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· Private foundation

The Laff Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$51k
Granted FY2024still arriving
13
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$25k
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 FY20172024.

Education$58kPhilanthropy$49kCrime & Legal$34kArts & Culture$30kYouth Development$21kReligion$19kHealth$7kEmployment$6kOther$0
02FY2024 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$163k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMHERST COLLEGE ANNUAL FUND$25,200
VAR CASH DONATIONS OF 500 OR LESS$8,044
NATHAN YIP FOUNDATION$8,000
COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF DENVER FOUND$2,621
LEGAL AID FOUNDATION OF COLORADO$2,600
PROJECT PAVE$1,000
JVS SOCAL$1,000
ALZHEIMER'S GREATER LOS ANGELES$750
CENTRAL CITY OPERA$500
NORTHWESTERN PRITZKER SCHOOL OF LAW$500
COLORADO JUDICIAL INSTITUTE$500
STANFORD LAW SCHOOL$500
SUSAN G KOMEN COLORADO$100
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 (FY17–21, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $550 → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $50 → 12%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 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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$202k · 19 repeat orgs$25k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +64% since the first grant, against +5% for the ones you funded once.

19 repeat relationships — 9 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
5

Total granted

$202k
$13k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+64%
+5%

Still filing today

74%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k 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
Crime & LegalArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesOther

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

  • OC
    OPERA COLORADO
    4× · 2017–2022 · $22k · revenue +30%
  • DY
    DENVER YOUTH PROGRAM
    5× · 2017–2023 · $21k · revenue +236%
  • DB
    DENVER BAR FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2023 · $10k · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • VC
    VARIOUS CASH DONATIONS OF 500
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
  • CL
    CANCER LEAGUE OF COLORADO INC
    one grant, 2020 · $1k · revenue +5%
  • SL
    STANDFORD LAW SCHOOL
    one grant, 2022 · $1k

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
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
2
Colorado Bar Association

To advance the science of jurisprudence, secure the more efficient administration of justice, encourage the adoption of proper legislation, advocate thorough and continuing legal education, uphold the honor and integrity of the bar,…

3
Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation

Funding of legal services, pro-bono, and legal education projects.

Crime & Legal
4
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

5
Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence

The mission of the center for legal inclusiveness (cli) is to advance diversity in the legal profession by actively educating and supporting private and public sector legal organizations in their individual campaigns to create cultures of…

Civil Rights
6
Denver Bar Association

To promote justice, its administration, and its availability to all sectors of society; to support and assist the membership in the delivery of legal services; to uphold the honor and dignity of the bar, and foster respect for the legal…

7
Colorado Center On Law and Policy

Colorado center on law and policy is an antipoverty organization advancing the rights of every coloradan.

Crime & Legal
8
Continuing Legal Education in Colorado Inc

To provide an organized, sustained program of continuing education for the colorado legal profession.

Education
9
Colorado Fiscal Institute

To provide timely, credible and accessible analyses of fiscal and economic issues facing colorado to inform public policy debates and promote economic prosperity

Community Improvement
10
Colorado Press Association

Promote the general interest of daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers and online publications, improve editorials and business methods of daily and weekly newspapers, and advance those newspapers' usefulness and influence in the public…

11
Colorado Physician Health Program Corporation

The mission of the Colorado Physician Health Program Corporation is to promote the health and well-being of physicians and physician assistants through evaluation, treatment referral, support education and research.

Health
12
Colorado Nonprofit Association

Colorado nonprofit association strengthens colorado's nonprofits through education, connection and advocacy.

Community Improvement

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver Bar Foundation and the most unlike its peers is The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior 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

19 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. 19 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
17/19
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

AMHERST COLLEGE ANNUAL FUND — $40,250 · OtherAMHERST COLLEGE ANNUAL FUNDVARIOUS CASH DONATIONS UNDER 500 — $31,036 · OtherVARIOUS CASH DONATIONS UNDER 500TEMPLE SINAI — $18,528 · OtherTEMPLE SINAIVARIOUS CASH DONATIONS OF 500 — $9,670 · OtherVARIOUS CASH DONATIONS OF 500VAR CASH DONATIONS OF 500 OR LESS — $8,044 · OtherVAR CASH DONATIONS OF 500 OR LESS+11 more — $16,171 · Other+11 moreDENVER BAR FOUNDATION — $9,500 · Crime & LegalDENVER BAR FOUND…PROJECT PAVE INC — $8,500 · Crime & LegalPROJECT PAVE INCLegal Aid Foundation of Colorado — $8,100 · Crime & LegalLegal Aid Founda…COLORADO BAR FOUNDATION — $4,068 · Crime & LegalCOLORADO BAR FOU…COLORADO JUDICIAL INSTITUTE — $3,500 · Crime & LegalCOLORADO JUDICIA…OPERA COLORADO — $21,650 · Arts & CultureOPERA COLORAD…CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION — $4,000 · Arts & CultureCENTRAL CITY …PUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC — $2,000 · Arts & CulturePUBLIC BROADC…DENVER YOUTH PROGRAM — $20,600 · Youth DevelopmentDENVER YOU…Nathan Yip Foundation — $12,787 · PhilanthropyJVS SOCAL — $6,000 · EmploymentNorthwestern University — $4,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$123,699Crime & Legal$33,668Arts & Culture$27,650Youth Development$20,600Philanthropy$12,787Employment$6,000Recreation & Sports$4,000

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 budgetOPERA COLORADO — $21,650 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetDENVER YOUTH PROGRAM — $20,600 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetNathan Yip Foundation — $12,787 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetDENVER BAR FOUNDATION — $9,500 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetPROJECT PAVE INC — $8,500 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetLegal Aid Foundation of Colorado — $8,100 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetJVS SOCAL — $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO BAR FOUNDATION — $4,068 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION — $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University — $4,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO JUDICIAL INSTITUTE — $3,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budget365 HEALTH INC — $2,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC — $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF COLORADO INC — $1,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY — $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCANCER LEAGUE OF COLORADO INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMERS GREATER LOS ANGELES — $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETRO CARING — $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.

  • Who funds OPERA COLORADO
  • Who funds DENVER YOUTH PROGRAM
  • Who funds Nathan Yip Foundation
  • Who funds DENVER BAR FOUNDATION
  • Who funds PROJECT PAVE INC
  • Who funds Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado
  • Who funds JVS SOCAL
  • Who funds COLORADO BAR FOUNDATION
  • Who funds CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds Northwestern University
  • Who funds COLORADO JUDICIAL INSTITUTE
  • Who funds 365 HEALTH INC
  • Who funds PUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC
  • Who funds JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF COLORADO INC
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY
  • Who funds CANCER LEAGUE OF COLORADO INC
  • Who funds CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds ALZHEIMERS GREATER LOS ANGELES
  • Who funds METRO CARING

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 FoundationCO26.7× affinity11 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 · The Jess & Rose Kortz & Pearle Rae Levey Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · Mile High United Way Inc · The Colorado Health Foundation · Bardsley Foundation · Boettcher Foundation · The Anschutz Foundation · El Pomar Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Laff 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 Laff Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Laff 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 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

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