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James and Susan Ratner Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

James and Susan Ratner Family 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.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
70
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$1.4MArts & Culture$1.2MPhilanthropy$1.2MReligion$1.1MEducation$1000kInternational$561kRecreation & Sports$173kHuman Services$92kOther$0
02FY2025 · 70 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k42 grants · $123k
  • $10k–50k25 grants · $494k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $160k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$5,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$2.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF CLEVELAND$250,000
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART$100,000
PARK SYNAGOGUE$60,000
UNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND$35,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND$30,938
PLAYHOUSE SQUARE FOUNDATION$28,500
J STREET EDUCATION FUND$25,000
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART$25,000
MQ FOUNDATION$25,000
NEW ISRAEL FUND$25,000
HEALTH EQUITY FUND OF GREATER OHIO$25,000
PARK SYNAGOGUE$25,000
UNIVERSITY CIRCLE INC$25,000
MUSICAL ARTS ASSOCIATION$25,000
PLAYHOUSE SQUARE FOUNDATION$22,000
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 (FY17–25, $82k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 21% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HT MINISTRIES: $25k → 6%HT MINISTRIES: $10k → 6%HT MINISTRIES: $10k → 6%HT MINISTRIES: $10k → 6%HT MINISTRIES: $10k → 6%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING & SERVICES: $2k → 20%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING & SERVICES: $1k → 20%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING & SERVICES: $1k → 20%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING & SERVICES: $1k → 20%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING & SERVICES: $800 → 20%LAKEWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER: $5k → 17%WINGSPAN CARE GROUP: $3k → 17%GLOBAL CLEVELAND: $2k → 17%MANDEL JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $2k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
MI
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
AZ
TN
DC
AL
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.5M · 85 repeat orgs$518k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

85 repeat relationships: 41 still active in FY2025, 44 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

85
40

Total granted

$5.5M
$404k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+11%

Still filing today

82%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $114k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthEducationInternationalHuman ServicesPhilanthropyOther
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

  • CM
    CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
    6× · 2019–2025 · $550k · revenue +32%
  • CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
    6× · 2019–2025 · $470k · revenue +43%
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER OHIO
    8× · 2017–2024 · $251k · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • AE
    ANSHE EMETH BETH TEFILO CONGREGATION
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • I
    INMOTION
    one grant, 2020 · $40k · revenue -21%
  • MH
    MEDISYS HEALTH NETWORK FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
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
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
2
Hebrew Academy of Cleveland

The mission of the hebrew academy is to imbue all students with a love of god, torah and eretz yisroel and to prepare them to achieve excellence in torah and general knowledge based on successful cooperation among family, judaic and…

—
3
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
4
Us Middle East Project Inc

The organization's mission is to engage in non partisan analysis of u.s. foreign policy in the middle east, with special emphasis on the middle east peace process, and to present policymakers in the united states, in the region and in the…

International
5
Manhattanville University

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

Education
6
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
7
Museum of Jewish Heritage a Living Memorial to the Holocaust

The museum of jewish heritage - a living memorial to the holocaust is new york's contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. see schedule o for additional information.

Arts & Culture
8
Yeshiva University

The university is composed of several colleges and schools providing undergraduate, graduate, professional and post-doctoral education and training and research and clinical programs.

Education
9
The Central European University

Ceu is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. it aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social…

International
10
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
11
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Cleveland Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The United Jewish Cemeteries. 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

118 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. 118 of the 143 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
117/118
Grantees still filing
76/118
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF CLEVELAND: $1,080,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF CLEVELANDPARK SYNAGOGUE: $910,935 · OtherPARK SYNAGOGUE+65 more: $1,109,365 · Other+65 moreJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $861,110 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION …UNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $135,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF GREA…THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION: $87,500 · PhilanthropyTHE CLEVELAND FOUN…+5 more: $58,500 · PhilanthropyCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $550,000 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND MUSEUM …Playhouse Square Foundation: $165,000 · Arts & CulturePlayhouse Square …The Musical Arts Association: $150,000 · Arts & CultureThe Musical Arts …ARMAND HAMMER MUSEUM OF ART AND CULTURAL CENTER INC: $99,832 · Arts & CultureARMAND HAMMER MUS…FRIENDS OF BEZALEL ACADEMY OF ARTS AND DESIGNS INC: $50,000 · Arts & Culture+16 more: $111,083 · Arts & Culture+16 moreCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $469,500 · EducationCASE WESTE…PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE: $30,000 · EducationWORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION - AMERICAN SECTION INC: $25,000 · EducationTHE RATNER SCHOOL: $23,750 · Education+12 more: $94,584 · Education+12 morePLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER OHIO: $251,000 · HealthMEDWISH MEDWORKS: $70,000 · HealthHANNA PERKINS SCHOOL: $55,400 · HealthMILESTONES AUTISM RESOURCES: $41,183 · HealthINMOTION: $40,000 · HealthMEDISYS HEALTH NETWORK FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · HealthMQ FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Health+9 more: $43,600 · HealthNEW ISRAEL FUND: $150,000 · InternationalSave The Children Federation Inc: $115,000 · InternationalPHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS INC: $65,000 · InternationalROSA VERA FUND INC: $25,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF GIVAT HAVIVA: $25,000 · InternationalCARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: $15,000 · International+7 more: $43,800 · InternationalNorthwestern University: $160,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $2,500 · Recreation & Sports
Other$3,100,300Philanthropy$1,142,110Arts & Culture$1,125,915Education$642,834Health$551,183International$438,800Recreation & Sports$162,500

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 budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $861,110 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $550,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $469,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER OHIO: $251,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetPlayhouse Square Foundation: $165,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNorthwestern University: $160,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ISRAEL FUND: $150,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Musical Arts Association: $150,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $135,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $115,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetARMAND HAMMER MUSEUM OF ART AND CULTURAL CENTER INC: $99,832 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJ STREET EDUCATION FUND INC: $91,800 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION: $87,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDWISH MEDWORKS: $70,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS INC: $65,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetHT Ministries: $65,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHANNA PERKINS SCHOOL: $55,400 over 9y, 1.5% of budgetSLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT: $55,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF BEZALEL ACADEMY OF ARTS AND DESIGNS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetMILESTONES AUTISM RESOURCES: $41,183 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetINMOTION: $40,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetMOBILEMED1 INC DBA MEDWORKS: $32,500 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $30,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage: $27,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetROSA VERA FUND INC: $25,000 over 5y, 6.1% of budgetMEDISYS HEALTH NETWORK FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetOhio Progressive Collaborative Education Fund: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF GIVAT HAVIVA: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION - AMERICAN SECTION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY CIRCLE INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMQ FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE ULI FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RATNER SCHOOL: $23,750 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $22,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSHAKER HEIGHTS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $20,500 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetOPEN BOOKS LTD: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $16,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLEGAL AID SOCIETY OF CLEVELAND: $16,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOPEWELL: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ELLEN P HERMANSON FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetKOL ISRAEL FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $15,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $15,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: $15,000 over 3y, 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.

Jewish Federation of …The Cleveland Foundat…The Horowitz Ratner F…Ronald and Deborah Ra…The George Gund Found…The Albert B & Audrey…Jack Joseph & Morton …The Char and Chuck Fo…The Good Community Fo…Third Federal Foundat…Greenleaf Avenue Foun…Emma R Fox Char Trust…
Jewish Federation of ClevelandOH74.7× affinity36 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Federation of Cleveland · The Cleveland Foundation · The Horowitz Ratner Family Foundation · Ronald and Deborah Ratner Family Foundation · The George Gund Foundation · The Albert B & Audrey G Ratner Family Foundation · Jack Joseph & Morton Mandel Foundation · The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation · The Good Community Foundation · Third Federal Foundation · Greenleaf Avenue Foundation · Emma R Fox Char Trust Mut Fds

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 James and Susan Ratner Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from James and Susan Ratner Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
41report 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, FY20–25
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 James and Susan Ratner Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to James and Susan Ratner Family 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 143 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 James and Susan Ratner Family’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