Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

Elder Family Foundation

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.

$70k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Education$175kArts & Culture$92kHealth$45kReligion$35kPhilanthropy$25kHuman Services$5kCrime & Legal$1kCivil Rights$750Other$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $30k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Northwestern Memorial Foundation$10,000
The Fund for Penn Medicine$10,000
Communities in Schools of Chicago$10,000
Chester Childrens Chorus$5,000
Lantern Theater Company$5,000
First Presby Church of Lake Forest$5,000
Park Avenue Community Center$5,000
Bedlam Theater$5,000
The School in Rose Valley$5,000
Massachusetts General Hospital$5,000
The Agnes Irwin School$5,000
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 (FY21–25, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Wayfaring Band: $5k → 12%Wayfaring Band: $5k → 12%Park Avenue Community Center: $5k → 10%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

MN
IL
NY
MA
PA
CT
CO
AL

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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$297k · 14 repeat orgs$62k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +64% since the first grant, against -37% for the ones you funded once.

14 repeat relationships — 6 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
7

Total granted

$297k
$37k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+64%
-37%

Still filing today

57%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureCivil RightsHuman 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

  • CI
    COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO
    4× · 2020–2025 · $40k · revenue +100%
  • SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
    6× · 2020–2025 · $30k · revenue +16%
  • PS
    PENNYSLVANIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
    4× · 2021–2024 · $25k · revenue +39%

Funded once

  • OS
    Old South Church
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • WS
    WESTTOWN SCHOOL
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • PM
    PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue -19%

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
Darrow School

Darrow school is dedicated to serving students with diverse backgrounds and abilities, building on each student's talents and interests to inspire enduring confidence for success in college and life. this mission is accomplished through…

Education
2
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

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
Bryn Mawr College

Provide a rigorous education and encourage pursuit of knowledge as preparation for life and work.

Education
5
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
6
The Public School of Germantown

Germantown academy inspires students to be independent in thought; confident in expression; compassionate in spirit; collaborative in action; and honorable in deed. germantown academy is a private school educating students from pre-k…

Education
7
Randolph College Inc

See detailed description of organization's primary mission provided on schedule o

Education
8
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
9
School One

Creative, collaborative, and college preparatory, school one students write with purpose and participate actively. each student is well-known and valued for their emerging strengths. small by design for 50 years, classes average nine…

Education
10
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
11
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
12
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…

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lantern Theater Company and the most unlike its peers is Park Avenue Community Center Inc. 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

16 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. 16 of the 27 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
10/16
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO — $40,000 · OtherCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGOThe Fund for Penn Medicine — $30,000 · OtherThe Fund for Penn MedicineABC Strath Haven Inc — $22,000 · OtherABC Strath Haven IncNorthwestern Memorial Foundation — $20,000 · OtherNorthwestern Memorial FoundationOLD SOUTH CHURCH IN BOSTON — $20,000 · OtherOLD SOUTH CHURCH IN BOSTONChicago Communities in Schools — $20,000 · OtherChicago Communities in SchoolsIndividual grant recipient — $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientOld South Church — $10,000 · OtherWESTTOWN SCHOOL — $10,000 · Other+4 more — $20,000 · Other+4 moreYale University — $35,000 · EducationYale UniversitySWARTHMORE COLLEGE — $30,000 · EducationSWARTHMORE COLLEGETHE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOL — $20,000 · EducationTHE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOLSo Others May Learn — $10,000 · EducationSo Others May LearnMIGHTY WRITERS — $5,000 · EducationTHE SCHOOL IN ROSE VALLEY — $5,000 · EducationPENNYSLVANIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL — $25,000 · Arts & CulturePENNYSLVANIA SHAKE…LANTERN THEATER COMPANY — $20,000 · Arts & CultureLANTERN THEATER CO…QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC — $15,000 · Arts & CultureQUINTESSENCE THEAT…PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART — $5,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA MUSEU…WAYFARING BAND INC — $10,000 · Human ServicesPARK AVENUE COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $5,000 · Human ServicesEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE — $1,000 · Civil RightsNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC — $750 · Civil Rights
Other$207,000Education$105,000Arts & Culture$65,000Human Services$15,000Civil Rights$1,750

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 budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO — $40,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetYale University — $35,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSWARTHMORE COLLEGE — $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPENNYSLVANIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL — $25,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetTHE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOL — $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLANTERN THEATER COMPANY — $20,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetQUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC — $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSo Others May Learn — $10,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetWAYFARING BAND INC — $10,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetPARK AVENUE COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIGHTY WRITERS — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSWARTHMORE CENTENNIAL FOUNDATION — $5,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTHE SCHOOL IN ROSE VALLEY — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC — $750 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 COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO
  • Who funds Yale University
  • Who funds SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
  • Who funds PENNYSLVANIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
  • Who funds THE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOL
  • Who funds LANTERN THEATER COMPANY
  • Who funds QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC
  • Who funds So Others May Learn
  • Who funds WAYFARING BAND INC
  • Who funds PARK AVENUE COMMUNITY CENTER INC
  • Who funds PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
  • Who funds MIGHTY WRITERS
  • Who funds SWARTHMORE CENTENNIAL FOUNDATION
  • Who funds THE SCHOOL IN ROSE VALLEY
  • Who funds EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
  • Who funds NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC

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.

Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA10.6× affinity8 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Elder Family 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 or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 12%
  • Yale University12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
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.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Elder Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Elder Family Foundation 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 27 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph