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Foundation Dossiers
Plinth

· Private foundation

Solomon Mendel & Sylvia Charitable Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$259k
Granted FY2025still arriving
18
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
0199% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2025.

Human Services$399kEducation$374kHealth$181kCommunity Improvement$169kArts & Culture$143kPhilanthropy$135kEmployment$131kFood & Nutrition$108kOther$0
02FY2025 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $37k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $222k
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$4.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$35,000
OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES$25,000
ALLEGHENY COUNCIL TO IMPROVE OUR$25,000
WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE$17,084
THE BLESSING BOARD$15,000
HEALING HUNGER BEAVER COUNTY$15,000
WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF PITTSBURGH$15,000
YOUNG ADULT SURVIVORS UNITED$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
CRAWFORD COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS$14,500
HANDMADE ARCADE$10,000
NEW SUN RISING$10,000
FOOD MOXIE$10,000
UNITED WAY OF BUTLER COUNTY$9,500
COMMON THREADS$7,500
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, $384k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%YWCA TRI-COUNTY AREA: $8k → 7%THE LIGHTHOUSE FOUNDATION: $8k → 9%VALLEY YOUTH HOUSE COMMITTEE: $8k → 11%Strong Women Strong Girls Inc: $15k → 11%City Mission-Living Stones Inc: $13k → 17%Operation First Response Inc: $15k → 8%Arc Human Services Inc: $15k → 12%JEWISH ASSOCIATION ON AGING: $10k → 11%COMPUTER REACH: $10k → 11%FAMILY GUIDANCE INC: $7k → 11%JEWISH ASSOCIATION ON AGING: $5k → 11%HELLO NEIGHBOR: $25k → 11%Vintage Inc: $20k → 11%Smart Futures: $10k → 11%Jeremiahs Place - Pittsburgh Relief Nurs: $10k → 11%Riverview Childrens Center: $20k → 11%THE WATSON INSTITUTE: $5k → 11%YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh: $15k → 11%INSPIRED HEARTS AND HANDS INC: $13k → 11%MAYA ORGANIZATION: $15k → 11%NEW SUN RISING: $10k → 11%MAYA ORGANIZATION: $12k → 11%CORAOPOLIS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: $8k → 11%WOMENS CENTER & SHELTER OF GREATER PGH: $20k → 11%CENTER OF LIFE: $15k → 11%THE BLESSING BOARD: $15k → 11%OUTREACH TEEN & FAMILY SERVICES: $25k → 11%AUBERLE: $11k → 11%Partners For Quality Inc: $5k → 11%HUMAN SERVICES CENTER: $20k → 11%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.

21%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$425k · 14 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +28% since the first grant, against +18% for the ones you funded once.

14 repeat relationships — 3 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
98

Total granted

$425k
$1.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+18%

Still filing today

64%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 16% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $217k 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
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureFood & NutritionCommunity ImprovementHealthOther

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

  • R
    RIVERLIFE
    2× · 2021–2023 · $50k · revenue +220%
  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION
    2× · 2019–2024 · $38k · revenue +61%
  • CI
    CARNEGIE INSTITUTE
    2× · 2017–2023 · $33k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGHgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $60k · revenue +26%
  • K
    KIDSVOICEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $35k · revenue +50%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF SW PENNSYLVANIA
    one grant, 2022 · $30k

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
Philadelphia Works Inc

Philadelphia works, inc. develops and manages smart workforce solutions that respond to business needs and increases economic opportunity for all philadelphia residents.

Employment
2
Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation

To create and distribute trusted content, build connections and strengthen our community through public media.

Arts & Culture
3
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
4
The Regional Opportunity Center D/B/a Vibrant Pittsburgh

Vibrant pittsburgh's mission is to accelerate the business community toward equitable, inclusive, and diverse workplaces, creating a future-forward region.

Arts & Culture
5
Catapult Greater Pittsburgh

Catapult engages in connecting families to emergency resources, peer to peer support, wealth building, trauma informed financial counseling & policy advocacy to ensure that communities can meaningfully achieve economic justice & lead…

Community Improvement
6
Young Women's Christian Association Greater Pittsburgh

Ywca greater pittsburgh is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. we envision a community that advances education, opportunity, and equity regardless of gender, race, or…

Human Services
7
Sustainable Pittsburgh

Provide information to decision maker in the pittsburgh region to promote economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality for sustainable solutions for communities and businesses.

Environment
8
Community Action Commission

Commmunity action commission's mission is to build on the strengths and resources available, provide solutions, for complex issues, and empower individuals, families, and communities to move out of poverty.

Human Services
9
Pathways Pa Inc

To provide residential and community-based services and advocacy for women, children, and families, providing job training and employment assistance, as well as outreach and residential programs in order to help its clients achieve…

Human Services
10
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The western pennsylvania conservancy protects and restores exceptional places to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas for the benefit of present and future generations. the conservancy…

Environment
11
Pittsburgh United

Pittsburgh United, Inc. strives to advance social & economic justice in the

Community Improvement
12
Pittsburgh Works Together Inc

Educate and advocate on behalf of the construction, energy, and manufacturing industries and the resulting economic and job growth in pennsylvania.

Community Improvement

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hosanna House Inc and the most unlike its peers is Somerset County Mobile Food Bank. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyPittsburgh Community Develo…Emergency Assistance & Basi…Early Childhood and Element…Regional Economic Developme…Youth Development & Recreat…Senior Care ServicesPregnancy Support and Famil…Jewish Education and Advoca…Christian Missionary Organi…Community Support ServicesRegional Healthcare Provide…Affordable Housing ProvidersFamily Philanthropic Founda…Community Arts Organizations
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 27 years old; the field is 20. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number17%1%<5yr13%9%5–10yr19%23%10–20yr19%30%20–35yr16%23%35–55yr17%14%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value17%1%<5yr13%11%5–10yr19%21%10–20yr19%34%20–35yr16%18%35–55yr17%15%55yr+

The field is 17% startups (under 5 years old) — 1% of your grantees by number, and just 1% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 2% lost their exemption, against 7% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
2%2/103
the rest of the field
7%
1,046/14,112

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

102 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 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 102 of the 129 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
100/102
Grantees still filing
69/102
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE — $47,084 · OtherWestmoreland County Community College Ed — $42,500 · OtherRIVERLIFE — $50,000 · Other+60 more — $941,805 · Other+60 moreMAYA ORGANIZATION — $27,000 · Human ServicesMAYA ORGANIZATIONOutreach Teen and Family Services Inc — $25,000 · Human ServicesOutreach Teen and Fa…HELLO NEIGHBOR — $25,000 · Human ServicesHELLO NEIGHBORVINTAGE INC — $20,000 · Human ServicesHUMAN SERVICES CENTER CORPORATION — $20,000 · Human ServicesWOMEN'S CENTER AND SHELTER OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $20,000 · Human ServicesRIVERVIEW CHILDRENS CENTER — $20,000 · Human ServicesCENTER OF LIFE — $15,000 · Human ServicesARC HUMAN SERVICES INC — $15,000 · Human ServicesGIRLS INC OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $15,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH ASSOCIATION ON AGING — $15,000 · Human ServicesOPERATION FIRST RESPONSE INC — $15,000 · Human ServicesTHE BLESSING BOARD — $15,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $14,560 · Human Services+14 more — $122,908 · Human Services+14 moreUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH — $60,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY O…Propel Charter School-McKeesport — $27,500 · EducationPropel Chart…IMANI CHRISTIAN ACADEMY — $25,000 · EducationIMANI CHRIST…ROSEDALE TECHNICAL COLLEGE — $20,000 · EducationROSEDALE TEC…SEWICKLEY ACADEMY — $17,500 · EducationSEWICKLEY AC…ASSET INC — $15,000 · EducationASSET INCChuck Cooper Foundation — $14,521 · EducationChuck Cooper…CLARION UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC — $10,852 · EducationLITERACY PITTSBURGH — $10,000 · EducationTHE LEARNING LAMP INC — $10,000 · EducationPenn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship — $10,000 · Education+3 more — $14,074 · Education+3 moreCARNEGIE INSTITUTE — $32,500 · Arts & CultureTHE MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION — $25,000 · Arts & CultureDOORS OPEN PITTSBURGH INC — $18,500 · Arts & CultureDREAMS OF HOPE — $15,000 · Arts & CultureATTACK THEATRE INC — $15,000 · Arts & CultureWESTMORELAND MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART — $12,500 · Arts & CultureHandmade Arcade — $10,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMON THREADS — $7,500 · Arts & CultureSOMERSET COUNTY MOBILE FOOD BANK — $20,000 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY KITCHEN PITTSBURGH — $20,000 · Food & Nutrition412 FOOD RESCUE INC — $17,500 · Food & NutritionGROW PITTSBURGH — $15,000 · Food & NutritionHealing Hunger Beaver County — $15,000 · Food & NutritionWESTMORELAND COUNTY FOOD BANK INC — $13,889 · Food & NutritionYORK FRESH FOOD FARMS — $9,468 · Food & NutritionTHE UNITED WAY OF SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA — $75,000 · PhilanthropyNORTH HILLS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INC — $20,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $10,000 · PhilanthropyCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION — $38,482 · HealthYOUNG ADULT SURVIVORS UNITED — $15,000 · HealthThe Magee Memorial Hospital for Convalescents — $15,000 · HealthCRAWFORD COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS PROGRAM INC — $14,500 · HealthPARKINSON FOUNDATION OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA — $12,500 · HealthBRINGING HOPE HOME — $5,000 · Health
Other$1,081,389Human Services$384,468Education$234,447Arts & Culture$136,000Food & Nutrition$110,857Philanthropy$105,000Health$100,482

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE UNITED WAY OF SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA — $75,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH — $60,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRIVERLIFE — $50,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION — $38,482 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF PITTSBURGH — $35,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetKIDSVOICE — $35,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetCARNEGIE INSTITUTE — $32,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPITTSBURGH PARKS CONSERVANCY — $30,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetKitchen of Grace Inc — $28,740 over 1y, 24% of budgetPropel Charter School-McKeesport — $27,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMAYA ORGANIZATION — $27,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetIMANI CHRISTIAN ACADEMY — $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION — $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOutreach Teen and Family Services Inc — $25,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetHELLO NEIGHBOR — $25,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetNATRONA COMES TOGETHER — $24,329 over 1y, 42% of budgetSOMERSET COUNTY MOBILE FOOD BANK — $20,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetVINTAGE INC — $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetNORTH HILLS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INC — $20,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetHUMAN SERVICES CENTER CORPORATION — $20,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA TROLLEY MUSEUM INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetROSEDALE TECHNICAL COLLEGE — $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY KITCHEN PITTSBURGH — $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetWOMEN'S CENTER AND SHELTER OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRIVERVIEW CHILDRENS CENTER — $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBIKE PITTSBURGH INC — $20,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetDOORS OPEN PITTSBURGH INC — $18,500 over 2y, 8.2% of budgetSEWICKLEY ACADEMY — $17,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD ALLIES INC — $17,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNEW CENTURY CAREERS — $17,500 over 1y, 1.2% of budget412 FOOD RESCUE INC — $17,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetASSET INC — $15,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetCENTER OF LIFE — $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetHOSANNA HOUSE INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetARC HUMAN SERVICES INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBAL LINKS — $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNION MISSION OF LATROBE INC — $15,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetINVISION FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetDREAMS OF HOPE — $15,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetGROW PITTSBURGH — $15,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGIRLS INC OF GREATER PITTSBURGH — $15,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetThe Magee Memorial Hospital for Convalescents — $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAINSTAY LIFE SERVICES — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetATTACK THEATRE INC — $15,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetReading Ready Pittsburgh — $15,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetHealing Hunger Beaver County — $15,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetJEWISH ASSOCIATION ON AGING — $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHIGHER ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM INC — $15,000 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.

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 Pittsburgh Founda…Hillman Family Founda…The Grable FoundationRichard King Mellon F…The United Way of Sou…The Heinz EndowmentsThe Buhl FoundationStaunton Farm Foundat…Eqt FoundationSnee-Reinhardt Charit…Allegheny FoundationThe Jack Buncher Foun…
The Pittsburgh FoundationPA92.2× affinity60 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Pittsburgh Foundation · Hillman Family Foundations · The Grable Foundation · Richard King Mellon Foundation · The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania · The Heinz Endowments · The Buhl Foundation · Staunton Farm Foundation 540-054 Dba Staunton Farm Foundation · Eqt Foundation · Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation · Allegheny Foundation · The Jack Buncher 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 Solomon Mendel & Sylvia Charitable Trust 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
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%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
    47report 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

    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 129 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

    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 camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home
    State money flows
    the interactive map of money crossing state lines