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· Private foundation

The Schaefer 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.

$28k
Granted FY2024still arriving
59
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What you fund
0192% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Animals$43kEducation$39kReligion$22kEnvironment$13kHuman Services$11kHealth$10kInternational$9kArts & Culture$8kOther$0
02FY2024 · 59 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$250
Median grant
11
States reached
$453k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DOG'S INC$3,000
MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT CHURCH$1,500
BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY$1,200
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$1,000
DAUGHTERS OF WISDOM$1,000
BOYERTOWN COMMUNITY LIBRARY$1,000
FRIENDS OF THE DELAWARE CANAL$1,000
ASPEN RHOADS RESEARCH FOUNDATION$1,000
TREVOR PROJECT$1,000
FRIENDS OF WASHINGTON CROSSING PARK$1,000
QUEEN OF PEACE$1,000
ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE$1,000
UNICEF$1,000
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC SCHOOL$1,000
SHRINER'S HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN$1,000
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 (FY17–24, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%AARP FOUNDATION: $25 → 18%SOUTH EASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $3k → 10%AARP FOUNDATION: $25 → 18%SOUTH EASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $3k → 10%SOUTH EASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $3k → 10%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $100 → 14%DOG'S INC: $3k → 10%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $100 → 14%SOUTH EASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $2k → 10%SOUTH EASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $500 → 10%SOUTH EASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $500 → 10%SOUTH EASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $500 → 10%RED CROSS: $500 → 14%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

ME
IL
WI
NY
IN
PA
NJ
CA
UT
NE
VA
MD
AR
NC
DC
HI
AL
GA
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$143k · 73 repeat orgs$30k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +44% since the first grant, against +22% for the ones you funded once.

73 repeat relationships — 44 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

73
32

Total granted

$143k
$24k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+22%

Still filing today

52%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsEnvironmentArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEducationOther

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

  • SG
    Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc
    8× · 2017–2024 · $16k · revenue +146%
  • BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $9k · revenue +31%
  • WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $3k · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • WL
    WASHINGTON & LEE ANNUAL FUND
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
  • UV
    UCD VET SCHOOL
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
  • QO
    QUEEN OF PEACE CATHOLIC SCHOOL
    one grant, 2021 · $3k

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
The Wildlife Society

The wildlife society's mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.

Animals
2
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
3
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
4
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
5
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals
6
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
7
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The western pennsylvania conservancy protects and restores exceptional places to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas for the benefit of present and future generations. the conservancy…

Environment
8
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

9
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
10
American Water Works Association

To promote public health, safety, and welfare through the improvement of the quality and quantity of drinking water and the development and furtherance of understanding of the problems relating thereto.

Public Benefit
11
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
12
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wildlands Conservancy Inc and the most unlike its peers is University of Miami. 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 backsteadyPolicy Research and AdvocacyEnvironmental Conservation …Public Library OperationsAffordable Housing Construc…Volunteer Fire & Ems Servic…Cancer Support ServicesDomestic Violence ServicesFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Community FoundationsCommunity Arts CentersAnimal Rescue and Shelter
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 45 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%0%<5yr14%3%5–10yr19%11%10–20yr16%13%20–35yr13%31%35–55yr16%42%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%0%<5yr14%2%5–10yr19%7%10–20yr16%6%20–35yr13%40%35–55yr16%46%55yr+

The field is 22% 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 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/69
the rest of the field
13%
240,396/1,819,496

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

65 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. 65 of the 120 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
63/65
Grantees still filing
45/65
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

DAUGHTERS OF WISDOM — $12,000 · OtherDAUGHTERS OF WISDOMHOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC SCHOOL — $11,500 · OtherHOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC SCHOOLANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE — $6,000 · OtherANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUEWASHINGTON & LEE ANNUAL FUND — $5,250 · OtherUCD VET SCHOOL — $5,000 · OtherBERNARDSVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY — $5,000 · OtherHEIFER INTERNATIONAL — $4,200 · Other+71 more — $63,325 · Other+71 moreSoutheastern Guide Dogs Inc — $15,500 · Human ServicesSoutheaste…+3 more — $750 · Human ServicesBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY — $9,365 · AnimalsBEST FRIEN…HUMANE SOCIETY OF SONOMA COUNTY — $2,000 · AnimalsHUMANE SOC…MAUI HUMANE SOCIETY — $1,000 · AnimalsMAUI HUMAN…NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION — $880 · AnimalsNATIONAL W…RYLIES RESCUE INC — $800 · Animals+4 more — $1,550 · Animals+4 moreWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC — $3,235 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE DELAWARE CANAL INC — $2,900 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $700 · EnvironmentWILDLANDS CONSERVANCY INC — $600 · EnvironmentNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION — $500 · EnvironmentBOWMAN'S HILL WILDFLOWER PRESERVE ASSOCIATION — $500 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION — $400 · Environment+2 more — $405 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF WASHINGTON CROSSING PARK INC — $2,450 · Arts & CultureKQED INC — $2,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF SONOMA COUNTY — $1,000 · Arts & CultureARTSQUEST — $1,000 · Arts & CultureWHYY INC — $980 · Arts & CultureHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF BERKS COUNTY — $450 · Arts & Culture+3 more — $550 · Arts & CultureRANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL INC — $2,800 · EducationUniversity of Miami — $2,600 · EducationIsland Institute — $360 · Education+1 more — $150 · EducationCONGENITAL HAND CAMP INC — $2,500 · HealthSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN — $2,000 · HealthASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation Inc — $1,000 · Health+4 more — $245 · Health
Other$112,275Human Services$16,250Animals$15,595Environment$9,240Arts & Culture$8,430Education$5,910Health$5,745

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetSoutheastern Guide Dogs Inc — $15,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY — $9,365 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC — $3,235 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF — $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE DELAWARE CANAL INC — $2,900 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetRANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL INC — $2,800 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Miami — $2,600 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCONGENITAL HAND CAMP INC — $2,500 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetBOYERTOWN COMMUNITY LIBRARY — $2,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF WASHINGTON CROSSING PARK INC — $2,450 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST — $2,300 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetA WOMAN'S PLACE — $2,150 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF SONOMA COUNTY — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKQED INC — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION — $1,400 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTEAM RUBICON INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation Inc — $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSANTA FE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC — $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetARTSQUEST — $1,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWHYY INC — $980 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION — $880 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC — $800 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetRYLIES RESCUE INC — $800 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $700 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetWILDLANDS CONSERVANCY INC — $600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBUCKS COUNTY HOUSING GROUP INC — $550 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEASTERN BERKS FIRE DEPARTMENT — $520 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHAWK MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY ASSOCIATION — $500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION — $500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSISTER PARISH MINISTRY INC — $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBOWMAN'S HILL WILDFLOWER PRESERVE ASSOCIATION — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS OF WAR INC — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF BERKS COUNTY — $450 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLEHIGH VALLEY ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY — $450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION — $400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetIsland Institute — $360 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBUCKS BEAUTIFUL INC — $305 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $300 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION — $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONSUMER REPORTS INC — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA ROSA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION HOMEFRONT INC — $250 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.

  • Who funds Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc
  • Who funds BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY
  • Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC
  • Who funds UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE DELAWARE CANAL INC
  • Who funds RANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL INC
  • Who funds University of Miami
  • Who funds CONGENITAL HAND CAMP INC
  • Who funds BOYERTOWN COMMUNITY LIBRARY
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF WASHINGTON CROSSING PARK INC
  • Who funds AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST
  • Who funds A WOMAN'S PLACE
  • Who funds SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN
  • Who funds TREVOR PROJECT INC
  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY OF SONOMA COUNTY
  • Who funds KQED INC
  • Who funds PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC

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.

Aetna Foundation IncCT16.5× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Aetna Foundation Inc · Ppl Foundation · Bucks County Conference & Visitors Bureau · Foundations Community Partnership · Penn Community Bank Foundation · Berks County Community Foundation Inc · United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley · The Philadelphia Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Schaefer 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 or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 0%
  • University of Miami5% of income from government
  • Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc0% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc0% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children0% of income from government
  • Santa Fe College Foundation Inc0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
17report 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, 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.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Schaefer Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Schaefer 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 120 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.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph