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Plinth

· Private foundation

Seymour a Cohen Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$231k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$135k
Largest
01What you fund
0198% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Education$700kHuman Services$391kHealth$303kReligion$83kPhilanthropy$51kInternational$46kPublic Benefit$40kArts & Culture$14kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $31k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $185k
$4,900
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$135,000
METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES$50,000
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING$15,000
EMORY UNIVERSITY$5,000
LINK UNLIMITED SCHOLARS$5,000
CASA OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY$5,000
RAVINIA$4,900
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO WOMEN'S BOARD$3,000
LIFE LONG MEDICAL CARE$2,500
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM$2,500
Individual grant recipient$1,926
HHP LIFT$600
LYMPHOMA FOUNDATION$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 (FY17–25, $379k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $80k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $51k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $50k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $50k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $50k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $35k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $33k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 14%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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.6M · 23 repeat orgs$31k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +57% since the first grant, against +14% for the ones you funded once.

23 repeat relationships — 9 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
12

Total granted

$1.6M
$22k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+57%
+14%

Still filing today

52%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationPhilanthropyHealthCivil RightsHuman ServicesPublic BenefitOther

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

  • University of Chicago
    7× · 2018–2024 · $428k · revenue +52%
  • MF
    Metropolitan Family Services
    9× · 2017–2025 · $379k · revenue +332%
  • BA
    BEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL
    8× · 2017–2024 · $161k · revenue +62%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
  • ST MARYS UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue -4%
  • LC
    LEUKEMIA CANCER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $3k

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
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
2
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
3
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
4
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
5
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
6
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

7
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
8
The Family Institute

Our mission is to strengthen and heal families and individuals from all walks of life through clinical service, education and research.

9
University of Miami

See Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.

Education
10
Roosevelt University

Roosevelt university is an independent, non-profit, metropolitan university and national leader in educating socially conscious citizens for active and dedicated lives as leaders in their professions and their communities. the university's…

11
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
12
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Youth Centers and the most unlike its peers is St Marys University of Minnesota. 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

19 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. 19 of the 40 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
16/19
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

University of Chicago — $428,160 · EducationUniversity of ChicagoBEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL — $161,000 · EducationBEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOLEmory University — $25,000 · Education+4 more — $25,347 · EducationCANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION — $255,000 · OtherCANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATIONCONGREGATION RODFEI ZEDEK — $69,015 · OtherCONGREGATION RODFEI ZEDEKEMORY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES — $40,000 · OtherEMORY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE…ST MARY'S COLLEGE — $20,000 · Other+21 more — $97,580 · Other+21 moreMetropolitan Family Services — $378,528 · Human ServicesMetropolitan Family Servic…CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING INC — $46,169 · International+1 more — $1,500 · InternationalJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO — $39,085 · PhilanthropyMichael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation — $1,500 · PhilanthropyBETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION INC — $40,000 · Public BenefitGASTRO INTESTINAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC — $11,000 · HealthLIFELONG MEDICAL CARE — $2,500 · Health
Education$639,507Other$481,595Human Services$378,528International$47,669Philanthropy$40,585Public Benefit$40,000Health$13,500

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 budgetUniversity of Chicago — $428,160 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services — $378,528 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetBEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL — $161,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetCENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING INC — $46,169 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetBETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION INC — $40,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO — $39,085 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEmory University — $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLINK Unlimited Scholars — $15,258 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGASTRO INTESTINAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC — $11,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCHILD ADVOCATES OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY — $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetST MARYS UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago State Foundation — $4,589 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLIFELONG MEDICAL CARE — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE — $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMichael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation — $1,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Youth Centers — $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TECHNION ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC — $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetErikson Institute — $500 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 University of Chicago
  • Who funds Metropolitan Family Services
  • Who funds BEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL
  • Who funds CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING INC
  • Who funds BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION INC
  • Who funds JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
  • Who funds Emory University
  • Who funds LINK Unlimited Scholars
  • Who funds GASTRO INTESTINAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds CHILD ADVOCATES OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
  • Who funds ST MARYS UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
  • Who funds Chicago State Foundation
  • Who funds LIFELONG MEDICAL CARE
  • Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
  • Who funds Michael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation
  • Who funds Chicago Youth Centers
  • Who funds AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TECHNION ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC
  • Who funds HHPLIFT
  • Who funds Erikson Institute

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.

The Chicago Community TrustIL20.3× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Circle of Service Foundation · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · AbbVie Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America · American Online Giving Foundation Inc

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 Seymour a Cohen 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.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your 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
    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 · 0–50%
    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 40 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph