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Plinth

· Private foundation

Summer Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$348k
Granted FY2024still arriving
38
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$50k
Largest
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 FY20192024.

Education$595kReligion$479kPhilanthropy$240kHealth$152kEnvironment$63kArts & Culture$60kFood & Nutrition$59kHuman Services$51kOther$0
02FY2024 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k26 grants · $48k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $150k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $150k
$2,500
Median grant
6
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COMMUNITY OF SAINTS REGIONAL CATHOLIC SCHOOL$50,000
CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION$50,000
UNION GOSPEL MISSION$50,000
AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION$25,000
CAMPING AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION$25,000
CHANNEL ONE REGIONAL FOOD BANK$20,000
AIN DAH YUNG CENTER$15,000
WOMEN'S ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE$10,000
FRIENDS OF EAST AFRICA$10,000
CHILDREN'S MINNESOTA FOUNDATION$10,000
CITIZENS LEAGUE$10,000
TRAP FREE MONTANA INC$5,000
PEACEMAKER FOUNDATION MINNESOTA$5,000
GREAT LAKES WILDLIFE ALLIANCE$5,000
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 (FY19–24, $35k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%EASTSIDE NEIGHORHOOD SERVICES: $3k → 11%AIN DAH YUNG CENTER: $15k → 14%AIN DAH YUNG CENTER: $15k → 14%AMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION: $3k → 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.

Which US states your grants reach

MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
OR
SD
OH
CT
VA
DC
HI
FL

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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.2M · 45 repeat orgs$365k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +38% since the first grant, against +12% for the ones you funded once.

45 repeat relationships — 27 still active in FY2024, 18 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

45
39

Total granted

$1.2M
$211k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+12%

Still filing today

69%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $154k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentEducationArts & CultureAnimalsFood & NutritionHuman ServicesOther

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

  • UO
    University of St Thomas
    3× · 2019–2022 · $280k · revenue +38%
  • American Diabetes Association
    2× · 2023–2024 · $50k · revenue +11%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $50k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • SM
    SAINT MARY OF THE LAKE CATHOLIC CHURCH
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • LC
    LANDMARK CONSERVANCY INC
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue -17%
  • CATLIN GABEL SCHOOL
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +9%

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
Minnesota Business Partnership

The minnesota business partnership's mission is to maintain a high quality of life for all minnesotans by ensuring that the state's economy remains strong, globally competitive and its prospects for growth bright by working with elected…

2
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

3
Conservation Minnesota

Conservation minnesota's mission is to turn our shared conservation values into state priorities and provide you with the information you need to make decisions for your family, community and future.

Environment
4
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The minnesota chamber of commerce proactively leads the business community statewide to: advance pro-business, responsible minnesota public policy that creates jobs and grows the econony; provde member services to address evolving business…

5
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

6
Mn Community Measurement

Mn community measurement empowers stakeholders with meaningful information to drive improvement.

Health
7
United Way of Ne Minnesota

United way of northeastern minnesota invests in nonprofits, programs, and collaborations that equip and empower, creating opportunities for people to thrive in our communities.

8
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

The minnesota center for environmental advocacy is a nonprofit organization that uses law, science and research to protect minnesota's environment, its natural resources and the health of its people.

Environment
9
St Paul Transportation Management Organization

Move minnesota leads the movement for an equitable and sustainable transportation system that puts people first. we are passionate about connecting communities, ending the climate crisis, expanding access to jobs and resources, and…

Environment
10
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

Creating powerful advocacy to enhance economic vitality in the minneapolis-st. paul region.

11
University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors

To provide the highest level of stewardship for university donors through professional management and oversight of the university of minnesota foundation's assets by creating a focused investment environment with clarity of purpose,…

Education
12
Community Shares of Minnesota

The mission of community shares of minnesota is to create a fair, just and equitable minnesota. community shares of minnesota accomplishes its mission by: supporting collective action to eliminate root causes of inequality and injustice;…

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Amherst H Wilder Foundation and the most unlike its peers is American Diabetes Association. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 37 years old; the field is 20. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number17%5%<5yr12%2%5–10yr20%18%10–20yr17%21%20–35yr16%30%35–55yr18%25%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value17%0%<5yr12%0%5–10yr20%5%10–20yr17%28%20–35yr16%11%35–55yr18%56%55yr+

The field is 17% startups (under 5 years old) — 5% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 10% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/71
the rest of the field
10%
3,829/38,918

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

61 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. 61 of the 98 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
61/61
Grantees still filing
41/61
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION — $135,000 · OtherCHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTIONST MARY OF THE LAKE CATHOLIC CHURCH — $120,000 · OtherST MARY OF THE LAKE CATHOLIC CHURCHSAINT MARY OF THE LAKE CATHOLIC CHURCH — $100,000 · OtherSAINT MARY OF THE LAKE CATHOLIC CHURCHCATHOLIC SERVICES APPEAL FOUNDATION — $95,000 · OtherCATHOLIC SERVICES APPEAL FOUNDATIONTHE WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA CATHOLICS — $92,500 · OtherTHE WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA CATHOLICSMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION — $85,000 · OtherMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATIONCOMMUNITY OF SAINTS REGIONAL CATHOLIC SCHOOL — $50,000 · OtherUNION GOSPEL MISSION — $50,000 · Other+54 more — $299,335 · Other+54 moreUniversity of St Thomas — $280,000 · EducationUniversity of St Thom…UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION — $50,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINNESO…+7 more — $28,750 · Education+7 moreDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC — $234,746 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED …+1 more — $5,000 · PhilanthropyLANDMARK CONSERVANCY INC — $25,000 · EnvironmentWOMENS ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE AT AMADOR HILL — $20,000 · EnvironmentNORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS — $5,000 · EnvironmentTHE SAINT PAUL PARKS CONSERVANCY — $3,500 · EnvironmentGREATER YELLOWSTONE COALITION — $3,250 · EnvironmentMontana Environmental Information Center — $3,000 · EnvironmentMONTANA WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION — $3,000 · Environment+3 more — $3,500 · EnvironmentMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $37,500 · Arts & CultureSTATES NEWSROOM — $5,000 · Arts & CultureMinnPost — $5,000 · Arts & CultureCATHEDRAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $2,500 · Arts & Culture+4 more — $4,200 · Arts & CultureCHANNEL ONE INC — $40,000 · Food & NutritionHUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA — $7,500 · Food & NutritionFOOD RESCUE US INC — $3,000 · Food & NutritionHMONG AMERICAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION — $2,000 · Food & Nutrition+1 more — $1,250 · Food & NutritionAmerican Diabetes Association — $50,000 · Health+1 more — $1,000 · Health
Other$1,026,835Education$358,750Philanthropy$239,746Environment$66,250Arts & Culture$54,200Food & Nutrition$53,750Health$51,000

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 budgetUniversity of St Thomas — $280,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC — $234,746 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Diabetes Association — $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHANNEL ONE INC — $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $37,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAIN DAH YUNG (OUR HOME) CENTER — $30,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNION GOSPEL MISSION INC — $27,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetCAMPING AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLANDMARK CONSERVANCY INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWOMENS ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE AT AMADOR HILL — $20,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetCITIZENS LEAGUE — $20,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF EAST AFRICA FOUNDATION — $13,250 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetCATLIN GABEL SCHOOL — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTrap Free Montana Inc — $10,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetHUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA — $7,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC SCHOOLS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE (CSCOE) — $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC — $5,750 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDAMASCUS INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTATES NEWSROOM — $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS — $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMinnPost — $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS SCHOOL OF MINNESOTA — $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTANS' MILITARY APPRECIATION FUND — $3,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SAINT PAUL PARKS CONSERVANCY — $3,500 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetGREATER YELLOWSTONE COALITION — $3,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMontana Environmental Information Center — $3,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCounterpoint Inc — $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMONTANA WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION — $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOMO FRIENDS — $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC — $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD RESCUE US INC — $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTAFFORD ANIMAL SHELTER — $3,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetEAST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN BOATBUILDERS INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE LEGAL REVOLUTION — $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATHEDRAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $2,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC — $2,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHMONG AMERICAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION — $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDream of Wild Health — $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY — $2,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetARTREACH ST CROIX — $1,750 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetVOYAGEUR OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL — $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHITE BEAR AREA FOOD SHELF — $1,250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS — $1,200 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 St Thomas
  • Who funds DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC
  • Who funds American Diabetes Association
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION
  • Who funds CHANNEL ONE INC
  • Who funds MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
  • Who funds AIN DAH YUNG (OUR HOME) CENTER
  • Who funds UNION GOSPEL MISSION INC
  • Who funds CAMPING AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION
  • Who funds LANDMARK CONSERVANCY INC
  • Who funds WOMENS ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE AT AMADOR HILL
  • Who funds CITIZENS LEAGUE
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF EAST AFRICA FOUNDATION
  • Who funds CATLIN GABEL SCHOOL
  • Who funds Trap Free Montana Inc
  • Who funds HUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA
  • Who funds CATHOLIC SCHOOLS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE (CSCOE)
  • Who funds SMILE TRAIN INC
  • Who funds DAMASCUS INC
  • Who funds STATES NEWSROOM
  • Who funds NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS
  • Who funds HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
  • Who funds MinnPost
  • Who funds FRIENDS SCHOOL OF MINNESOTA

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.

Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN49.8× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The McNeely Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Hardenbergh Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · The Jamf Nation Global Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide 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 Summer Fund 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 · 20%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 0%
  • Catlin Gabel School0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Summer Fund?

Find your warmest path to Summer Fund 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 98 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph