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Plinth
Foundation DossiersMostly funded, not a grantmaker — see who funds it →
Plinth

· Public charity

Forward Community Investments Inc

We invest in people, projects, and organizations that create lasting impact, addressing community needs in innovative and effective ways.

$55k
Granted FY2023
2
Grants FY2023
1
States reached
$40k
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 FY2017–2023.

Health$400kEducation$350kCommunity Improvement$226kHuman Services$102kHousing & Shelter$90kYouth Development$45kFood & Nutrition$20kPublic Safety & Disaster$8k
02FY2023 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$40,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$35M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LAYTON BOULEVARD WEST NEIGHBORS INC$40,000
MADISON READING PROJECT INC$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 (FY17–22, $532k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 14% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM INC: $8k → 9%CAP SERVICES INC: $54k → 10%EMBRACE SERVICES INC: $25k → 13%MENTORING POSITIVES: $5k → 10%NIA IMANI FAMILY INC: $25k → 17%KIDS FORWARD: $10k → 10%ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC: $285k → 10%METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES INC: $25k → 17%ONE CITY SCHOOLS: $50k → 10%CENTRO HISPANO INC: $45k → 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.

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.

36%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$447k · 3 repeat orgs$794k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +272% since the first grant, against +36% for the ones you funded once.

3 repeat relationships — 0 still active in FY2023, 3 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
26

Total granted

$447k
$739k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+272%
+36%

Still filing today

100%
85%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Human ServicesCommunity ImprovementHealthYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterArts & CultureOther

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

  • OC
    ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC
    2× · 2018–2022 · $335k · revenue ×14
  • CF
    CENTER FOR COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP
    2× · 2021–2022 · $58k · revenue +9%
  • FA
    FIRST AMERICAN CAPITAL CORPORATION INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $54k · revenue +272%

Funded once

  • WW
    WISCONSIN WOMEN'S BUSINESS INITIATIVE CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $120k · revenue +43%
  • CS
    CAP SERVICES INC
    one grant, 2018 · $54k · revenue +14%
  • CH
    CENTRO HISPANO INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $45k · revenue +238%

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
Wisconsin Progress Inc

Wisconsin progress recruits, trains, elects, and develops progressive candidates and leaders at the local and state legislative levels.

Civil Rights
2
Wisconsin Progress Institute Inc

Wisconsin progress institute exists to empower wisconsin's locally elected leaders with the tools, training, and support they need to be effective, values-driven public servants.

Education
3
Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership

To develop services and training programs for area employers to expand employment opportunities. wrtp is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit workforce intermediary dedicated to connecting people to family-sustaining jobs. our mission is to enhance the…

Philanthropy
4
Groundwork Milwaukee Inc

Bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses, and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social…

Environment
5
Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board Inc

The northwest wisconsin workforce investment board (nwwib) will create, and continue to improve, an innovative and quality strategic direction for the regional workforce development system.

Public Benefit
6
Innovative Services Inc

Innovative services, inc. (isi) cares for those with disabilities, helping them lead fulfilling lives with maximum independence. innovative's vision is to be the most trusted care provider for people with disabilities in wisconsin.

Human Services
7
Neighborhood Housing Services of Southeast Wisconsin Inc

The purpose of neighborhood housing services of southeast wisconsin, inc. is to renew pride, restore confidence,promote reinvestment, and revitalize the nhs neighborhoods through the efforts of local residents acting in concert with…

Housing & Shelter
8
Northwest Wisconsin Concentrated Employment Program Inc

Our mission at northwest cep is to create connections that will empower individuals and groups to drive workforce and community growth.

Employment
9
Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity

The wcmp will grow and nurture the mep's impact in the state of wisconsin by engaging and aligning the best possible resources to help small and medium-sized manufacturers reach their potential.

Education
10
East Side Business Improvement Dist

Building a coalition to create Milwaukee most dynamic neighborhood.

Community Improvement
11
Central Wisconsin Community Action Council Inc

The mission of central wisconsin community action council, inc. (cwcac) is to provide opportunities for services which help low-income individuals and families within our service area achieve self-sufficiency and independence.

Human Services
12
Goodwill Industries of South Central Wisconsin Inc

Goodwill of south central wisconsin's mission is to help people in our community to live, work and thrive through housing, employment and supportive services. see schedule o for continuationsupported employment and job skills training are…

Employment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program Inc and the most unlike its peers is Allied Wellness 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.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyRegional Chambers of Commer…Early Childhood Care CentersFamily FoundationsBasic Needs & Social Servic…Senior Residential Care
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 28 years old; the field is 21. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number17%4%<5yr12%15%5–10yr19%15%10–20yr17%26%20–35yr16%22%35–55yr19%19%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value17%2%<5yr12%9%5–10yr19%33%10–20yr17%21%20–35yr16%23%35–55yr19%12%55yr+

The field is 17% startups (under 5 years old) — 4% of your grantees by number, and just 2% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 6% lost their exemption, against 10% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
6%
2/31
the rest of the field
10%
1,173/11,770

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

27 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. 27 of the 31 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
22/27
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC — $335,177 · Human ServicesONE CITY SCHOOLS INCCAP SERVICES INC — $54,000 · Human ServicesCAP SERVICES INCCENTRO HISPANO INC — $45,000 · Human ServicesCENTRO HISPANO INCMETCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES INC — $25,000 · Human ServicesNIA IMANI FAMILY INC — $25,000 · Human ServicesEMBRACE SERVICES INC — $25,000 · Human Services+3 more — $22,930 · Human ServicesWISCONSIN WOMEN'S BUSINESS INITIATIVE CORPORATION — $119,710 · OtherWISCONSIN WOMEN'S BUSINES…LAYTON BOULEVARD WEST NEIGHBORS INC DBA VIA CDC — $40,000 · OtherLAYTON BOULEVARD WEST NEI…FENNIMORE MEDICAL PDC INC — $25,000 · OtherFENNIMORE MEDICAL PDC INCBRIDGES UNITED INC — $25,000 · OtherBRIDGES UNITED INCSTEPPING STONES OF DUNN COUNTY INC — $25,000 · OtherSTEPPING STONES OF DUNN C…Healing Our Hearts Foundation Inc — $25,000 · OtherHealing Our Hearts Founda…TANDEM RESTAURANT LLC — $20,000 · OtherTANDEM RESTAURANT LLCCENTER FOR COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP — $57,500 · Community ImprovementCENTER FOR COMMUN…FIRST AMERICAN CAPITAL CORPORATION INC — $54,000 · Community ImprovementFIRST AMERICAN CA…WOODLAND FINANCIAL PARTNERS — $27,500 · Community ImprovementWOODLAND FINANCIA…COMMUNITY ACTION INC OF ROCK & WALWORTH COUNTIES — $25,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY ACTION …NORTHWEST SIDE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — $25,000 · Community ImprovementNORTHWEST SIDE CO…Allied Wellness Center Inc — $25,000 · HealthAllied We…GRANT REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER INC — $25,000 · HealthGRANT REG…FRIENDS OF WOMEN IN RECOVERY INC — $25,000 · HealthFRIENDS O…Mercy Dental Missions Inc — $25,000 · HealthMercy Den…PARTNERS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC — $25,000 · Housing & ShelterTAYLOR COUNTY SUPPORTIVE HOUSING — $25,000 · Housing & ShelterFuture Urban Leaders — $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentMADISON READING PROJECT INC — $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentPeople of Progression Inc — $25,000 · Arts & CultureWAVE EDUCATIONAL FUND INC — $25,000 · Crime & Legal
Human Services$532,107Other$279,710Community Improvement$189,000Health$100,000Housing & Shelter$50,000Youth Development$40,000Arts & Culture$25,000Crime & Legal$25,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetONE CITY SCHOOLS INC — $335,177 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetWISCONSIN WOMEN'S BUSINESS INITIATIVE CORPORATION — $119,710 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetCENTER FOR COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP — $57,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetCAP SERVICES INC — $54,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFIRST AMERICAN CAPITAL CORPORATION INC — $54,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetCENTRO HISPANO INC — $45,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetLAYTON BOULEVARD WEST NEIGHBORS INC DBA VIA CDC — $40,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetWOODLAND FINANCIAL PARTNERS — $27,500 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION INC OF ROCK & WALWORTH COUNTIES — $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMETCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES INC — $25,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetPARTNERS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPeople of Progression Inc — $25,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetAllied Wellness Center Inc — $25,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetGRANT REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNIA IMANI FAMILY INC — $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetSTEPPING STONES OF DUNN COUNTY INC — $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetNORTHWEST SIDE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFuture Urban Leaders — $25,000 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetEMBRACE SERVICES INC — $25,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF WOMEN IN RECOVERY INC — $25,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetTAYLOR COUNTY SUPPORTIVE HOUSING — $25,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetMercy Dental Missions Inc — $25,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetWAVE EDUCATIONAL FUND INC — $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetMADISON READING PROJECT INC — $15,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetKIDS FORWARD INC — $9,700 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM INC — $8,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Otto Bremer TrustHerbert H Kohl Charit…Alliant Energy Founda…Greater Green Bay Com…The Roots and Wings F…Madison Gas and Elect…Green Bay Packers Fou…The Evjue Foundation …Madison Community Fou…Greater Milwaukee Fou…Wheda Foundation IncAbc Foundation Charit…
Otto Bremer TrustMN27.3× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Otto Bremer Trust · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Greater Green Bay Community Foundation Inc · The Roots and Wings Foundation Inc · Madison Gas and Electric Foundation Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · The Evjue Foundation Inc · Madison Community Foundation · Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · Wheda Foundation Inc · Abc Foundation Charitable Trust

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 Forward Community Investments 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
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–24

    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 31 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    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