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· Private foundation

Synthomer Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
289
Grants FY2024still arriving
22
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$1.5MPhilanthropy$518kHuman Services$382kHealth$347kArts & Culture$310kScience & Tech$276kYouth Development$263kFood & Nutrition$233kOther$0
02FY2024 · 289 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k248 grants · $710k
  • $10k–50k41 grants · $605k
$3,000
Median grant
22
States reached
$24M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UTD WAY OF GTR CLEVELAND$40,000
AKRON URBAN LEAGUE$35,000
UNIV OF AKRON RESEARCH FDN$30,000
UNITED WAY OF SUMMIT AND MED$28,000
AMER INST OF CHEMICAL ENGINE$24,000
AMER INST OF CHEMICAL ENGINE$24,000
THE UNIV OF AKRON$20,000
CUYAHOGA COMM COLLEGE FDN$20,000
ACCESS$20,000
Individual grant recipient$18,000
CLEVELAND STATE UNIV FDN$17,500
FRIENDS OF UNIV OF WATERLOO$16,000
STARK STATE COLLEGE FDN$15,000
GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTH EAST OH$15,000
TEAM NEO FDN$15,000
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 (FY21–24, $236k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIV FDN: $500 → 24%UPDATE WARRIOR SOLUTION: $500 → 10%EASTWOOD RESIDENTIAL LIVING: $3k → 9%THE GOOD SMARITAN MED CLINI: $3k → 18%EASTWOOD RESIDENTIAL LIVING: $2k → 9%UNION COUNTY COMMUNTY SHELTE: $2k → 7%NORTH STAR FAMILY SVC INC: $1k → 11%THE GOOD SMARITAN MED CLINI: $3k → 18%NORTH STAR FAMILY SVCS INC: $1k → 11%THE GOOD SMARITAN MED CLINI: $3k → 18%GINNYS HELPING HAND: $1k → 11%UNITED WAY OF CHESTER COUNTY: $3k → 18%ADELPHOI VILLAGE INC: $750 → 10%ADELPHOI VILLAGE INC: $750 → 10%CHILD GUIDANCE & FAM SOLUTIO: $1k → 13%THE CTR FOR FAMILIES AND CHI: $8k → 17%THE CTR FOR FAMILIES AND CHI: $5k → 17%GRACE HOUSE AKRON INC: $8k → 13%GOODS BK NEO: $3k → 17%GRACE HOUSE AKRON INC: $5k → 13%GOODS BANK NEO: $3k → 17%BATTERED WOMENS SHELTER: $4k → 13%BATTERED WOMENS SHELTER: $3k → 13%LEGACY III: $2k → 13%SEEDS OF LITERACY: $5k → 17%SEEDS OF LITERACY: $5k → 17%SHOES AND CLOTHES FOR KIDS: $5k → 17%ZANES INC: $3k → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $35k → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $35k → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $35k → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $35k → 13%BUILDING FOR TOMORROW: $5k → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $250 → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $150 → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $100 → 13%AKRON URBAN LEAGUE: $100 → 13%VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: $3k → 13%VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IN: $2k → 13%VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IN: $1k → 13%HALO FOUNDATION: $1k → 13%HALO FDN: $1k → 13%HALO FDN: $1k → 13%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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
NH
WA
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
PA
RI
CA
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.8M · 217 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +14% since the first grant, against +6% for those funded once.

217 repeat relationships: 141 still active in FY2024, 76 since wound down; 86 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

217
244

Total granted

$3.8M
$925k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+6%

Still filing today

48%
23%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $340k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureHealthFood & NutritionCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • GS
    GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTH EAST OHIO
    4× · 2021–2024 · $68k · revenue +39%
  • OS
    OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2023 · $56k · revenue +8%
  • AR
    AKRON-CANTON REGIONAL FOODBANK
    3× · 2021–2023 · $55k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • AI
    AMERICAN INST OF CHEMICAL EN
    one grant, 2022 · $48k
  • UO
    UNIV OF AKRON RES FDN
    one grant, 2023 · $30k
  • AI
    AMER INST OF CHEMICAL ENG
    one grant, 2021 · $24k
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
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…

—
2
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
3
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
4
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
5
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
6
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
7
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
8
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
9
Otterbein University

Otterbein University is an inclusive community dedicated to educating the whole person in the context of humane values. Our mission is to prepare graduates to think deeply and broadly, to engage locally and globally, and to advance their…

Education
10
Gettysburg College

Gettysburg college is a residential, undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences.

Education
11
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
12
Carleton College

See schedule o.founded in 1866, carleton college is a private, coeducational liberal arts college of 2,007 students located in the historic river town of northfield, minnesota. nationally recognized as the nation's top college for…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Family Promise of Greater Cleveland; the most unlike its peers is Seattle University. 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

194 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. 194 of the 552 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)
28
Early backer (in before they grew)
190/194
Grantees still filing
121/194
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: $141,780 · OtherUNITED WAY OF SUMMIT AND MED: $137,000 · OtherTHE UNIV OF AKRON: $129,000 · OtherAMER INST OF CHEMICAL ENGINE: $120,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVEL: $114,000 · Other+146 more: $2,269,218 · Other+146 moreCLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $70,300 · EducationCLEVELAND STA…OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $56,000 · EducationOHIO STATE UN…John Carroll University: $50,000 · EducationJohn Carroll …PROJECT GRAD AKRON: $42,225 · EducationPROJECT GRAD …KENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $33,565 · EducationKENT STATE UN…UNIVERSITY OF AKRON RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $30,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF…CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY: $29,000 · EducationCENTRAL STATE…VALUES-IN-ACTION FOUNDATION: $28,000 · EducationVALUES-IN-ACT…LIMITLESS AMBITION INC: $27,000 · EducationNational Merit Scholarship Corporation: $26,675 · EducationTHIEL COLLEGE: $20,000 · EducationOKLAHOMA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · Education+7 more: $81,700 · Education+7 moreUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $121,577 · PhilanthropyTHE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION: $50,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY WORLDWIDE: $17,120 · PhilanthropyPHILANTHROPY OHIO: $13,219 · PhilanthropyAKRON COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER & URBAN LEAGUE INC: $140,600 · Human ServicesGRACE HOUSE AKRON INC: $12,500 · Human ServicesThe Centers for Families and Children: $12,500 · Human ServicesSEEDS OF LITERACY: $10,000 · Human ServicesGOOD SAMARITAN MEDICAL CLINIC INC: $9,000 · Human ServicesHOPE AND HEALING SURVIVOR RESOURCE CENTER: $7,000 · Human Services+1 more: $6,294 · Human ServicesGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $55,500 · Food & NutritionAKRON-CANTON REGIONAL FOODBANK: $55,000 · Food & NutritionCHILDREN'S HUNGER ALLIANCE: $45,000 · Food & NutritionHUNGER NETWORK OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $20,000 · Food & NutritionGOOD SAMARITAN HUNGER CENTER: $13,000 · Food & NutritionGIRL SCOUTS OF NORTH EAST OHIO: $68,400 · Youth DevelopmentIDEASTREAM: $38,000 · Youth DevelopmentINTERNATIONAL SOAP BOX DERBY INC: $14,000 · Youth DevelopmentEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $11,000 · Youth DevelopmentARTSNOW: $22,500 · Arts & CultureAKRON ART MUSEUM: $19,000 · Arts & CultureGreater Akron Musical Association Inc: $13,994 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND BALLET: $13,500 · Arts & CultureART RESOURCES TRANSFORMATIONS: $12,500 · Arts & CultureTUESDAY MUSICAL ASSOCIATION: $12,000 · Arts & CultureSUMMIT ARTSPACE: $10,500 · Arts & CultureTHE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF CLEVELAND: $7,500 · Arts & CultureDEVELOPING CONNECTIONS NORTHEAST OHIO: $7,500 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL INVENTORS HALL OF FAME INC: $7,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$2,910,998Education$514,465Philanthropy$201,916Human Services$197,894Food & Nutrition$188,500Youth Development$131,400Arts & Culture$125,994

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetAKRON COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER & URBAN LEAGUE INC: $140,600 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $121,577 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $70,300 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF NORTH EAST OHIO: $68,400 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $56,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $55,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAKRON-CANTON REGIONAL FOODBANK: $55,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTeam NEO Foundation: $52,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetJohn Carroll University: $50,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HUNGER ALLIANCE: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT GRAD AKRON: $42,225 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetIDEASTREAM: $38,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetACCESS INC: $37,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetKENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $33,565 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSCHUYLKILL UNITED WAY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $30,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF AKRON RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY: $29,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetVALUES-IN-ACTION FOUNDATION: $28,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetLIMITLESS AMBITION INC: $27,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetNational Merit Scholarship Corporation: $26,675 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED DISABILITY SERVICES INC: $25,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetAKRON CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $25,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetARTSNOW: $22,500 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetTHIEL COLLEGE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHUNGER NETWORK OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEMBRACING FUTURES INC: $20,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetOKLAHOMA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAKRON ART MUSEUM: $19,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY WORLDWIDE: $17,120 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND RAPE CRISIS CENTER: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSAFETY FORCES SUPPORT CENTER: $15,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetLAWRENCE SCHOOL: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetACHIEVEMENT CENTERS FOR CHILDREN: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBERRY COLLEGE INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLSTART: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSTARK STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFRONT STEPS HOUSING AND SERVICES INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetGREATER AKRON CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetTHE WELL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSUMMIT METRO PARKS FOUNDATION: $14,850 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLEADERSHIP AKRON: $14,200 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SOAP BOX DERBY INC: $14,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetGreater Akron Musical Association Inc: $13,994 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetLOVE AKRON INC: $13,554 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetCLEVELAND BALLET: $13,500 over 3y, 0.4% 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.

  • Who funds AKRON COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER & URBAN LEAGUE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTH EAST OHIO ↗
  • Who funds OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds AKRON-CANTON REGIONAL FOODBANK ↗
  • Who funds Team NEO Foundation ↗
  • Who funds John Carroll University ↗
  • Who funds THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HUNGER ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT GRAD AKRON ↗
  • Who funds IDEASTREAM ↗
  • Who funds ACCESS INC ↗
  • Who funds KENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SCHUYLKILL UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY PROMISE OF GREATER CLEVELAND ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF AKRON RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds VALUES-IN-ACTION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LIMITLESS AMBITION INC ↗

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.

Akron Community FoundationOH95× affinity54 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Akron Community Foundation · Sisler McFawn Foundation Pfdn · The Welty Family Foundation · Charles E and Mabel M Ritchie Memorial · Burton D Morgan Foundation Inc · Lloyd L & Louise K Smith Foundation · Gar Foundation · Lehner Family Foundation · L R Moffitt & L W Moffitt Foundation · Mary S & David C Corbin Foundation · W Paul Mills & Thora J Mills Memorial · Firstenergy 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 Synthomer Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Synthomer Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Nashua River Watershed Assoc Inc: 54% of income from government
  • North Star Family Services Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Old Sturbridge Inc: 4% of income from government
  • The Sisters of Saint Ann Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Fitchburg Art Museum: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
67report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Synthomer Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Synthomer 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 552 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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