Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

The Lehrman Institute

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.

$110k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What you fund
0198% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Arts & Culture$4.7MEducation$591kPublic Benefit$454kReligion$196kInternational$150kHealth$30kSocial Science$25kFood & Nutrition$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$100,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$143k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE$100,000
THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY$10,000
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 (FY18–18, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 20%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%HEIGHTS AND HILLS INC: $1k → 20%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
MI
NY
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
DC

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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$5.9M · 13 repeat orgs$292k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +44% since the first grant, against +4% for the ones you funded once.

13 repeat relationships — 1 still active in FY2024, 12 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
18

Total granted

$5.9M
$282k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+4%

Still filing today

69%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
Arts & CultureEducationPublic BenefitYouth DevelopmentSocial ScienceReligionOther

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

  • BS
    BRUNSWICK SCHOOL INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $350k · revenue +69%
  • EA
    ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC
    3× · 2017–2023 · $304k · revenue +114%
  • GC
    GETTYSBURG COLLEGE
    4× · 2017–2020 · $160k · revenue +18%

Funded once

  • TA
    THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue -71%
  • CE
    CNU EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $34k
  • EH
    ELK HILL FARM INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +35%

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
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

2
Hampden-Sydney College

Since 1775, the mission of Hampden-Sydney College has been to form good men and good citizens in an atmosphere of sound learning.

Education
3
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
4
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
5
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
6
Mitchell College

Mitchell college educates students through a highly individualized educational approach that brings forward each student's potential, reveals their strengths, and fosters personal growth.

Education
7
Saint Anselm College

Saint anselm is a catholic, benedictine college providing all of its students a distinctive liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career preparation. it does so in a learning community that encourages…

Education
8
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
9
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
10
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
11
Randolph College Inc

See detailed description of organization's primary mission provided on schedule o

Education
12
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Blanton-Peale Institute. 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 56 years old; the field is 18. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number19%0%<5yr14%5%5–10yr20%10%10–20yr19%14%20–35yr13%19%35–55yr16%52%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value19%0%<5yr14%1%5–10yr20%3%10–20yr19%9%20–35yr13%25%35–55yr16%63%55yr+

The field is 19% 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 10% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/22
the rest of the field
10%
11,858/120,738

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

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 33 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
14/19
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE — $4,100,000 · OtherGILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE+15 more — $311,500 · Other+15 moreNew York Historical Society — $471,667 · Arts & CultureNew York H…THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM — $50,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERIC…FOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL REVIEW — $25,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more — $22,000 · Arts & CultureBRUNSWICK SCHOOL INC — $350,000 · EducationBRUNSWICK …GETTYSBURG COLLEGE — $159,913 · EducationGETTYSBURG…HILLSDALE COLLEGE — $25,000 · Education+2 more — $21,000 · EducationETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC — $304,000 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $150,000 · Public BenefitWYA Foundation Inc dba World Youth Alliance — $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentBLANTON-PEALE INSTITUTE — $30,000 · ReligionVIRGINIA COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION — $25,000 · Social ScienceHEIGHTS & HILLS INC — $1,000 · Human Services
Other$4,411,500Arts & Culture$568,667Education$555,913Public Benefit$454,000Youth Development$150,000Religion$30,000Social Science$25,000Human Services$1,000

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 budgetNew York Historical Society — $471,667 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetBRUNSWICK SCHOOL INC — $350,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC — $304,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetGETTYSBURG COLLEGE — $159,913 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $150,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWYA Foundation Inc dba World Youth Alliance — $150,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetTHE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM — $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBLANTON-PEALE INSTITUTE — $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetELK HILL FARM INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetVIRGINIA COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION — $25,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL REVIEW — $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE — $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CHURCHILL SOCIETY — $11,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetTHE HILL SCHOOL — $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND CENTRAL ATELIER INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPRO-LIFE PARTNERS FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetAmerican Spectator Foundation Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGETTYSBURG FOUNDATION — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEIGHTS & HILLS INC — $1,000 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.

  • Who funds New York Historical Society
  • Who funds BRUNSWICK SCHOOL INC
  • Who funds ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC
  • Who funds GETTYSBURG COLLEGE
  • Who funds THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
  • Who funds WYA Foundation Inc dba World Youth Alliance
  • Who funds THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM
  • Who funds BLANTON-PEALE INSTITUTE
  • Who funds ELK HILL FARM INC
  • Who funds VIRGINIA COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL REVIEW
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL CHURCHILL SOCIETY
  • Who funds THE HILL SCHOOL
  • Who funds GRAND CENTRAL ATELIER INC
  • Who funds PRO-LIFE PARTNERS FOUNDATION
  • Who funds American Spectator Foundation Inc
  • Who funds GETTYSBURG FOUNDATION
  • Who funds HEIGHTS & HILLS INC

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.

Donors Trust IncVA13.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donors Trust Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Lehrman Institute 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%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get 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, 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 Lehrman Institute?

    Find your warmest path to The Lehrman Institute 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 33 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.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2024, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph