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Shift Fka Aaron & Martha Schecter Private Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Shift Fka Aaron & Martha Schecter Private 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.

$185k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0185% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$1.2MPublic Benefit$935kCivil Rights$495kCommunity Improvement$335kSocial Science$224kPhilanthropy$92kCrime & Legal$30kInternational$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $35k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $150k
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIES LAW CENTER$100,000
CITIZENS FOR ETHICS IN WASHINGTON$50,000
Individual grant recipient$35,000
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 (FY22–22, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Tides Center: $2k → 10%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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 11 repeat orgs$920k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
5

Total granted

$3.3M
$870k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
+9%

Still filing today

55%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
EducationCivil RightsPublic BenefitCommunity ImprovementSocial ScienceInternationalOther
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

  • CC
    CURIOUS COMMUNICATIONS INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $430k · revenue +16%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2023–2024 · $200k · revenue +6%
  • AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $80k · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • MM
    MEDIA MATTERS
    one grant, 2024 · $400k
  • SI
    Sharing Inc DBA Shareable
    one grant, 2021 · $335k · revenue +9% · 65% of their budget
  • MC
    MOMENTUM COMMUNITY INC
    one grant, 2024 · $80k · revenue 0%
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
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
2
Common Future

Common future is a network of pioneering leaders across the u.s. and canada who work deeply within their communities to create alternative approaches to business, philanthropy, and investing. we envision an economy that has transitioned…

Community Improvement
3
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
4
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
5
Center for Community Change

The mission of community change is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change the policies and institutions that impact their lives.

Community Improvement
6
Upturn Inc

Upturn advances equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology.

—
7
Democracy Works Inc

The organization's mission is to leverage web-technologies to improve civic engagement and voter education.

Civil Rights
8
American Civil Liberties Union Inc

As noted in its articles of incorporation, the mission of the aclu is "to maintain and advance civil liberties, including, without limitation, the freedoms of association, press, religion and speech, and the rights to the franchise, to due…

—
9
American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through advocacy and lobbying.

—
10
The Campaign Legal Center Inc

The nonpartisan campaign legal center advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every american's rights to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic…

Crime & Legal
11
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
12
Climate Leadership Council Inc

To develop and promote a carbon dividends framework - based on carbon fees whose revenues are rebated to citizens through dividends - as the most cost-effective, equitable, and politically viable climate solution.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Venture Fund; the most unlike its peers is Evolution Institute 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

13 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. 13 of the 20 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
5/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $475,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMEDIA MATTERS: $400,000 · OtherMEDIA MATTERSBoston University - AntiRacist Research: $200,000 · OtherBoston University - AntiRacist ResearchTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $200,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITYACLU of Florida: $135,000 · OtherACLU of FloridaIndividual grant recipient: $95,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient+4 more: $96,992 · Other+4 moreSustainable Economies Law Center: $1,000,000 · EducationSustainable Economies Law CenterTHE DEMOCRACY COLLABORATIVE FOUNDATION INC: $425,000 · EducationTHE DEMOCRACY COLLABORATIVE FOUNDATION …MOMENTUM COMMUNITY INC: $80,000 · EducationCURIOUS COMMUNICATIONS INC: $430,000 · Public BenefitCURIOUS COM…Sharing Inc DBA Shareable: $335,000 · Community ImprovementSharing In…COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMON COU…EVOLUTION INSTITUTE INC: $224,250 · Social ScienceAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 · Civil RightsVOTO LATINO FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · Civil RightsMEDIATORS FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · International
Other$1,601,992Education$1,505,000Public Benefit$430,000Community Improvement$410,000Social Science$224,250Civil Rights$110,000International$25,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSustainable Economies Law Center: $1,000,000 over 5y, 7.9% of budgetCURIOUS COMMUNICATIONS INC: $430,000 over 4y, 18% of budgetTHE DEMOCRACY COLLABORATIVE FOUNDATION INC: $425,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetSharing Inc DBA Shareable: $335,000 over 1y, 65% of budgetEVOLUTION INSTITUTE INC: $224,250 over 2y, 11% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $200,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMOMENTUM COMMUNITY INC: $80,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetCOMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVOTO LATINO FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMEDIATORS FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $14,912 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTIDES CENTER: $2,080 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.

John Templeton Founda…Amalgamated Charitabl…ImpactassetsincTides FoundationSilicon Valley Commun…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
John Templeton FoundationPA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John Templeton Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Impactassetsinc · Tides Foundation · Silicon Valley Community 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 Shift Fka Aaron & Martha Schecter Private Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shift Fka Aaron & Martha Schecter Private Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
typical government reliance, FY20–24
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 Shift Fka Aaron & Martha Schecter Private Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Shift Fka Aaron & Martha Schecter Private 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 20 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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