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The Working World Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Working World Inc

Seed commons is an applied research organization studying, testing, assessing and implementing best practices for community economic development through the expansion of democratic enterprise and community-controlled non-extractive capital.

$3.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
13
States reached
$335k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Community Improvement$5.0MFood & Nutrition$223kHousing & Shelter$207kEmployment$164kHuman Services$135kCivil Rights$130kCrime & Legal$88kRecreation & Sports$86kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 19 grants below total $1,505,971, the rows itemized in this filing. The $3,162,845 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,656,874 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 · FY2024

  • $10k–50k12 grants · $327k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $844k
  • $250k+1 grant · $335k
$33,750
Median grant
13
States reached
$86M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COLABORATIVA LA MILPA$335,000
TWW NYC SOLIDARITY INC$240,000
CINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE$235,000
NEW YORK CITY NETWORK OF WORKER COOPERATIVES$139,814
REPAIRED NATIONS COOPERATIVE INC$80,000
SPOKANE WORKERS COOPERATIVE LCA$75,000
SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT$74,583
PHILADELPHIA AREA COOPERATIVE ALLIANCE$37,500
DETROIT COMMUNITY WEALTH FUND$37,400
URBAN TILTH$33,750
CLEVELAND OWNS$32,500
BELOVED COMMUNITY INCUBATOR INC$32,500
ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY$30,674
GREATER DAYTON UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE INC$22,250
AUSTIN MEMBER-OWNED BUSINESS FOUNDATION$20,000
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 (FY20–24, $1.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 49% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%POSSIBILITY LABS: $1.0M → 10%COLABORATIVA LA MILPA: $335k → 12%COLABORATIVA LA MILPA: $278k → 12%COLABORATIVA LA MILPA: $178k → 12%COLABORATIVA LA MILPA: $101k → 12%LA MILPA: $58k → 12%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

WA
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
WY
OH
PA
CA
CO
WV
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
LA
MS
GA
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.

70%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.3M · 19 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +53% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
27

Total granted

$4.3M
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+53%
+30%

Still filing today

68%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $210k 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
Community ImprovementEducationHousing & ShelterHuman ServicesEnvironmentYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • CL
    Colaborativa La Milpa
    5× · 2020–2024 · $949k · revenue +353%
  • CU
    CINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE
    6× · 2018–2024 · $775k · revenue +204% · 31% of their budget
  • NN
    NYC NOWC Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $572k · revenue +31% · 26% of their budget

Funded once

  • POSSIBILITY LABS
    one grant, 2022 · $1.0M · revenue +25%
  • CH
    CALIFORNIA HARVESTERS INC
    one grant, 2019 · $119k
  • CH
    CALIFORNIA HARVESTERS INC
    one grant, 2020 · $86k
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
Cooperation L a

The L.A. Co-op Lab is a collective that builds capacity for worker ownership in Los Angeles as a pathway toward a more equitable and democratic economy.

Arts & Culture
2
Community Cooperative dba Francesco Collaborative

Community Cooperative's mission is to support entrepreneurs and organizations advancing the cooperative and solidarity economy through connection to funding, training, workshops, networks, and resources that foster leadership in the…

Social Science
3
Central Ohio Workers Center Inc

The Central Ohio Worker Center is a non-profit organization that educates, empowers, and advocates for and with low-wage and immigrant workers in Central Ohio.

Civil Rights
4
Cooperative Development Foundation

To promote and develop cooperatives to improve economic opportunities for all.

Employment
5
Fuerza LaboralPower of Workers

Fuerza Laboral is a workers' rights center whose mission is to shift the balance of power in our economy in favor of workers by educating, training, and organizing workers to become community leaders; taking direct action to recover unpaid…

Education
6
New Brookwood Labor College

New Brookwood Labor College strives to address racial economic and social imbalances of power by educating workers into their class. We are creating an inclusive labor movement that uses the power of organization not merely to lift…

Education
7
Network for Developing Conscious Communities Inc

NDCC works collaboratively with partners to conduct and contract with others to conduct general organizational training activities including engaging in conferences and membership solicitation to educate, organize and distribute leadership…

Housing & Shelter
8
Co-Op Ed Center Nfp

The CO-OP ED Center NFP is an organization committed to building democratic worker-owned businesses in Chicagoland that contribute to a strong local economy and invest in community development. Its a purpose is to train, develop and…

Employment
9
United States Federation for Worker Cooperation

To build a thriving ecosystem for worker-owned and controlled businesses - and their cooperative leaders - to power movements for racial justice and economic democracy.

Employment
10
Coop Careers Inc

Building a movement of diverse, upwardly mobile college grads overcoming underemployment through digital skills and peer connections.

Education
11
Workers Center for Racial Just Nfp

The mission of the Workers Center For Racial Justice is to eliminate structural barriers to sustainable and living wage

Civil Rights
12
Rainier Beach Cummunity Empowerment Coalition

Rainier Beach Action Coalition is a grassroot, Black-led organization devoted to locally driven development. It promotes quality education, living wage jobs, affordable transportation and housing, and building community capacity in…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Beloved Community Incubator Inc; the most unlike its peers is Urban Tilth. 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

31 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. 31 of the 52 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/31
Grantees still filing
23/31
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

POSSIBILITY LABS: $1,000,000 · Human ServicesPOSSIBILITY LABSColaborativa La Milpa: $948,750 · Human ServicesColaborativa La MilpaNYC NOWC Inc: $571,690 · Community ImprovementNYC NOWC IncTWW NYC SOLIDARITY INC: $419,016 · Community ImprovementTWW NYC SOLIDARITY INCCENTER FOR ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY INC: $78,750 · Community ImprovementCENTER FOR ECONOMIC DEMO…GREATER DAYTON UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE INC: $69,750 · Community Improvement+8 more: $186,459 · Community Improvement+8 moreRANGE MEDIA: $188,676 · OtherRANGE MEDIARED EMMA'S LLC: $149,395 · OtherRED EMMA'S LLCCALIFORNIA HARVESTERS INC: $118,750 · OtherCALIFORNIA HARVESTERS INCBROOKLYN STONE & TILE: $85,894 · OtherBROOKLYN STONE & TILECALIFORNIA HARVESTERS INC: $85,500 · OtherCALIFORNIA HARVESTERS INCREPAIRED NATIONS COOPERATIVE INC: $80,000 · OtherREPAIRED NATIONS COOPERAT…ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY: $130,328 · OtherORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN RI…Urban Tilth: $87,594 · OtherUrban TilthBuilders of The Highway Foundation Inc: $55,363 · OtherBELOVED COMMUNITY INCUBATOR INC: $48,125 · Other+19 more: $360,530 · Other+19 moreCINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE: $775,398 · Social ScienceCINCINNATI UNI…PHILADELPHIA AREA COOPERATIVE ALLIANCE: $270,125 · Membership BenefitSOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $201,320 · EducationSustainable Economies Law Center: $21,250 · EducationAUSTIN MEMBER-OWNED BUSINESS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EducationCenter for Popular Research Education and Policy: $16,875 · EducationBUFFALO NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION COMPANY INC: $137,368 · Housing & ShelterPEOPLE UNITED FOR SUSTAINABLE HOUSING INC: $60,000 · Housing & ShelterEAST RIVER DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE INC: $10,000 · Housing & Shelter
Human Services$1,948,750Community Improvement$1,325,665Other$1,390,155Social Science$775,398Membership Benefit$270,125Education$259,445Housing & Shelter$207,368

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPOSSIBILITY LABS: $1,000,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetColaborativa La Milpa: $948,750 over 5y, 10% of budgetCINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE: $775,398 over 6y, 31% of budgetNYC NOWC Inc: $571,690 over 5y, 26% of budgetTWW NYC SOLIDARITY INC: $419,016 over 3y, 100% of budgetPHILADELPHIA AREA COOPERATIVE ALLIANCE: $270,125 over 6y, 19% of budgetSOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $201,320 over 4y, 55% of budgetBUFFALO NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION COMPANY INC: $137,368 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY: $130,328 over 5y, 8.1% of budgetUrban Tilth: $87,594 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetCENTER FOR ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY INC: $78,750 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetGREATER DAYTON UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE INC: $69,750 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetPEOPLE UNITED FOR SUSTAINABLE HOUSING INC: $60,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetBuilders of The Highway Foundation Inc: $55,363 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetBELOVED COMMUNITY INCUBATOR INC: $48,125 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR BLACK ECONOMIC POWER: $40,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetCATALYST MIAMI INC: $35,625 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCleveland Owns: $32,500 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetSustainable Economies Law Center: $21,250 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAUSTIN MEMBER-OWNED BUSINESS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetCenter for Popular Research Education and Policy: $16,875 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetBUSINESS OUTREACH CENTER NETWORK INC: $16,667 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSOUTHWEST BROOKLYN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $16,667 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetNorthend Christian Community Development Corporation: $15,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetTHE MIDIAN LEADERSHIP PROJECT INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetMIJENTE SUPPORT COMMITTEE: $10,393 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHigher Purpose Hub: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% 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.

New Economy Coalition…Amalgamated Charitabl…The Kresge FoundationTides FoundationSolidaire Network IncSolutions Project IncNew Venture FundThe Ford FoundationCommon Counsel Founda…Rsf Social Finance IncCommon FutureImpactassetsinc
New Economy Coalition IncMA30.3× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: New Economy Coalition Inc · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · The Kresge Foundation · Tides Foundation · Solidaire Network Inc · Solutions Project Inc · New Venture Fund · The Ford Foundation · Common Counsel Foundation · Rsf Social Finance Inc · Common Future · Impactassetsinc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%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
    12report 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 Working World Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Working World Inc 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 52 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Working World’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