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The Plum Spring Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Plum Spring 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.

$255k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Youth Development$494kInternational$348kHousing & Shelter$265kCivil Rights$140kFood & Nutrition$45kArts & Culture$30kEducation$10kPublic Safety & Disaster$5k
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $175k
$40,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STEP UP WOMENS NETWORK$75,000
THE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD$50,000
UNICEF$50,000
ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE$40,000
APEX FOR YOUTH$25,000
HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION$10,000
FRIENDS OF THE PARADISE THEATRE$5,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $235k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FOOD ON FOOT: $10k → 14%FOOD ON FOOT: $10k → 14%THE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD: $50k → 14%THE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD: $50k → 14%THE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD: $50k → 14%THE CENTER AT BLESSED SACRAMENT: $40k → 14%THE CENTER AT BLESSED SACRAMENT: $25k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 9 repeat orgs$75k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
6

Total granted

$1.3M
$65k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+108%

Still filing today

78%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureInternationalHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyHousing & ShelterOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). 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

  • SU
    STEP UP WOMEN'S NETWORK
    5× · 2020–2024 · $284k · revenue +28%
  • UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
    5× · 2020–2024 · $283k · revenue +46%
  • TC
    THE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD
    5× · 2020–2024 · $215k · revenue +101%

Funded once

  • LA
    LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue -1%
  • T
    TEACHAAPIgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +216%
  • WA
    WE ARE RISE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · 26% of their budget
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Asian American Advocacy Alliance
Community Improvement
2
Gold House Foundation Inc

Gold house is the leading cultural ecosystem that unites, invests in, and champions asian pacific leaders to power tomorrow for all. as a non-profit collective of diverse leaders, we forge meaningful relationships and build programs to…

Human Services
3
Api Rise

To make freedom possible for the community of current and formerly incarcerated individuals, youth and families in high-risk situations, allies, supporters, and their communities.

Crime & Legal
4
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence

The organization's mission is to promote the collective voice of a diverse coalition of organizations and individuals working to eliminate all forms of domestic violence. as an advocate for sociate change, we advance our mission by…

Civil Rights
5
Women's Refugee Commission Inc

To improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. the women's refugee commission envisions a world in which refugees are safe, healthy and reliant and seeks to drive change in…

Human Services
6
Together Women Rise

Together women rise champions gender equality because womens rights are human rights. when women and girls are treated equally, the world is healthier, safer, more peaceful, inclusive, and economically just for everyone.

Philanthropy
7
Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking

To end modern slavery through education, advocacy, and empowering survivors of human trafficking.

Crime & Legal
8
Bigs & Littles Nyc Mentoring Inc

Bigs & littles nyc mentoring is a nonprofit community-based organization which transforms the lives of vulnerable nyc children and strengthens families through professionally guided one-to-one mentoring, life skills programming, and…

—
9
Tomorrow's Youth Organization

Tomorrow's youth organization empowers refugees and marginalized communities across the middle east - to build resilience, healing, and opportunity admist conflict. through locally-led and globally-informed programs in education,…

Education
10
Avenues for Justice Inc

Avenues for justice operates a progressive diversion program for nyc court-involved and at-risk youth, ages 13 to 24, through adapted hybrid online and onsite programming, and 24/7 mentorship with community-based court advocates, the…

Crime & Legal
11
Man Up and Go

Man up mobilizes, supports, and trains men to model healthy masculinity in their homes, churches, and communities so that fatherlessness decreases in the world.(continued on schedule o)through mentoring, fatherhood coaching, discipleship,…

Human Services
12
Good Neighbors Usa

Good neighbors usa is an international humanitarian and development organization committed to build a global community where people live together in health, harmony, and dignity.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Apex for Youth Inc; the most unlike its peers is Formidable Joy. 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

14 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 14 of the 16 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
8/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

STEP UP WOMEN'S NETWORK: $284,311 · Arts & CultureSTEP UP WOMEN'S NETWORKFRIENDS OF THE PARADISE THEATER: $20,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THE PARADISE T…UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $282,500 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR U…+1 more: $5,170 · InternationalTHE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD: $215,000 · Human ServicesTHE CENTER IN HOLLY…FOOD ON FOOT: $20,000 · Human ServicesFOOD ON FOOTAPEX FOR YOUTH INC: $200,000 · Community ImprovementAPEX FOR YOUTH I…ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE: $130,000 · OtherASIAN AMERICANS …LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $25,000 · OtherLOS ANGELES REGI…THE REEL PROJECT: $10,000 · OtherHUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · OtherTEACHAAPI: $10,000 · OtherWE ARE RISE INC: $10,000 · Other+1 more: $5,000 · OtherFORMIDABLE JOY: $60,000 · PhilanthropyAMIKAS: $50,000 · Housing & Shelter
Arts & Culture$304,311International$287,670Human Services$235,000Community Improvement$200,000Other$200,000Philanthropy$60,000Housing & Shelter$50,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSTEP UP WOMEN'S NETWORK: $284,311 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $282,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD: $215,000 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetAPEX FOR YOUTH INC: $200,000 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetFORMIDABLE JOY: $60,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetAMIKAS: $50,000 over 2y, 35% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD ON FOOT: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PARADISE THEATER: $20,000 over 2y, 6.8% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEACHAAPI: $10,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetWE ARE RISE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetCHILDREN OF VIETNAM: $5,170 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAAPI STAND TOGETHER SENIORS FIGHT BACK: $5,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

California Community …Paypal Charitable Giv…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
California Community FoundationCA12.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Plum Spring Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Plum Spring Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's 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
    4report 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, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    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 a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than 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 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Plum Spring Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Plum Spring 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 16 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its 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.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Plum Spring’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home