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Schumann Media Center Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Schumann Media Center Inc

Its FY2022 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$12M
Granted FY2021
10
Grants FY2021
2
States reached
$11M
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 2021.

Environment$12MPublic Benefit$5.1MArts & Culture$4.1MPhilanthropy$300kInternational$230kEducation$153kCommunity Improvement$100kCivil Rights$75kOther$0
02FY2021 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k1 grant · $4k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $21k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $475k
  • $250k+4 grants · $11M
$150,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION$10,579,228
THE OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT$300,000
FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT$250,000
SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION$250,000
FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT$150,000
THE AMERICAN PROSPECT$150,000
QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT$100,000
DEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS$75,000
SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION$21,000
WOMEN MAKE MOVIES$4,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PUBLIC SQUARE MEDIA: $1.0M → 8%EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC: $200k → 10%FOUNDATION FOR NATIONAL PROGRESS: $730k → 10%CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: $100k → 17%NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVES: $100k → 14%ST BENEDICTS MONASTERY: $275k → 6%HISTORY NEWS NETWORK: $100k → 9%INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS: $150k → 14%MISSISSIPPI TODAY: $100k → 11%PUBLIC SQUARE MEDIA: $113k → 8%SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $10.6M → 17%PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT: $402k → 14%INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS: $45k → 14%PUBLIC SQUARE MEDIA: $48k → 8%SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $470k → 17%THE AMERICAN PROSPECT: $250k → 14%SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $250k → 17%THE AMERICAN PROSPECT: $150k → 14%CRAIG NEWMARK GRADUATE CENTER OF: $250k → 17%AMERICAN PROSPECT: $150k → 14%SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $200k → 17%SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $184k → 17%SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $100k → 17%SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $100k → 17%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $500k → 14%THE FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERN: $500k → 14%THE OPEN MIND: $350k → 17%WASHINGTON MONTHLY CORPORATION: $200k → 14%THE OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT: $300k → 17%THE FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERN: $350k → 14%THE OPEN MIND: $150k → 17%INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $168k → 14%TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $150k → 17%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $250k → 14%DEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS: $300k → 17%GUARDIANORG FOUNDATION: $500k → 14%DEMOCRACY NOW: $300k → 17%INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $50k → 14%DEMOCRACY NOW: $250k → 17%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $150k → 14%DEMOCRACY NOW: $250k → 17%QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: $100k → 14%DEMOCRACY NOW: $84k → 17%DEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS: $75k → 17%TYPE MEDIA CENTER THE NATION: $110k → 17%CURIOUS COMMUNICATIONS INC: $150k → 17%THE LAURA FLANDERS SHOW: $50k → 17%INDEPENDENT MEDIA INSTITUTE: $50k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
WA
IL
NY
MA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MD
DC
MS
AL
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18M · 10 repeat orgs$4.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2021, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
29

Total granted

$18M
$4.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+7%

Still filing today

90%
66%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $400k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21
Arts & CulturePublic BenefitEnvironmentInternationalSocial ScienceCivil 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

  • SM
    SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2021 · $12M · revenue +270% · 56% of their budget
  • FF
    FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
    3× · 2019–2021 · $1.8M · revenue +96%
  • CD
    COMMON DREAMS INC
    2× · 2018–2020 · $766k · revenue +27% · 27% of their budget

Funded once

  • TC
    The Center for Investigative Reporting formrly Foundation for National Progressgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $730k · revenue +63%
  • GF
    GUARDIANORG FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $500k · revenue +248% · 29% of their budget
  • TO
    THE OPEN MIND
    one grant, 2018 · $500k
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
Press Watch

To educate journalists and the public, and foster public debate, about improving political journalism to reflect public needs and hold the powerful accountable.

—
2
Independence Public Media of Philadelphia Inc
Arts & Culture
3
The Conversationalist
—
4
Institute for Public Accuracy

To teach and disseminate educational materials to the public.

Arts & Culture
5
Contemporary Policy Institute
Philanthropy
6
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
7
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
8
First Look Institute Inc

First Look Institute supports fearless investigative journalism, innovative and cinematic nonfiction filmmaking, and press freedom initiatives to protect the right to a free and open society and press.

Arts & Culture
9
Center for Media and Democracy Inc

Center for media and democracy, inc. (cmd) is an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to investigating and publicizing the hidden influence of powerful special interests on america's media and democracy, and its impact on…

Arts & Culture
10
The Liberal Patriot Inc

The liberal patriot (tlp) is a digital newsletter focused on american politics and public policy. tlp aims to provide readers with honest analysis and original commentary to help advance a vital center perspective in american life.

Civil Rights
11
Institute for New Global Politics Inc

The Institute for New Global Politics is a California-based educational nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. It is an independent and nonpartisan thinktank dedicated to educating the general…

International
12
American Media Institute

Inform the public by providing news

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Institute for Policy Studies; the most unlike its peers is The Open Mind Legacy Project 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

32 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. 32 of the 42 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/32
Grantees still filing
20/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $11,904,519 · EnvironmentSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION+1 more: $200,000 · EnvironmentPUBLIC SQUARE MEDIA INC: $1,241,697 · OtherPUBLIC SQUARE ME…THE OPEN MIND: $500,000 · OtherTHE OPEN MINDST BENEDICTS MONASTERY: $275,000 · OtherST BENEDICTS MON…CRAIG NEWMARK GRADUATE CENTER OF: $250,000 · OtherCRAIG NEWMARK GR…Institute for Public Affairs: $205,000 · OtherInstitute for Pu…THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $150,000 · Other+13 more: $722,750 · Other+13 moreFUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $1,750,000 · Public BenefitFUND FOR CONSTI…The Center for Investigative Reporting formrly Foundation for National Progress: $730,000 · Public BenefitThe Center for …PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC: $402,000 · Public BenefitPROJECT ON GOVE…CURIOUS COMMUNICATIONS INC: $150,000 · Public Benefit+1 more: $7,950 · Public BenefitDEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS INC: $1,263,752 · Arts & CultureDEMOCRACY NOW…THE AMERICAN PROSPECT INC: $601,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERICAN …GUARDIANORG FOUNDATION: $500,000 · Arts & CultureGUARDIANORG F…DEEP SOUTH TODAY: $100,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $253,600 · Arts & Culture+7 moreCOMMON DREAMS INC: $766,000 · Social ScienceWASHINGTON MONTHLY INSTITUTE: $200,000 · Social ScienceTHE OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT INC: $300,000 · PhilanthropyINSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $217,860 · InternationalTHE PEACE CORPS FUND: $10,000 · International
Environment$12,104,519Other$3,344,447Public Benefit$3,039,950Arts & Culture$2,718,352Social Science$966,000Philanthropy$300,000International$227,860

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 budgetSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $11,904,519 over 5y, 56% of budgetFUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $1,750,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetDEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS INC: $1,263,752 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetPUBLIC SQUARE MEDIA INC: $1,241,697 over 2y, 59% of budgetCOMMON DREAMS INC: $766,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetThe Center for Investigative Reporting formrly Foundation for National Progress: $730,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetTHE AMERICAN PROSPECT INC: $601,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetGUARDIANORG FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 1y, 29% of budgetPROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC: $402,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetTHE OPEN MIND LEGACY PROJECT INC: $300,000 over 1y, 48% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $217,860 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetInstitute for Public Affairs: $205,000 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetWASHINGTON MONTHLY INSTITUTE: $200,000 over 1y, 9.8% of budgetCURIOUS COMMUNICATIONS INC: $150,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetQUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: $100,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetDEEP SOUTH TODAY: $100,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetPUBLIC COMMUNICATORS INC: $75,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetWOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC: $70,600 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTYPE MEDIA CENTER INC: $68,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetIndependent Media Institute: $50,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetINDEPENDENT PRODUCTION FUND INC: $35,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN MUSEUM TORT LAW INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetNew York Historical Society: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC INTELLIGENCE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE PEACE CORPS FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 82% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $8,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD: $7,950 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CLARENCE DILLON PUBLIC LIBRARY: $2,500 over 1y, 5.7% 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 Ford FoundationPark Foundation IncFoundation to Promote…The Miami Foundation …Silicon Valley Commun…Rockefeller Brothers …Liberty Hill Foundati…Tides FoundationThe William & Flora H…Amalgamated Charitabl…National Philanthropi…Gs Donor Advised Phil…
The Ford FoundationNY21.6× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ford Foundation · Park Foundation Inc · Foundation to Promote Open Society · The Miami Foundation Inc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc · Liberty Hill Foundation · Tides Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

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 Schumann Media Center Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Schumann Media Center Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get 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, 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 Schumann Media Center Inc?

Find your warmest path to Schumann Media Center Inc 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 42 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2022) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2021, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Schumann Media Center’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