Foundat…Thomas a and Georgina…Richard S & Ann B Bar…Pryor E & Arlene R Ne…United Way of Lancast…Ppl FoundationThe Abigail L Longene…
Lancaster County Community FoundationPA83.5× affinity39 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lancaster County Community Foundation · The Steinman Foundation · Ferree Foundation · Clark Associates Charitable Foundation · High Foundation · Fulton Family Foundation · Thomas a and Georgina T Russo Foundation · Richard S & Ann B Barshinger Family Fdn · Pryor E & Arlene R Neuber Charitable Trust · United Way of Lancaster County · Ppl Foundation · The Abigail L Longenecker Memorial 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 Willis and Elsie Shenk Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Willis and Elsie Shenk Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Willis and Elsie Shenk Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Willis and Elsie Shenk 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 64 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

    Play a game based on Willis and Elsie Shenk’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