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Charles Elmer Scholarship Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Charles Elmer Scholarship Fund

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$58k
Granted FY2025still arriving
14
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$12k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$502kHealth$17kReligion$3k
02FY2025 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $36k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $23k
$3,500
Median grant
3
States reached
$713k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY$12,000
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY$10,750
CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE$5,000
LAKE ERIE COLLEGE$4,750
Northeast Ohio Medical University$4,000
Wheaton College$4,000
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI$3,500
John Carroll University$3,250
OTTERBEIN UNIVERSITY$3,000
LAKELAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE$2,750
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY$1,500
BALDWIN WALLACE UNIVERSITY$1,250
OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY$1,250
UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION$1,250
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

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

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 89% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Wheaton College: $4k → 11%REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $5k → 14%LAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $6k → 9%MIAMI UNIVERSITY: $6k → 12%HEIDELBERG UNIVERSITY: $4k → 12%BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: $6k → 12%Northeast Ohio Medical University: $4k → 12%THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: $7k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION: $4k → 13%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $14k → 15%BALDWIN WALLACE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 17%YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 19%OHIO UNIVERSITY: $5k → 22%REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $5k → 14%LAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $5k → 9%MIAMI UNIVERSITY: $4k → 12%BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 12%THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: $7k → 13%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $12k → 15%BALDWIN WALLACE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 17%YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 19%LAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $4k → 9%MIAMI UNIVERSITY: $4k → 12%THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: $6k → 13%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $11k → 15%BALDWIN WALLACE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 17%REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $5k → 14%LAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $4k → 9%MIAMI UNIVERSITY: $4k → 12%THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: $4k → 13%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 15%LAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $4k → 9%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 15%REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $4k → 14%LAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $4k → 9%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $9k → 15%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $7k → 15%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $18k → 17%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 15%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $17k → 17%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $16k → 17%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $13k → 17%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $12k → 17%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 17%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 17%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $7k → 17%CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 17%CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $5k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
WI
MI
NY
MA
OH
PA
WV
SC
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$492k · 29 repeat orgs$29k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +14% since the first grant, against +0% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
12

Total granted

$492k
$20k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+0%

Still filing today

41%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). 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

  • LE
    LAKE ERIE COLLEGE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $36k · revenue +28%
  • BW
    Baldwin Wallace University
    6× · 2017–2025 · $18k · revenue +14%
  • Cornell University
    5× · 2017–2023 · $9k · revenue +59%

Funded once

  • ND
    NOTRE DAME COLLEGE
    one grant, 2017 · $4k · revenue -21%
  • NY
    New York Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $3k · revenue +51%
  • HC
    HIRAM COLLEGE
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue +0%
How this is measured

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

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
2
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
3
Wilson College

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

Education
4
Manhattan University

Manhattan university is an independent catholic instituion of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. the mission of manhattan university is to provide a contemporary, person-centered…

Education
5
Trinity University

Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

Education
6
Capital University

Capital university transforms lives by empowering an inclusive community of learners through engaging academic, co-curricular, and professional experiences.

Education
7
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
8
Walsh University Inc

Walsh university is an independent, coeducational catholic, liberal arts and sciences institution dedicated to educating its students to become leaders in service to others through a values-based education with an international perspective…

Education
9
LaGrange College

Education - lagrange college challenges the minds and inspires the souls of its students. founded in 1831 and committed to its relationship with the united methodist church and its wesleyan and liberal arts traditions, the college supports…

Education
10
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…

—
11
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…

—
12
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ashland University; the most unlike its peers is New York University. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

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

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 24 of the 45 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/24
Grantees still filing
16/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: $106,250 · OtherCLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITYOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $78,500 · OtherOHIO STATE UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI: $26,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATITHE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: $23,500 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF AKRONMIAMI UNIVERSITY: $21,250 · OtherMIAMI UNIVERSITYREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $17,250 · OtherKENT STATE UNIVERSITY: $17,247 · OtherYOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY: $13,250 · Other+15 more: $77,000 · Other+15 moreLAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $36,250 · EducationLAKE ERIE COLLEGELAKELAND UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · EducationLAKELAND UNIVERSITYBaldwin Wallace University: $18,000 · EducationBaldwin Wallace UniversityCornell University: $8,500 · EducationCornell UniversityGROVE CITY COLLEGE: $8,250 · EducationGROVE CITY COLLEGEOtterbein University: $6,500 · EducationUniversity of Mount Union: $6,250 · EducationHeidelberg University: $6,250 · EducationWHEATON COLLEGE: $6,000 · Education+13 more: $25,750 · Education+13 more
Other$380,747Education$141,750

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $36,250 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLAKELAND UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBaldwin Wallace University: $18,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $8,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGROVE CITY COLLEGE: $8,250 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetOtterbein University: $6,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Mount Union: $6,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHeidelberg University: $6,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWHEATON COLLEGE: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNOTRE DAME COLLEGE: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJohn Carroll University: $3,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASHLAND UNIVERSITY: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARANATHA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY INC: $2,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHIRAM COLLEGE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPITTSBURGH TECHNICAL INSTITUTE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOhio Northern University: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMALONE UNIVERSITY: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMERCYHURST UNIVERSITY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCINCINNATI FOUNDATION FOR MORTUARY EDUCATION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

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

  • Who funds LAKE ERIE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds LAKELAND UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Baldwin Wallace University ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds GROVE CITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Otterbein University ↗
  • Who funds University of Mount Union ↗
  • Who funds Heidelberg University ↗
  • Who funds WHEATON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds NOTRE DAME COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds John Carroll University ↗
  • Who funds ASHLAND UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds New York University ↗
  • Who funds MARANATHA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds HIRAM COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds PITTSBURGH TECHNICAL INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds The President and Trustees of Colby College ↗
  • Who funds Ohio Northern University ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

National Collegiate A…Ann McConahay Educati…The Paul and Carol Da…The Ohio Foundation o…Ascendium Education S…Premier Bank Foundati…Folds of Honor Founda…Columbus FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …The Ayco Charitable F…AbbVie FoundationCharities Aid Foundat…
National Collegiate Athletic AssociationIN15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Collegiate Athletic Association · Ann McConahay Educational Foundation · The Paul and Carol David Foundation · The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges · Ascendium Education Solutions Inc · Premier Bank Foundation · Folds of Honor Foundation · Columbus Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Charles Elmer Scholarship Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Charles Elmer Scholarship Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wheaton College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
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 a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than 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 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Charles Elmer Scholarship Fund?

Find your warmest path to Charles Elmer Scholarship Fund 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 45 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its 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.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Charles Elmer Scholarship’s filings →

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