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Plinth

· Private foundation

Gerstein Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$76k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$30k
Largest
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 FY20172024.

Education$184kEnvironment$60kHealth$59kHuman Services$50kPhilanthropy$22kReligion$20kArts & Culture$6kScience & Tech$5k
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $6k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $70k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$632k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BAY SCHOOL$30,000
THE BRANDEIS DAY SCHOOL OF SAN FRAN$15,000
TOWN SCHOOL$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCI$10,000
THE LIGHTHOUSE OF THE BLIND SF$3,000
San Francisco Jewish Community Publ$1,500
NATIONAL MS SOCIETY$1,060
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, $60k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, 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%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRAN: $20k → 10%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $10k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRAN: $15k → 10%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRAN: $10k → 10%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRAN: $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.

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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$292k · 8 repeat orgs$113k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +32% since the first grant, against +20% for the ones you funded once.

8 repeat relationships — 2 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
5

Total granted

$292k
$62k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+20%

Still filing today

50%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 33% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $51k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthEnvironmentOther

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

  • TS
    TOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS
    3× · 2019–2022 · $61k · revenue +70%
  • TE
    THE EXPLORATORIUM
    2× · 2020–2022 · $5k · revenue +32%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF CALLIGRAPHY
    2× · 2020–2022 · $4k · revenue +18%

Funded once

  • TB
    The Brandeis Fund
    one grant, 2018 · $20k
  • THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue +49%
  • SR
    SLIDE RANCH
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue -41%

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
San Francisco Friends School

At san francisco friends school, students learn in a community grounded in the quaker values of reflection, integrity, peaceful problem-solving and stewardship. our teachers challenge students with a dynamic curriculum that inspires…

Education
2
The San Francisco School

A private school that cultivates and celebrates the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of each student in a community that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires passion for learning.

3
The Scripps Research Institute

The scripps research institute ("tsri") performs high impact basic biomedical research, improves the human condition by fostering translation of its discoveries into useful products and engages in the highest quality graduate scientific…

Health
4
Mark Day School

Innovative and full of heart, mark day school nurtures each child to pursue their curiosity, think critically, embrace challenge with courage and joy, and work in partnership with others to build more caring and inclusive communities.

5
The Center for Early Education

The center for early education, a socio-economically and culturally diverse independent school for children, toddlers through grade six, strives to graduate students who are joyful, resilient, lifelong learners. the center embraces a…

Education
6
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Unlocking the secrets of life itself is the driving force behind the salk institute. our team of world-class, award-winning scientists pushes boundaries of knowledge in areas such as neuroscience, cancer research, aging, immunobiology,…

Science & Tech
7
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
8
Carlthorp School

Carlthorp school is an independent, nonprofit day school for children in grades k-6. carlthorp school provides a strong academic foundation in a diverse and nurturing school community that emphasizes traditional values, disciplined work…

Education
9
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
10
The Seven Hills School

The institution provides educational instruction and activities to students ranging from preschool through 8th grade.

11
The Buckley School

The buckley school is a dynamic, nurturing learning community committed to equity and inclusion. our innovative teachers and challenging programs inspire creativity, courage, and collaboration. by promoting a balanced development of mind,…

12
California Academy of Sciences

The academy is a renowned scientific and educational institution with a mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. based in san francisco's golden gate park, it is home to a world-class aquarium,…

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and the most unlike its peers is Friends of Calligraphy. 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

9 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. 9 of the 18 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
6/9
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE BRANDEIS DAY SCHOOL OF SAN FRAN — $80,000 · OtherTHE BRANDEIS DAY SCHOOL OF SAN FRANUC BERKELEY BOTANICAL GARDENS — $45,000 · OtherUC BERKELEY BOTANICAL GARDENSUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCI — $28,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCIThe Brandeis Fund — $20,000 · OtherThe Brandeis FundCONGREGATION EMANU-EL — $19,800 · OtherCONGREGATION EMANU-ELTOWN SCHOOL — $15,000 · OtherTOWN SCHOOL+3 more — $5,560 · OtherTOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS — $61,000 · EducationTOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYSTHE BAY SCHOOL — $30,000 · EducationTHE BAY SCHOOLJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO — $50,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH COMMUNITY…THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED — $10,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHICAGO LIGH…THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC — $15,000 · HealthSLIDE RANCH — $15,000 · EnvironmentTHE EXPLORATORIUM — $4,500 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF CALLIGRAPHY — $3,500 · Arts & CultureKQED INC — $2,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$213,360Education$91,000Human Services$60,000Health$15,000Environment$15,000Arts & Culture$10,000

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 budgetTOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS — $61,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO — $50,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BAY SCHOOL — $30,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSLIDE RANCH — $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EXPLORATORIUM — $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF CALLIGRAPHY — $3,500 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetKQED INC — $2,000 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.

  • Who funds TOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS
  • Who funds JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO
  • Who funds THE BAY SCHOOL
  • Who funds THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC
  • Who funds SLIDE RANCH
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED
  • Who funds THE EXPLORATORIUM
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF CALLIGRAPHY
  • Who funds KQED 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through you, not between each other.

Amazonsmile FoundationWA3.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Gerstein 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 · 10%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 18 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph