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Plinth

· Private foundation

Jack & Sandra Guthman Fdn

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.

$33k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$7k
Largest
01What you fund
0199% classified

What you funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$100kHealth$19kEducation$19kRecreation & Sports$8kPhilanthropy$4kHousing & Shelter$520Social Science$250Youth Development$200Other$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$500
Median grant
2
States reached
$74k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Rush University Medical Center$7,000
Chicago Architecture Biennial$5,000
Museum of Contemporary Art$4,200
Chicago Sinai Congragation$4,070
WTTW$2,335
Harris Theater for Music and Dance$1,377
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago$835
Jewish United Fund$800
Joffrey Ballet$675
Experimental Station$600
Northwestern University$500
Timeline Theatre Company$500
Albany Park Theater Project$500
Art Insitute of Chicago$500
Arts Alliance Illinoi$500
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, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Community Partners for Afford Hsg: $100 → 8%Chicago Architecture Biennial: $5k → 14%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

ID
IL
NY
MA
CT
CA
MO
TX

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.
$125k · 28 repeat orgs$26k to everyone else

28 repeat relationships — 21 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
27

Total granted

$125k
$16k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+28%

Still filing today

86%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyOther

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

  • MA
    MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC
    3× · 2020–2025 · $17k · revenue +22%
  • RU
    Rush University Medical Center
    2× · 2022–2025 · $15k · revenue +6%
  • WT
    WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $12k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $4k
  • WC
    WTTW Channel 11
    one grant, 2021 · $2k
  • HT
    Harris Theater
    one grant, 2023 · $2k

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
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
2
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
3
Chicago Theatre Group Inc

The chicago theatre group is committed to producing both classic and contemporary works giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. by dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, equity, and community - the…

Arts & Culture
4
Chicago Historical Society

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history…

Arts & Culture
5
Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Inc

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University ("The Auditorium"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago and to the…

Arts & Culture
6
Chicago Art Department

Cultivates new and emerging Chicago artists, and aims to benefit artists by exploring art and learning. Through exhibitions, artist residencies, classes/workshops and community building, we are dedicated to cultivating new voices, ideas,…

Arts & Culture
7
Chamber Opera of Chicago
8
Lyric Opera of Chicago

We believe in the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great art and opera. Lyric Opera of Chicago exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to the Chicago region and the nation, and to advance the…

Arts & Culture
9
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
10
The Chicago Academy for the Arts

The chicago academy for the arts transforms emerging artists through a curriculum and culture which connect intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity to impart the skills to lead and collaborate across diverse communities.

11
The Arts Club of Chicago

The arts club of chicago was formed as a means to encourage, foster, and develop higher standards of arts craftsmanship, and to maintain the city of chicago facility for the housing of galleries and exhibitions open to the public and free…

Arts & Culture
12
Chicago Humanities Festival

To promote public appreciation, understanding and support of the humanities through festivals and educational programs.

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hyde Park Art Center and the most unlike its peers is Whitney Museum of American Art. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 48 years old; the field is 17. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number21%0%<5yr14%3%5–10yr18%13%10–20yr17%20%20–35yr15%25%35–55yr16%40%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value21%0%<5yr14%1%5–10yr18%9%10–20yr17%22%20–35yr15%10%35–55yr16%57%55yr+

The field is 21% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 16% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/43
the rest of the field
16%
5,000/31,467

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

41 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. 41 of the 61 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
41/41
Grantees still filing
26/41
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC — $16,877 · Arts & CultureMUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INCMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART — $15,650 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC — $12,165 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INCTIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY — $6,950 · Arts & CultureTIMELINE THEATRE COMPANYHUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO — $5,145 · Arts & CultureHUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGOSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY — $2,535 · Arts & Culture+15 more — $9,710 · Arts & Culture+15 moreWellesley College — $10,500 · EducationWellesley CollegeYale University — $4,925 · EducationYale UniversityTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO — $4,925 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE O…THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS — $2,300 · EducationTHE CHICAGO HIGH SC…ChiArts Foundation — $1,750 · EducationChiArts FoundationCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION — $1,325 · EducationUniversity of Chicago — $1,000 · EducationRenaissance Society — $4,670 · OtherRenaissance SocietyCHICAGO SINAI CONGREGATION — $4,070 · OtherCHICAGO SINAI CONGRE…Individual grant recipient — $3,650 · OtherIndividual grant rec…WTTW Channel 11 — $2,335 · OtherWTTW Channel 11Harris Theater — $1,700 · OtherHarris TheaterChiArts Foundaton — $1,000 · OtherTHE EXPERIMENTAL STATION — $1,600 · OtherTHE EXPERIMENTAL STA…Albany Park Theater Project — $1,500 · OtherAlbany Park Theater …+19 more — $7,095 · Other+19 moreRush University Medical Center — $14,500 · HealthRush Unive…+1 more — $250 · HealthNorthwestern University — $8,260 · Recreation & SportsCHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL INC — $5,000 · Human Services+1 more — $100 · Human ServicesJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO — $4,000 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$69,032Education$26,725Other$27,620Health$14,750Recreation & Sports$8,260Human Services$5,100Philanthropy$4,000

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 budgetMUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC — $16,877 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART — $15,650 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetRush University Medical Center — $14,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC — $12,165 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWellesley College — $10,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University — $8,260 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY — $6,950 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO — $5,145 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetYale University — $4,925 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO — $4,925 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO — $4,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY — $2,535 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS — $2,300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChiArts Foundation — $1,750 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSociety for Contemporary Art C-O The Art Institute of Chicago — $1,740 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHYDE PARK ART CENTER — $1,675 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EXPERIMENTAL STATION — $1,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAlbany Park Theater Project — $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION — $1,325 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Jazz Philharmonic — $920 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Architecture Foundation — $900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetILLINOIS ARTS ALLIANCE — $885 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET — $875 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDesign Museum of Chicago — $700 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUnited States Artists Inc — $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Artists Coalition — $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe National Public Housing Museum — $420 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRAIN RESEARCH FOUNDATION — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew Museum of Contemporary Art — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILD INC — $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMPACT FOR EQUITY — $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DESERT BIENNIAL DBA DESERT X — $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING — $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION — $100 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.

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.

Polk Bros Foundation IncIL40.3× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Circle of Service Foundation · The Irving Harris Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Metzner Family Foundation · The Bluhm Family Foundation · Prince Foundation · Builders Vision 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 Jack & Sandra Guthman Fdn 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%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 12%
  • Yale University12% of income from government
  • Wellesley College1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Jack & Sandra Guthman Fdn?

Find your warmest path to Jack & Sandra Guthman Fdn 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 61 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