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· Private foundation

Sylvester and Tessie Kaminski 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.

$47k
Granted FY2025still arriving
62
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20192025.

Education$195kReligion$42kArts & Culture$22kHuman Services$12kHealth$11kFood & Nutrition$10kHousing & Shelter$9kRecreation & Sports$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 62 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$500
Median grant
2
States reached
$633k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
South Bend Symphony Orchestra$1,787
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
Queen of Peace Church$1,250
ST VINCENT DE PAUL$1,000
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 (FY19–25, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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%THE UPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY: $500 → 13%THE UPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY: $500 → 13%The Upper Room Recovery Community: $500 → 13%THE UPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY: $500 → 13%THE UPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY: $500 → 13%The Upper Room Recovery Community: $500 → 13%THE UPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY: $500 → 13%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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$264k · 94 repeat orgs$56k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +63% since the first grant, against +24% for the ones you funded once.

94 repeat relationships — 42 still active in FY2025, 52 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

94
58

Total granted

$264k
$41k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+24%

Still filing today

16%
2%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Recreation & SportsFood & NutritionCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesEducationHousing & ShelterOther

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

  • PF
    POLISH FALCONS OF AMERICA NEST 4
    7× · 2019–2025 · $4k · revenue +34%
  • TC
    THE CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $4k · revenue +63%
  • SB
    SOUTH BEND CIVIC THEATRE INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $4k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $2k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $2k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $2k

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
Mariners Inn

To provide 24-hour residential substance abuse treatment for adult homeless men in a professional, compassionate, and therapeutic environment conducive to reducing drug and alcohol addiction and promoting their return to health,…

Health
2
Little Sisters of the Poor of Indianapolis Inc

The home is part of the international congregation of the little sisters of the poor, which was founded in france in 1839 & serves the elderly in 31 countries. the st. augustine home, which provides nursing & residential care for (see…

Health
3
Shelter of Flint Inc

Safe housing, independence, and stability

Housing & Shelter
4
Fort Bend Family Promise

To provide shelter, meals, and comprehensive support to families without homes.

5
The Arc of Northwest Indiana Inc

Mission is to provide necessary resources to persons with disabilities in order to assist them in enhancing their daily lives. we provide pre-vocational training, habilitation services, individual support, and employment services based on…

Human Services
6
Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council Inc

To empower its peers with disabilities to lead and control their own lives.

Human Services
7
St Susan Center Inc

"we freely offer meals, fellowship, dignity and respect to all who come through our doors"

8
Fort Wayne Rescue Mission Ministries Inc

To provide, through the power of jesus christ, a home for the homeless, food for the hungry, and hope for their future.

Housing & Shelter
9
Meals On Wheels of Northwest Indiana Inc

We prepare and deliver essential nutritious meals to our community, promoting health, wellness, and independence of all, with the support of a diverse and engaged community network.

10
The Bangsund Dwelling Place Nfp

The bangsund dwelling place, nfp is a state licensed adult family home that provides low-income housing and care to developmentally disabled individuals.

Housing & Shelter
11
Food Bank of Northwest Indiana Inc

To provide food to various charitable organizations and needy individuals in northwest indiana.

Food & Nutrition
12
Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House Inc

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Retreat House welcomes people of all faiths to come away and rest in God. We offer hospitality, a peaceful setting with a supportive environment for reflection, and programs for spiritual renewal.

Religion

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mishawaka Food Pantry Inc and the most unlike its peers is St Margarets House. 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

16 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. 16 of the 172 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
15/16
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

+164 more — $293,583 · Other+164 moreSt Margarets House — $3,635 · Recreation & SportsCAMP MILLHOUSE INC — $2,500 · Recreation & SportsFOOD BANK OF NORTHERN INDIANA INC — $3,500 · Food & NutritionMISHAWAKA FOOD PANTRY INC — $2,200 · Food & NutritionSOUTH BEND CIVIC THEATRE INC — $4,250 · Community ImprovementUPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY INC — $3,500 · Human ServicesFOREVER LEARNING INSTITUTE INC — $3,500 · EducationWOMEN'S CARE CENTER INC — $3,000 · Health
Other$293,583Recreation & Sports$6,135Food & Nutrition$5,700Community Improvement$4,250Human Services$3,500Education$3,500Health$3,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetPOLISH FALCONS OF AMERICA NEST 4 — $4,450 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS INC — $4,280 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH BEND CIVIC THEATRE INC — $4,250 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetLogan Community Resources Inc — $4,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSt Margarets House — $3,635 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetREINS OF LIFE INC — $3,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetUPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY INC — $3,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetFOREVER LEARNING INSTITUTE INC — $3,500 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetFOOD BANK OF NORTHERN INDIANA INC — $3,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN'S CARE CENTER INC — $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP MILLHOUSE INC — $2,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMISHAWAKA FOOD PANTRY INC — $2,200 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOUR LADY OF THE ROAD INC — $1,700 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetFORT WAYNE CATHOLIC RADIO GROUPINC — $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHERN INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC — $1,200 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPOTAWATOMI ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC — $250 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 POLISH FALCONS OF AMERICA NEST 4
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS INC
  • Who funds SOUTH BEND CIVIC THEATRE INC
  • Who funds Logan Community Resources Inc
  • Who funds St Margarets House
  • Who funds REINS OF LIFE INC
  • Who funds UPPER ROOM RECOVERY COMMUNITY INC
  • Who funds FOREVER LEARNING INSTITUTE INC
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF NORTHERN INDIANA INC

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.

University of Notre Dame du LacIN33.8× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: University of Notre Dame du Lac · Community Foundation of St Joseph County Inc · Carroll F V Char Tr-Main · Asante Foundation Inc · Judd Leighton Foundation Inc · The Garatoni-Smith Family Foundation · United Way of St Joseph County Inc · Community Foundation of Elkhart County Inc · The Pokagon Fund Inc · 1st Source Bank Foundation Inc Xxx-Xx-Xxxx · Radiology Inc Foundation · Hayes Family 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 Sylvester and Tessie Kaminski 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%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 Sylvester and Tessie Kaminski Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Sylvester and Tessie Kaminski 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 172 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

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