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Wilmer and Shirley Esbenshade Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Wilmer and Shirley Esbenshade Foundation

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.

$299k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$91k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2024 to 2025.

Religion$248kEducation$75kHousing & Shelter$53kHealth$50kFood & Nutrition$48kInternational$25k
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k11 grants · $209k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $91k
$15,100
Median grant
2
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CALVARY CHURCH$90,600
WATER STREET MINISTRIES$32,800
LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE$30,200
FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES$27,600
ALIGN LIFE MINISTRIES$15,100
HOSPICE & COMMUNITY CARE$15,100
CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP$15,100
AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOC$15,100
MANHEIM CENTRAL FDN FOR EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT$15,100
HOPE INTERNATIONAL$15,100
MANHEIM FARM SHOW$15,100
FARM & HOME FOUNDATION$12,500
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 (FY24–24, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%WATER STREET MINISTRIES: $20k → 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.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$499k · 12 repeat orgs$0 to everyone else

12 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
0

Total granted

$499k
$0

Still filing today

58%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
Human ServicesEducationInternationalHealthOther
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

  • CC
    CALVARY CHURCH
    2× · 2024–2025 · $151k
  • WS
    WATER STREET MINISTRIES
    2× · 2024–2025 · $53k · revenue -4%
  • LB
    LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $50k · revenue -1%

Funded once

    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 County Christian School

    Education - private christian school that glorifies god as a community of faith and learning.

    Religion
    2
    Manna University

    Manna University is a biblical higher education institution dedicated to educating, equipping, and empowering emerging leaders to change the world.

    Education
    3
    Lansing Christian School

    Recognizing god as the source of all truth, wisdom, and knowledge, lansing christian school partners with christian parents to educate children to the full extent of their god-given abilities. we engage students in an academically…

    —
    4
    Geneva College

    Geneva college is a christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to god and neighbor.

    Education
    5
    Landmark Christian School

    Landmark christian school partners with christian families by equipping college-bound students to embrace a christ-centered worldview, grow as servant leaders, and steward god's unique purpose for their lives.

    —
    6
    Christian Academy of Lawrenceburg

    Education preschool-12th grade, religious, general

    Education
    7
    Eden Christian Academy

    Eden christian academy is committed to providing an exceptional educational experience by engaging the mind and heart of each student to think and act with christ-like character.

    Education
    8
    Lancaster Country Day School

    The mission of lancaster country day school is to empower students to explore their passions, find purpose, and become the best versions of themselves.

    Education
    9
    Legacy Ministries International

    Through prayerful dependence on god, dayton christian schools (lmi) provides a biblically integrated, academically rigorous educational experience. instilling in students a love for christ and god's word, a love for learning, and a love…

    Philanthropy
    10
    Lancaster Preschool

    Lancaster preschool believes that the preschool is an extension of the home environment where children can learn new skills, interact with teachers and peers, and experience hands-on learning opportunities through developmentally…

    Education
    11
    Lou Engle Ministries

    Advancing the kingdom of god through prayer,preaching and teaching.

    Religion
    12
    Linfield Christian School

    Linfield christian school provides a college preparatory education in a caring, relational, christ-centered environment that develops and inspires students to: know jesus christ as lord; love others as themselves; and grow in knowledge and…

    —
    How this is measured
    The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lancaster Bible College; the most unlike its peers is American Diabetes Association. 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

    8 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. 8 of the 12 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)
    0
    Early backer (in before they grew)
    7/8
    Grantees still filing
    0/8
    Grew since first funded

    Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

    CALVARY CHURCH: $150,600 · OtherCALVARY CHURCHFRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $47,600 · OtherFRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIESCHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP INC LANCASTER EPA CHAPTER: $25,100 · OtherCHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP INC LANCASTER EPA CHAPTERALIGN LIFE MINISTRIES: $25,100 · OtherALIGN LIFE MINISTRIESMANHEIM FARM SHOW: $25,100 · OtherMANHEIM FARM SHOWFARM & HOME FOUNDATION: $22,500 · OtherFARM & HOME FOUNDATIONWATER STREET MINISTRIES: $52,800 · Human ServicesWATER STREET MINI…CHOICES HEALTHCARE: $25,100 · Human ServicesCHOICES HEALTHCAR…LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE: $50,200 · EducationLANCASTER BIBLE C…MANHEIM CENTRAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT: $25,100 · EducationMANHEIM CENTRAL F…HOPE INTERNATIONAL: $25,100 · InternationalAmerican Diabetes Association: $25,100 · Health
    Other$296,000Human Services$77,900Education$75,300International$25,100Health$25,100

    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 budgetWATER STREET MINISTRIES: $52,800 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE: $50,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE INTERNATIONAL: $25,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMANHEIM CENTRAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT: $25,100 over 2y, 6.8% of budgetALIGN LIFE MINISTRIES: $25,100 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCHOICES HEALTHCARE: $25,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Diabetes Association: $25,100 over 2y, 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.

    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…Raymond James Charita…Christian Community F…National Philanthropi…Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
    Lancaster County Community FoundationPA17.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

    Open a dossier: Lancaster County Community Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Christian Community Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Wilmer and Shirley Esbenshade Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wilmer and Shirley Esbenshade 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
      no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
      0get no government money at all
      1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
      0rely on government for over half their income
      ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
      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 Wilmer and Shirley Esbenshade Foundation?

      Find your warmest path to Wilmer and Shirley Esbenshade 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 12 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 Wilmer and Shirley Esbenshade’s filings →

      More from the funding graph

      The unnamed billions
      grants reported with no recipient in the public record
      The regranting layer
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      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