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Plinth

· Private foundation

The Kennedy 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.

$1.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
54
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$100k
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 FY20232025.

Environment$1.1MArts & Culture$882kHealth$507kHuman Services$414kRecreation & Sports$285kCrime & Legal$200kFood & Nutrition$195kEducation$122kOther$0
02FY2025 · 54 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $68k
  • $10k–50k31 grants · $638k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $766k
$20,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$36M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST JOSEPH HOSPITAL OF ORANGE$100,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY$86,410
PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION$75,000
LOS ANGELES WATERKEEPER$75,000
PALOS VERDES ART CENTER BEVERLY G ALPAY CENTER FOR$70,000
MUSEUM ASSOCIATES$70,000
CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION$70,000
SOUTH COAST BOTANIC GARDEN FOUNDATION INC$70,000
METAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC$50,000
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES$50,000
CRYSTAL COVE CONSERVANCY$50,000
THE PRIORITY CENTER ENDING THE GENERATIONAL CYCLE$45,000
UPPER MISSOURI WATERKEEPER INC$45,000
GROWINGGREAT$35,000
MUSEUM ASSOCIATES$35,000
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 (FY23–25, $104k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%NATIONAL DIAPER BANK NETWORK: $73k → 12%TREE OF LIFE MINISTRY: $10k → 40%NATIONAL DIAPER BANK NETWORK: $10k → 12%NORTH BEACH CITIZENS: $10k → 10%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

MT
MN
WI
NY
SD
PA
CT
CA
VA
TN
DC
TX

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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$3.2M · 29 repeat orgs$730k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +11% since the first grant, against 0% for the ones you funded once.

29 repeat relationships — 29 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
10

Total granted

$3.2M
$450k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
0%

Still filing today

100%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $280k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHealthEducationPhilanthropyAnimalsOther

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

  • MA
    MUSEUM ASSOCIATES
    3× · 2023–2025 · $353k · revenue +21%
  • SJ
    ST JOSEPH HOSPITAL OF ORANGE
    3× · 2023–2025 · $217k · revenue +4%
  • LA
    LOS ANGELES WATERKEEPER
    3× · 2023–2025 · $200k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • GARY SINISE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +701%
  • SHARE OUR STRENGTH
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue +14%
  • TS
    THE SALVATION ARMY
    one grant, 2023 · $50k

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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…

Arts & Culture
3
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
4
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
5
Chile-California Council

The Chile-California Council is a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to developing and promoting joint endeavors and cooperative relations between Chile and California, as well as individuals, legal entities and other institutions in…

International
6
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
7
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
8
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
9
Environmental Defense Center

The organization protects and enhances the local environment through education, advocacy and legal action.

Crime & Legal
10
California Institute for Biodiversity

Create and publish educational materials, conduct professional development, promote awareness, and sponsor research on the spectacular biological diversity of the State of CA.

Education
11
Council for Watershed Health

Council for watershed health advances the health and sustainability of the region's watersheds, rivers, streams, and habitats - in both natural areas and urban neighborhoods - through science-based research, education, and inclusive…

Environment
12
Sempervirens Fund

To ensure coast redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains thrive for generations to come. since 1900, sempervirens has protected more than 36,000 acres. learn more about our mission, vision, and strategic plan through 2030 at:…

Environment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Wooden Floor for Youth Movement and the most unlike its peers is Whiskers & Tails Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyLand Conservation Organizat…Food Pantries & AssistanceCancer Support OrganizationsClassical Music EnsemblesFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Government Accountability R…Independent K-8 SchoolsAnimal Rescue and AdoptionPublic University Foundatio…Urban Agriculture & Food Ac…Pregnancy Support ServicesCommunity Arts OrganizationsChild and Family ServicesProfessional Ballet Compani…Environmental Advocacy Orga…Veteran Support Services
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 41 years old; the field is 14. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number24%5%<5yr15%3%5–10yr20%14%10–20yr17%22%20–35yr11%19%35–55yr13%36%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value24%1%<5yr15%1%5–10yr20%14%10–20yr17%22%20–35yr11%24%35–55yr13%38%55yr+

The field is 24% startups (under 5 years old) — 5% of your grantees by number, and just 1% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/60
the rest of the field
14%
26,003/186,918

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

57 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. 57 of the 61 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/57
Grantees still filing
24/57
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

MUSEUM ASSOCIATES — $353,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM ASSOCIATESPalos Verdes Art Center Beverly G Alpay Center for Arts Education — $193,340 · Arts & CulturePalos Verdes Art Center B…DANCE DOWNTOWN LA INC LA DANCE PROJECT — $83,500 · Arts & CultureDANCE DOWNTOWN LA INC LA …Pacific Symphony — $74,500 · Arts & CulturePacific SymphonyTHE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT — $70,000 · Arts & CultureTHE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUT…SPECIAL HEARTS IN THE ARTS — $70,000 · Arts & CultureSPECIAL HEARTS IN THE ART…+5 more — $77,500 · Arts & Culture+5 moreLOS ANGELES WATERKEEPER — $200,000 · EnvironmentLOS ANGELES WATERKEEPERSOUTH COAST BOTANIC GARDEN FOUNDATION INC — $190,000 · EnvironmentSOUTH COAST BOTANIC GAR…SAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL GARDEN SOCIETY AT STRYBING ARBORETUM — $125,000 · EnvironmentSAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL…CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION — $95,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION INTERNATIO…THE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE — $60,000 · EnvironmentTHE CORAL REEF ALLIANCEBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC — $50,000 · EnvironmentBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INCGRADES OF GREEN INC — $50,000 · EnvironmentGRADES OF GREEN INCMONGABAY ORG CORP — $45,000 · EnvironmentMONGABAY ORG CORP+1 more — $26,000 · EnvironmentST JOSEPH HOSPITAL OF ORANGE — $217,000 · HealthST JOSEPH HOS…Children's Hospital Los Angeles — $170,000 · HealthChildren's Ho…METAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC — $50,000 · HealthMETAVIVOR RES…MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA — $25,205 · Health+2 more — $20,000 · HealthTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $116,410 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYSHARE OUR STRENGTH — $100,000 · OtherSHARE OUR STRENGTHTHE SALVATION ARMY — $50,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMYSAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION — $30,000 · OtherIAFE UNITED INC — $30,000 · OtherGARY SINISE FOUNDATION — $100,000 · OtherGARY SINISE FOUNDATIONNATIONAL DIAPER BANK NETWORK INC — $83,340 · OtherNATIONAL DIAPER BANK NETW…GROWINGGREAT — $95,000 · OtherGROWINGGREATWhiskers & Tails Foundation — $35,000 · Other+17 more — $260,205 · Other+17 morePacific Legal Foundation — $200,000 · Crime & LegalPacific L…THE PRIORITY CENTER ENDING THE GENERATIONAL CYCLE — $145,000 · Crime & LegalTHE PRIOR…Upper Missouri Waterkeeper Inc — $168,000 · EducationSANTA ANA COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $69,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — $25,000 · EducationUC LAW SF FOUNDATION — $10,000 · Education+2 more — $12,500 · EducationCRYSTAL COVE CONSERVANCY — $255,000 · Recreation & Sports
Arts & Culture$921,840Environment$841,000Health$482,205Other$899,955Crime & Legal$345,000Education$285,000Recreation & Sports$255,000

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 budgetMUSEUM ASSOCIATES — $353,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCRYSTAL COVE CONSERVANCY — $255,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetST JOSEPH HOSPITAL OF ORANGE — $217,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES WATERKEEPER — $200,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetPacific Legal Foundation — $200,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPalos Verdes Art Center Beverly G Alpay Center for Arts Education — $193,340 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetSOUTH COAST BOTANIC GARDEN FOUNDATION INC — $190,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetChildren's Hospital Los Angeles — $170,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUpper Missouri Waterkeeper Inc — $168,000 over 3y, 8.2% of budgetTHE PRIORITY CENTER ENDING THE GENERATIONAL CYCLE — $145,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL GARDEN SOCIETY AT STRYBING ARBORETUM — $125,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $116,410 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION — $100,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH — $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION — $95,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGROWINGGREAT — $95,000 over 3y, 6.9% of budgetDANCE DOWNTOWN LA INC LA DANCE PROJECT — $83,500 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetNATIONAL DIAPER BANK NETWORK INC — $83,340 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPacific Symphony — $74,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT — $70,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSPECIAL HEARTS IN THE ARTS — $70,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetSANTA ANA COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $69,500 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetTHE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE — $60,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC — $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetGRADES OF GREEN INC — $50,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetMONGABAY ORG CORP — $45,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWhiskers & Tails Foundation — $35,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetSAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION — $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc — $27,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY INC — $27,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC — $27,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE — $26,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA — $25,205 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNATURAL HIGH — $25,000 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER — $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMinnesota Children's Museum — $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALTA GOOD DEEDS FOUNDATION — $12,500 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetNORTH BEACH CITIZENS — $10,205 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF NEW YORK CITY NURSE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP — $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetUC LAW SF FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSWEET RELIEF MUSICIANS FUND — $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetICA LA — $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL — $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA TROUT INC — $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.

California Community FoundationCA19.6× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · Orange County Community Foundation · Swig Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Resources Legacy Fund · Liberty Hill Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Annenberg Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Leonardo Dicaprio Foundation

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 Kennedy 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 · 10%2%6%14%25%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 30%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc30% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 Kennedy Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Kennedy 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 61 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

More from the funding graph