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Charles W & Sarah Jane Syak Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Charles W & Sarah Jane Syak Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$300k
Granted FY2021
16
Grants FY2021
6
States reached
$90k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2021.

Arts & Culture$152kReligion$80kEducation$51kHuman Services$29kFood & Nutrition$25kYouth Development$11kInternational$2kHealth$2kOther$0
02FY2021 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k8 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $136k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $151k
$10,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS$90,000
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH$61,349
GIRARD HIGH SCHOOL$40,000
FRIENDS OF KMS FARMSTEAD$25,000
STAMBAUGH AUDITORIUM ASSOC$25,000
MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM$20,000
EMMANUEL CARE CENTER$16,200
Individual grant recipient$10,000
BIG BROTHERSBIG SISTERS OF MAHONING VALLEY$3,000
OHIO BUSINESS WEEK FOUNDATION$3,000
GIRARD MULTI-GENERATIONAL CENTER$2,500
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH$1,000
HEART REACH NEIGHBORHOOD MINISTRIES$1,000
RESCUE MISSION MAHONING VALLEY$500
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$500
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 (FY20–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 88% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $500 → 17%AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS: $90k → 14%MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM: $20k → 9%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH: $1k → 17%OHIO BUSINESS WEEK FOUNDATION: $3k → 15%FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: $61k → 16%RESCUE MISSION MAHONING VALLEY: $500 → 19%FRIENDS OF KMS FARMSTEAD: $25k → 5%BLOOMFIELD CRUISERS: $10k → 16%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH: $1k → 17%OHIO BUSINESS WEEK FOUNDATION: $2k → 15%GIRARD HIGH SCHOOL: $40k → 16%HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $500 → 19%FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: $18k → 16%RESCUE MISSION MAHONING VALLEY: $350 → 19%EMMANUEL CARE CENTER: $16k → 16%STAMBAUGH AUDITORIUM ASSOC: $25k → 19%GIRARD HIGH SCHOOL: $11k → 16%HEART REACH NEIGHBORHOOD MINISTRIES: $1k → 19%EMMANUEL CARE CENTER: $7k → 16%HEART REACH NEIGHBORHOOD MINISTRIES: $250 → 19%BIG BROTHERSBIG SISTERS OF MAHONING VALLEY: $3k → 16%YOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY SOCIETY: $17k → 19%BIG BROTHERSBIG SISTERS OF MAHONING VALLEY: $3k → 16%GIRARD MULTI-GENERATIONAL CENTER: $3k → 16%GIRARD MULTI-GENERATIONAL CENTER: $3k → 16%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.
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.

48%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$173k · 9 repeat orgs$189k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2021, 0 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
2

Total granted

$173k
$18k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-50%
+106%

Still filing today

22%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 43% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $171k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21
Arts & CultureInternationalYouth DevelopmentReligionOther
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

  • FB
    FIRST BAPITST CHURCH
    2× · 2020–2021 · $80k
  • GH
    GIRARD HIGH SCHOOL
    2× · 2020–2021 · $51k
  • EC
    EMMANUEL CARE CENTER
    2× · 2020–2021 · $23k

Funded once

  • YS
    YOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY SOCIETYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $17k · revenue +106%
  • AB
    AMERICAN BAPTIST FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY
    one grant, 2020 · $2k
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
04the grantee network

7 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. 7 of the 18 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)
6/7
Grantees still filing
2/7
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIRST BAPITST CHURCH: $79,549 · OtherFIRST BAPITST CHURCHGIRARD HIGH SCHOOL: $51,000 · OtherGIRARD HIGH SCHOOLFRIENDS OF KMS FARMSTEAD: $25,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF KMS FARMSTEADSTAMBAUGH AUDITORIUM ASSOC: $25,000 · OtherSTAMBAUGH AUDITORIUM ASSOCEMMANUEL CARE CENTER: $23,200 · OtherEMMANUEL CARE CENTERIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · Other+6 more: $16,150 · Other+6 moreAmericans for the Arts Inc: $90,000 · Arts & CultureAmericans for the Arts IncMYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureMYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM INCYOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY SOCIETY: $16,500 · Arts & CultureYOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY SOCIETYOHIO BUSINESS WEEK FOUNDATION: $4,500 · Youth DevelopmentHEART REACH NEIGHBORHOOD MINISTRIES: $1,250 · ReligionMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $500 · International
Other$229,899Arts & Culture$126,500Youth Development$4,500Religion$1,250International$500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAmericans for the Arts Inc: $90,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetMYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY SOCIETY: $16,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetOHIO BUSINESS WEEK FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetHEART REACH NEIGHBORHOOD MINISTRIES: $1,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $500 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 Americans for the Arts Inc ↗
  • Who funds MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS - BIG SISTERS OF MAHONING VALLEY INC ↗
  • Who funds OHIO BUSINESS WEEK FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HEART REACH NEIGHBORHOOD MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗

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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Amazonsmile Foundation
Amazonsmile FoundationWA2.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amazonsmile Foundation

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 W & Sarah Jane Syak Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Charles W & Sarah Jane Syak Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’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 5%
  • Mystic Seaport Museum Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report 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.

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 18 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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