Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$592k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$112k
Largest
01What you fund
0164% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY20172024.

Education$1.5MRecreation & Sports$200kYouth Development$100kInternational$45kArts & Culture$40kScience & Tech$20kHealth$20kOther$1.1M
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k5 grants · $200k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $392k
$50,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$20M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$112,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES$110,000
HARVARD UNIVERSITY$65,000
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY$55,000
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY$50,000
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY$40,000
BOSTON UNIVERSITY$40,000
HOWARD UNIVERSITY$40,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$40,000
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY$40,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 85% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $65k → 8%NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $50k → 16%TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 22%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $110k → 14%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $40k → 17%FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: $55k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: $50k → 19%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%TULANE UNIVERSITY: $34k → 23%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $112k → 19%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $60k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $50k → 16%TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 22%UCLA: $50k → 14%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $40k → 17%FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 19%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $40k → 19%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $45k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $40k → 16%TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 22%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $50k → 14%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $40k → 17%FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 19%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $40k → 19%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $40k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $40k → 16%TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 22%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $40k → 14%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $40k → 17%HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $40k → 19%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $40k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $40k → 16%TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 22%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $40k → 14%WOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC: $40k → 17%HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $35k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $40k → 16%TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: $35k → 22%HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $35k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $40k → 16%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $35k → 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.

Which US states your grants reach

IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
CA
VA
MD
DC
LA
GA
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$2.3M · 13 repeat orgs$237k to everyone else

13 repeat relationships — 7 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
12

Total granted

$2.3M
$187k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+36%

Still filing today

77%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthInternationalRecreation & SportsArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentOther

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

  • JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $298k · revenue +42%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $250k · revenue +34%
  • TU
    Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
    5× · 2020–2024 · $235k · revenue +14%

Funded once

  • WM
    WOMEN MAKE MOVIES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $40k · revenue +36%
  • TA
    THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUNDgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $34k · revenue +25%
  • AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue 0%

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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
3
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
4
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
5
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
6
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
7
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
8
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
9
Cornell University

Education, research, medical services and other public services.

Education
10
Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is an independent, research-oriented university with broadly based strengths in health, including medicine, nursing and dentistry; in engineering; in the arts and sciences; and in law, management and social…

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
Pacific University

A diverse and sustainable learning community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, pacific university inspires students to think, care, create and pursue justice in our world.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Georgetown University and the most unlike its peers is Citrus County 4-H Association Inc. 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 53 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%5%10–20yr16%19%20–35yr13%33%35–55yr16%43%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%5%10–20yr16%5%20–35yr13%21%35–55yr16%70%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% 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 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/22
the rest of the field
13%
240,396/1,819,543

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

21 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. 21 of the 28 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
15/21
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

President and Fellows of Harvard College — $355,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard CollegeJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — $298,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education — $235,000 · EducationTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher…THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FOUNDATION INC — $200,500 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FOUNDATION INCTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK — $160,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW Y…THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY — $120,000 · EducationTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITYNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY — $50,000 · Education+4 more — $79,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES — $445,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELESTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY — $250,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITYFLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY — $195,000 · OtherFLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITYUCLA — $170,000 · OtherUCLA+5 more — $45,000 · OtherNorthwestern University — $200,000 · Recreation & SportsCITRUS COUNTY 4-H ASSOCIATION INC — $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentPACIFIC COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL POLICY — $32,500 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS — $12,500 · InternationalWOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC — $40,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES — $20,000 · Science & TechGBSCIDP FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL INC — $10,000 · HealthPLATELET DISORDER SUPPORT ASSOCIATION — $10,000 · Health
Education$1,497,500Other$1,105,000Recreation & Sports$200,000Youth Development$100,000International$45,000Arts & Culture$40,000Science & Tech$20,000Health$20,000

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 budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College — $355,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — $298,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY — $250,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education — $235,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FOUNDATION INC — $200,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University — $200,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK — $160,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY — $120,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCITRUS COUNTY 4-H ASSOCIATION INC — $100,000 over 4y, 36% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY — $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC — $40,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND — $34,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPACIFIC COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL POLICY — $32,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY — $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS — $12,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGBSCIDP FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL INC — $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPLATELET DISORDER SUPPORT ASSOCIATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA — $7,500 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.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust 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, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 20%3%10%23%40%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University12% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University12% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust?

Find your warmest path to The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust 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 28 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