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Plinth

· Private foundation

Lyle & Gail Grimes Char Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$14k
Granted FY2024still arriving
14
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What you fund
0192% classified

What you funded, over time

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

Religion$124kHuman Services$18kEnvironment$10kHealth$6kHousing & Shelter$5kInternational$4kRecreation & Sports$3kPhilanthropy$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$96k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH$2,300
LUTHERAN CHURCH MISSOURI SYNOD$1,000
BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
MOUNTAIN HOME$1,000
HILLSDALE COLLEGE$1,000
MISSOULA ROTARY FOUNDATION$1,000
MISSOULA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$1,000
SHODAIR HOSPITAL$1,000
LUTHERAN CENTER FOR RELIGIOUS LBTY$1,000
CARE NET$1,000
MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER$500
SPECIAL OLYMPICS$500
MISSOULA AGING SERVICES$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 (FY18–24, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%MOUNTAIN HOME: $1k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME: $1k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME: $1k → 9%WATSON CHILDRENS SHELTER: $1k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME: $500 → 9%WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER: $500 → 9%WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER: $500 → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $200 → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME: $200 → 9%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

WA
MT
IL
MI
NY
IN
MO
DC
TX

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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$170k · 21 repeat orgs$11k to everyone else

21 repeat relationships — 11 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
9

Total granted

$170k
$9k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+45%

Still filing today

43%
22%

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 ServicesRecreation & SportsEnvironmentInternationalEducationPhilanthropyOther

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

  • BC
    BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $8k · revenue +162%
  • MH
    MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC
    6× · 2018–2024 · $4k · revenue +443%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $3k · revenue +79%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $3k
  • MT
    MT TROUT UNLIMITED
    one grant, 2020 · $2k
  • WC
    WATSON CHILDRENS CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $1k

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 Montana Land Reliance

The mission of the montana land reliance (mlr) is to partner with landowners to provide permanent protection for private lands that are significant for agricultural production, fish and wildlife habitat, and open space.

Environment
2
Montana Wildlife Federation

The montana wildlife federation is a statewide conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife, wildlife habitat, and public access for outdoor recreation.

Animals
3
Montana Chamber of Commerce

To create and sustain an optimal business climate, business prosperity and a strong montana economy through advocacy, education and collaboration, working to provide an empowered and educated workforce, reduce business growth obstacles,…

4
Scenic Montana Trails
5
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Montana

Keeping families with a sick child/children close to the care and resources they need, when it matters the most.

Health
6
Montana Healthcare Foundation
Philanthropy
7
Missoula Electric Cooperative Inc

Missoula Electric Cooperative, Inc. strives to uphold a commitment to service excellence, while delivering safe, affordable and reliable electricty to its members.

8
Montana Technological University Foundation

The mission of the montana tech foundation is to advance the teaching, research and public service endeavors of montana tech by generating private contributions to supplement the institution's state and federal revenues for capital,…

Education
9
Missoula International School

Missoula international school inspires principled global citizens and lifelong learners through a challenging bilingual education from preschool to eighth grade.

Education
10
Montanas Outdoor Legacy Foundation

To collectively serve as a catalyst for engagement and bonding of people to our wildlife and public lands in montana through a sense of place, education, access, research and stewardship.

Environment
11
Montana Homeownership Network Inc

Create sustainable homeownership opportunities and improve the availability of affordable rentals.

Housing & Shelter
12
Mission Valley Aquatics

State-of-the-art pool and fitness center providing members of the mission valley community with opportunities to improve their quality of life through health and fitness in a positive, well-structured and safe environment. programs…

Recreation & Sports

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The University of Montana Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Hillsdale College. 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

14 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. 14 of the 34 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
12/14
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH — $108,550 · OtherMESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCHLUTHERAN CHURCH MISSOURI SYNOD — $8,000 · Other+21 more — $42,250 · Other+21 moreBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC — $7,500 · EnvironmentMONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER — $500 · EnvironmentMOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC — $3,900 · Human ServicesWATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC — $2,000 · Human ServicesMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $2,550 · InternationalTHE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL — $1,000 · InternationalSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC — $2,500 · Recreation & SportsSPECIAL OLYMPICS MONTANA INC — $100 · Recreation & SportsMISSOULA ROTARY FOUNDATION — $2,000 · PhilanthropyHILLSDALE COLLEGE — $1,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION — $600 · Education
Other$158,800Environment$8,000Human Services$5,900International$3,550Recreation & Sports$2,600Philanthropy$2,000Education$1,600

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 budgetBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC — $7,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC — $3,900 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $2,550 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC — $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC — $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMISSOULA ROTARY FOUNDATION — $2,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY MISSOULA INC — $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE NET OF MISSOULA — $1,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOpportunity Resources Inc — $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION — $600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER — $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MONTANA INC — $100 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 BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC
  • Who funds MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC
  • Who funds WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC
  • Who funds MISSOULA ROTARY FOUNDATION
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY MISSOULA INC
  • Who funds LIFE NET OF MISSOULA
  • Who funds THE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE
  • Who funds Opportunity Resources Inc
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION
  • Who funds MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS MONTANA 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.

Gianforte Family Charitable TrustMT17.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gianforte Family Charitable Trust · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · Max and Betty Swanson Foundation · Montana Community Foundation Inc · Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation · Earl and Bertha Pruyn Foundation · Jane S Heman Foundation Inc · Louis L Borick Foundation · Treacy Foundation · Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana · Town Pump Charitable Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Lyle & Gail Grimes Char 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 · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Lyle & Gail Grimes Char Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Lyle & Gail Grimes Char 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 34 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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