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Woodson Center at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Woodson Center

To empower community-based leaders to promote solutions that reduce crime and violence, restore families, revitalize underserved communities and assist in the creation of economic enterprise.

$2.7M
Granted FY2024still arriving
32
Grants FY2024still arriving
18
States reached
$1.8M
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$2.7MYouth Development$2.6MHuman Services$1.8MPublic Benefit$439kReligion$328kCommunity Improvement$143kCrime & Legal$106kArts & Culture$85kOther$0
02FY2024 · 32 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 32 grants below total $2,395,046, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,717,377 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $322,331 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k24 grants · $352k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $225k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.8M
$15,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE PINEY WOODS SCHOOL$1,786,122
G E MINISTRIES INC$150,000
ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED MEN$75,000
PROJECT RECLAIM OF MINDEN INC$25,000
MEN OF VALOR$25,000
VICTORY OUTREACH$25,000
HOPE FOR PRISONERS$25,000
CAN I LIVE INC$20,000
INTERESTED CITIZENS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION$16,500
THE CITY OF HOPE OUTREACH$15,000
DENYCE GRAVES FOUNDATION$15,000
X CARES INC$15,000
CHRISTIAN FAMILIES AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE$15,000
URBAN NATION INC$15,000
I AM CULTURED INC$15,000
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 (FY20–24, $362k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%INSTITUTE FOR AMERICAN VALUES: $50k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CLINIC: $8k → 20%THE GATHERINGS MENTORING NETWORKING: $8k → 16%PITT COUNTY FAMILY DEVELOPMENT CORP INC: $8k → 20%OPERATION RECOVERY INC: $8k → 8%YOUNGSTOWN BLUE COATS: $8k → 16%HOPE FOR PRISONERS INC: $32k → 13%LOVING OTHERS ON PURPOSE: $25k → 13%YOUNGSTOWN BLUE COATS: $8k → 16%HOPE FOR PRISONERS: $25k → 13%INSTITUTE FOR AMERICAN VALUES: $50k → 17%LOVING OTHERS ON PURPOSE: $20k → 13%HOPE FOR PRISONERS: $25k → 13%BRAVER ANGELS INC: $50k → 17%HOPE FOR PRISONERS: $20k → 13%HOPE FOR PRISONERS INC: $10k → 13%LOVING OTHERS ON PURPOSE: $10k → 13%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

IL
WI
MI
NY
NV
IN
OH
PA
NJ
UT
CO
MO
WV
VA
MD
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
LA
MS
AL
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.5M · 25 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +22% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
43

Total granted

$7.5M
$881k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+22%
+15%

Still filing today

64%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $164k 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
Human ServicesYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureCrime & LegalEducationHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • PW
    Piney Woods School
    4× · 2020–2024 · $2.1M · revenue +22%
  • MC
    MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY CROSSROADS INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $1.5M · revenue +51%
  • AO
    Alliance of Concerned Men
    5× · 2020–2024 · $558k · revenue +129%

Funded once

  • UR
    UPPER ROOM KC
    one grant, 2017 · $290k · revenue -19%
  • CC
    CAPE CHARLES ROSENWALD SCHOOL RESTORATION INITIATIVE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue +41%
  • EM
    EMMANUEL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
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
Urban Youth Ministry of Greater Indianapolis Inc

Youth

—
2
Operation Save Our Sons

Youth male leadership

Youth Development
3
New Day Employment

Youth Resiliency Program is a 6-8 week bootcamp that teaches soft skills for successful living. It utilitzes a curriculum that guides youth away from negative behavior patterns and towards positivity.

Employment
4
Do Right Chrisitian Center

Our mission at Do Right Christian Church is to transform lives and communities

Religion
5
Redemption Academy Inc

Mentoring troubled youths

—
6
Thuggin for Christ

T.H.U.G.G.I.N. For Christ is dedicated to dismantling the dysfunctional family-to-prison pipeline by empowering young adults affected by addiction, homelessness, and poverty. Through holistic support programs including mentorship,…

Human Services
7
Blessed 26

Empowering young men to lead with purpose

Youth Development
8
Chicago Cred Inc
Employment
9
Outreach for Youth of Columbus

Outreach ministries is a residential program focused on the restoration of men in crisis, offering a christian faith-based solution to freedom from addiction while addressing needs like homelessness, joblessness, and hopelessness. through…

Religion
10
Men Impact Change

Mentoring young men

Youth Development
11
Exquisite Commuity Solutions Corporation

Our mission to is to assist the youth in underserved communities with the issues of financial literacy, stop the violence efforts, and education. We provide parenting coaching sessions to parents to assist with reintroducing children back…

—
12
The Way of Hope Ministries Inc

Community outreach programs providing education and mentoring to assist in the transformation of the youth and families

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Service Alliance; the most unlike its peers is I Am Cultured Inc. 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

47 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 47 of the 82 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/47
Grantees still filing
24/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RUNNING REBELS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION INC: $1,897,578 · Youth DevelopmentRUNNING REBELS COMMUNITY ORGANIZA…Alliance of Concerned Men: $558,319 · Youth DevelopmentAlliance of Concerned Men+4 more: $85,000 · Youth DevelopmentPiney Woods School: $2,106,122 · EducationPiney Woods SchoolDouglass Leadership Institute Inc: $150,000 · EducationDouglass Leadership Institute …+2 more: $16,639 · EducationMILWAUKEE COMMUNITY CROSSROADS INC: $1,458,920 · Housing & ShelterMILWAUKEE COMMUNITY …Christian Families Against Destructive Decisions: $86,850 · Housing & ShelterChristian Families A…+2 more: $28,000 · Housing & ShelterCan I Live Inc: $65,000 · OtherCan I Live IncBEYOND THE WALLS CHURCH: $55,000 · OtherVICTORY OUTREACH OF TEXAS INC: $50,000 · OtherCENTER FOR COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT: $50,000 · OtherTHE INTERESTED CITIZENS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION: $44,000 · OtherUPPER ROOM KC: $290,000 · OtherUPPER ROOM KCHE BROUGHT US OUT MINISTRY: $67,500 · OtherHE BROUGHT US …+44 more: $478,468 · Other+44 moreBraver AngelsInc: $150,000 · Human ServicesHOPE FOR PRISONERS INC: $111,500 · Human ServicesLOVING OTHERS ON PURPOSE: $55,000 · Human ServicesYOUNGSTOWN BLUE COATS: $15,000 · Human Services+5 more: $40,000 · Human ServicesCAPE CHARLES ROSENWALD SCHOOL RESTORATION INITIATIVE INC: $250,000 · Arts & CultureI AM CULTURED INC: $55,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DENYCE GRAVES FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $25,000 · Arts & CultureG E MINISTRIES INC: $300,000 · Public Benefit+1 more: $10,000 · Public Benefit
Youth Development$2,540,897Education$2,272,761Housing & Shelter$1,573,770Other$1,099,968Human Services$371,500Arts & Culture$345,000Public Benefit$310,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPiney Woods School: $2,106,122 over 4y, 23% of budgetRUNNING REBELS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION INC: $1,897,578 over 2y, 19% of budgetMILWAUKEE COMMUNITY CROSSROADS INC: $1,458,920 over 2y, 24% of budgetAlliance of Concerned Men: $558,319 over 5y, 15% of budgetG E MINISTRIES INC: $300,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetUPPER ROOM KC: $290,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetCAPE CHARLES ROSENWALD SCHOOL RESTORATION INITIATIVE INC: $250,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetBraver AngelsInc: $150,000 over 3y, 4.4% of budgetDouglass Leadership Institute Inc: $150,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetHOPE FOR PRISONERS INC: $111,500 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetChristian Families Against Destructive Decisions: $86,850 over 3y, 14% of budgetHE BROUGHT US OUT MINISTRY: $67,500 over 3y, 21% of budgetCan I Live Inc: $65,000 over 3y, 6.3% of budgetProject Reclaim of Louisiana Inc: $60,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetLOVING OTHERS ON PURPOSE: $55,000 over 3y, 28% of budgetI AM CULTURED INC: $55,000 over 3y, 21% of budgetMEN OF VALOR: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVICE ALLIANCE: $20,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetTHE CITY OF HOPE OUTREACH: $15,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetYOUNGSTOWN BLUE COATS: $15,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetTHE DENYCE GRAVES FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetKLEO Community Family Life Center: $10,183 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPath Forward Utah: $10,000 over 1y, 69% of budgetTHE NONZERO FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetTHE MASTER'S APPRENTICE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFEET ON THE STREET MINISTRIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetADMINISTER JUSTICE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetB A S S INC: $8,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetGOD TOUCH MILWAUKEE INC: $7,500 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetPitt County Family Development Corp: $7,500 over 1y, 98% of budgetComputer Skills & Training Center Inc: $7,500 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetMommas Safe Haven: $7,500 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetYouth for A Better Future: $7,500 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetCENTERPOINT BAPTIST CHURCH: $7,500 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CLINIC: $7,500 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetHOPE FOUNDATION REENTRY NETWORK INC: $7,500 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetDay Eight: $7,500 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetNashville Peacemakers: $6,500 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetRECLAIMING OUR YOUTH SERVICES: $6,456 over 1y, 12% 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.

Dollar General Litera…Local Initiatives Sup…Charities Aid Foundat…Natl Christian Charit…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Network for GoodVanguard Charitable E…Paypal Charitable Giv…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…
Dollar General Literacy FoundationTN9.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Dollar General Literacy Foundation · Local Initiatives Support Corporation · Charities Aid Foundation America · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Network for Good · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Woodson Center funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Woodson Center. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get 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 · 0–5%
    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 Woodson Center?

    Find your warmest path to Woodson Center 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 82 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 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 Woodson Center’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