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Sam and Esther Friedman Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sam and Esther Friedman Family Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$76k
Granted FY2026still arriving
12
Grants FY2026still arriving
2
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Health$224kPhilanthropy$69kAnimals$63kEducation$17kPublic Safety & Disaster$14kArts & Culture$14kFood & Nutrition$12kInternational$2kOther$0
02FY2026 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k7 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $60k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CLEVELAND SIGHT CENTER$15,000
CLEVELAND FOOD BANK$12,500
CASE ALUMNI FOUNDATION$12,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF CLEVELAND$10,000
GEAUGA HUMANE SOCIETY$10,000
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF CLEVELAND$5,000
CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION$2,500
CLEVELAND POPS ORCHESTRA$2,500
ST JUDE CHILDREN RESEARCH HOSPITAL$2,500
PIANO CLEVELAND$2,000
CLEVELAND SCHOOL OF ARTS$1,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$1,000
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 (FY21–26, $115k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE GATHERING PLACE: $10k → 17%THE GATHERING PLACE: $10k → 17%THE GATHERING PLACE: $10k → 17%CLEVELAND SIGHT CENTER: $15k → 17%CLEVELAND SIGHT CENTER: $15k → 17%CLEVELAND SIGHT CENTER: $15k → 17%CLEVELAND SIGHT CENTER: $15k → 17%CLEVELAND SIGHT CENTER: $15k → 17%CLEVELAND SIGHT CENTER: $10k → 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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$396k · 12 repeat orgs$33k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2026, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
5

Total granted

$396k
$13k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+20%

Still filing today

83%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24’25’26
Human ServicesAnimalsHealthPhilanthropyFood & NutritionArts & CultureOther
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

  • AC
    ACHIEVEMENT CENTERS FOR CHILDREN
    4× · 2021–2024 · $100k · revenue +39%
  • GC
    GEAUGA COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC
    6× · 2021–2026 · $60k · revenue +90%
  • TG
    THE GATHERING PLACE
    3× · 2021–2023 · $30k · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • RM
    RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE
    one grant, 2024 · $5k
  • GF
    GATES FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $4k · revenue +20%
  • CM
    CLEVELAND MAIDAN ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2022 · $2k · revenue +3%
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
The Cleveland Foundation

Enhance the lives of all residents of greater cleveland, now and for generations to come, by working together with our donors to build community endowment, address needs through grantmaking, and provide leadership on key community issues.

Philanthropy
2
Global Cleveland

Global cleveland is dedicated to growing northeast ohio's economy by welcoming and connecting international people to opportunities and fostering a more inviting community for those seeking a place to call home.

Human Services
3
Cleveland Medical Library Association
Education
4
Hebrew Academy of Cleveland

The mission of the hebrew academy is to imbue all students with a love of god, torah and eretz yisroel and to prepare them to achieve excellence in torah and general knowledge based on successful cooperation among family, judaic and…

—
5
Saint Lukes Foundation of Cleveland Ohio
Health
6
Hope for Cleveland's Children
—
7
Cleveland Institute of Music

The cleveland institute of music's mission is to empower the world's most talented classical music students to fulfill their dreams and potential.

Education
8
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
9
The Musical Arts Association

The Cleveland Orchestra inspires and enriches lives by creating extraordinary musical experiences at the highest level of artistic excellence.

Arts & Culture
10
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Group Return

Caring for life, researching for health and educating those who serve.

Health
11
The Cleveland Music School Settlement

To welcome all to our music and arts community to learn, create, celebrate and heal.

Arts & Culture
12
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Caring for life, researching for health and educating those who serve.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cleveland Society for the Blind; the most unlike its peers is Gates 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

16 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. 16 of the 22 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
12/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ACHIEVEMENT CENTERS FOR CHILDREN: $100,000 · OtherACHIEVEMENT CENTERS FOR CHILDRENAMERICAN RED CROSS: $15,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSSPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF CLEVELAND: $10,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF CLEVELANDCLEVELAND SCHOOL OF ARTS: $5,000 · OtherRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE: $5,000 · Other+6 more: $10,000 · Other+6 moreCLEVELAND SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND: $85,000 · Human ServicesCLEVELAND SOCIETY FOR THE …THE GATHERING PLACE: $30,000 · Human ServicesTHE GATHERING PLACEJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $65,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF C…CASE ALUMNI FOUNDATION: $29,000 · PhilanthropyCASE ALUMNI FOUNDATIONGATES FOUNDATION: $4,000 · PhilanthropyGEAUGA COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $60,000 · AnimalsGEAUGA COUNTY H…SAINT FRANCIS ANIMAL SANCTUARY INC: $7,500 · AnimalsSAINT FRANCIS A…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $26,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF NORTHEAST OHIO INC: $5,000 · HealthGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $24,500 · Food & NutritionCLEVELAND POPS ORCHESTRA: $12,500 · Arts & Culture
Other$145,000Human Services$115,000Philanthropy$98,000Animals$67,500Health$31,000Food & Nutrition$24,500Arts & Culture$12,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetACHIEVEMENT CENTERS FOR CHILDREN: $100,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCLEVELAND SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND: $85,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $65,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGEAUGA COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetTHE GATHERING PLACE: $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCASE ALUMNI FOUNDATION: $29,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $26,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $24,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND POPS ORCHESTRA: $12,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSAINT FRANCIS ANIMAL SANCTUARY INC: $7,500 over 3y, 8.2% of budgetGATES FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND MAIDAN ASSOCIATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF JCC KRAKOW INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SERVICES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

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.

The Swagelok Foundati…The Cleveland Foundat…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Swagelok FoundationOH13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Swagelok Foundation · The Cleveland Foundation · 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 Sam and Esther Friedman Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sam and Esther Friedman Family Foundation. 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 Sam and Esther Friedman Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Sam and Esther Friedman Family 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 22 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Sam and Esther Friedman Family’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