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Elwer Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Elwer Foundation Inc

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$44k
Granted FY2019
19
Grants FY2019
8
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Elwer Foundation Inc’s FY2021 grant dollars went to Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year Elwer Foundation Inc named its own grantees at scale: 11 organizations, $44k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

18
’17
16
’18
11
’19
6
’20
0
’21

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Philanthropy$788kArts & Culture$219kEducation$46kReligion$8kHealth$2kHousing & Shelter$900Civil Rights$300Environment$150Other$0
02FY2019 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2019

  • Under $10k18 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
$360
Median grant
8
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Vanderbilt University$25,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Jewish FNDN Greater Hartford$3,000
Amhesrt College$2,500
Smith College$2,000
Hartford Stage$1,500
The Mark Twain House and Museum$1,000
Hartford FNDN Public$1,000
Congregation Beth Israel$685
Individual grant recipient$360
Friendship Place$350
Hartford Hospital$350
Individual grant recipient$250
Cosmos Club Foundation$250
Audubon Naturalist Society$100
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–20, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%THE LUSTGARTEN FOUNDATION: $100 → 6%Lustgarten Foundation: $100 → 6%Jewish Community Foundation: $3k → 11%Jewish Community Foundation: $3k → 11%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

NY
MA
NJ
CT
VA
MD
TN
DC
TX
FL
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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$245k · 18 repeat orgs$38k to everyone else

18 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2019, 8 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call). Read against FY2019, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
5

Total granted

$245k
$550

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+96%
+98%

Still filing today

78%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
Arts & CultureEducationHealthCivil RightsHousing & ShelterPhilanthropyOther
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

  • SC
    SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC
    3× · 2017–2020 · $206k · revenue +147%
  • TT
    THE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE
    4× · 2017–2020 · $10k · revenue +52%
  • AC
    AMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES
    3× · 2017–2020 · $8k · revenue +141%

Funded once

  • CC
    Cosmos Club Historic Preservation
    one grant, 2018 · $250
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $100 · revenue +98%
  • AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $100 · revenue +116%
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
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
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
4
Harvard Club of Washington Dc

To inform and enrich the intellectual lives of 20,000 alumni of harvard university in the washington, dc area and to assist harvard university with respect to applicants and undergraduates from the dc area.

Education
5
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
6
Manhattanville University

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

Education
7
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
8
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
9
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
10
University of Hartford

Dedicated to learning, personal growth, knowledge creation, and the betterment of society. the university engages students in aquiring the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to thrive in and contribute to a pluralistic, complex world.

Education
11
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
12
Fordham University

Fordham university, the jesuit university of new york, is committed to the discovery of wisdom and the transmission of learning, through research and through education of the highest quality. for more information, see schedule o.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; the most unlike its peers is The Phillips Collection. 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

25 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 25 of the 40 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
21/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC: $764,482 · PhilanthropyMORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC+5 more: $16,725 · PhilanthropySHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC: $206,000 · Arts & CultureSHAKESPEARE & COMPANY I…+6 more: $12,950 · Arts & Culture+6 moreVanderbilt University: $25,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $10,000 · EducationAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $7,500 · EducationIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherCONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE: $4,155 · OtherJewish FNDN Greater Hartford: $3,000 · OtherAmhesrt College: $2,500 · OtherHartford Foundation: $1,000 · OtherWASHINGTON HEBREW CONGREGATION: $640 · Other+13 more: $2,160 · OtherTHE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $5,500 · Human ServicesMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $200 · Human ServicesHartford Hospital: $1,400 · HealthThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $50 · HealthFriendship Place: $900 · Housing & Shelter
Philanthropy$781,207Arts & Culture$218,950Education$42,500Other$18,455Human Services$5,700Health$1,450Housing & Shelter$900

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 budgetMORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC: $764,482 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC: $206,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetVanderbilt University: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HARTFORD: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $5,500 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetHARTFORD STAGE COMPANY INC: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PHILLIPS COLLECTION: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHARTFORD FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC GIVING: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARK TWAIN MEMORIAL: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHartford Hospital: $1,400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCOSMOS CLUB FOUNDATION: $1,100 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetFriendship Place: $900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FRIENDS OF GREEN CHIMNEYS: $225 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Society of the Four Arts Inc: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC: $150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNature Forward: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $50 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.

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.

Aetna Foundation IncCheryl Chase & Stuart…Sandra & Arnold Chase…T Rowe Price Program …Edgemer Foundation IncThe Carla and Stephen…The Zachs Family Foun…Morgan Stanley Global…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…
Aetna Foundation IncCT16× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Aetna Foundation Inc · Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Family Foundation Inc · Sandra & Arnold Chase Family Foundation Inc · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc · Edgemer Foundation Inc · The Carla and Stephen Schwartz Family Foundation Inc · The Zachs Family Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc

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 Elwer Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Elwer Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Nature Forward: 32% of income from government
  • The Mark Twain Memorial: 22% of income from government
  • Hartford Stage Company Inc: 3% of income from government
  • The Trustees of the Smith College: 1% of income from government
  • Shakespeare & Company Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Hartford Hospital: 0% of income from government
  • Amherst College Trustees: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get 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 · 0–90%
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 Elwer Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Elwer Foundation Inc 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 40 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Elwer’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