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· Private foundation

Joseph & Ruth E Stern Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$17k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Human Services$54kHealth$27kAnimals$23kFood & Nutrition$23kEducation$16kPhilanthropy$12kEnvironment$5kPublic Safety & Disaster$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$1,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$282k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
American Red Cross$2,000
Food on Foot$2,000
Saddleback Community Outreach Inc$1,500
Tunnel to Towers$1,500
Shriners Hospitals$1,500
Wounded Warriors Project$1,500
Salvation Army$1,000
Mercy Chefs$1,000
Paws for Purple heart$1,000
Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue$1,000
Malibu Lost Hills Sheriffs Foundati$500
Int'l Fellowship of Christians and$500
Prager University$500
ASPCA$500
Semper K9 assistant Dogs$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 (FY17–24, $36k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Saddleback Community Outreach Inc: $10k → 11%Mercy Chefs: $1k → 20%Saddleback Community Outreach Inc: $2k → 11%Saddleback Community Outreach Inc: $2k → 11%Saddleback Community Outreach Inc: $2k → 11%Saddleback Community Outreach Inc: $2k → 11%American Red Cross: $2k → 14%American Red Cross: $1k → 14%Unsilenced Voices: $500 → 14%Food on Foot: $2k → 14%Food on Foot: $2k → 14%Food on Foot: $2k → 14%Food on Foot: $2k → 14%Food on Foot: $2k → 14%Food on Foot: $2k → 14%Food on Foot: $2k → 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

IL
MI
NY
OH
CA
KY
VA
MD
AZ
KS
TN
DC
HI
LA
FL

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.
$152k · 28 repeat orgs$21k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +46% since the first grant, against +34% for the ones you funded once.

28 repeat relationships — 13 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
14

Total granted

$152k
$19k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+34%

Still filing today

50%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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
Human ServicesAnimalsHealthPublic BenefitPhilanthropyEducationOther

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

  • SC
    Saddlebrooke Community Outreach Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $18k · revenue +29%
  • FO
    FOOD ON FOOT
    7× · 2017–2024 · $14k · revenue +99%
  • STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $12k · revenue ×12

Funded once

  • UJ
    UNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +34%
  • EI
    Ellis Island Foundation
    one grant, 2018 · $2k
  • MU
    MAUI UNITED WAYgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $2k · revenue +188%

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
Humane World for Animals International

HUMANE WORLD FOR ANIMALS INTERNATIONAL, FKA HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL (HSI), works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, rescue and protect dogs and cats, improve farm animal welfare, protect wildlife, promote animal-free…

Animals
2
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Inc

Protection of animal rights

Animals
3
Aerial Recovery

Aerial recovery's mission is to save lives and stop evil. through the creation and deployment of humanitarian special operators, aerial recovery brings together selected veterans, first responders, and mission-qualified civilians who,…

4
World Animal Protection

World animal protection is a global organization working to end factory farming and wildlife exploitation. we expose cruel systems, promote animal-friendly alternatives, and influence policy change. for over 75 years, we've been rewriting…

Animals
5
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
6
The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

To ensure every companion animal has access to quality medical care, compassionate shelter, and a loving home.

Animals
7
Paws Unite People Inc

Our mission is simple. We support animals and the people who love them when they need it the most through our animal welfare and humanitarian aid programs. We assist shelter, abused, and neglected animals in finding their purpose in life…

Animals
8
Humane Society Silicon Valley

At humane society silicon valley, our mission is to save lives, keep families together, and create a better future for pets and their people.(see schedule o for continuation)

Animals
9
Veterinarians Without Borders Usa

Our mission is to strengthen animal health and welfare to build more resilient communities. we do this by enhancing veterinary care, bolstering community disaster response and recovery, championing sustainable livelihoods, and improving…

International
10
Paws Need People

Paws need people strive to rescue pets from shelters and provide a place they can stay until they are adopted. they provide pets to veterans through its therapy pet program.

11
Best Friends Animal Society

To bring about a time when there are no more homeless pets. we do this by demonstrating and promoting exemplary animal care and building community programs and partnerships.

Animals
12
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wounded Warrior Project Inc and the most unlike its peers is Saddlebrooke Community Outreach Inc. 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

21 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. 21 of the 45 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
15/21
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC — $9,500 · OtherFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INCTHE SALVATION ARMY — $7,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMYMake-A-Wish — $6,500 · OtherMake-A-WishPaws for Purple heart — $6,000 · OtherPaws for Purple heartSalvation Army — $6,000 · OtherSalvation ArmyLeukemia Lmphoma Society — $5,300 · OtherLeukemia Lmphoma SocietyCousteau Society — $4,500 · OtherCousteau SocietySteubenville High School — $4,500 · OtherSteubenville High SchoolShriners Hospitals — $3,000 · OtherUniversal Kidney Research Organizat — $3,000 · Other+16 more — $16,900 · Other+16 moreSaddlebrooke Community Outreach Inc — $17,500 · Human ServicesSaddlebrooke Community Outreac…FOOD ON FOOT — $14,000 · Human ServicesFOOD ON FOOTWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC — $10,000 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INCAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $3,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & …+2 more — $1,500 · Human ServicesGENTLE GIANTS DRAFT HORSE RESCUE SOCIETY LTD — $5,000 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS — $4,000 · AnimalsGREATER LOS ANGELES ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION — $1,900 · AnimalsHumane World for Animals Inc — $1,600 · AnimalsMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY — $700 · Animals+1 more — $300 · AnimalsUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC — $10,000 · PhilanthropyMAUI UNITED WAY — $2,000 · PhilanthropyST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $9,000 · HealthRonald McDonald House Global — $3,000 · HealthSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION — $11,500 · EducationHEROES LINKED — $5,200 · Public BenefitFOR THE TROOPS — $195 · Public Benefit
Other$72,200Human Services$46,000Animals$13,500Philanthropy$12,000Health$12,000Education$11,500Public Benefit$5,395

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 budgetSaddlebrooke Community Outreach Inc — $17,500 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetFOOD ON FOOT — $14,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION — $11,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC — $10,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC — $9,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $9,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHEROES LINKED — $5,200 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetGENTLE GIANTS DRAFT HORSE RESCUE SOCIETY LTD — $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS — $4,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI UNITED WAY — $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER LOS ANGELES ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION — $1,900 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc — $1,600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFriends For Pets Foundation — $1,100 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMERCY CHEFS INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY — $700 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOR THE TROOPS — $195 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.

  • Who funds Saddlebrooke Community Outreach Inc
  • Who funds FOOD ON FOOT
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION
  • Who funds UNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC
  • Who funds WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC
  • Who funds FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
  • Who funds HEROES LINKED
  • Who funds GENTLE GIANTS DRAFT HORSE RESCUE SOCIETY LTD
  • Who funds THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
  • Who funds Ronald McDonald House Global
  • Who funds MAUI UNITED WAY
  • Who funds GREATER LOS ANGELES ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds Humane World for Animals Inc
  • Who funds Friends For Pets Foundation
  • Who funds MERCY CHEFS INC
  • Who funds MAUI HUMANE SOCIETY
  • Who funds UNSILENCED VOICES
  • Who funds PAWPARENT INC

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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Joseph & Ruth E Stern Foundation 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 · 20%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 Joseph & Ruth E Stern Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Joseph & Ruth E Stern 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 45 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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