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Plinth

· Private foundation

The Cherne Foundation

Its FY2017 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$224k
Granted FY2017
27
Grants FY2017
3
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What you fund
01FY2017 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k14 grants · $84k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $140k
$7,500
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DENVER SANTA CLAUS SHOP$15,000
SAVIO HOUSE$15,000
COLORADO OPEN LANDS$10,000
FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES$10,000
DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE$10,000
LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR$10,000
SAMARITAN HOUSE$10,000
COLORADO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS$10,000
TOYS FOR TOTS$10,000
MT ST VINCENT HOME$10,000
GARY SINISE FDN$10,000
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HONOR FLIGHT$10,000
DENVER HOSPICE$10,000
CRAIG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$7,500
THE SALVATION ARMY$7,500
02The need
02

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 (FY17–17, $40k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%CANINE PARTNERS OF THE ROCKIES: $8k → 10%SAVIO HOUSE: $15k → 12%DENVER HOSPICE: $10k → 12%THE ADOPTION EXCHANGE: $8k → 8%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 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
Colorado State Fire Chiefs

The vision of the csfc is to partner with the fire service and supplier partners across the state of colorado in their efforts to protect all of colorado's life and property from fire and other disasters. it is a dynamic organization,…

Public Safety & Disaster
2
Pathways Hospice

Honoring every moment of life, pathways hospice provides compassionate, excellent, comprehensive care for those who have an advanced medical condition and those who are grieving.

Human Services
3
Colorado Gives Foundation

We connect people, ideas, and nonprofits to make good happen. our vision is that all of jeffco is thriving.

Philanthropy
4
Colorado Legal Services

To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.

Crime & Legal
5
Denver Police Blue Hat Foundation

The denver police blue hat foundation provides financial assistance and support to active and former denver police officers, civilian employees of the police department and immediate members of their families in times of crisis.

Crime & Legal
6
Colorado West Psychiatric Hospital Inc

We rebuild lives and inspire hope by providing exceptional mental health and addiction recovery care, strengthening the health and vitality of our communities.

Health
7
The Colorado Humane Society & Spca Inc

See schedule o.to prevent cruelty and neglect of animals within the state of colorado by:-assisting agencies in the enforcement of laws relating to cruelty and neglect of companion animals and equines-educating the public on animal welfare…

8
Impact Development Fund

Impact development fund helps people within our underserved communities seek fulfillment for themselves and their families by providing access to affordable living. we create these opportunities by delivering flexible capital to nonprofit…

Housing & Shelter
9
Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care Inc

The mission of pikes peak hospice & palliative care is to provide compassionate and expert end-of-life care to patients and their families, partner with those who share our vision, and lead change in the community to ensure comfort for all…

10
Goodwill Industries of Denver

Goodwill's mission is to provide education, career development, and employment opportunities to help coloradans in need achieve self-sufficiency, dignity, and hope through the power of work.

11
Comfort Bridge

Comfort bridge d/b/a care synergy is a nonprofit organization formed in 2014 and is the region's largest end-of-life care network. care synergy provides mission support services for nonprofit home health care and community-based hospice…

Health
12
Colorado Visiting Nurse Association

Colorado visiting nurse association is committed to a continuum of health care in the home and community supporting optimal well-being, independence, and dignity.

Health

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver Dumb Friends League and the most unlike its peers is Rocky Mountain Honor Flight. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

03the grantee network

14 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. 14 of the 27 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
12/14
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE DENVER SANTA CLAUSE SHOP INC — $15,000 · OtherTHE DENVER SANTA CLAUSE SHOP INCTOYS FOR TOTS — $10,000 · OtherTOYS FOR TOTSMT ST VINCENT HOME — $10,000 · OtherMT ST VINCENT HOMESAMARITAN HOUSE — $10,000 · OtherSAMARITAN HOUSECOLORADO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS — $10,000 · OtherCOLORADO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESSTHE SALVATION ARMY — $7,500 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMYIndividual grant recipient — $7,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientREGIS JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL — $7,500 · OtherREGIS JESUIT HIGH SCHOOLVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA INC — $5,500 · OtherSOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL — $5,000 · OtherYOUNG MUSICIANS FOUNDATION — $5,000 · OtherMISSIONARY SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART — $5,000 · OtherCARAMEL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT — $5,000 · Other+1 more — $1,000 · OtherSAVIO HOUSE — $15,000 · Human ServicesSAVIO HOUSEHOSPICE OF METRO DENVER INC — $10,000 · Human ServicesHOSPICE OF METRO DENVE…CANINE PARTNERS OF THE ROCKIES INC — $7,500 · Human ServicesCANINE PARTNERS OF THE…RAISE THE FUTURE — $7,500 · Human ServicesRAISE THE FUTUREDENVER RESCUE MISSION — $5,000 · Human ServicesDENVER RESCUE MISSIONLITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR HOME FOR THE AGED — $10,000 · HealthLITTLE SISTE…Craig Hospital Foundation — $7,500 · HealthCraig Hospit…INSTITUTE FOR THE NEW MAN — $7,500 · HealthINSTITUTE FO…COLORADO OPEN LANDS — $10,000 · EnvironmentDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE — $10,000 · AnimalsGARY SINISE FOUNDATION — $10,000 · PhilanthropyFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES — $10,000 · Food & NutritionROCKY MOUNTAIN HONOR FLIGHT — $10,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$104,000Human Services$45,000Health$25,000Environment$10,000Animals$10,000Philanthropy$10,000Food & Nutrition$10,000Arts & Culture$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE DENVER SANTA CLAUSE SHOP INC — $15,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetSAVIO HOUSE — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOLORADO OPEN LANDS — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN HONOR FLIGHT — $10,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetHOSPICE OF METRO DENVER INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCraig Hospital Foundation — $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR THE NEW MAN — $7,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCANINE PARTNERS OF THE ROCKIES INC — $7,500 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetRAISE THE FUTURE — $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDENVER RESCUE MISSION — $5,000 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.

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.

The Denver FoundationCO20.9× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Denver Foundation · Colorado Gives Foundation · Libertygives Foundation · Hill Foundation Wells Fargo Bank Na · The Janus Henderson Foundation · Gates Family Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Schlessman Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 The Cherne 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%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–5%
    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.

    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 27 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 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph