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Plinth

· Private foundation

Derse Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$159k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2019–2024.

Animals$248kArts & Culture$243kEnvironment$193kYouth Development$176kEducation$175kHealth$26kHousing & Shelter$1kInternational$260Other$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k10 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $98k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$889
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE$50,000
BREAD OF HEALING$25,000
UWM FOUNDATION INC$25,000
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MILWAUKEE$20,000
INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION$16,618
MILWAUKEE PBS$11,200
ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION$7,574
MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER$889
HUNTINGTON LIBRARY ART GALLERY BG$611
PASADENA PLAYHOUSE$520
LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$378
OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS$300
DESCANSO GARDENS$236
MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM$180
SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE$168
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:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 45% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%LEWA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY USA: $1k → 8%JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK: $410 → 14%HUNTINGTON LIBRARY ART GALLERY BG: $611 → 14%HORSESHOE BAY NATURE PARK INC: $10k → 13%BOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE: $25k → 16%ST COLETTA OF WISCONSIN: $500 → 8%OLD WORLD WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $50k → 10%ICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE: $100k → 10%THE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTS: $10k → 15%BREAD OF HEALING: $25k → 17%COLORADO CRANE CONSERVATION COALITI: $5k → 6%SEATTLE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL: $500 → 9%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $25k → 14%HORSESHOE BAY NATURE PARK INC: $5k → 13%WAUKESHA CIVIC THEATRE: $954 → 5%INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION: $126k → 9%OLD WORLD WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $10k → 10%NELSON INSTITUTE: $25k → 10%THE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTS: $10k → 15%UWM FOUNDATION INC: $100k → 17%PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM: $50k → 11%BOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE: $51k → 14%HSB PARK INC: $5k → 13%ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION: $100k → 9%MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $500 → 10%MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER: $889 → 17%PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM: $1k → 11%BOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE: $50k → 14%OLD WORLD WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $1k → 5%INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION: $31k → 9%MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATRE: $550 → 17%PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM: $661 → 11%OLD WORLD WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $1k → 5%INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION: $20k → 9%MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER: $425 → 17%PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM: $439 → 11%INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION: $17k → 9%SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE: $400 → 17%UNITY BACKYARD PROJECT: $1k → 5%ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION: $8k → 9%INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION: $1k → 9%ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION: $1k → 9%PASADENA PLAYHOUSE: $520 → 14%INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION: $862 → 9%MILWAUKEE PBS: $11k → 17%MILWAUKEE PBS: $1k → 17%MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $400 → 17%ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MILWAUKEE: $20k → 17%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.
$830k · 19 repeat orgs$232k to everyone else

19 repeat relationships — 11 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
24

Total granted

$830k
$186k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-1%
+21%

Still filing today

84%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $46k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureAnimalsEducationHealthEnvironmentInternationalOther

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

  • THE UWM FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $125k · revenue +27%
  • AL
    ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $109k · revenue +100%
  • PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM INC
    4× · 2019–2022 · $53k · revenue +55%

Funded once

  • IA
    ICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INC
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +21%
  • BB
    BOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
  • AF
    ARROYOS FOOTHILLS CONSERVANCY
    one grant, 2023 · $25k

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
Milwaukee Public Theatre Inc

Making the arts accessible to all

—
2
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Inc

Inspiring individuals and communities through exceptional music education, accessible to all.

Arts & Culture
3
Museum of Wisconsin Art Inc

The museum of wisconsin art celebrates the value, diversity, and uniqueness of the visual arts and artists of wisconsin. this is achieved by collecting, conserving, documenting, exhibiting, and promoting aesthetic understanding of the…

Arts & Culture
4
Landmark Conservancy Inc

Landmark conservancy is a nationally accredited, nonprofit conservation organization serving 20 counties across northwest wisconsin. their mission is to conserve wisconsin's natural legacy for everyone...forever.

Environment
5
Madison Opera Inc

The mission of madison opera is to produce operas of the highest artistic standards.

Arts & Culture
6
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences Arts and Letters

To cultivate civil discourse, increase understanding, and create common ground by connecting wisconsin people and ideas.

Arts & Culture
7
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Inc

Strengthen communities by providing high-quality and innovative artistic experiences that entertain, inspire, and unite diverse audiences.

Arts & Culture
8
Natural Resources Foundation of

To protect wisconsin's lands, waters, and wildlife by providing funding, leading partnerships, and connecting all people with nature.

—
9
Milwaukee Art Museum Inc

To inspire and educate people in the greater milwaukee area, across the state of wisconsin and beyond by collecting, preserving and presenting art; to expand and diversify the local artistic and cultural identity of the greater milwaukee…

Arts & Culture
10
Milwaukee Parks Foundation Inc

Engage our community in supporting milwaukee county parks to collectively steward a thriving park system.

Environment
11
La Crosse Community Theatre

To honor and celebrate our rich theatrical heritage while establishing a sustainable foundation for the years to come.

Arts & Culture
12
Wisconsin Waterfowl Association Inc

The purpose of the association shall be to restore and conserve wisconsin's waterfowl and wetland resources; to educate state waterfowlers during their progression from natural resource consumer to steward; and to promote governmental…

Environment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Aldo Leopold Foundation Inc and the most unlike its peers is La Quinta Arts Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 40 years old; the field is 20. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number17%0%<5yr12%7%5–10yr20%13%10–20yr16%20%20–35yr16%33%35–55yr19%27%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value17%0%<5yr12%3%5–10yr20%4%10–20yr16%7%20–35yr16%67%35–55yr19%20%55yr+

The field is 17% 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 — 3% lost their exemption, against 8% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
3%1/32
the rest of the field
8%
3,022/36,494

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

32 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. 32 of the 48 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/32
Grantees still filing
18/32
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INC — $108,729 · OtherALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INCICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INC — $100,100 · OtherICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INCOLD WORLD WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC — $62,185 · OtherOLD WORLD WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INCBOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE — $25,115 · OtherBOUNDLESS BRILLIANCEARROYOS FOOTHILLS CONSERVANCY — $25,000 · OtherARROYOS FOOTHILLS CONSERVANCYNELSON INSTITUTE — $25,000 · OtherNELSON INSTITUTETHE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTs INC — $20,000 · OtherZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MILWAUKEE — $20,000 · Other+12 more — $18,193 · OtherBOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE INC — $175,942 · EducationBOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE INCTHE UWM FOUNDATION INC — $125,000 · EducationTHE UWM FOUNDATION INCUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION — $20,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION+2 more — $4,000 · EducationINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC — $196,066 · AnimalsINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUN…LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY — $25,378 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL …+3 more — $6,105 · AnimalsPALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM INC — $52,755 · Arts & CultureMILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER INC — $2,285 · Arts & Culture+10 more — $3,939 · Arts & CultureBREAD OF HEALING INC — $25,000 · Health+2 more — $600 · HealthHSB PARK INC — $20,000 · Environment+1 more — $100 · EnvironmentHANDS FOR HOPE INC — $260 · International
Other$404,322Education$324,942Animals$227,549Arts & Culture$58,979Health$25,600Environment$20,100International$260

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC — $196,066 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetBOUNDLESS BRILLIANCE INC — $175,942 over 5y, 89% of budgetTHE UWM FOUNDATION INC — $125,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INC — $108,729 over 4y, 4.6% of budgetICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INC — $100,100 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetOLD WORLD WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC — $62,185 over 4y, 12% of budgetPALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM INC — $52,755 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY — $25,378 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBREAD OF HEALING INC — $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetTHE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTs INC — $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHSB PARK INC — $20,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetCOLORADO CRANE CONSERVATION COALITION IN — $5,062 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetALVERNO COLLEGE — $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER INC — $2,285 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWAUKESIA CIVIC THEATRE INC — $1,226 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLewa Wildlife Conservancy USA — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE STATE THEATRE OF CALIFORNIA INC — $815 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE CORP — $568 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC — $510 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST COLETTA OF WISCONSIN INC — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM INC — $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC — $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Wildlands Conservancy — $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc — $53 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE DESERT MOUNTAINS — $43 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEN CHIMNEYS FOUNDATION INC — $37 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOB BAKER MARIONETTE THEATER — $33 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLA QUINTA ARTS FOUNDATION — $17 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.

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.

Greater Milwaukee Fou…Herbert H Kohl Charit…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Green Bay Packers Fou…Ibm International Fou…Rdk FoundationMadison Community Fou…Baird Foundation IncAlliant Energy Founda…American Endowment Fo…T Rowe Price Program …California Community …
Greater Milwaukee Foundation IncWI21× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Rdk Foundation · Madison Community Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc · California Community 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 Derse Foundation Inc 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%6%23%51%90%your share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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.

    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 48 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 camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home
    State money flows
    the interactive map of money crossing state lines