Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

John & Ann L Koester Charitable Tr

$2k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$1k
Largest
01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Religion$56kEducation$23kArts & Culture$3kHealth$3kFood & Nutrition$1kPublic Safety & Disaster$500Housing & Shelter$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$500
Median grant
3
States reached
$29k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITA$1,000
CITY RESCUE MISSION OF SAGINAW$500
Individual grant recipient$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:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 78% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%FEED THE CHILDREN: $500 → 16%OUR SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH: $3k → 12%ST LUKES CHURCH & SCHOOL: $6k → 12%FRANKENMUTH AREA FINE ARTS COUNCIL: $1k → 14%CITY RESCUE MISSION OF SAGINAW: $500 → 18%WELS KINGDOM WORKERS: $4k → 5%WISCONSIN LUTHERAN SEMINARY: $5k → 6%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $1k → 17%FEEDING AMERICA: $500 → 14%TOY FOR TOTS: $500 → 7%ST LUKES CHURCH & SCHOOL: $3k → 12%MI LUTHERAN SEMINARY FOUNDATION: $3k → 18%WELS KINGDOM WORKERS: $2k → 5%WISCONSIN LUTHERAN SEMINARY: $4k → 6%ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITA: $1k → 17%ST LUKES CHURCH: $3k → 12%MI LUTHERAN SEMINARY FOUNDATION: $3k → 18%WELS KINGDOM WORKERS: $2k → 5%WISCONSIN LUTHERAN SEMINARY: $1k → 6%ST LUKES CHURCH & SCHOOL: $3k → 12%MI LUTHERAN SEMINARY FOUNDATION: $2k → 18%WELS KINGDOM WORKERS: $500 → 5%ST LUKES CHURCH: $2k → 12%MI LUTHERAN SEMINARY FOUNDATION: $2k → 18%ST LUKES CHURCH: $2k → 12%COVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $1k → 18%ST LUKES CHURCH & SCHOOL: $1k → 12%KING OF KINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH: $10k → 18%ST LUKES SCHOOL: $1k → 12%KING OF KINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH: $6k → 18%KING OF KINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH: $5k → 18%KING OF KINGS CHURCH: $3k → 18%KING OF KINGS CHURCH: $3k → 18%FRANKENMUTH FINE ARTS COUNCIL: $2k → 18%KING OF KINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH: $251 → 18%CITY OF SAGINAW RESCUE MISSION: $500 → 18%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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$77k · 8 repeat orgs$11k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +47% since the first grant, against +11% for the ones you funded once.

8 repeat relationships — 1 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
8

Total granted

$77k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
+11%

Still filing today

38%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k 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
ReligionHealthFood & NutritionInternationalEducationHousing & ShelterOther

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

  • ML
    MICHIGAN LUTHERAN SEMINARY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2018–2020 · $10k · revenue +47%
  • WE
    WISCONSIN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD KINGDOM WORKERS INC
    2× · 2020–2023 · $9k · revenue +96%
  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $2k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • OS
    OUR SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH
    one grant, 2018 · $3k
  • FF
    FRANKENMUTH FINE ARTS COUNCIL
    one grant, 2021 · $2k
  • CH
    COVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $1k · revenue +11%

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
The Maryland Food Bank Inc

The maryland food bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization dedicated to feeding people, strengthening communities, and ending hunger for more marylanders.

2
Food Bank Council of Michigan Inc

Alleviate and prevent hunger amongst Michigan residents.

3
Food Bank of Eastern Michigan

The Food Bank of Eastern Michigan's mission is to be the Food Source for people in need. Partnering with organizations to feed the hungry, we advocate and build a community solution to a community problem. By leveraging an abundance of…

Food & Nutrition
4
Mary's Meals Usa Inc

To raise donations to (i) provide a daily meal in a place of education for children in the world's poorest communities; (ii) occasionally provide relief for those suffering, in any part of the world, as a result of humanitarian crises…

International
5
Feeding America West Michigan

We gather and distribute food to relieve hunger and increase food security in west michigan and the upper peninsula. contributions and net assets consist primarily of donated food for distribution.

6
Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan

We exist to provide households with access to sufficient, nutritious food and related resources. we accomplish this through collaboration, efficient operations, education, and innovative solutions to achieve a hunger-free community in…

Food & Nutrition
7
Fondy Food Center Inc

He fondy food center connects greater milwaukee to local, fresh food- from farm to market to table - so that children learn better, adults live healthier, and communities celebrate cultural food traditions.

Food & Nutrition
8
Second Harvest Heartland

Second harvest heartland's mission is to end hunger together. in partnership with more than 1,000 food shelves and hunger-relief programs in minnesota and western wisconsin, we provided 145 million meals to neighbors last year.

Food & Nutrition
9
Lutheran Services in America Incorporated

Lutheran services in america mission: cultivate caring communities that advance health and opportunity for all by building valuable connections, amplifying our voices and empowering our members in their mission to answer god's call to love…

Religion
10
World Relief Corp of National Association of Evangelicals

To boldly engage the world's greatest crises in partnership with the church.

International
11
Montana Food Bank Network Inc

Our mission: to end hunger in montana through food acquisition and distribution, education, and advocacy. we are the only statewide hunger organization, providing emergency food and increasing food access among needy children, seniors and…

Food & Nutrition
12
Feed America First of Tennessee

Feed america first is a murfreesboro, tn based food ministry focused upon hunger relief in small towns and rural communities in middle tn and parts of al, ky and ms. since 2000 faf has distributed enough food for over 150,000,000 meals to…

Food & Nutrition

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Feed the Children Inc and the most unlike its peers is Frankenmuth Area Fine Arts Council. 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

8 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. 8 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/8
Grantees still filing
5/8
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

KING OF KINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH — $21,251 · OtherKING OF KINGS LUTHERAN CHURCHST LUKES CHURCH & SCHOOL — $13,450 · OtherST LUKES CHURCH & SCHOOLWISCONSIN LUTHERAN SEMINARY — $10,000 · OtherWISCONSIN LUTHERAN SEMINARYKING OF KINGS CHURCH — $6,000 · OtherKING OF KINGS CHURCHST LUKES CHURCH — $6,000 · OtherST LUKES CHURCHOUR SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH — $3,000 · Other+4 more — $4,000 · Other+4 moreMICHIGAN LUTHERAN SEMINARY FOUNDATION — $10,000 · ReligionMICHIGAN LUTHERAN SEMIN…WISCONSIN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD KINGDOM WORKERS INC — $8,500 · ReligionWISCONSIN EVANGELICAL L…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $2,000 · HealthCOVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION — $1,000 · HealthFRANKENMUTH AREA FINE ARTS COUNCIL — $1,000 · EducationRescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan — $500 · Housing & ShelterFeeding America — $500 · Food & NutritionFEED THE CHILDREN INC — $500 · International
Other$63,701Religion$18,500Health$3,000Education$1,000Housing & Shelter$500Food & Nutrition$500International$500

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetMICHIGAN LUTHERAN SEMINARY FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetWISCONSIN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD KINGDOM WORKERS INC — $8,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRANKENMUTH AREA FINE ARTS COUNCIL — $1,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetRescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEED THE CHILDREN INC — $500 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.

The Blackbaud Giving FundSC10.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 John & Ann L Koester Charitable Tr 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.

2025
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 1%
  • Feed the Children Inc1% of 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 · 0–10%
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.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to John & Ann L Koester Charitable Tr?

Find your warmest path to John & Ann L Koester Charitable Tr 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 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph