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The Schmetterling Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Schmetterling Foundation

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.

$2.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$750k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$4.4MHuman Services$2.3MHealth$862kAnimals$633kRecreation & Sports$261kYouth Development$225kArts & Culture$120kReligion$77kOther$0
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $201k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $350k
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.8M
$20,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$43M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION$750,000
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER$500,000
CALUMET COLLEGE$500,000
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA$200,000
INDIANAPOLIS ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC$50,000
ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$50,000
CHICAGO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$50,000
IBCA INDIANA ALL STARS INC$40,000
GREENWOOD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY INC$35,000
ST JUDE CATHOLIC CHURCH INDIANAPOLIS INC$32,000
AUSTIN ZOO$25,000
GRAND RAPIDS CABLE ACCESS CENTER$20,000
GEM SESSIONS FOUNDATION INC$19,000
PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION$10,000
GRAND RAPIDS CABLE ACCESS CENTER$10,000
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 (FY23–25, $2.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%INTO ACTION RECOVERY INC: $750k → 8%RESTORATION RANCH TEXAS TX: $5k → 10%SAILING ANGELS FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%SAILING ANGELS FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION: $750k → 10%YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION: $750k → 10%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

IL
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
RI
CA
CO
KY
MD
AZ
NM
NC
DC
HI
AL
TX
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.
$8.0M · 46 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +15% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

46 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 28 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

46
25

Total granted

$8.0M
$972k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+3%

Still filing today

74%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsAnimalsOther
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

  • CC
    CALUMET COLLEGE OF ST JOSEPH
    4× · 2020–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +131%
  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER
    3× · 2022–2025 · $520k · revenue +21%
  • IZ
    Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $248k · revenue +143%

Funded once

  • IA
    INTO ACTION RECOVERY INC
    one grant, 2024 · $750k · revenue 0%
  • AI
    ATHLETES IN ACTION SPORTS COMPLEX AND RETREAT
    one grant, 2019 · $50k
  • SR
    SPORTS REACH INC
    one grant, 2024 · $45k · revenue 0%
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
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
2
University Family Physicians Inc

Engage actively and continuously in medical research, education and training in the practice of medicine in conjunction with the department of family medicine of the indiana university school of medicine and indiana university…

—
3
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.

—
4
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
5
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
6
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
7
Indiana University Health Care Associates Inc

To deliver preeminent medical care and service to our patients and communities through outstanding and innovative medical leadership and practice, while participating in and supporting excellence in education and research. We achieve this…

Health
8
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
9
Boston Architectural College

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

—
10
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
11
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
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is Ibca Indiana All Stars Inc. 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

53 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. 53 of the 74 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/53
Grantees still filing
32/53
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SAN JUAN DIEGO CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: $2,700,000 · OtherSAN JUAN DIEGO CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOLMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $240,000 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICAANDREAN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: $203,000 · OtherRose-Hulman Institute of Technology: $200,000 · Other+40 more: $706,000 · Other+40 moreYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF AUSTIN: $1,500,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCI…INTO ACTION RECOVERY INC: $750,000 · Human ServicesINTO ACTION RECOVERY INC+2 more: $15,000 · Human ServicesCALUMET COLLEGE OF ST JOSEPH: $1,100,000 · EducationCALUMET COLLEGE…+8 more: $155,000 · Education+8 moreCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER: $520,000 · HealthPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $50,000 · HealthPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $47,500 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGAN: $30,000 · Health+1 more: $2,000 · HealthIndianapolis Zoological Society Inc: $247,500 · AnimalsChicago Zoological Society: $187,500 · Animals+1 more: $7,500 · AnimalsAUSTIN ZOO INC: $185,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND RAPIDS CABLE ACCESS CTR INC D/B/A COMMUNITY MEDIA CENTER: $60,000 · Arts & CultureINDIANA BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $22,500 · Arts & CultureINDIANA BALLET THEATRE NW INC: $15,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $15,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONS OF COACHES INC: $115,000 · Youth Development
Other$4,049,000Human Services$2,265,000Education$1,255,000Health$649,500Animals$442,500Arts & Culture$327,500Youth Development$115,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF AUSTIN: $1,500,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCALUMET COLLEGE OF ST JOSEPH: $1,100,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER: $520,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetIndianapolis Zoological Society Inc: $247,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $240,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRose-Hulman Institute of Technology: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $187,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN ZOO INC: $185,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetNATIONS OF COACHES INC: $115,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetIBCA INDIANA ALL STARS INC: $70,000 over 2y, 30% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CABLE ACCESS CTR INC D/B/A COMMUNITY MEDIA CENTER: $60,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $47,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSPORTS REACH INC: $45,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetLAST PRISONER PROJECT: $35,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetGREENWOOD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE SIGMA ALPHA MU FOUNDATION: $34,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetLiteracy Center of West Michigan: $30,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGAN: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINDIANA BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetPHILMONT STAFF ASSOCIATION INC: $30,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetGLOBAL SERVICE NETWORK INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $22,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJames Whitcomb Riley Memorial Association: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPACERS FOUNDATION INC: $18,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetPUNAHOU SCHOOL: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCLAGETT SAILING: $15,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetINDIANA BALLET THEATRE NW INC: $15,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetFIGHT FOR THE FUTURE EDUCATION FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSAILING ANGELS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTitle Track: $10,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetWELL HOUSE: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetPASADENA HUMANE: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLEIGH PURTILL BALLET COMPANY: $7,000 over 2y, 9.5% of budgetThe Children's Museum of Indianapolis Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRestoration Ranch Texas TX: $5,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetVOLUNTEERS OF THE BURBANK ANIMAL SHELTER: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CENTRAL INDIANA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Indianapolis: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COLBURN SCHOOL: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK: $2,500 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.

Grand Rapids Communit…Austin Community Foun…Lilly Endowment IncTexas Instruments Fou…WK Kellogg FoundationUnited Way WorldwideThrivent Financial fo…Thrivent Charitable I…Servant FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …Charities Aid Foundat…Raymond James Charita…
Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI14.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grand Rapids Community Foundation · Austin Community Foundation Inc · Lilly Endowment Inc · Texas Instruments Foundation · WK Kellogg Foundation · United Way Worldwide · Thrivent Financial for Lutherans · Thrivent Charitable Impact & Investing · Servant Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund

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 Schmetterling Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Schmetterling Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
10report 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, 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 Schmetterling Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Schmetterling 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 74 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 Schmetterling’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