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Plinth

· Private foundation

Dolphin Charitable Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$13M
Granted FY2020
28
Grants FY2020
5
States reached
$13M
Largest
01What you fund
0192% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20192020.

Philanthropy$13MEnvironment$325kAnimals$216kHuman Services$95kEducation$79kYouth Development$50kCrime & Legal$37kHousing & Shelter$30kOther$0
02FY2020 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k6 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $313k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $219k
  • $250k+1 grant · $13M
$18,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FIDUCIARY TRUST CHARITABLE$12,924,336
ONE HEALTH ORGANIZATION$118,856
Individual grant recipient$50,000
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$50,000
THE SECOND STEP$25,000
LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY$25,000
TENACITY$25,000
WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY$25,000
CONCORD LAND CONSERVATION TRUST$22,000
PINE STREET INN$20,000
BUZZARDS BAY COALITION$20,000
BOURNE CONSERVATION FUND$20,000
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SERVICE NETWORK$20,000
ASSOCIATION TO PRESERVE CAPE COD$18,000
OUR SISTERS' SCHOOL$15,000
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 (FY19–20, $30k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%PINE STREET INN: $20k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $10k → 16%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.

6%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$867k · 19 repeat orgs$13M to everyone else

19 repeat relationships — 19 still active in FY2020, 0 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
2

Total granted

$867k
$35k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+72%
+265%

Still filing today

89%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 4% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $13M went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20
EnvironmentEducationHealthAnimalsRecreation & SportsCrime & LegalOther

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

  • OH
    ONE HEALTH ORGANIZATION
    2× · 2019–2020 · $216k · revenue +77% · 36% of their budget
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    2× · 2019–2020 · $70k · revenue +139%
  • WR
    WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY
    2× · 2019–2020 · $50k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • BC
    BOURNE CONSERVATION TRUSTgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $20k · revenue +265%
  • CF
    CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY CORPORATION
    one grant, 2019 · $15k · revenue -54%

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
Wildlands Trust Inc

The wildlands trust works throughout southeastern massachusetts to conserve and permanently protect native habitats, farmland, and lands of high ecologic and scenic value that serve to keep our communities healthy and our residents…

Environment
2
Massachusetts Land Conservation Trust

Conservation and preservation of land.

Environment
3
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
4
The Trustees of Reservations

Overview - founded in boston by pioneering landscape architect and open space visionary charles eliot in 1891, the trustees is the nation's first and the commonwealth's largest conservation and preservation nonprofit.

Environment
5
Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc

The nantucket conservation foundation owns, protects, and stewards over 9,000 acres of land and coastal shoreline, conserves nantucket's rare and significant natural resources, and engages in impactful ecological research to inform…

Environment
6
Franklin Land Trust Inc

The franklin land trust works to conserve farms, forests, wildlands, and other natural resources significant to the quality of the environment, economy, and rural character of western massachusetts.

Environment
7
The Vermont River Conservancy Inc

Protect land along rivers, lakes and wetlands of vt; protect public access, wildlife habitat, scenic natural beauty, and ecological integrity.

Human Services
8
Brewster Conservation Trust

Land conservation

Environment
9
Midcoast Conservancy

The mission of Midcoast Conservancy is to protect vital lands and waters on a scale that matters and to inspire wonder and action on behalf of all species and the Earth.

Environment
10
Orleans Conservation Trust

The orleans conservation trust protects and restores natural lands- for people and wildlife, the health of our waters, and the character of our community. a private nonprofit organization, the trust acquires and manages land to enhance…

Environment
11
Barnstable Land Trust Inc

Preservation of undeveloped land in the town of barnstable and nearby areas

Environment
12
New Marlborough Land Trust Inc

Land preservation

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sudbury Valley Trustees Inc and the most unlike its peers is A Place to Turn Inc. 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 42 years old; the field is 19. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number19%0%<5yr13%0%5–10yr19%14%10–20yr19%18%20–35yr15%36%35–55yr15%32%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value19%0%<5yr13%0%5–10yr19%30%10–20yr19%18%20–35yr15%26%35–55yr15%26%55yr+

The field is 19% 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 0.0% lost their exemption, against 11% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/22
the rest of the field
11%
3,242/28,874

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

22 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. 22 of the 30 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
20/22
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

FIDUCIARY TRUST CHARITABLE — $12,924,336 · OtherFIDUCIARY TRUST CHARITABLE+12 more — $286,712 · OtherENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $70,000 · EnvironmentWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY — $50,000 · EnvironmentCONCORD LAND CONSERVATION TRUST — $42,000 · EnvironmentBUZZARDS BAY COALITION — $40,000 · EnvironmentASSOCIATION TO PRESERVE CAPE COD INC — $30,000 · EnvironmentAppalachian Mountain Club — $21,000 · EnvironmentSUDBURY VALLEY TRUSTEES INC — $20,000 · EnvironmentBOURNE CONSERVATION TRUST — $20,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN RIVERS INC — $12,000 · EnvironmentONE HEALTH ORGANIZATION — $215,856 · AnimalsOUR SISTERS SCHOOL — $30,000 · EducationNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC — $20,000 · EducationCONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY CORPORATION — $15,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC — $3,000 · EducationTENACITY INC — $50,000 · Recreation & SportsDomestic Violence Services Network Inc — $37,000 · Crime & LegalPINE STREET INN INC — $30,000 · Human Services
Other$13,211,048Environment$305,000Animals$215,856Education$68,000Recreation & Sports$50,000Crime & Legal$37,000Human Services$30,000

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 budgetONE HEALTH ORGANIZATION — $215,856 over 2y, 36% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY — $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SECOND STEP INC — $50,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTENACITY INC — $50,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCONCORD LAND CONSERVATION TRUST — $42,000 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetBUZZARDS BAY COALITION — $40,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetDomestic Violence Services Network Inc — $37,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC — $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC — $30,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetOUR SISTERS SCHOOL — $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetASSOCIATION TO PRESERVE CAPE COD INC — $30,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club — $21,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSUDBURY VALLEY TRUSTEES INC — $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetBOURNE CONSERVATION TRUST — $20,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY CORPORATION — $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetA Place To Turn Inc — $14,856 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetAMERICAN RIVERS INC — $12,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Food Project Inc — $11,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE PARMENTER FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC — $3,000 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.

Fiduciary Charitable Foundation Dba Fiduciary Trust CharitableMA24.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fiduciary Charitable Foundation Dba Fiduciary Trust Charitable · Boston Foundation Inc · Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Bny Mellon Charitable Gift Fund · Eastern Bank Foundation · Ge Aerospace Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Dolphin Charitable Foundation 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, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 70%3%10%23%40%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 11%
  • Association to Preserve Cape Cod Inc100% of income from government
  • Buzzards Bay Coalition37% of income from government
  • The Second Step Inc26% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc11% of income from government
  • Sudbury Valley Trustees Inc11% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club1% of income from government
  • New England Conservatory of Music1% of income from government
  • Our Sisters School0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 30 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph