South Carolina · Nonprofit
BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY (South Carolina) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $848,325 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($274,487). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 98% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $83M
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $848k
- Net assets
- $66M
What Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community does
Mission
Bishop gadsden, a life care retirement community, embraces god's call to ministry. We affirm positive living for all who live and work here. We serve with integrity. We exercise wise stewardship. We reach out with a generous spirit.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Founded by the fourth episcopal bishop of south carolina in 1850, Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community upholds the tradition of faith-based, not-for-profit organizations dedicated to the well-being of those persons who, because of age, personal conditions, health and their express desire, choose to reside in a retirement community. Bishop gadsden is a mission-driven, organization which has a long-term obligation to its residents and is committed to removing financial barriers to residency. Its roots in the greater charleston community span over 176 years and, over the years, it has responded to specific needs of the greater community. It has long been open to all men and women without regard to race, creed, religion, sexual preference, or national origin.retirement community: bishop gadsden serves approximately 575 senior adults, 62 years of age and older, residing in four levels of care: independent community (283 units), assisted living (79 units), memory support (32 beds), and skilled nursing care (100 beds). Bishop gadsden operates to meet the primary needs of seniors by providing (1) residential facilities designed to meet physical, emotional, recreational, social,…
$64,218,926 spent$69,283,273 earned by the program99% of program spendingCharitable giving and generous spirit programs: throughout bishop gadsden's history, a commitment to giving has been on the forefront resulting in more $14.58 million in charitable care and gifts being raised for charitable care within the community and distributed to other non-profit organizations in our local community.the charitable mission committee's nonprofit selection chair and fellow residents select a small group (5 to 7) of nonprofits from a list of around 30 nonprofit grant applicants to support each year. Led by residents, with assistance from team members of the charitable giving office, the charitable mission committee sets a fundraising goal. In 2025, this important committee disbursed $300,000 in cash. These funds were allocated as follows: sea island habitat for humanity $100,000; saint james $100,000; ferguson village community $100,000; charleston rescue $3,000. Additionally, $32,050 in in-kind items, plus 5,000 toys for habitat for humanity and toys for tots were donated. In addition to charitable causes that support outside organizations, residents and staff contribute to the strongheart employee education scholarship, with $138,073 being distributed to…
$393,111 spentof which $393,111 as grants1% of program spendingResident assistance program: bishop christopher gadsden founded the home for orphans and widows in 1850 to assist those in need. His vision for a caring community is the heart and soul of the organization now called bishop gadsden. At the core of bishop gadsden is the belief and execution of the charitable mission.since 1995, bishop gadsden's resident assistance fund has donated nearly $6 million in charitable care to residents facing financial difficulties. The resident assistance fund alleviates any anxieties residents and their families have by assuring them that they will continue to receive the care they need regardless of whether they can pay. Through the continued efforts of bishop gadsden residents, families, staff, and other organizations, the resident assistance fund continues to be a high priority. This imperative fund allows bishop gadsden to assist residents and future residents who, by no fault of their own, can no longer afford their continued care, while also supporting outside charitable organizations. All residents who are receiving financial support or assistance are between the ages of 73-98. They come from the greater charleston area, are both male and female,…
$300,000 spentof which $300,000 as grants0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $64,912,037.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $173M to $240M (+38%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 2% · 2021 8% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
6% of BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Sarah E H Tipton
CEO/president
Board chair
Melinda Lucka Kelley Esquire
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $9k → $88k.
10 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 98% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
98% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 52% · 2019 53% · 2020 37% · 2021 36% · 2022 52% · 2023 33% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
29% of BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
98% of BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $20k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside South Carolina, across 2 states.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $828k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,297 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In South Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Communities · exempt
- Kiawah Life Plan Village Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY?
- BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY (South Carolina) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $848,325 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($274,487). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 98% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $848,325 in grants to BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $274,487 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 12 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing