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The Bettcher Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bettcher 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.

$27k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0189% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Philanthropy$123kArts & Culture$68kHealth$58kReligion$24kEducation$14kPublic Safety & Disaster$11kPublic Benefit$3kRecreation & Sports$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$1,800
Median grant
3
States reached
$21k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN RED CROSS$10,000
HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION$10,000
ERIE COUNTY COMMUNITY FDN$2,000
CAPTIVA CIVIC ASSOCIATION$1,800
BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$1,000
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LORAIN COUNTY$1,000
RITTER PUBLIC LIBRARY$700
LAKE ERIE FOUNDATION$500
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, $56k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%LUCY IDOL CENTER: $5k → 11%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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$176k · 14 repeat orgs$26k to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
15

Total granted

$176k
$26k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+25%

Still filing today

64%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationRecreation & SportsCommunity ImprovementPublic BenefitOther
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

  • HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2020–2025 · $40k · revenue +183%
  • FS
    FIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
    4× · 2020–2024 · $38k · revenue +18%
  • AN
    American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
    2× · 2022–2025 · $11k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • LI
    LUCY IDOL CENTER INC
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +23%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF FIRELANDS
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
  • DM
    DEUTSHCER MUSIK VEREIN (GERMAN MUSIC SOCIETY)
    one grant, 2024 · $3k
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
Erie Community Foundation

The erie community foundation works to improve the quality of life for all in our region by evaluating and addressing community issues, building permanent charitable endowments, and by promoting philanthropic and community leadership.

Philanthropy
2
Erie Canalway Heritage Fund Inc

Erie canalway heritage fund, inc. works to preserve the extraordinary canal corridor heritage, to promote the corridor as a world class tourism destination, and to foster vibrant communities connected by the waterway.

Community Improvement
3
Lorain County Historical Society Inc

The lorain county historical society collects, preserves, and shares the history of lorain county, ohio to educate and inspire present and future generations.

—
4
Lake Champlain Land Trust Inc

The mission of the lake champlain land trust is to save the scenic beauty, natural communities, and recreational amenities of lake champlain by permanently preserving significant islands, shoreline areas, and natural communities in the…

Environment
5
Lake Erie Islands Historical Society

Preserve, interpret and educate our community and our visitors on the rich history of the lake erie islands.

Environment
6
Lakeshore Community Foundation Inc

Mission statement: to gather, grow, and give endowed charitable financial resources to build stronger, more vibrant communities now and into the future.value statement:we are committed to managing our clients' philanthropic endowments in…

Philanthropy
7
Cardinal Land Conservancy

To benefit the general public by preserving natural lands and significant habitats, lands suitable for the production of food, timber, or other cultivated or natural products, lands creating scenic vistas for public enjoyment, lands with…

Environment
8
Lakewood Heritage Foundation

To solicit and collect donations for the preservation and restoration of lakewood's natural resources, including its landscape, trees, gardens and lake, and its historic monuments, markers and buildings, and for related educational…

Community Improvement
9
Lake View Cemetery Association

To own and operate cemetery, sell services and memorials, as well as maintain grounds for the association.

—
10
Erie Yacht Club

The purposes of the erie yacht club are to maintain, develop, and enlarge the facilities for yachting and boating, to encourage and develop yachting and other aquatic sports, to promote social recreational activities connected therewith,…

—
11
Historic Columbus Foundation Inc

Preserve historical structures, revitalize historic neighborhoods, educate the public about local history, advocate benefits derived from historic preservation

—
12
Lake View Cemetery Association

To provide compassionate interment services and education relative to its historic heritage and arboretum setting.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Firelands Symphony Orchestra; the most unlike its peers is Brownhelm Historical Association. 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

17 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. 17 of the 31 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/17
Grantees still filing
11/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $38,000 · OtherFIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRABIRMINGHAM METHODIST CHURCH: $30,658 · OtherBIRMINGHAM METHODIST CHURCHNATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE GREAT LAKES: $16,000 · OtherNATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE GREAT LAKESIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientRITTER PUBLIC LIBRARY: $7,200 · OtherRITTER PUBLIC LIBRARYFRIENDS OF FIRELANDS: $5,000 · Other+13 more: $18,225 · Other+13 moreERIE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $112,000 · PhilanthropyERIE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LORAIN COUNTY: $11,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LORAIN COUNTYHEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesHEALTHNETWORK FOUND…American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $11,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National R…LUCY IDOL CENTER INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesLUCY IDOL CENTER IN…LAKEVIEW CEMETERY FOUNDATION: $7,750 · Arts & CultureHarbourtown Fine Arts Center: $2,000 · Arts & CultureCAPTIVA ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 · Arts & CultureBowling Green State University Foundation Inc: $2,000 · EducationTEEN LEADERSHIP CORPS: $250 · EducationFLYING HORSE FARMS: $2,000 · Recreation & SportsLAKE ERIE FOUNDATION: $1,600 · Environment
Other$130,083Philanthropy$123,000Human Services$56,000Arts & Culture$10,250Education$2,250Recreation & Sports$2,000Environment$1,600

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 budgetERIE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $112,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetHEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $38,000 over 4y, 4.4% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LORAIN COUNTY: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAKEVIEW CEMETERY FOUNDATION: $7,750 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetLUCY IDOL CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCAPTIVA CIVIC ASSOCIATION INC: $2,800 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBowling Green State University Foundation Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFLYING HORSE FARMS: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE ERIE FOUNDATION: $1,600 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMain Street Vermilion Inc: $1,100 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCAPTIVA ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTEEN LEADERSHIP CORPS: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOAST GUARD FOUNDATION INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

The Michelle Wightman…The Mylander Fdn-2001Community Foundation …The Cleveland Foundat…American Endowment Fo…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Michelle Wightman-Karrie Wieber Charitable FoundationOH13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Michelle Wightman-Karrie Wieber Charitable Foundation · The Mylander Fdn-2001 · Community Foundation of Lorain County · The Cleveland Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 The Bettcher Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bettcher Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 The Bettcher Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Bettcher 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 31 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 Bettcher’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