Funding Graph Case Studies
We trained our model on historical foundation grants, then tested whether its top recommendations actually received new grants in a future year the model never saw. Each case below is a confirmed prediction — a foundation we recommended went on to make a first-time grant the following year.
Case 1
Down Syndrome Association of Delaware
Laffey-McHugh Foundation
Made a $25,000 first-time grant in 2024. SciRise ranked this foundation #1 out of 3,333 candidates.
72 organizations that share funders with this nonprofit also receive grants from the Laffey-McHugh Foundation — a strong pattern of overlapping funding networks, reinforced by shared geography in Delaware.
Invisible to keyword search
Zero keyword overlap — text-based tools would miss this entirely.
Highly selective funder
Funds only 132 organizations.
Case 2
Louisiana Children's Museum
United Way of Southeast Louisiana
Made a $46,479 first-time grant in 2024. SciRise ranked this foundation #3 out of 3,918 candidates.
25 organizations with overlapping funders also receive grants from the United Way of Southeast Louisiana. Arts councils, community shelters, and youth organizations share deep funding ties with this museum.
Invisible to keyword search
Zero keyword overlap — text-based tools would miss this entirely.
Highly selective funder
Funds only 78 organizations.
Case 3
Bishop Museum
Kosasa Foundation
Made a $100,000 first-time grant in 2024. SciRise ranked this foundation #1 out of 2,773 candidates.
24 organizations with shared funders also receive grants from the Kosasa Foundation. Cultural institutions, universities, and conservation groups form a tightly connected funding cluster.
Invisible to keyword search
Zero keyword overlap — text-based tools would miss this entirely.
Highly selective funder
Funds only 122 organizations.
Case 4
The Chicago Lighthouse
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Made a $30,000 first-time grant in 2024. SciRise ranked this foundation #2 out of 7,960 candidates.
139 organizations with overlapping funders also receive grants from the McCormick Foundation. Community, education, and human service organizations across Chicago share a dense web of funding connections.
Invisible to keyword search
Zero keyword overlap — text-based tools would miss this entirely.
Highly selective funder
Funds only 204 organizations.
Case 5
Venice Family Clinic
The Rose Hills Foundation
Made a $150,000 first-time grant in 2024. SciRise ranked this foundation #1 out of 8,006 candidates.
254 organizations with shared funders also receive grants from The Rose Hills Foundation — the strongest peer signal in our case studies. Health centers, hospitals, and social service agencies form an overwhelming convergence of funding overlap.
Invisible to keyword search
Zero keyword overlap — text-based tools would miss this entirely.
Highly selective funder
Funds only 342 organizations.
Case 6
Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Indiana
Lincoln Financial Foundation
Made a $50,000 first-time grant in 2024. SciRise ranked this foundation #1 out of 69 candidates.
25 organizations with shared funders also receive grants from the Lincoln Financial Foundation — all based in Indiana, none in Pennsylvania. The model found this cross-state funder purely through funding network overlap, not geography.
Invisible to keyword search
Zero keyword overlap — text-based tools would miss this entirely.
Highly selective funder
Funds only 310 organizations.
Validation Summary
All case studies are based on publicly available data from IRS 990 filings. No proprietary or confidential information was used in this analysis.