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Kulas Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Kulas Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
47
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$325k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$8.1MEducation$3.1MHealth$748kHuman Services$321kCommunity Improvement$315kPhilanthropy$295kReligion$141kPublic Benefit$92kOther$0
02FY2024 · 47 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $57k
  • $10k–50k25 grants · $577k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $975k
  • $250k+1 grant · $325k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$46M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC$325,000
THE MUSICAL ARTS ASSOCIATION$235,000
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY$154,500
PLAYHOUSE SQUARE FOUNDATION$150,000
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS HEALTH SYSTEM$102,500
UNIVERSITY OF AKRON FOUNDATION$84,000
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$79,500
GREAT LAKES THEATER FESTIVAL$60,000
THE SALVATION ARMY$57,000
CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$52,500
BALDWIN WALLACE UNIVERSITY$49,500
CLEVELAND BALLET$45,000
APOLLO'S FIRE CLEVELAND BAROQUE ORCHESTRA$40,000
ROOTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC$35,000
THE CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND$35,000
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 (FY24–24, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FRIENDLY INN SETTLEMENT INC: $3k → 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.
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 81 repeat orgs$303k to everyone else

81 repeat relationships: 46 still active in FY2024, 35 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

81
23

Total granted

$13M
$300k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+31%

Still filing today

80%
35%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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
Arts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementHealthCivil RightsOther
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

  • TM
    The Musical Arts Association
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.0M · revenue +45%
  • CI
    CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +8%
  • CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • CM
    CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue +31%
  • SJ
    ST JOHN CANTIUS CHURCH
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • TC
    Trinity Cathedral
    one grant, 2019 · $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
Cleveland Museum of Art

The mission of the cleveland museum of art (cma) is to fulfill its dual roles as one of the world's most distinguished comprehensive art museums and as one of northeastern ohio's principal civic and cultural institutions. the museum,…

Arts & Culture
2
Cleveland Arts Prize

The cleveland arts prize identifies, rewards, publicly honors and promotes those creative artists whose original work and accomplishments have set a standard of excellence to which other artists can aspire. additionally, the cleveland arts…

Arts & Culture
3
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (CCO) creates intimate, transformative experiences that connect the musically curious.

Arts & Culture
4
Ballet Metropolitan Inc

Balletmet will celebrate dance by engaging the community through quality performances, instruction, education programs, and creation of new work.

Arts & Culture
5
Cleveland Chamber Symphony Council Inc

Music Performance - Performing free concerts of new symphonic music

Arts & Culture
6
The Opera Association of Central Ohio

Opera columbus enriches central ohio by educating, enlightening, and entertaining people of all ages and backgrounds through the live music theatre experience by employing a diverse and far-flung supply of creative talent, ideas and…

Arts & Culture
7
Cleveland Chamber Collective

Non-profit organization dedicated to presenting frees concert of Classical Music

Arts & Culture
8
Greater Columbus Arts Council

Mission: to champion and elevate the arts and cultural expression of greater columbus.vision: power of art realized. people engaged. city energized.

Arts & Culture
9
Cleveland Arts Education Consortium

Cleveland arts education consortiums mission is to promote and strengthen arts education in northeast ohio and advocate on behalf of arts learning for people of all ages and circumstances.

Arts & Culture
10
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
11
Cleveland Classical Guitar Society

Cleveland classical guitar society's mission: teach, inspire, connect.teach- ccgs creates life-changing experiences for cleveland's kids. inspire-ccgs presents the world's greatest performers. connect-ccgs provides meaninful connections…

Arts & Culture
12
Cincinnati Museum Center

Cincinnati museum center inspires people of all ages to learn more about our world through science, regional history, and educational, engaging and meaningful experiences.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Assembly for the Arts; the most unlike its peers is International Partners in Mission. 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

78 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. 78 of the 107 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
76/78
Grantees still filing
58/78
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Musical Arts Association: $2,027,500 · Arts & CultureThe Musical Arts AssociationTHE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC: $910,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INCGREAT LAKES THEATER FESTIVAL INC: $450,000 · Arts & CultureGREAT LAKES THEATER FESTIVAL INCCLEVELAND BALLET: $285,000 · Arts & CultureBECK CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $217,000 · Arts & CulturePlayhouse Square Foundation: $212,500 · Arts & CultureAPOLLO'S FIRE BAROQUE: $195,000 · Arts & Culture+22 more: $1,335,000 · Arts & Culture+22 moreCLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $1,418,000 · EducationCLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSICCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $1,221,000 · EducationCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITYBaldwin Wallace University: $468,000 · EducationBaldwin Wallace UniversityKENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $275,600 · EducationKENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONTHE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON FOUNDATION: $267,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON FOUNDATIONCLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $199,500 · EducationFRIENDS OF BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS: $175,000 · EducationTHE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $170,500 · Education+13 more: $600,425 · Education+13 moreUNIVERSITY HOSPITALS HEALTH SYSTEM: $515,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY HOSPIT…THE SALVATION ARMY: $204,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARM…PIANO INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF NORTHERN OH: $135,000 · OtherPIANO INTERNATION…THE SALVATION ARMY: $103,000 · OtherGROUNDWORKS DANCE THEATER: $96,000 · OtherCITY MISSION: $82,500 · OtherGREAT LAKES SCIENCE CENTER: $80,000 · OtherJULIE BILLIART SCHOOL: $75,000 · OtherCLEVELAND SCHOOL OF ARTS BD OF TRUSTEES: $70,000 · Other+38 more: $736,995 · Other+38 moreUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $152,000 · PhilanthropyGROUP PLAN COMMISSION: $150,000 · PhilanthropyPHILANTHROPY OHIO: $95,000 · PhilanthropyTHE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $18,000 · PhilanthropyCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER OF AKRON: $120,000 · HealthCLEVELAND RAPE CRISIS CENTER: $35,000 · HealthASSEMBLY FOR THE ARTS: $105,000 · Civil RightsIDEASTREAM: $85,000 · Youth Development
Arts & Culture$5,632,000Education$4,795,025Other$2,097,495Philanthropy$440,000Health$155,000Civil Rights$105,000Youth Development$85,000

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 budgetThe Musical Arts Association: $2,027,500 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetCLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $1,418,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $1,221,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC: $910,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetBaldwin Wallace University: $468,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetGREAT LAKES THEATER FESTIVAL INC: $450,000 over 8y, 2.6% of budgetCLEVELAND BALLET: $285,000 over 7y, 4.8% of budgetKENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $275,600 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON FOUNDATION: $267,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetBECK CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $217,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetPlayhouse Square Foundation: $212,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $199,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetAPOLLO'S FIRE BAROQUE: $195,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS: $175,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $170,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE: $160,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $152,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGROUP PLAN COMMISSION: $150,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetCLEVELAND FILM SOCIETY: $150,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetCLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE INC: $145,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT: $144,500 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetKARAMU HOUSE INC: $143,500 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetCUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $136,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetOberlin College: $136,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetPIANO INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF NORTHERN OH: $135,000 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetTHE MUSICAL THEATER PROJECT INC: $125,000 over 5y, 8.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER OF AKRON: $120,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASSEMBLY FOR THE ARTS: $105,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetGROUNDWORKS DANCE THEATER: $96,000 over 6y, 7.1% of budgetPHILANTHROPY OHIO: $95,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetNEAR WEST THEATRE INC: $90,000 over 7y, 1.8% of budgetCLEVELAND POPS ORCHESTRA: $85,000 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetIDEASTREAM: $85,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBLUEWATER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: $80,000 over 4y, 16% of budgetTHE CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND: $78,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetUNIVERSITY CIRCLE INCORPORATED: $67,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGreater Akron Musical Association Inc: $45,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND MODERN DANCE ASSOCIATION: $45,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetROOTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC: $45,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetCLEVELAND HEARING AND SPEECH CENTER: $45,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR ARTS-INSPIRED LEARNING: $42,500 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCLEVELAND JAZZ ORCHESTRA: $41,000 over 6y, 5.4% of budgetJohn Carroll University: $39,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND COUNCIL ON WORLD AFFAIRS: $35,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetCLEVELAND RAPE CRISIS CENTER: $35,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetYOUTH CHALLENGE: $32,500 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCHAMBERFEST CLEVELAND: $32,000 over 4y, 2.3% 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 The Musical Arts Association ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds Baldwin Wallace University ↗
  • Who funds GREAT LAKES THEATER FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND BALLET ↗
  • Who funds KENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BECK CENTER FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds Playhouse Square Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds APOLLO'S FIRE BAROQUE ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds THE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART ↗
  • Who funds THE CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND ↗
  • Who funds GROUP PLAN COMMISSION ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND FILM SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CLEVELAND MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT ↗
  • Who funds KARAMU HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Oberlin College ↗
  • Who funds PIANO INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF NORTHERN OH ↗
  • Who funds THE MUSICAL THEATER PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER OF AKRON ↗
  • Who funds ASSEMBLY FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds GROUNDWORKS DANCE THEATER ↗
  • Who funds PHILANTHROPY OHIO ↗
  • Who funds NEAR WEST THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND POPS ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds IDEASTREAM ↗
  • Who funds BLUEWATER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds THE CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND ↗

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.

John P Murphy Foundat…The George Gund Found…The Cleveland Foundat…The Char and Chuck Fo…Martha Holden Jenning…Jewish Federation of …The Louise H & David …The Albert B & Audrey…The Reinberger Founda…Emma R Fox Char Trust…George Codrington Fdn…The Kelvin & Eleanor …
John P Murphy FoundationOH99.5× affinity45 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John P Murphy Foundation · The George Gund Foundation · The Cleveland Foundation · The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation · Martha Holden Jennings Foundation · Jewish Federation of Cleveland · The Louise H & David S Ingalls Fdn · The Albert B & Audrey G Ratner Family Foundation · The Reinberger Foundation · Emma R Fox Char Trust Mut Fds · George Codrington Fdnhirtlena · The Kelvin & Eleanor Smith 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 Kulas Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kulas Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    40report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Kulas Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Kulas 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 107 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.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Kulas’ 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