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The Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundation at a glance

· Public charity

The Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundation

Further the charitable, educational and religious purposes of the jewish federation of cleveland ("federation").

$2.5M
Granted FY2019
8
Grants FY2019
3
States reached
$850k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

62% of The Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Jewish Federation Of Cleveland, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 4 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year The Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 7 organizations, $2M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

6
’18
7
’19
4
’20
9
’21
1
’22
10
’23
4
’24

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, FY2018 to 2024.

Philanthropy$5.5MEducation$3.0MHealth$1.4MArts & Culture$1.3MHousing & Shelter$819kHuman Services$775kReligion$241kYouth Development$90kOther$0
02FY2019 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 8 grants below total $2,188,100, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,465,268 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $277,168 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2019

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $359k
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.8M
$209,100
Median grant
3
States reached
$36M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO$850,000
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY$500,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND$429,000
SHELTER HOUSE INC$209,100
MALTZ MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE$100,000
FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES INC$50,000
MILESTONES AUTISM RESOURCES$25,000
SEGULA$25,000
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 (FY18–21, $185k) land where the poverty rate runs at 6%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FAMILY PRESERVATION AND STRENGTHENING SERVICES: $100k → 6%FAMILY PRESERVATION AND STRENGTHENING SERVICES: $85k → 6%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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 15% of The Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 88% of the giving stays in OH; by stated purpose, 63%.

The Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 14% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
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.
$7.3M · 9 repeat orgs$366k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2019, 2 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call). Read against FY2019, 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

9
6

Total granted

$7.3M
$366k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+12%

Still filing today

89%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterReligionOther
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

  • JF
    JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO
    5× · 2018–2024 · $2.0M · revenue +30%
  • CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2018–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +44%
  • BJ
    BELLEFAIRE JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU
    3× · 2018–2024 · $978k · revenue +8%

Funded once

  • SG
    Shepherds Gate
    one grant, 2020 · $150k · revenue +11%
  • WO
    WORLD ORT INC
    one grant, 2023 · $90k · revenue 0% · 59% of their budget
  • SM
    STELLA MARIS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +54%
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
Jewish Family Services of Greenwich

Jewish family services of greenwich (jfs) is a nonprofit social service agency dedicated to strengthening individuals and families in fairfield and new london counties. jfs provides behavioral health counseling, food security programs,…

—
2
Yeshiva University

The university is composed of several colleges and schools providing undergraduate, graduate, professional and post-doctoral education and training and research and clinical programs.

Education
3
Women Against Abuse Inc

The mission of women against abuse is to provide quality, compassionate, and nonjudgmental services in a manner that fosters self-respect and independence in persons experiencing intimate partner violence and to lead the struggle to end…

Human Services
4
Eastern European Jewish Heritage Foundation
Philanthropy
5
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…

Arts & Culture
6
Pennsylvania Organization for Women in Early Recovery

See schedule o.power's mission is to help women reclaim their lives from addiction and related emotional health issues and improve the well-being of future generations. we provide a range of gender-responsive, trauma-informed drug and…

Health
7
Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation

To provide with compassion and dedication superior quality health care and rehabilitation for adults and to directly or indirectly coordinate arrangements and provision for comprehensive health care and social support services to frail…

Health
8
The San Francisco Particular Council of the Society of St Vincent De Paul

The mission of the st. vincent de paul society of san francisco (svdp-sf) is to offer hope and service on a direct person-to-person basis, working to break the cycles of homelessness and domestic violence.

Human Services
9
Council for Jewish Elderly

The mission of cje seniorlife is to enhance quality of life and facilitate independence of older adults. cje seniorlife values statement at cje seniorlife, we fulfill our mission and realize our vision for and on behalf of our clients, our…

Human Services
10
The Ferd and Gladys Alpert Jewish Family & Children Service of Palm Beach C Ounty Inc

The mission of ferd & gladys alpert jewish family & children's service of palm beach county, inc. is to serve the community by: - providing a range of needed social services to strengthen individuals and families. - participating in…

Human Services
11
Planned Lifetime Assistance Network of Northeast Ohio

To help those challenged by chronic mental illness progress in their recovery by providing individualized and innovative treatments throughout life in a supportive community of families and professionals.

—
12
The Jerusalem Connection
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Bellefaire Jewish Children's Bureau; the most unlike its peers is Ho'ola Na Pua. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

17 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.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/17
Grantees still filing
13/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $5,469,581 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND+1 more: $40,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO: $2,011,000 · ReligionJEWISH FAMILY SER…CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $1,617,650 · EducationCASE WESTERN R…SEGULA: $125,000 · EducationSEGULAThe Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage: $950,000 · Arts & CultureThe Maltz Mu…FACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $550,000 · Arts & CultureFACING HISTO…BELLEFAIRE JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU: $977,572 · HealthBELLEFAIRE …MILESTONES AUTISM RESOURCES: $325,000 · HealthMILESTONES …STELLA MARIS INC: $50,000 · HealthShelter House Inc: $569,100 · Housing & ShelterShepherds Gate: $150,000 · Housing & ShelterFAMILY PRESERVATION AND STRENGTHENING SERVICES: $185,000 · Human ServicesHO'OLA NA PUA: $46,100 · Human ServicesWORLD ORT INC: $90,000 · OtherWOMEN'S RECOVERY CENTER: $10,000 · OtherTHE COLLABORATIVE TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING: $20,000 · Other
Philanthropy$5,509,581Religion$2,011,000Education$1,742,650Arts & Culture$1,500,000Health$1,352,572Housing & Shelter$719,100Human Services$231,100Other$120,000

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 budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $5,469,581 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO: $2,011,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $1,617,650 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBELLEFAIRE JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU: $977,572 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetThe Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage: $950,000 over 5y, 11% of budgetShelter House Inc: $569,100 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetFACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $550,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetMILESTONES AUTISM RESOURCES: $325,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetFAMILY PRESERVATION AND STRENGTHENING SERVICES: $185,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetShepherds Gate: $150,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetSEGULA: $125,000 over 4y, 22% of budgetWORLD ORT INC: $90,000 over 1y, 59% of budgetSTELLA MARIS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHO'OLA NA PUA: $46,100 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetPLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COLLABORATIVE TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING: $20,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetWOMEN'S RECOVERY CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% 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 Cleveland Foundat…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Cleveland FoundationOH13.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Cleveland Foundation · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Semi J & Ruth W Begun Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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.

    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 17 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Semi J & Ruth W Begun’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