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Freeman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Freeman 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.

$465k
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Health$360kEducation$255kAnimals$175kArts & Culture$135kHuman Services$135kCrime & Legal$105kFood & Nutrition$75kYouth Development$55kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k29 grants · $460k
$15,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$6.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROCK IT OUT$40,000
CLEVELAND METROPARKS$25,000
IDEASTREAM$25,000
CLEVELAND METROPARKS ZOO$25,000
EDWINS FOUNDATION$20,000
LEGAL AID OF CLEVELAND$20,000
NEWBRIDGE CLEVELAND CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY$20,000
THE MUSIC SETTLEMENT$20,000
OHIO CITY BICYCLE CO-OP (OCBC)$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
JOURNEY CENTER$15,000
CLEVELAND RAPE CRISIS CENTER (CRCC)$15,000
PALS FOR HEALING$15,000
FIRST TEE$15,000
CCF LGPTQ CARE$15,000
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 (FY22–25, $275k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%EDWINS FOUNDATION: $20k → 17%EDWINS FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%EDWINS FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%EDWINS FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%REFUGEE RESPONSE: $15k → 17%SEEDS OF LITERACY: $15k → 17%SEEDS OF LITERACY: $15k → 17%ROCK IT OUT: $50k → 17%ROCK IT OUT: $40k → 17%ROCK IT OUT: $30k → 17%ROCK IT OUT: $30k → 17%THE GATHERING PLACE: $15k → 17%THE GATHERING PLACE: $15k → 17%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.
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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 30 repeat orgs$314k to everyone else

30 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
15

Total granted

$1.3M
$279k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+14%

Still filing today

63%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $35k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentAnimalsEducationOther
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

  • RI
    ROCK IT OUT INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $150k · revenue +31% · 33% of their budget
  • CZ
    CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
    3× · 2023–2025 · $90k · revenue +9%
  • MC
    MAGNOLIA CLUBHOUSE INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $60k · revenue +76%

Funded once

  • I
    INDIEGOGO
    one grant, 2019 · $59k
  • CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +14%
  • CC
    CLEVELAND CLINIC - HNI INOVATIONS
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
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
Global Cleveland

Global cleveland is dedicated to growing northeast ohio's economy by welcoming and connecting international people to opportunities and fostering a more inviting community for those seeking a place to call home.

Human Services
2
Literary Cleveland

Literary Cleveland assists writers and readers at all stages of development, promotes new and existing literature of the highest quality, and advances Northeast Ohio as a vital center of diverse voices and visions.

Education
3
Center for Arts-Inspired Learning

Cal champions creative learning, drives educational innovation, and transforms lives through collaborative efforts involving teaching artists, students, educators, and communities.

Education
4
Digitalc

Empower the people of greater cleveland to achieve success through technology, innovation and connected community.

Community Improvement
5
Greater Cleveland Volunteers

Greater cleveland volunteers enriches the community and indivuduals through volunteer service. volunteers age 18 and older are recruited and placed in the agency's programs or referred to local nonprofit or public organizations to help…

Philanthropy
6
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…

—
7
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
8
Cleveland Leadership Center

The mission of cleveland leadership center (the organization) is to build a continuum of civic leaders committed to our community's excellence by serving as a catalyst for civic engagement. the organization achieves its mission by…

Education
9
Engage Cleveland Inc

Our mission is to attract, engage and retain emerging diverse talent to Greater Cleveland.

Community Improvement
10
Cleveland Mediation Center

Our mission is to promote a just and peaceful community by honoring all people, building their capacity to act, and facilitating opportunities for them to engage in conflict constructively. We continue to fulfill our mission by…

Crime & Legal
11
Ohio Justice and Policy Center

To create fair, intelligent, redemptive criminal justice systems through zealous client-centered advocacy, innovative policy reform and cross-sector community education.

Civil Rights
12
Diabetes Partnership of Cleveland

Diabetes partnership of cleveland works to provide relevant and sustainable programming, education, resources and supplies to the community in northeast ohio affected by diabetes.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cleveland Public Theatre Inc; the most unlike its peers is Marilyns Voice 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

29 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. 29 of the 49 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/29
Grantees still filing
16/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY CATALYST PARTNERS: $70,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY CATALYST PARTNERSINDIEGOGO: $59,175 · OtherINDIEGOGOLEGAL AID OF CLEVELAND: $50,000 · OtherLEGAL AID OF CLEVELANDCLEVELAND METROPARKS: $50,000 · OtherCLEVELAND METROPARKSCLEVELAND CLINIC - HNI INOVATIONS: $50,000 · OtherCLEVELAND CLINIC - HNI INOVATIONSANIMAL PROTECTION LEAGUE: $50,000 · OtherANIMAL PROTECTION LEAGUEFIRST TEE: $45,000 · OtherFIRST TEEIndividual grant recipient: $40,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOLARSHIP: $35,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $30,000 · OtherJOURNEY CENTER: $30,000 · OtherCAROLYN I FARRELL FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · OtherCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITYTHE MARSHALL PROJECT INC: $30,000 · Other+15 more: $190,000 · Other+15 moreROCK IT OUT INC: $150,000 · Human ServicesROCK IT OUT INCEDWINS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Human ServicesEDWINS FOUNDATIONSEEDS OF LITERACY: $30,000 · Human ServicesSEEDS OF LITERACYTHE GATHERING PLACE: $30,000 · Human ServicesTHE GATHERING PLACERESOURCE CLEVELAND: $15,000 · Human ServicesRESOURCE CLEVELANDCLEVELAND CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY: $40,000 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND…THE CLEVELAND MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CLEVE…CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND…KARAMU HOUSE INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureKARAMU HO…Playhouse Square Foundation: $10,000 · Arts & CulturePlayhouse…CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $90,000 · AnimalsMARILYNS VOICE INC: $25,000 · AnimalsCANINES HELPING INDEPENDENT PEOPLE: $10,000 · AnimalsMAGNOLIA CLUBHOUSE INC: $60,000 · HealthPALS FOR HEALING: $35,000 · HealthPRETERM CLEVELAND INC: $10,000 · HealthIDEASTREAM: $45,000 · Youth DevelopmentCOLORS PLUS: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentOHIO CITY BICYCLE COOP INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $75,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$809,175Human Services$275,000Arts & Culture$130,000Animals$125,000Health$105,000Youth Development$100,000Food & Nutrition$75,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetROCK IT OUT INC: $150,000 over 4y, 33% of budgetCLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $90,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY CATALYST PARTNERS: $70,000 over 3y, 8.5% of budgetMAGNOLIA CLUBHOUSE INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEDWINS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetIDEASTREAM: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCLEVELAND CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY: $40,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPALS FOR HEALING: $35,000 over 3y, 5.2% of budgetSEEDS OF LITERACY: $30,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE GATHERING PLACE: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE INC: $30,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCOLORS PLUS: $30,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetTHE MARSHALL PROJECT INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMARILYNS VOICE INC: $25,000 over 4y, 32% of budgetOHIO CITY BICYCLE COOP INC: $25,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetYOUTH OPPORTUNITIES UNLIMITED: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTOWARDS EMPLOYMENT INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRESOURCE CLEVELAND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetKARAMU HOUSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPlayhouse Square Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD CARE RESOURCE CENTER OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR INCLUSIVE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPRETERM CLEVELAND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRise Up Northeast Ohio: $5,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetPROJECT CETI INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

  • Who funds ROCK IT OUT INC ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY CATALYST PARTNERS ↗
  • Who funds MAGNOLIA CLUBHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds EDWINS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds IDEASTREAM ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds THE CLEVELAND MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT ↗
  • Who funds PALS FOR HEALING ↗
  • Who funds SEEDS OF LITERACY ↗
  • Who funds THE GATHERING PLACE ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds COLORS PLUS ↗
  • Who funds THE MARSHALL PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds MARILYNS VOICE INC ↗
  • Who funds OHIO CITY BICYCLE COOP INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES UNLIMITED ↗
  • Who funds TOWARDS EMPLOYMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds RESOURCE CLEVELAND ↗
  • Who funds KARAMU HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds Playhouse Square Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CHILD CARE RESOURCE CENTER OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY ↗

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.

The Cleveland Foundat…Treu Mart FundThe Char and Chuck Fo…The George Gund Found…Higley Fund of the Cl…The Reinberger Founda…The Swagelok Foundati…Jewish Federation of …The Leonetticarlson F…George Codrington Fdn…Thomas H White Fdn TaThe Abington Foundati…
The Cleveland FoundationOH30.4× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Cleveland Foundation · Treu Mart Fund · The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation · The George Gund Foundation · Higley Fund of the Cleveland Foundation · The Reinberger Foundation · The Swagelok Foundation · Jewish Federation of Cleveland · The Leonetticarlson Family Foundation · George Codrington Fdnhirtlena · Thomas H White Fdn Ta · The Abington Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Freeman Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Freeman 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 49 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Freeman’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