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Plinth

· Private foundation

The Robert L & Ellen D Stern Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$56k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$56k
Largest
01What you fund
0187% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Education$39kHealth$10kHuman Services$6kCivil Rights$6kInternational$6kCrime & Legal$4kFood & Nutrition$4kPublic Safety & Disaster$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$56,300
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Various$56,300
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 (FY20–21, $7k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 57% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%LONG ISLAND CARES: $500 → 7%NEW YORK CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $200 → 17%HOPELINK: $1k → 9%HOPELINK: $1k → 9%HARRISON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $1k → 9%SPRYE: $2k → 9%SPRYE INC: $1k → 9%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

VT
WA
IL
NY
MA
PA
NJ
RI
CA
VA
MD
DC
AL
TX
FL

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.

31%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$45k · 27 repeat orgs$101k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +39% since the first grant, against +16% for the ones you funded once.

27 repeat relationships — 0 still active in FY2024, 27 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
47

Total granted

$45k
$44k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+16%

Still filing today

78%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $56k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’24
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthInternationalAnimalsOther

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

  • The Trustees of Princeton University
    2× · 2020–2021 · $8k · revenue +51%
  • WC
    Wellesley College
    2× · 2020–2021 · $7k · revenue +42%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $5k · revenue +39%

Funded once

  • HC
    HARVARD COLLEGE FUND RADCLIFFE
    one grant, 2021 · $6k
  • RI
    RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD HUDSON
    one grant, 2020 · $4k

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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
3
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
4
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

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

6
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
7
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
8
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
9
President and Fellows of Harvard College

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

Education
10
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
11
The Trustees of the Smith College

Smith college educates women of promise for lives of distinction and purpose. a college of and for the world, smith college links the power of the liberal arts to excellence in research and scholarship, developing leaders for society's…

Education
12
Ie New York College

(see schedule o)

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Partnership to End Addiction and the most unlike its peers is Wgbh Educational Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyCommunity FoundationsWomen & Girls Leadership De…Environmental Conservation …Senior Support ServicesVolunteer Fire & Ems Servic…Lgbtq+ Community SupportPolicy Research and AdvocacyOrchestra and Ensemble Perf…Local History MuseumsFood Banks and PantriesHealth Access Advocacy and …Public Library OperationsFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 49 years old; the field is 18. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number19%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr20%12%10–20yr19%17%20–35yr13%27%35–55yr16%44%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value19%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr20%10%10–20yr19%8%20–35yr13%40%35–55yr16%42%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%0/42
the rest of the field
10%
11,858/120,718

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

42 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. 42 of the 77 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
41/42
Grantees still filing
33/42
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

Various — $56,300 · OtherVariousHARVARD COLLEGE FUND RADCLIFFE — $5,850 · OtherHARVARD COLLEGE FUND RADCLIFFERADCLIFFE INSTITUTE — $4,650 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD HUDSON — $3,700 · Other+52 more — $37,920 · Other+52 moreThe Trustees of Princeton University — $8,000 · EducationThe Trustees of…Wellesley College — $7,000 · EducationWellesley Colle…EMMANUEL COLLEGE — $2,500 · EducationEMMANUEL COLLEG…BRYN MAWR COLLEGE — $2,000 · EducationBRYN MAWR COLLE…+4 more — $1,000 · EducationSPRYE INC — $2,500 · Human ServicesHOPELINK — $2,400 · Human ServicesTHE HARRISON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC — $1,100 · Human ServicesLong Island Cares Inc — $500 · Human Services+1 more — $200 · Human ServicesMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $5,000 · InternationalUnited States Association for UNHCR — $500 · InternationalBROWN UNIVERSITY — $4,000 · Community ImprovementTHE HUMANE SOCIETY FOR SEATTLEKING COUNTY — $3,000 · AnimalsNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION — $250 · AnimalsPORT CHESTER-RYE-RYE BROOK EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES INC — $1,000 · HealthPARTNERSHIP TO END ADDICTION — $1,000 · HealthMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER — $100 · Health
Other$108,420Education$20,500Human Services$6,700International$5,500Community Improvement$4,000Animals$3,250Health$2,100

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 budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University — $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWellesley College — $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY — $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUMANE SOCIETY FOR SEATTLEKING COUNTY — $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEMMANUEL COLLEGE — $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSPRYE INC — $2,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetHOPELINK — $2,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBRYN MAWR COLLEGE — $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC — $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRYE VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS INC — $1,800 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY CHEST OF PORT WASHINGTON NY INC — $1,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HARRISON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC — $1,100 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS — $1,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLEGAL MOMENTUM — $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club — $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPORT CHESTER-RYE-RYE BROOK EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERSHIP TO END ADDICTION — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOLICE ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF RYE INC — $800 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGirls Embracing Mothers Inc — $750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFeeding America — $650 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGLSEN INC — $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Osborn Foundation — $600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FEMINIST PRESS INC — $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB INC DEBONIS — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLong Island Cares Inc — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHARTER SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUnited States Association for UNHCR — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $385 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVermont Public Radio — $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMANCHESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL INC — $300 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION — $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS — $215 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC — $210 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEW YORK CENTER FOR CHILDREN — $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF SAN FRANCISCO — $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTeachers College Columbia University — $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art — $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART — $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER — $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetETHICAL CULTURE FIELDSTON SCHOOL — $100 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.

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.

The Joe & Sandy Samberg Foundation IncNY13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Joe & Sandy Samberg Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Robert L & Ellen D Stern Foundation 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, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 1%
  • The Green Mountain Club Inc Debonis17% of income from government
  • New England Aquarium Corporation12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University11% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club1% of income from government
  • Wellesley College1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation1% of income from government
  • Emmanuel College0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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.

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 77 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 $64k of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph