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The Robert H Brethen Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert H Brethen Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$707k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$496k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$884kArts & Culture$670kHuman Services$306kAnimals$189kReligion$102kEmployment$100kRecreation & Sports$77kEducation$61kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $1k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $110k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+1 grant · $496k
$30,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MIAMI VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$495,632
FORT SANDERS FOUNDATION$100,000
PELOTONIA$40,000
MONTGOMERY COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION$30,000
THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING$25,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY COUNCIL$1,000
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 (FY17–23, $312k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 89% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND: $30k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND: $4k → 9%SMOKEY MOUNTAIN SERVICE DOGS: $2k → 10%DAYBREAK: $100k → 14%DAYBREAK: $33k → 14%DAYBREAK: $33k → 14%DAYBREAK: $25k → 14%DAYBREAK: $25k → 14%DAYBREAK: $25k → 14%DAYBREAK: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
IN
OH
CA
VA
TN
DC
TX
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.9M · 26 repeat orgs$366k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +83% since the first grant, against +44% for those funded once.

26 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
28

Total granted

$2.9M
$335k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+83%
+44%

Still filing today

69%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesAnimalsFood & NutritionEducationOther
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

  • MV
    MIAMI VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2025 · $705k · revenue +108%
  • DH
    DAYTON HISTORY
    6× · 2017–2023 · $618k · revenue +14%
  • CH
    Covenant Health Foundation
    3× · 2023–2025 · $300k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • FC
    FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • TS
    THE SEEDLING FOUNDATION OF DAYTON OHIO
    one grant, 2017 · $51k · revenue -53%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
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
Lake Humane Society

Mission: to protect animals and build connections between pets and people through advocacy and education. vision: leading and guiding a humane lake county core values: compassion for pets and people. engagement through innovative programs,…

Animals
2
Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce

The chamber is a member association designed to be the leading advocate for the business community of the greater dayton region. its mission is to work shoulder to shoulder with businesses to help them succeed.

—
3
The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Fdn Group

Susan g. komen 's mission is to save lives by meeting the most critical needs in our communities & investing in breakthrough research to prevent & cure breast cancer.

—
4
Dayton Children's Hospital

The relentless pursuit of optimal health for every child within our reach.

Health
5
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Tampa Bay Florida Inc

Spca tampa bay is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates pinellas county's only nonprofit for-all animal shelter assisting all animals in need, regardless of species or circumstance, at its 10-acre campus in largo. (continued on…

Animals
6
The Christ Hospital

Improve the health of our community and create patient value by providing exceptional outcomes and the finest experiences, all in an affordable way.

Health
7
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
8
The Good Samaritan Hospital of Cincinnati Ohio

The organization's mission is to improve the health status of the community it serves.

Health
9
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
10
University of Dayton

The university of dayton is a top-tier independent, catholic research educational institution founded in 1850. the primary exempt purpose is providing post secondary education through undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and continuing…

Education
11
Freestore Foodbank Inc

Improve lives by eliminating hunger in partnership with our community.

Food & Nutrition
12
World Animal Protection

World animal protection is a global organization working to end factory farming and wildlife exploitation. we expose cruel systems, promote animal-friendly alternatives, and influence policy change. for over 75 years, we've been rewriting…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Dayton Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Brethen 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

37 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. 37 of the 59 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
36/37
Grantees still filing
30/37
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MIAMI VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $704,632 · HealthMIAMI VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONCovenant Health Foundation: $300,000 · HealthCovenant Health FoundationOHIO'S HOSPICE FOUNDATION: $250,654 · HealthOHIO'S HOSPICE FOUNDATION+1 more: $5,000 · HealthDAYTON HISTORY: $618,160 · Arts & CultureDAYTON HISTORYMONTGOMERY COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT MEMORIAL INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DAYTON ART INSTITUTE: $26,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $16,000 · Arts & CultureIndividual grant recipient: $105,000 · OtherIndividual grant re…FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH: $100,000 · OtherFIRST CHRISTIAN CHU…ANGEL FACES: $40,000 · OtherANGEL FACESIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherGOODWILL EASTERSEALS MV: $25,000 · OtherTHE BRETHEN FOUNDATION: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherTHE DAYTON FOUNDATION: $25,000 · OtherTHRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING: $25,000 · Other+31 more: $163,520 · Other+31 moreDAYBREAK INC: $266,000 · Human ServicesDAYBREAK I…GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $34,000 · Human ServicesGUIDING EY…+2 more: $12,000 · Human ServicesPELOTONIA: $162,000 · EducationTHE SEEDLING FOUNDATION OF DAYTON OHIO: $50,500 · EducationHUMANE SOCIETY OF GREATER DAYTON: $119,750 · AnimalsThe Animal Protectorates: $44,500 · AnimalsSociety for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals: $12,500 · Animals+1 more: $100 · AnimalsGOODWILL EASTER SEALS MIAMI VALLEY: $75,000 · Employment
Health$1,260,286Arts & Culture$690,160Other$553,520Human Services$312,000Education$212,500Animals$176,850Employment$75,000

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 budgetMIAMI VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $704,632 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetDAYTON HISTORY: $618,160 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetCovenant Health Foundation: $300,000 over 3y, 6.7% of budgetDAYBREAK INC: $266,000 over 7y, 1.6% of budgetOHIO'S HOSPICE FOUNDATION: $250,654 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetPELOTONIA: $162,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF GREATER DAYTON: $119,750 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetGOODWILL EASTER SEALS MIAMI VALLEY: $75,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SEEDLING FOUNDATION OF DAYTON OHIO: $50,500 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetThe Animal Protectorates: $44,500 over 4y, 17% of budgetANGEL FACES: $40,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetGUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $34,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DAYTON ART INSTITUTE: $26,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE DAYTON FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRETHEN FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetTHRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVICTORIA THEATRE ASSOCIATION: $16,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FOODBANK INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSociety for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals: $12,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetVOLUNTEER MINISTRY CENTER: $12,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetST MARY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSE OF BREAD: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSmoky Mountain Service Dogs: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBack 2 Back Ministries Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MUSE MACHINE INC: $1,320 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHURCH WORLD SERVICE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLA SOUPE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDOWNTOWN DAYTON PARTNERSHIP CORP: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $100 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.

Dayton Foundation Plu…The Dayton FoundationDayton Foundation Dep…The Berry Family Foun…Synchrony FoundationIddings Benevolent Tr…Mathile Family Founda…The Jesse and Caryl P…Virginia W Kettering …Levin Family Foundati…The United Way of the…Virginia Conlogue Fou…
Dayton Foundation Plus IncOH30.1× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Dayton Foundation Plus Inc · The Dayton Foundation · Dayton Foundation Depository · The Berry Family Foundation · Synchrony Foundation · Iddings Benevolent Trust Xxxxx5009 · Mathile Family Foundation · The Jesse and Caryl Philips Foundation · Virginia W Kettering Foundation Xxxxx3003 · Levin Family Foundation · The United Way of the Greater Dayton Area · Virginia Conlogue 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 Robert H Brethen Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert H Brethen Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%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
    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 Robert H Brethen Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Robert H Brethen 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 59 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Robert H Brethen’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