Skip to content
Plinth
Foundation Dossiers
Plinth

· Private foundation

Bny Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pa

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$5.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$1.5M
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0195% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2020–2024.

Education$7.8MCommunity Improvement$5.4MPublic Benefit$2.5MArts & Culture$2.0MEmployment$1.6MPhilanthropy$1.2MScience & Tech$1.0MYouth Development$380kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $60k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.6M
  • $250k+6 grants · $3.4M
$200,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$82M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ALLEGHENY CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY DEV$1,465,000
MATCHING GRANTS FOR EMPLOYEE DONATIONS$579,258
ADVANCED LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE$500,000
CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY$333,333
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INC$300,000
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH$250,000
NEIGHBORWORKS$200,000
LITERACY PITTSBURGH$200,000
THE PITTSBURGH PROMISE$200,000
NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIES$200,000
PITTSBURGH DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP$175,000
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON$150,000
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP$139,464
KIVA$125,000
REDUILDING TOGETHER$100,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY21–22, $245k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CASA SAN JOSE: $100k → 11%YWCA GREATER PITTSBURGH: $35k → 11%YWCA GREATER PITTSBURGH: $35k → 11%THE CITIZEN SCIENCE LAB: $75k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$19M · 25 repeat orgs$5.2M to everyone else

25 repeat relationships — 12 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
33

Total granted

$19M
$4.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+17%

Still filing today

80%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $674k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureCommunity ImprovementEducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentFood & NutritionOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • IW
    INNOVATION WORKS INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $1.9M · revenue +83%
  • PS
    PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +80%
  • CI
    CARNEGIE INSTITUTE
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • CC
    COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY ED
    one grant, 2020 · $1.0M
  • B
    BUILD
    one grant, 2022 · $300k
  • RC
    RIVERSIDE CENTER FOR INNOVATION
    one grant, 2020 · $250k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
2
Pittsburgh Council On Higher Education

To provide a means for sharing resources and information among members, engage in joint projects, and offer a common voice on educational matters.

Education
3
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

Pidc plans and implements economic development initiatives (see schedule o) which enhance the competitive environment, generate jobs and produce higher tax ratables throughout philadelphia.

Community Improvement
4
World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh

The world affairs council of pittsburgh's mission is to convene and connect people around global issues to build a competitive, thriving, and inclusive pittsburgh.

International
5
Pittsburgh Entertainment Project

To create a vibrant, responsible, and sustainable film and digital media sector in southwestern pennsylvania.

—
6
Allegheny Conference On Community Development

See schedule othe allegheny conference on community development (accd) and affiliates - the greater pittsburgh chamber of commerce (chamber), the pennsylvania economy league of greater pittsburgh(pelgp) and the pittsburgh regional alliance…

—
7
Zoological Society of Pittsburgh

The zoological society of pittsburgh is dedicated to being a leader in, and significant contributor to, the conservation of endangered and threatened species. the society provides an enjoyable family experience that fosters understanding,…

Animals
8
Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association

The pittsburgh venture capital association was founded in 1982 to catalyze venture investment and entrepreneurialism in western pennsylvania. since then it has become the leading voice of private equity investors in the region.through a…

—
9
Pidc Development Management Corporation

Pidc dmc administers and coordinates various development projects for the city and other not-for-profit entities.

Community Improvement
10
Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation

To create and distribute trusted content, build connections and strengthen our community through public media.

Arts & Culture
11
Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc

Tourism development organization dedicated to expanding the tourism economy across allegheny county.

—
12
Sustainable Pittsburgh

Provide information to decision maker in the pittsburgh region to promote economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality for sustainable solutions for communities and businesses.

Environment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Pittsburgh Foundation and the most unlike its peers is The Citizen Science Lab. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyFamily FoundationsHealthcare Delivery & Suppo…Regional Arts OrganizationsNeighborhood Revitalization…Pittsburgh Regional Develop…Performing Arts Organizatio…Community Support Services
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 37 years old; the field is 20. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number16%0%<5yr12%9%5–10yr19%18%10–20yr21%22%20–35yr16%31%35–55yr16%20%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value16%0%<5yr12%20%5–10yr19%12%10–20yr21%12%20–35yr16%34%35–55yr16%22%55yr+

The field is 16% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 2% lost their exemption, against 8% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
2%1/47
the rest of the field
8%
763/9,859

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

47 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 47 of the 67 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/47
Grantees still filing
31/47
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY — $3,000,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTYALLEGHENY CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY DEV — $2,031,000 · OtherALLEGHENY CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY DEVINNOVATION WORKS INC — $1,895,000 · OtherINNOVATION WORKS INCMATCHING GRANTS FOR EMPLOYEE DONATIONS — $1,389,599 · OtherMATCHING GRANTS FOR EMPLOYEE DONATIONSCOMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY ED — $1,000,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY EDIndividual grant recipient — $598,500 · Other+32 more — $4,459,914 · Other+32 morePITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INC — $1,110,000 · Arts & CulturePITTSBURGH SY…CARNEGIE INSTITUTE — $1,041,333 · Arts & CultureCARNEGIE INST…AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER — $200,000 · Arts & CultureAFRICAN AMERI…THE REGIONAL OPPORTUNITY CENTER D/B/A VIBRANT PITTSBURGH — $175,000 · Arts & CultureTHE REGIONAL …WQED MULTIMEDIA — $105,000 · Arts & CulturePITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER CORPORATION — $105,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more — $188,000 · Arts & Culture+5 moreThe Advanced Leadership Institute Inc — $2,200,000 · Public BenefitThe Advanc…THE PITTSBURGH PROMISE FOUNDATION — $999,000 · PhilanthropyTHE PITTS…UNITED WAY WORLDWIDE — $475,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WA…POISE FOUNDATION — $350,000 · PhilanthropyPOISE FOU…THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION — $250,000 · PhilanthropyTHE PITTS…LITERACY PITTSBURGH — $900,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH — $550,000 · EducationCARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH — $200,000 · EducationEXTRA MILE EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $102,000 · EducationROCK THE STREET WALL STREET — $75,000 · EducationNEIGHBORHOOD ALLIES INC — $500,000 · Community ImprovementPITTSBURGH DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP — $275,000 · Community ImprovementLEADERSHIP PITTSBURGH — $100,000 · Community ImprovementPittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation — $85,000 · Community ImprovementPittsburgh Community Reinvestment G — $75,000 · Community ImprovementCatapult Greater Pittsburgh — $70,000 · Community ImprovementGwens Girls Inc — $325,000 · Youth DevelopmentHOMEWOOD CHIDREN'S VILLAGE — $100,000 · Youth Development
Other$14,374,013Arts & Culture$2,924,333Public Benefit$2,200,000Philanthropy$2,074,000Education$1,827,000Community Improvement$1,105,000Youth Development$425,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetThe Advanced Leadership Institute Inc — $2,200,000 over 4y, 41% of budgetINNOVATION WORKS INC — $1,895,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetPITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INC — $1,110,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetCARNEGIE INSTITUTE — $1,041,333 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PITTSBURGH PROMISE FOUNDATION — $999,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetLITERACY PITTSBURGH — $900,000 over 4y, 7.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH — $550,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD ALLIES INC — $500,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetUNITED WAY WORLDWIDE — $475,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetPOISE FOUNDATION — $350,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetGwens Girls Inc — $325,000 over 3y, 5.1% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University — $300,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPITTSBURGH DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP — $275,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetTHE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION — $250,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER PITTSBURGH COMMUNITY FOOD BANK — $250,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBIDWELL TRAINING CENTER INC — $250,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetAFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER — $200,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetCARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH — $200,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE REGIONAL OPPORTUNITY CENTER D/B/A VIBRANT PITTSBURGH — $175,000 over 4y, 5.0% of budgetThe Consortium for Public Education — $150,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetPROGRAM TO AID CITIZEN ENTERPRISE INC — $150,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetTHE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORPORATION — $150,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY — $125,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKIVA MICROFUNDS — $125,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWQED MULTIMEDIA — $105,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER CORPORATION — $105,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetEXTRA MILE EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $102,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budget412 FOOD RESCUE INC — $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCASA SAN JOSE — $100,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetHOMEWOOD CHIDREN'S VILLAGE — $100,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetREBUILDING TOGETHER INC — $100,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLEADERSHIP PITTSBURGH — $100,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetPittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation — $85,000 over 1y, 8.2% of budgetROCK THE STREET WALL STREET — $75,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetPittsburgh Community Reinvestment G — $75,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetTHE CITIZEN SCIENCE LAB — $75,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetYOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION GREATER PITTSBURGH — $70,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE FORBES FUNDS — $70,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCatapult Greater Pittsburgh — $70,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetPITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST — $68,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPITTSBURGH PARKS CONSERVANCY — $60,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetALUMNI THEATER COMPANY — $35,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetHILL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — $35,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetMANCHESTER CRAFTSMEN'S GUILD — $35,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA — $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Heinz EndowmentsRichard King Mellon F…Hillman Family Founda…The Buhl FoundationThe Grable FoundationThe Pittsburgh Founda…McCune Foundation Pnc…Eden Hall FoundationEqt FoundationThe Fine FoundationThe United Way of Sou…Opportunity Foundation
The Heinz EndowmentsPA60× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Heinz Endowments · Richard King Mellon Foundation · Hillman Family Foundations · The Buhl Foundation · The Grable Foundation · The Pittsburgh Foundation · McCune Foundation Pnc Bank Na · Eden Hall Foundation · Eqt Foundation · The Fine Foundation · The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania · Opportunity Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Bny Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pa funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%your share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    23report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Bny Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pa?

    Find your warmest path to Bny Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pa 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 67 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    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