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The Ralph S Hoffman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ralph S Hoffman 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.

$154k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Youth Development$338kEmployment$122kArts & Culture$114kCommunity Improvement$58kCivil Rights$52kEducation$50kCrime & Legal$50kHousing & Shelter$33kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $142k
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$2.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THREAD$45,000
RAVINIA REACH TEACH PLAY$25,000
CAREERS THROUGH CULINARY ARTS (C-CAP)$21,400
YELLOWHAMMER FUND$16,000
BROWNPRENEURS$15,000
CENTRAL AMERICAN LEGAL ASSISTANCE$10,000
INSIDE CIRCLE$10,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
CHASHAMA INC$4,000
BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST$1,834
Individual grant recipient$500
LIFE NEEDS COOP INC$203
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 (FY17–24, $53k) land where the poverty rate runs at 19%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 81% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%CENTRAL AMERICAN LEGAL ASSISTANCE: $10k → 20%EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $25k → 21%LIFE NEEDS COOP INC: $203 → 12%INSIDE CIRCLE: $10k → 10%THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $8k → 21%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.

Which US states its grants reach

MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
CA
MO
MD
AL
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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$645k · 8 repeat orgs$207k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
13

Total granted

$645k
$159k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+92%
+103%

Still filing today

63%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $48k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesCrime & LegalEducationCivil RightsArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TI
    THREAD INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $245k · revenue +112%
  • YG
    Youth Guidance
    3× · 2020–2023 · $88k · revenue +54%
  • DV
    DEFY VENTURES INC
    2× · 2019–2021 · $50k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • YN
    YOUNG NEW YORKERS INC
    one grant, 2019 · $30k · revenue -75%
  • RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +52%
  • THE LADIES OF HOPE MINISTRIES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $20k · revenue +103%
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
Common Future

Common future is a network of pioneering leaders across the u.s. and canada who work deeply within their communities to create alternative approaches to business, philanthropy, and investing. we envision an economy that has transitioned…

Community Improvement
2
Youth Represent Inc

Youth represent uses legal services, policy advocacy, peer education, and other tools to build power and opportunity for black, latine, and other youth of color who the criminal legal system and other systems of oppression harm the most.…

Crime & Legal
3
Released

Released offers navigation and empowerment to the incarcerated, the newly released members of our society, and to their families.

Crime & Legal
4
Digital Ready Inc

Digital Ready activates the creative potential of young adults, especially low-income residents, to build tangible pathways to economic opportunities in Boston's innovation economy.

Education
5
Youth Policy Institute Inc

Youth policy institute (ypi) transforms los angeles neighborhoods, reducing poverty by offering cradle to college & career services.

—
6
New York State Youth Leadership Council Inc

New York State Youth Leadership Council, Inc. (NYSYLC or the Organization) works to empower immigrant youth through leadership development, grassroots organizing, educational advancement, and self-expression. NYSYLCs goal is to give…

Human Services
7
The Liberty Initiative Inc

Work to end mass incarceration led by the voices of the families and individuals of those directly impacted. we envision a community that centers safety, prevention of harm, and alternatives to incarceration.

Crime & Legal
8
Hack the Hood Inc

Hack the Hood provides youth and communities of color with tech skill-building programs and career navigation support that are grounded in justice and ensure economic mobility.

Arts & Culture
9
Pathways Kitchen

Pathways kitchen helps justice-impacted youth thrive over survive by providing training, work opportunities and individualized support to ensure they can chart their own path forward

Crime & Legal
10
Code to Work Inc

An employer-led initiative aimed at transforming the hiring process. we use a skills-based approach to identify, train and hire talent. the traditional credentials-based focus must evolve to give all qualified job seekers a chance to prove…

—
11
Coop Careers Inc

Building a movement of diverse, upwardly mobile college grads overcoming underemployment through digital skills and peer connections.

Education
12
Federal Defenders of New York Inc

The organization provides representation and related defense services to indigent persons charged with federal crimes.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Young New Yorkers Inc; the most unlike its peers is We Are Family Foundation. 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

17 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. 17 of the 29 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RAVINIA REACH TEACH PLAY: $90,300 · OtherRAVINIA REACH TEACH PLAYCAREERS THROUGH CULINARY ARTS (C-CAP): $61,500 · OtherCAREERS THROUGH CULINARY ARTS (C-CAP)BROWNPRENEURS: $38,000 · OtherBROWNPRENEURSCenter of NU Leadership: $20,000 · OtherCenter of NU LeadershipThe Empowerment Plan: $15,000 · OtherThe Knowledge House Fellowship Inc: $20,000 · OtherThe Knowledge House Fellowship IncYellowhammer Fund: $16,000 · Other+10 more: $41,674 · Other+10 moreTHREAD INC: $245,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHREAD INCYouth Guidance: $87,500 · EducationYouth GuidanceDEFY VENTURES INC: $50,000 · EducationDEFY VENTURES INCSecond Chance Studios: $40,000 · Crime & LegalSecond Ch…YOUNG NEW YORKERS INC: $30,000 · Crime & LegalYOUNG NEW…THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $32,500 · Human ServicesINSIDE-OUTSIDE CIRCLE FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Human ServicesCENTRAL AMERICAN LEGAL ASSISTANCE: $10,000 · Human Services+1 more: $203 · Human ServicesRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Arts & CultureCHASHAMA INC: $4,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LADIES OF HOPE MINISTRIES INC: $20,000 · Community Improvement
Other$302,474Youth Development$245,000Education$137,500Crime & Legal$70,000Human Services$52,703Arts & Culture$24,000Community Improvement$20,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHREAD INC: $245,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetYouth Guidance: $87,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDEFY VENTURES INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetSecond Chance Studios: $40,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $32,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Knowledge House Fellowship Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetYellowhammer Fund: $16,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetINSIDE-OUTSIDE CIRCLE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCENTRAL AMERICAN LEGAL ASSISTANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCHASHAMA INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBERKSHIRE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC: $1,834 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWE ARE FAMILY FOUNDATION: $590 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLife Needs Coop Inc: $203 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Brooklyn Community Fo…Jewish Communal FundNational Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Brooklyn Community FoundationNY13.4× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Brooklyn Community Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · 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 Ralph S Hoffman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ralph S Hoffman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 38%
  • Life Needs Coop Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Thread Inc: 12% of 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 · 0–75%
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 Ralph S Hoffman Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Ralph S Hoffman 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 29 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

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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