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Plinth

· Private foundation

Byham Charitable Foundation Attn Helen Spalaris Foundation Manager

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$243k
Granted FY2024still arriving
43
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What you fund
01

What you funded, over time

By grantee IRS cause code (NTEE).

A cause breakdown isn’t shown here: 51% of BYHAM CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ATTN HELEN SPALARIS FOUNDATION MANAGER’s grantee dollars fall outside its nine largest cause areas, whether because the recipient carries no IRS cause code or because its cause sits in the long tail. A chart would be mostly one residual band and misrepresent the portfolio.

02FY2024 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k34 grants · $64k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $179k
$1,837
Median grant
8
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$35,000
CURE ALZHEIMER'S FUND$30,000
PARKINSONS FOUNDATION OF WESTERN PA$30,000
PITTSBURGH TOMORROW$25,000
WQED$18,000
PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST$10,750
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WPA$10,000
UNITED WAY$10,000
THE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION$10,000
CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION$5,500
PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE$5,000
SUSAN G KOMEN FOUNDATION$5,000
MANCHESTER BIDWELL CORPORATION$5,000
GREATER PITTSBURGH FOOD BANK$5,000
PITTSBURGH CLO$4,500
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 (FY18–24, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER PITTSBURGH: $4k → 11%OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 11%OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 11%OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 11%OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES: $2k → 11%OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 11%THE URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER PITTSBURGH: $1k → 11%URBAN LEAGUE OF PITTSBURGH: $1k → 11%URBAN LEAGUE OF PITTSBURGH: $1k → 11%URBAN LEAGUE OF PITTSBURGH: $1k → 11%THE URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER PITTSBURGH: $1k → 11%OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 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.

Which US states your grants reach

NY
MA
IN
OH
PA
WV
NM
DC
TX
FL

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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.5M · 48 repeat orgs$151k to everyone else

48 repeat relationships — 33 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
31

Total granted

$1.5M
$84k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+40%

Still filing today

60%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $67k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHealthCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyHuman ServicesOther

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

  • PB
    PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC
    5× · 2018–2024 · $165k · revenue +31%
  • PC
    PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST
    7× · 2018–2024 · $117k · revenue +6%
  • WM
    WQED MULTIMEDIA
    7× · 2018–2024 · $69k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • PI
    PGH INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES (GREENAMYRE RESEARCH)
    one grant, 2023 · $20k
  • PI
    PGH INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES (PARKINSONS RESEARCH)
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
  • CM
    CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART (CARNEGIE INTERNATIONAL)
    one grant, 2022 · $5k

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
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The western pennsylvania conservancy protects and restores exceptional places to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas for the benefit of present and future generations. the conservancy…

Environment
3
Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc

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

4
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
5
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
6
Pittsburgh Entertainment Project

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

7
Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium Inc

To support education and research at college, university, and research libraries.

Education
8
Pidc Development Management Corporation

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

Community Improvement
9
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
10
Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce

The greater pittsburgh chamber of commerce (gpcc) is the advocacy affiliate of the allegheny conference on community development (accd). (continued on sch o) the chamber works to improve the competitiveness of the pittsburgh region for…

Community Improvement
11
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

12
Carnegie Institute

To preserve and expand the resources of art and science as agents of personal growth and social advancement in pittsburgh and beyond.

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Pittsburgh Foundation and the most unlike its peers is The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc. 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 backsteadyPregnancy Support ServicesGovernment Accountability R…Community FoundationsFood Pantries & AssistanceChild and Family ServicesCancer Support OrganizationsClassical Music EnsemblesIndependent K-8 SchoolsFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Animal Rescue and AdoptionPublic University Foundatio…Community Arts OrganizationsYmca Community CentersLand Conservation Organizat…Professional Ballet Compani…
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 43 years old; the field is 19. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number18%2%<5yr13%7%5–10yr19%7%10–20yr17%26%20–35yr15%20%35–55yr17%39%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value18%3%<5yr13%2%5–10yr19%0%10–20yr17%15%20–35yr15%30%35–55yr17%50%55yr+

The field is 18% startups (under 5 years old) — 2% of your grantees by number, and just 3% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 9% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/49
the rest of the field
9%
7,129/78,113

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

46 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 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 46 of the 90 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/46
Grantees still filing
37/46
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

WESA — $145,500 · OtherWESACURE ALZHEIMER'S FUND — $120,200 · OtherCURE ALZHEIMER'S FUNDTHE DANCERS' TRUST FUND OF PITTSBURGH BALLET — $114,000 · OtherTHE DANCERS' TRUST FUND OF PITTSBURGH BALLETUNITED WAY — $90,000 · OtherUNITED WAYIndividual grant recipient — $70,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPARKINSONS FOUNDATION OF WESTERN PA (DR BERMAN ON BOARD) — $60,000 · OtherPARKINSONS FOUNDATION OF WESTERN PA (DR BERMAN ON BOARD)PITTSBURGH INSTITUTE FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES — $36,000 · Other+56 more — $265,461 · Other+56 morePITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC — $165,000 · Arts & CulturePITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INCPITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST — $116,750 · Arts & CulturePITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUSTWQED MULTIMEDIA — $69,000 · Arts & CultureWQED MULTIMEDIAPITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER CORPORATION — $47,000 · Arts & CulturePITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER CORPORATI…The City Theatre Company Inc — $44,750 · Arts & CultureThe City Theatre Company IncCIVIC LIGHT OPERA ASSOCIATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $24,400 · Arts & Culture+6 more — $58,850 · Arts & Culture+6 morePLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WESTERN PA INC — $50,547 · HealthTHE MIDWIFE CENTER FOR BIRTH AND WOMEN'S HEALTH — $15,250 · HealthThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc — $5,000 · HealthFAMILY HOUSE INC — $5,000 · Health+1 more — $1,060 · HealthMANCHESTER BIDWELL CORPORATION — $56,100 · Public BenefitCHAUTAUQUA FOUNDATION INC — $29,000 · PhilanthropyCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION — $10,000 · PhilanthropyTHE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION — $1,500 · Philanthropy+1 more — $206 · PhilanthropyCREATING PITTSBURGH TOMORROW INC — $25,000 · Community ImprovementFRIENDS OF THE RIVERFRONT INC — $10,500 · Community Improvement+1 more — $500 · Community ImprovementOutreach Teen and Family Services Inc — $11,100 · Human ServicesURBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $9,100 · Human Services
Other$901,161Arts & Culture$525,750Health$76,857Public Benefit$56,100Philanthropy$40,706Community Improvement$36,000Human Services$20,200

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 budgetPITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC — $165,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetPITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST — $116,750 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWQED MULTIMEDIA — $69,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMANCHESTER BIDWELL CORPORATION — $56,100 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WESTERN PA INC — $50,547 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetPITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER CORPORATION — $47,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetThe City Theatre Company Inc — $44,750 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA FOUNDATION INC — $29,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCREATING PITTSBURGH TOMORROW INC — $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCIVIC LIGHT OPERA ASSOCIATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $24,400 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION — $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MIDWIFE CENTER FOR BIRTH AND WOMEN'S HEALTH — $15,250 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN BUSINESS COLLABORATIVE — $15,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetQUANTUM THEATRE INC — $14,500 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetPITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INC — $13,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREGIONAL TRAIL CORPORATION — $12,500 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetCHAMBER MUSIC PITTSBURGH — $11,500 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetOutreach Teen and Family Services Inc — $11,100 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE RIVERFRONT INC — $10,500 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetGREATER PITTSBURGH COMMUNITY FOOD BANK — $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetYMCA of Martha's Vineyard Inc — $10,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $9,100 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetRIVERLIFE — $7,250 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetThe Ohio University Foundation — $6,800 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY HOUSE INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE — $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRINGLING COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN INC — $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA DANCE CIRCLE INC — $2,750 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetALLEGHENY CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUMANE ANIMAL RESCUE — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE CUSHING ACADEMY — $1,800 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S FORUM INC — $1,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION — $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetONE DAY TO REMEMBER INC — $1,060 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PITTSBURGH — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetATTACK THEATRE INC — $600 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetA SCHOOLS PITTSBURGH'S COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION — $600 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Junior League of Pittsburgh Inc — $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PITTSBURGH PROMISE FOUNDATION — $206 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University — $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH — $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDENISON UNIVERSITY — $50 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC
  • Who funds PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST
  • Who funds WQED MULTIMEDIA
  • Who funds MANCHESTER BIDWELL CORPORATION
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WESTERN PA INC
  • Who funds PITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER CORPORATION
  • Who funds The City Theatre Company Inc
  • Who funds CHAUTAUQUA FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds CREATING PITTSBURGH TOMORROW INC
  • Who funds CIVIC LIGHT OPERA ASSOCIATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH
  • Who funds CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
  • Who funds THE MIDWIFE CENTER FOR BIRTH AND WOMEN'S HEALTH
  • Who funds WOMEN BUSINESS COLLABORATIVE
  • Who funds QUANTUM THEATRE INC
  • Who funds PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INC
  • Who funds REGIONAL TRAIL CORPORATION
  • Who funds CHAMBER MUSIC PITTSBURGH
  • Who funds Outreach Teen and Family Services Inc
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE RIVERFRONT INC
  • Who funds GREATER PITTSBURGH COMMUNITY FOOD BANK
  • Who funds YMCA of Martha's Vineyard Inc
  • Who funds COLUMBUS FOUNDATION
  • Who funds URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER PITTSBURGH
  • Who funds RIVERLIFE
  • Who funds The Ohio University Foundation

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.

Hillman Family FoundationsPA44.5× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hillman Family Foundations · Richard King Mellon Foundation · The Pittsburgh Foundation · The Heinz Endowments · Eqt Foundation · The Burke Family Foundation · The Burke Foundation · The Grable Foundation · The Fine Foundation · The Buhl Foundation · Eden Hall Foundation · Upmc Group

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 Byham Charitable Foundation Attn Helen Spalaris Foundation Manager 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
202122232425
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 1%
  • The Trustees of Mount Holyoke College1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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.

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 90 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