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Jerry & Suzanne M Litner Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Jerry & Suzanne M Litner Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$5k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$395kInternational$92kAnimals$32kCivil Rights$18kEducation$16kArts & Culture$6k
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$22k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY TRUST$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%TRUST FOR CONSERVATION INNOVATION: $186k → 10%OAKWOOD FRIENDS SCHOOL: $5k → 9%NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: $5k → 17%UNCF: $500 → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $6k → 18%THE MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY TRUST: $5k → 9%BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS: $1k → 11%TRUST FOR CONSERVATION INNOVATION: $175k → 10%OAKWOOD FRIENDS SCHOOL: $5k → 9%OPENING ACT INC: $5k → 17%BONOBO CONSERVATION INITIATIVE: $6k → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $5k → 18%TRUST FOR CONSERVATION INNOVATION: $30k → 10%OAKWOOD FRIENDS SCHOOL: $5k → 9%BONOBO CONSERVATION INITIATIVE: $5k → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $1k → 18%BONOBO CONSERVATION INITIATIVE: $1k → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $1k → 18%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$542k · 6 repeat orgs$17k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against -4% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
4

Total granted

$542k
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
-4%

Still filing today

67%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentArts & CultureAnimalsCrime & LegalCivil RightsEducationOther
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

  • MULTIPLIER
    3× · 2017–2019 · $390k · revenue +264%
  • FRIENDS OF BONOBOS
    3× · 2021–2023 · $20k · revenue +20%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC
    4× · 2019–2022 · $13k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue -61%
  • OA
    Opening Act Inc
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue -4%
  • BC
    BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $1k · revenue +118%
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
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
2
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
3
Amazon Conservation Team

The amazon conservation team (act) partners with indigenous and other local communities to protect tropical forests and strengthen traditional culture.

Science & Tech
4
Marine Conservation Biology Institute

Marine conservation institute is dedicated to securing permanent, strong protection for the oceans' most important places for us and future generations.

Education
5
Nature and Culture International

Nature and culture international conserves biologically diverse landscapes in latin america, in concert with local cultures, for the well-being of the planet.

Environment
6
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
7
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
8
The Amazon Biodiversity Center

To advance the preservation of the amazon rainforest and conservation research and to disseminate knowledge regarding the impact of human development and climate change on the diversity of the ecosystem, wildlife, and plant life of the…

—
9
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc

The Fossey Fund is dedicated to the conservation and study of gorillas in Africa through a successful, people-centered approach: 1) Providing daily protection to gorillas, 2) Scientific research providing critical data on gorillas and…

—
10
Bat Conservation International

Bat conservation international's (bci) mission is to conserve the world's bats and their ecosystems to ensure a healthy planet. we are a science-based and results-focused organization dedicated to ending the extinction of the world's most…

—
11
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
12
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Naacp Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc; the most unlike its peers is Bonobo Conservation Initiative. 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 grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 9 of the 11 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
5/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MULTIPLIER: $390,300 · EnvironmentMULTIPLIER+1 more: $5,000 · EnvironmentGLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION MULTIPLIER CO WORLD BANK: $92,000 · OtherGLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FO…OAKWOOD FRIENDS SCHOOL INC: $15,000 · OtherOAKWOOD FRIENDS SCHOO…FRIENDS OF BONOBOS: $20,000 · AnimalsBONOBO CONSERVATION INITIATIVE: $12,000 · AnimalsSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $13,000 · Crime & LegalOpening Act Inc: $5,000 · Arts & CultureBAY CHAMBER CONCERTS INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $5,000 · Civil RightsUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $500 · Education
Environment$395,300Other$107,000Animals$32,000Crime & Legal$13,000Arts & Culture$6,000Civil Rights$5,000Education$500

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMULTIPLIER: $390,300 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF BONOBOS: $20,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $13,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBONOBO CONSERVATION INITIATIVE: $12,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetThe Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOpening Act Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBAY CHAMBER CONCERTS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $500 over 1y, 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.

American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
American Endowment FoundationOH10.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Jerry & Suzanne M Litner Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Jerry & Suzanne M Litner Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 Jerry & Suzanne M Litner Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Jerry & Suzanne M Litner 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 11 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2026) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2024, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Jerry & Suzanne M Litner’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

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