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The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust

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.

$326k
Granted FY2021
35
Grants FY2021
11
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust named its own grantees at scale: 22 organizations, $326k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

25
’20
22
’21
0
’22
0
’23
0
’24
0
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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 2025.

Philanthropy$4.1MEducation$248kHuman Services$122kArts & Culture$55kHealth$29kReligion$19kHousing & Shelter$18kInternational$13kOther$0
02FY2021 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k30 grants · $99k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $47k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $180k
$3,500
Median grant
11
States reached
$6.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEARN CHARTER SCHOOL NETWORK$125,000
SHORE COMMUNITY SERVICES$55,100
MARCO ISLAND ACADEMY$20,000
NC MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION$16,666
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE$10,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF CHICAGO$7,500
MUSIC THEATRE WORKS$7,500
NAVY SEAL FOUNDATION$5,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$5,000
THE SALVATION ARMY$5,000
COOK CO HEALTH FOUNDATION$5,000
GUADALUPE CENTER$5,000
BONITA SPRINGS YMCA$5,000
CATHEDRAL OF THE MADELINE$5,000
PROJECT ZAWADI$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 (FY20–21, $77k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CHARITY NAVIGATOR: $250 → 7%GUADALUPE CENTER: $5k → 10%GUADALUPE CENTER: $3k → 10%SHORE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $55k → 14%SHORE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $14k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
PA
NJ
CA
UT
VA
DE
NC
DC
FL
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$489k · 29 repeat orgs$24k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against -12% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 29 still active in FY2021, 0 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
9

Total granted

$489k
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
-12%

Still filing today

59%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterHealthReligionOther
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

  • LE
    Lawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School
    2× · 2020–2021 · $164k · revenue +35%
  • MI
    MARCO ISLAND ACADEMY A PUBLIC CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL
    2× · 2020–2021 · $41k · revenue +7%
  • NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION
    2× · 2020–2021 · $33k · revenue +159%

Funded once

  • HO
    HANDS ON PERUgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $3k · revenue +269%
  • MY
    Midwest Young Artists
    one grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue +6%
  • YE
    YWCA EvanstonNorth Shore
    one grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue -14%
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
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
2
The University of Chicago Charter School Corporation

To Prepare Students for Success in Four-Year Colleges.

Education
3
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
4
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
5
Lake Forest College

Provide post-secondary education leading to a baccalaureate degree. Program service expenditures are made in conjunction with the operation of a liberal arts college spread over 107 acres with approximately 63 educational and support…

Education
6
The Northern Michigan University Foundation

The nmu foundation will establish and foster relationships to generate resources that benefit the strategic goals of northern michigan university.

Education
7
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
8
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
9
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
10
Deans for Impact

See Schedule ODeans for Impact supports educator-preparation programs to bring the science of learning into teaching practice; partners with policymakers to ensure pathways into teaching are accessible, practice-based, and…

Education
11
The Chicago School - California Inc

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

—
12
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Connections for the Homeless Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hands On Peru. 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

27 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 27 of the 45 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)
27/27
Grantees still filing
19/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $4,052,650 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC+1 more: $1,000 · PhilanthropyLawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School: $164,267 · EducationPROJECT ZAWADI INC: $10,000 · Education+3 more: $4,250 · EducationMARCO ISLAND ACADEMY A PUBLIC CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: $40,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $25,000 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF CHICAGO: $15,000 · OtherCOOK CO HEALTH FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherCATHEDRAL OF THE MADELINE: $10,000 · OtherBONITA SPRINGS YMCA: $10,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY: $10,000 · OtherMERCY HOME FOR BOYS & GIRLS: $8,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $7,000 · Other+17 more: $48,250 · OtherSHORE COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $69,100 · Human ServicesGuadalupe Center Inc: $7,500 · Human Services+1 more: $250 · Human ServicesNORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION: $33,332 · Arts & CultureMusic Theatre Works Inc: $10,500 · Arts & CultureNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureMidwest Young Artists: $2,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureCAFE OF LIFE INC: $7,000 · Housing & ShelterCONNECTIONS FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $4,000 · Housing & ShelterCANCER FOR COLLEGE: $5,000 · HealthSOLIDARITY BRIDGE INC: $5,000 · Health
Philanthropy$4,053,650Education$178,517Other$183,750Human Services$76,850Arts & Culture$51,832Housing & Shelter$11,000Health$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $4,052,650 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School: $164,267 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSHORE COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $69,100 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetMARCO ISLAND ACADEMY A PUBLIC CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: $40,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION: $33,332 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMusic Theatre Works Inc: $10,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetPROJECT ZAWADI INC: $10,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetGuadalupe Center Inc: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAFE OF LIFE INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWARREN BILLY CHERRY SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $5,500 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetThe Hap Foundation Inc (F/K/A Journeycare Foundation): $5,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCANCER FOR COLLEGE: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOLIDARITY BRIDGE INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetYOUTH JOB CENTER INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTIONS FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHANDS ON PERU: $3,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGANNON UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMidwest Young Artists: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYWCA EvanstonNorth Shore: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSRCC SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCONTEMPORARY ART FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Run: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCharity Navigator: $250 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.

The Chicago Community…The Blackbaud Giving …Dr Scholl FoundationCircle of Service Fou…AbbVie FoundationNational Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Gs Donor Advised Phil…American Endowment Fo…Raymond James Charita…The Bank of America C…
The Chicago Community TrustIL19.4× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Dr Scholl Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

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 Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • University of Delaware: 30% of income from government
  • Guadalupe Center Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get 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 · 0–30%
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 Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust?

Find your warmest path to The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust 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 45 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 2021, released 2021. 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