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John E Fetzer Memorial Trust Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

John E Fetzer Memorial Trust Fund

Its FY2022 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$95k
Granted FY2021
9
Grants FY2021
6
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0184% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Social Science$3.1MReligion$734kHealth$495kArts & Culture$131kEducation$53kPhilanthropy$43kCivil Rights$20kInternational$20kOther$0
02FY2021 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $75k
$10,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Kalamazoo Community Foundation$30,100
Theospohical Society in America$15,000
Friends of ICT4 Peace$10,000
Institute of Combat Trafficking$10,000
Foundation for Shamanic Studies$10,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
HeartMath Institute$5,000
Foundation for Inner Peace$5,000
Individual grant recipient$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 (FY17–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 90% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Institute for Noetic Science: $10k → 8%HeartMath Institute: $210k → 13%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - VALGOS COLLEGE: $20k → 17%Institute of Combat Trafficking: $10k → 10%DC Scottish Rite Foundation: $250k → 14%KALAMAZOO GOSPEL MISSION: $31k → 12%TIBETAN NUNS PROJECT: $10k → 9%Theospohical Society in America: $220k → 7%Edgar Cayce ARE: $255k → 10%INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES: $10k → 8%HeartMath Institute: $5k → 13%Columbia University - Vagelos College: $13k → 17%Mosaic Theatre of DC: $45k → 14%Kalamazoo Community Foundation: $30k → 12%TIBETAN NUNS PROJECT: $10k → 9%Theospohical Society in America: $15k → 7%Edgar Cayce ARE: $5k → 10%Irest Institute: $215k → 8%David Lynch Foundation: $270k → 17%MOSAIC THEATRE COMPANY OF DC: $44k → 14%KALAMAZOO GOSPEL MISSION: $24k → 12%Irest Insitute: $5k → 8%MOSAIC THEATRE COMPANY OF DC: $22k → 14%KALAMAZOO GOSPEL MISSION: $18k → 12%MOSAIC THEATRE COMPANY OF DC: $20k → 14%Kalamazoo Community Foundation: $13k → 12%MISCELLANEOUS 5000: $22k → 12%MISCELLANEOUS 5000: $21k → 12%Misc grants less than 5000: $17k → 12%MISCELLANEOUS 5000: $14k → 12%Unitarian Universalist Church: $20k → 12%JOHN E FETZER INSTITUTE: $2.9M → 12%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

WA
IL
MI
NY
CA
CO
VA
AZ
DC
TX
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.

23%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 12 repeat orgs$3.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against -8% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2021, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
12

Total granted

$1.1M
$3.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
-8%

Still filing today

58%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21
ReligionArts & CultureScience & TechPhilanthropyHealthInternationalOther
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

  • IO
    INSTITUTE OF HEARTMATH
    2× · 2020–2021 · $215k · revenue +21%
  • MT
    MOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $86k · revenue +11%
  • FF
    Foundation for Inner Peace Inc
    2× · 2020–2021 · $85k · revenue +66%

Funded once

  • JE
    JOHN E FETZER INSTITUTE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $2.9M · revenue +225%
  • DL
    DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS -BASED EDUCATION AND WORLD PEACE
    one grant, 2020 · $270k · revenue -8%
  • DS
    DC Scottish Rite Foundation
    one grant, 2020 · $250k
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
Friends of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa
International
2
The Institute of Buddha Dhamma Studies a Non Profit Corporation
Philanthropy
3
Nonduality Institute Inc

The mission of the Nonduality Institute is to advance scientific understanding of nonduality through conducting research into neural signatures of nondual awareness and its effects on cognitive, affective and perceptual…

Health
4
International Buddhist Education Foundation
Education
5
The Coherent Research Institute Inc
Philanthropy
6
Foundational Questions Institute
Philanthropy
7
Sh'ma Institute
—
8
Foundation for Intl Understanding
—
9
Mind Travel Foundation Formally Murray Hidary Foundation
—
10
International Center On Nonviolent Conflict
Philanthropy
11
Foundation for the Awakening Mind

Funded travel for teaching foregivenss thoughout the world providing published materials, seminars & retreats.

Religion
12
Science for Monks
Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Institute of Noetic Sciences; the most unlike its peers is Friends of ICT4PEACE Foundation. 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

11 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. 11 of the 27 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)
11/11
Grantees still filing
6/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JOHN E FETZER INSTITUTE INC: $2,906,283 · ReligionJOHN E FETZER INSTITUTE INCIndividual grant recipient: $260,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientDC Scottish Rite Foundation: $250,000 · OtherDC Scottish Rite FoundationTheospohical Society in America: $235,000 · OtherTheospohical Society in AmericaIrest Institute: $215,000 · OtherIrest InstituteFoundation for Inner Peace Inc: $85,000 · OtherFoundation for Inner Peace IncKALAMAZOO GOSPEL MISSION: $73,580 · OtherMISCELLANEOUS 5000: $56,802 · OtherFOUNDATION FOR SHAMANIC STUDIES INC: $50,200 · Other+11 more: $190,364 · Other+11 moreDAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS -BASED EDUCATION AND WORLD PEACE: $270,000 · PhilanthropyKALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $43,070 · PhilanthropyINSTITUTE OF HEARTMATH: $215,000 · HealthMOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC: $86,000 · Arts & CultureTIBETAN NUNS PROJECT: $20,000 · InternationalTRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING: $20,000 · EducationINSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES: $10,000 · Science & Tech
Religion$2,906,283Other$1,415,946Philanthropy$313,070Health$215,000Arts & Culture$86,000International$20,000Education$20,000Science & Tech$10,000

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 budgetJOHN E FETZER INSTITUTE INC: $2,906,283 over 1y, 14% of budgetDAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS -BASED EDUCATION AND WORLD PEACE: $270,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetINSTITUTE OF HEARTMATH: $215,000 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetMOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC: $86,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetFoundation for Inner Peace Inc: $85,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR SHAMANIC STUDIES INC: $50,200 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetKALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $43,070 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF ICT4PEACE FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetTRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetINSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

  • Who funds JOHN E FETZER INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS -BASED EDUCATION AND WORLD PEACE ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE OF HEARTMATH ↗
  • Who funds MOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC ↗
  • Who funds Foundation for Inner Peace Inc ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR SHAMANIC STUDIES INC ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TIBETAN NUNS PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF ICT4PEACE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES ↗

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.

National Philanthropi…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA11.8× affinity8 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 John E Fetzer Memorial Trust Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from John E Fetzer Memorial Trust Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Truckers Against Trafficking: 0% 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 · 0–5%
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 John E Fetzer Memorial Trust Fund?

Find your warmest path to John E Fetzer Memorial Trust Fund 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 27 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2022) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2021, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on John E Fetzer Memorial’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