South Carolina · Nonprofit
DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC
DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC (South Carolina) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $462,946 to it, the largest being The JEM Project ($195,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $983k
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $463k
- Net assets
- $1.0M
What Defend the Fatherless Inc does
Mission
To be one more reason for families to say, "Yes" to vulnerable children through foster care, adoption, and kinship care. Defend the Fatherless meets this mission by serving the physical, emotional, educational, spiritual and financial needs of the local foster and adoptive community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
In 2025 Defend the Fatherless had 543 visits to the Foster Closet and subsequently served 1,072 children. During a visit to the Foster Closet, families are able to "shop" at no cost for items including: diapers, wipes, clothing, shoes, socks, underwear, car seats, baby equipment and other essentials. Among other items, we have provided families with cribs, bassinets, bunk beds, twin beds, mattresses, swings, changing tables, exersaucers, strollers, double strollers, infant car seats, toddler car seats, swings, jumperoos, baby carriers, shoes, new socks, new underwear, diapers, wipes, clothes, winter coats, backpacks, school supplies, hats/gloves, bikes and blankets/sheets. Items are donated through the community and are not paid for by Defend. The items are then given away to families at no cost. The Beds for Kids In Care program (a sub program of the foster closet) experienced tremendous growth in 2025. It has been widely used by social workers in hopes of keeping sibling sets together or even in Family Preservation in effort to provide a safe and comfortable place for children to sleep while a biological parent is working with DSS. A total of 396 beds were provided.
$486,785 spentof which $474,681 as grants$549,880 earned by the program61% of program spendingFor the fifth year, Defend the Fatherless partnered directly with the York County Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide Christmas to every York County child in foster care. This year, 162 children were served. Over $19,000 was raised through the on-line Santa's Helper campaign, 23 local churches and businesses hosted physical angel trees that helped to collect gift cards, totalling over $17,000. Funding for the program and through this joint community effort, equated to $36,000 and was collected to fund the program in just three short weeks! The gift cards collected were given directly to local foster families to allow them the joy of shopping for the foster children in their care and provide a connection opportunity between foster child and foster parent!
$48,134 spentof which $48,134 as grants$55,168 earned by the program6% of program spendingDefend the Fatherless collected 500 pairs of specifically wished for shoes through their Back 2 School Shoe Drive. This is equivalent to approximately $29,000 in shoe donations. Also collected were 150 backpacks and school supplies with a $40 value each which equals $6000. We also collected and gave away school supplies in the approximate dollar amount of $1000. Defend spent $1200 on this program for the purchase of additional shoes, socks and school supplies that were not donated in-kind.
$37,237 spentof which $37,237 as grants$36,200 earned by the program5% of program spendingMental Health Scholarship Program: To help offset the cost of trauma based mental health services Defend the Fatherless offers a Mental Health Scholarship. Families are required to apply for the scholarship, services must be verified by Defend the Fatherless and receipts are required. Families are eligible to be reimbursed up to $500 per family per year.
$11,541 spentof which $11,541 as grants$15,000 earned by the program1% of program spendingConnection Events Program: Connection and respite continue to be a huge need for the families Defend the Fatherless serves. The family structure of the foster and adoptive family is unique and it is important for the families served by Defend the Fatherless to feel a sense of community and belonging. Defend hosted 47 Connection and Respite Opportunities up from 21 Connection and Respite Opportunities. Nearly 1,300 people were served through these engagement events.
$10,099 spent$5,509 earned by the program1% of program spendingAdoption Grant Program: In 2025 $6,000 was awarded to three different families each to offset the cost of adoption fees. Families applied for the adoption grant and the board of directors met to discuss who would receive the grants. Defend the Fatherless received $1,000 in restricted funding to assist with this program.
$6,000 spentof which $6,000 as grants$1,000 earned by the program1% of program spendingAllocation of wages, payroll taxes, and other operating expenses
$202,546 spent25% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $802,342.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2022 to 2023, from $489k to $813k (+66%).
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.
90% of DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (91% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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
Caitlin Sund
Executive Director
Board chair
Anthony Boddie
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 9 funders, grant income rose $28 → $71k.
6 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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 DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC’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
DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
46% 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 DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 91% · 2022 41% · 2023 21% — 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
17% of DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 56% 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
DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC draws 70% of its grant income from funders outside South Carolina, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $161k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 13,917 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,917 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC
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
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC: 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 DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC?
- DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC (South Carolina) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $462,946 to it, the largest being The JEM Project ($195,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $462,946 in grants to DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC?
- The JEM Project is the largest funder on record, with $195,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DEFEND THE FATHERLESS INC 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.
Play a game about who funds Defend the Fatherless →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 16 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing