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Steven and Marcy Schaeffer Family Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Steven and Marcy Schaeffer Family Foundation Inc

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.

$272k
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$65k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$446kHuman Services$215kCrime & Legal$207kScience & Tech$124kYouth Development$80kFood & Nutrition$52kRecreation & Sports$50kEducation$47kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $197k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $65k
$12,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES INC$65,000
TIOGA COUNTY RURAL MINISTRY (TCRM)$46,500
COMMUNITY ARTS PARTNERSHIP OF TOMPKINS COUNTY$24,000
TIOGA COUNTY BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC$20,000
THE CHERRY ARTS$15,000
COMPASSIONATE CARE ALS$15,000
Individual grant recipient$14,000
CENTER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION$12,000
OPPORTUNITIES ALTERNATIVES AND RESOURCES OF TOMPKINS COUNTY INC$10,000
WEAVE COMMUNITY INC$10,000
MORE THAN WORDS$10,000
SHARED KITCHEN - ITHACA$10,000
ROSIE'S PLACE$10,000
GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC$8,000
ITHACA UNDERGROUND$2,000
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 (FY20–25, $143k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%COMPASSIONATE CARE ALS: $15k → 8%ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES INC: $65k → 16%THE CHILDREN'S ROOM: $5k → 8%GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $15k → 16%GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $15k → 16%GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $15k → 16%GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $8k → 16%ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES INC: $5k → 16%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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 23 repeat orgs$97k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +38% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 14 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

23
10

Total granted

$1.3M
$82k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+9%

Still filing today

74%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationFood & NutritionCrime & LegalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • CA
    Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County Inc
    8× · 2018–2025 · $196k · revenue +98%
  • OA
    OPPORTUNITIES ALTERNATIVES AND RESOURCES OF TOMPKINS COUNTY
    8× · 2017–2025 · $177k · revenue +37%
  • TC
    The Cherry Arts Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $118k · revenue +327%

Funded once

  • CB
    Cascadilla Boat Club Ltd
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue +4%
  • CC
    CATHOLIC CHARITIES
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • TC
    The Childrens Room Center for Grieving Children
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue +9%
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 History Center in Tompkins County Inc

The History Center in Tompkins County, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to preserve and encourage access to its unique collections, while designing learning experiences and services that create opportunities for people to…

—
2
Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster sustainable economic growth through service to our members, strategic advocacy, workforce development, destination marketing, and quality of life investments. Our vision is an inclusive…

—
3
Go Ithaca

Provide transportation benefits, discounts and resources to developers, employers and individuals communting to and from Tompkins County to support people in commuting and getting around town in a reliable, sustainable and healthly way.

Community Improvement
4
Seventh Art Corporation of Ithaca

The 7th art corporation encourages central new york residents to explore the power of film to entertain, educate, and to celebrate the human experience.

Arts & Culture
5
Tompkins Community Action Inc

Tompkins community action, inc. (tcaction) "believes an active community can produce powerful change". located in upstate new york's finger lakes region, tcaction has served the community for over 55 years, implementing programs that…

Education
6
Center for the Arts of Homer Inc

Providing cultural and educational programs to the homer, new york community. to enhance the quality of life for the people of the central new york community that preserves and enriches local culture and provides stewardship for a…

Arts & Culture
7
Ithaca Community Childcare Center Inc

Committed to providing families with the highest standard of child-inspired, professionally-nurtured care and opportunities for learning.

Human Services
8
Ithaka Land Inc

Our mission is to help people escape the cycle of poverty and homelessness, secure stable long-term housing, and achieve a self-directed vision for their lives. We achieve this mission by providing affordable, transitional housing combined…

Environment
9
Saratoga Arts Inc

Saratoga arts was established to enrich the region by cultivating a vibrant arts community and by ensuring that the arts are accessible to all.

Arts & Culture
10
Catskill Center for Conservation & Development Inc

The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc. (the Catskill Center) is a not-for-profit organization under the non-profit laws of the State of New York. The mission of the Catskill Center is to preserve and enrich the…

Environment
11
Tompkins County Spca

The mission of the SPCA of Tompkins County is to protect companion animals. We are a no-kill shelter dedicated to preventing animal cruelty and overpopulation. We promote responsible pet stewardship by providing education, counseling and…

Animals
12
Ithaca Community Recovery

Provide daily meeting space for 12 step recovery programs and related groups. we estimate between 350 and 400 people use the facility daily in their pursuit of recovery from addiction to alcohol and other dangerous drug

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County Inc; the most unlike its peers is Cascadilla Boat Club Ltd. 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

26 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. 26 of the 35 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/26
Grantees still filing
19/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County Inc: $196,000 · Arts & CultureCommunity Arts Partnership of Tompki…The Cherry Arts Inc: $117,936 · Arts & CultureThe Cherry Arts IncSTATE THEATRE OF ITHACA INC: $82,000 · Arts & CultureSTATE THEATRE OF ITHACA INCWEAVE COMMUNITY INC: $38,000 · Arts & CultureWEAVE COMMUNITY INC+3 more: $8,100 · Arts & CultureTioga County Rural Ministry Inc: $76,700 · OtherTioga County Rural Ministry …PHYSICS FACTORY: $44,000 · OtherPHYSICS FACTORYCENTER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION: $40,000 · OtherCENTER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE AC…ALS ASSOCIATION MASSACHUSSETTS CHAPTER: $25,000 · OtherALS ASSOCIATION MASSACHUSSET…MORE THAN WORDS INC: $25,000 · OtherMORE THAN WORDS INCDOWNTOWN ITHACA ALLIANCE: $24,000 · OtherDOWNTOWN ITHACA ALLIANCEIndividual grant recipient: $16,500 · OtherFOODBANK OF THE SOUTHERN TIER: $15,000 · OtherROSIE'S PLACE INC: $30,000 · OtherROSIE'S PLACE INCSHARED KITCHEN ITHACA INC: $20,000 · OtherSHARED KITCHEN ITHACA INC+7 more: $33,500 · Other+7 moreOPPORTUNITIES ALTERNATIVES AND RESOURCES OF TOMPKINS COUNTY: $176,700 · Crime & LegalOPPORTUNITIES …ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES INC: $70,000 · Human ServicesITHACA WELCOME…GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $53,000 · Human ServicesGREATER ITHACA…THE ADVOCACY CENTER OF TOMPKINS COUNTY: $30,000 · Human ServicesTHE ADVOCACY C…Compassionate Care ALS Inc: $15,000 · Human ServicesCompassionate …+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesFREE SCIENCE INC: $80,000 · EducationFREE SCIENC…ITHACA COLLEGE: $46,666 · EducationITHACA COLL…YOUTH FARM PROJECT INC: $15,000 · EducationYOUTH FARM …TIOGA COUNTY BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $54,575 · Youth DevelopmentCascadilla Boat Club Ltd: $50,000 · Recreation & Sports
Arts & Culture$442,036Other$349,700Crime & Legal$176,700Human Services$173,000Education$141,666Youth Development$54,575Recreation & Sports$50,000

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 budgetCommunity Arts Partnership of Tompkins County Inc: $196,000 over 8y, 8.0% of budgetOPPORTUNITIES ALTERNATIVES AND RESOURCES OF TOMPKINS COUNTY: $176,700 over 8y, 5.0% of budgetThe Cherry Arts Inc: $117,936 over 9y, 15% of budgetSTATE THEATRE OF ITHACA INC: $82,000 over 6y, 3.4% of budgetFREE SCIENCE INC: $80,000 over 4y, 35% of budgetTioga County Rural Ministry Inc: $76,700 over 2y, 7.3% of budgetITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES INC: $70,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetTIOGA COUNTY BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $54,575 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetGREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $53,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetCascadilla Boat Club Ltd: $50,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetITHACA COLLEGE: $46,666 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION: $40,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetWEAVE COMMUNITY INC: $38,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ADVOCACY CENTER OF TOMPKINS COUNTY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetMORE THAN WORDS INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSHARED KITCHEN ITHACA INC: $20,000 over 2y, 9.2% of budgetYOUTH FARM PROJECT INC: $15,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF TOMPKINS COUNTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Childrens Room Center for Grieving Children: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetITHACA UNDERGROUND INC: $4,500 over 2y, 9.8% of budgetCENTER FOR THE ARTS AT ITHACA INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONNECTION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLoaves and Fishes of Tompkins County Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

Community Foundation …Legacy Foundation of …Park Foundation IncTompkins Charitable G…City Federation of Wo…Foundation for Jewish…Social Service League…Norathco FoundationUnited Way of Tompkin…The Tsb Foundation IncTriad Foundation IncYhb Charitable Endowm…
Community Foundation of Tompkins County IncNY32.5× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Tompkins County Inc · Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County · Park Foundation Inc · Tompkins Charitable Gift Fund Inc · City Federation of Women's Organizations Inc · Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies Inc · Social Service League of Ithaca Inc · Norathco Foundation · United Way of Tompkins County Inc · The Tsb Foundation Inc · Triad Foundation Inc · Yhb Charitable Endowment 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 Steven and Marcy Schaeffer Family Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Steven and Marcy Schaeffer Family Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • More Than Words Inc: 24% of income from government
  • The Nature Connection Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
10report 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 Steven and Marcy Schaeffer Family Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Steven and Marcy Schaeffer Family Foundation 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 35 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

Play a game based on Steven and Marcy Schaeffer 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