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Plinth

· Private foundation

Piston Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$7k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$4k
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.

Arts & Culture$64kEducation$59kHealth$17kPublic Safety & Disaster$15kPhilanthropy$10kHuman Services$5kYouth Development$5kReligion$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$4,035
Median grant
2
States reached
$67k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART$4,035
THE CITY OF HERMITAGE PA$3,300
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 86% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%MISS PENNSYLVANIA SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $8k → 9%GRAND COURT ORDER OF THE AMARANTH: $17k → 10%PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATER: $13k → 11%MERCER COUNTY CRITICAL INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM: $5k → 13%NESHANNOCK X-TRA MILE BOOSTERS: $250 → 13%METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $4k → 17%PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $5k → 14%ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN MISSION CENTER: $100 → 6%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $10k → 14%AMERICAN FOUNDRY SOCIETY MISSOURI S&T CHAPTER: $2k → 16%CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $1k → 17%PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATER: $7k → 11%REYNOLDS VFW POST 7599: $5k → 13%MINDS MATTER OF NYC: $15k → 17%PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $5k → 14%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $5k → 14%AMERICAN FOUNDRY SOCIETY STUDENT CHAPTER: $2k → 16%CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $1k → 17%PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE: $1k → 11%HERMITAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: $5k → 13%MINDS MATTER INC: $10k → 17%CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $1k → 17%PITTSBURGH YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $10k → 11%HERMITAGE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $5k → 13%MINDS MATTER OF NYC: $10k → 17%PITTSBURGH YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $10k → 11%ST JOHN'S ORTHODOX CHURCH: $4k → 13%PITTSBURGH CONCERT SOCIETY: $10k → 11%THE CITY OF HERMITAGE PA: $3k → 13%PITTSBURGH CONCERT SOCIETY: $2k → 11%HERMITAGE GOODFELLOWS: $1k → 13%PITTSBURGH CONCERT SOCIETY: $2k → 11%SHENANGO VALLEY YMCA: $250 → 13%THE SHARON ROBOTICS BOOSTERS: $1k → 13%HUMANE SOCIETY OF MERCER COUNTY: $1k → 13%MERCER COUNTY 4H: $5k → 13%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.

60%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$103k · 6 repeat orgs$70k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +49% since the first grant, against +41% for the ones you funded once.

6 repeat relationships — 0 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
16

Total granted

$103k
$62k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+41%

Still filing today

67%
19%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k 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 & CultureYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyAnimalsEducationOther

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

  • MM
    MINDS MATTER OF NYC INC
    3× · 2018–2021 · $35k · revenue +144%
  • PB
    PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC
    3× · 2017–2021 · $21k · revenue +46%
  • THE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE
    2× · 2018–2019 · $10k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • GC
    GRAND COURT ORDER OF THE AMARANTH
    one grant, 2021 · $17k
  • MP
    MISS PENNSYLVANIA SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2018 · $8k
  • VO
    VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 7599 REYNOLDS
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +4%

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 Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
2
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
3
New York Historical Society

The founding mission of the new-york historical society ("the new york historical "tnyh") is to collect, preserve, and interpret, for the broadest possible public, material relevant to the history of the united states in general and of new…

Arts & Culture
4
Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery

The huntington library, art museum, and botanical gardens shares its world-renowned collections to support scholarship, foster learning, inspire creativity, and offer transformative experiences for diverse audiences.

Arts & Culture
5
Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

The trustees of the university of pennsylvania (the "university") sees itself as having a public service mission. in such regard, the university aims to provide a rich and diverse educational environment for its students; to pioneer…

Education
6
Regents of the Mercersburg College

At mercersburg academy we embrace the values of hard work, character, and community while learning to balance independence with interdependence and individual humility with collective pride. our students commit to a life of learning, seek…

Education
7
Philadelphia Museum of Art

The philadelphia museum of art - in partnership with the city, the region, and art museums around the globe - seeks to preserve, enhance, interpret, and extend the reach of its great collection in particular, and the visual arts in…

Arts & Culture
8
The Phillips Collection

The phillips collection is the oldest museum of modern and contemporary art in the u.s. in addition to presentation of works from the permanent collection and special exhibitions, the museum maintains active educational, academic,…

Arts & Culture
9
Franklin & Marshall College

Franklin & marshall college is a residential college dedicated to excellence in undergraduate liberal arts education. its aims are to inspire in young people of high promise and diverse backgrounds a genuine and enduring love for learning,…

Education
10
National September 11 Memorial and Museum At the World Trade Center

The national september 11 memorial & museum at the world trade center bears solemn witness to the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, and february 26, 1993. located at a site made sacred through loss, the memorial & museum remembers…

Arts & Culture
11
Hampden-Sydney College

Since 1775, the mission of Hampden-Sydney College has been to form good men and good citizens in an atmosphere of sound learning.

Education
12
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the most unlike its peers is Metropolitan Museum of Art. 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, 2017–2025.

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. 11 of the 25 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)
9/11
Grantees still filing
10/11
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

PITTSBURGH YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA — $20,375 · OtherPITTSBURGH YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAGRAND COURT ORDER OF THE AMARANTH — $17,037 · OtherGRAND COURT ORDER OF THE AMARANTHPITTSBURGH CONCERT SOCIETY — $14,000 · OtherPITTSBURGH CONCERT SOCIETYMISS PENNSYLVANIA SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC — $8,200 · OtherMISS PENNSYLVANIA SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INCVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 7599 REYNOLDS — $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient — $5,000 · OtherMERCER COUNTY 4H — $5,000 · OtherHERMITAGE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC — $5,000 · OtherMERCER COUNTY CRITICAL INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM — $5,000 · OtherST JOHN'S ORTHODOX CHURCH — $4,432 · OtherTHE CITY OF HERMITAGE PA — $3,300 · Other+6 more — $5,600 · Other+6 moreMINDS MATTER OF NYC INC — $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentMINDS MATTER OF NYC I…PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC — $20,622 · Arts & CulturePITTSBURGH BALLE…METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART — $4,035 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN MUS…CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — $3,000 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND MUSEUM…HILLSDALE COLLEGE — $15,000 · EducationHILLSDALE…SHARON ROBOTICS BOOSTER CLUB — $1,000 · EducationSHARON RO…THE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE — $10,000 · PhilanthropyHUMANE SOCIETY OF MERCER COUNTY INC — $1,000 · Animals
Other$97,944Youth Development$35,000Arts & Culture$27,657Education$16,000Philanthropy$10,000Animals$1,000

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 budgetMINDS MATTER OF NYC INC — $35,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetPITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC — $20,622 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE — $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE — $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 7599 REYNOLDS — $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART — $4,035 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF MERCER COUNTY INC — $1,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetSHARON ROBOTICS BOOSTER CLUB — $1,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetShenango Valley YMCA — $250 over 1y, 0.1% 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 MINDS MATTER OF NYC INC
  • Who funds PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE
  • Who funds THE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE
  • Who funds VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 7599 REYNOLDS
  • Who funds HERMITAGE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC
  • Who funds METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
  • Who funds CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY OF MERCER COUNTY INC
  • Who funds SHARON ROBOTICS BOOSTER CLUB
  • Who funds Shenango Valley YMCA

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 set of overlaps that mostly run through you, not between each other.

Amazonsmile FoundationWA1.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Piston Family 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.

2023
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%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
    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.

    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 25 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

    More from the funding graph