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Trust for Mutual Understanding at a glance

· Private foundation

Trust for Mutual Understanding

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
72
Grants FY2024still arriving
18
States reached
$173k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$4.0MEnvironment$1.8MAnimals$589kSocial Science$297kEducation$165kCivil Rights$130kInternational$108kScience & Tech$85kOther$0
02FY2024 · 72 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $45k
  • $10k–50k55 grants · $1.4M
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $884k
$25,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$26M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE YOUNG VISUAL ARTISTS AWARD PROGRAM IN 2024$173,000
RESIDENCY UNLIMITED INC$144,000
CEC ARTSLINK INC$115,000
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT INC$90,000
EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC$80,000
CEC ARTSLINK INC$63,800
CEC ARTSLINK INC$62,500
THE OCEAN FOUNDATION$55,555
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ALLIANCE WORLDWIDE$50,000
EARTHCORPS$50,000
MONGOL ECOLOGY CENTER$45,000
EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC$45,000
EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC$45,000
PARTNERSHIPS FOR NATURE$40,000
WILD SALMON CENTER$40,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%MONGOL ECOLOGY CENTER: $85k → 15%CULTURAL SURVIVAL: $80k → 8%DOUBLE EDGE THEATRE: $71k → 14%BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE: $35k → 16%KNIGHTS OF INDULGENCE THEATRE US: $42k → 9%EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC: $87k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT ZOO AND GARDENS: $40k → 11%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $45k → 28%THE YOUNG VISUAL ARTISTS AWARD PROGRAM IN 2024: $173k → 15%WILD SALMON CENTER: $40k → 12%ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ALLIANCE WORLDWIDE: $50k → 15%EARTHCORPS: $50k → 9%PARTNERSHIPS FOR NATURE: $40k → 10%ALASKA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $35k → 10%INTERNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT INC: $40k → 19%MONGOL ECOLOGY CENTER: $45k → 15%EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC: $80k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT ZOO AND GARDENS: $40k → 11%FOUNDATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS: $40k → 17%BETH MORRISON PROJECTS INC: $40k → 20%EARTHCORPS: $50k → 9%PARTNERSHIPS FOR NATURE: $40k → 10%EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC: $45k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT ZOO AND GARDENS: $40k → 11%DRAMA LEAGUE OF NEW YORK INC: $40k → 17%CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT INC: $95k → 19%EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC: $45k → 10%DRAMA LEAGUE OF NEW YORK INC: $40k → 17%RESIDENCY UNLIMITED INC: $350k → 20%TRANSCAUCASIAN TRAIL ASSOCIATION: $35k → 14%CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT INC: $90k → 19%RESIDENCY UNLIMITED INC: $144k → 20%THE OCEAN FOUNDATION: $195k → 14%MID ATLANTIC ARTS FOUNDATION INC: $35k → 19%SEE ATTACHED LIST: $2.2M → 17%THE OCEAN FOUNDATION: $56k → 14%MID ATLANTIC ARTS FOUNDATION INC: $35k → 19%MY BALKANS INC: $35k → 17%LA MAMA ETC: $60k → 17%WINTERHOUSE INSTITUTE INC: $62k → 20%CEC ARTSLINK INC: $389k → 17%CEC ARTSLINK INC: $115k → 17%CEC ARTSLINK INC: $64k → 17%CEC ARTSLINK INC: $63k → 17%SEE ATTACHED LIST: $2.9M → 17%SEE ATTACHED LIST: $2.5M → 17%SEE ATTACHED LIST: $2.2M → 17%SEE ATTACHED LIST: $2.1M → 17%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

AK
WA
MT
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
PA
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
NC
DC
OK
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.

48%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.6M · 25 repeat orgs$3.9M to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 25 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
75

Total granted

$3.6M
$3.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
+11%

Still filing today

84%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $771k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentAnimalsInternationalEducationCivil RightsOther
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

  • RU
    RESIDENCY UNLIMITED INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $518k · revenue +5% · 38% of their budget
  • MR
    MOVEMENT RESEARCH INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $321k · revenue +9%
  • Earth Island Institute Inc
    2× · 2023–2024 · $257k · revenue +19%

Funded once

  • CA
    CEC Artslink Inc. (1687)
    one grant, 2022 · $409k
  • MR
    Movement Research Inc. (MOVEMENT)
    one grant, 2022 · $265k
  • TO
    The Ocean Foundation (C7116)
    one grant, 2022 · $242k
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
Kadist Collection Manager Inc
Arts & Culture
2
On the Boards

On the Boards' mission is to invest in leading contemporary performing artists near and far and connect them to a diverse range of communities interested in forward-thinking art and ideas.

—
3
En Garde Arts Inc

To produce bold theatre experiences that reach across artistic, physical and social boundries. We aim to increase empathy and open-mindedness by illuminating nuanced perspectives and unspoken truths behind the salient issues of our time.…

Arts & Culture
4
International Cultural Arts Network
Arts & Culture
5
Performance Space 122 Inc

See schedule operformance space new york is committed to promoting the arts (including performance, visual and all other contemporary arts), fostering artistic development (including through direct grants), advancing diversity in the field…

Arts & Culture
6
Red Eye Collaboration

Red eye collaboration is a multi-disciplinary creative laboratory that supports the development and production of boundary-breaking performance work.

Arts & Culture
7
Pangea World Theater

Pangea World Theater strives to build a just world by creating multi-disciplinary theater that embodies decolonizing practices of solidarity, sustainability and equity.

Arts & Culture
8
Stages

Stages makes plays and tells stories that invite everyone to live more deeply and love more boldly.

Arts & Culture
9
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Inc

To create rousing, visceral, enlightening theatre experiences that galvanize diverse artists and audiences to engage with our world in unexpected and often challenging ways.

Arts & Culture
10
Nature and Culture International

Nature and culture international conserves biologically diverse landscapes in latin america, in concert with local cultures, for the well-being of the planet.

Environment
11
The Living Earth Show

The Living Earth Show's mission is to commission, collaborate, and amplify vital musical creators from a truly diverse range of communities - including crucial artists from those that are often marginalized and overlooked by traditional…

Arts & Culture
12
Site Santa Fe

Guided by artists, rooted in new mexico, site santa fe celebrates contemporary creative expression.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mid Atlantic Arts Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Center for International Theatre Development. 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

64 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. 64 of the 126 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.

10
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
63/64
Grantees still filing
36/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CEC Artslink Inc. (1687): $408,500 · OtherCEC Artslink Inc. (1687)Movement Research Inc. (MOVEMENT): $265,000 · OtherMovement Research Inc. (MOVEMENT)The Ocean Foundation (C7116): $242,000 · OtherThe Ocean Foundation (C7116)Center for International Theatre Development, Inc. (CITD): $220,000 · OtherCenter for International Theatre Development, Inc. (…THE YOUNG VISUAL ARTISTS AWARD PROGRAM IN 2024: $173,000 · OtherWildlife Conservation Society (11149): $145,000 · Other+66 more: $1,994,485 · Other+66 moreRESIDENCY UNLIMITED INC: $517,800 · Arts & CultureRESIDENCY UNLIMITED INCMOVEMENT RESEARCH INC: $321,000 · Arts & CultureMOVEMENT RESEARCH INCTHE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT: $185,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CENTER FOR INTERNATIO…MID ATLANTIC ARTS INC: $70,000 · Arts & Culture+24 more: $596,374 · Arts & Culture+24 moreThe Ocean Foundation: $401,817 · EnvironmentThe Ocean Foundati…Earth Island Institute Inc: $257,000 · EnvironmentEarth Island Insti…MONGOL ECOLOGY CENTER: $130,000 · EnvironmentMONGOL ECOLOGY CEN…LIVING DESERT THE: $120,000 · EnvironmentLIVING DESERT THEPARTNERSHIPS FOR NATURE: $80,000 · EnvironmentPARTNERSHIPS FOR N…CLIMATE CONSERVATION DBA CENTER FOR LARGE LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION: $45,000 · Environment+7 more: $163,000 · Environment+7 moreCEC ARTSLINK INC: $644,800 · InternationalCEC ARTSLIN…Earthcorps: $100,000 · InternationalEarthcorpsInclusive Development International: $30,000 · InternationalWildlife Conservation Society: $45,000 · AnimalsWILD SALMON CENTER: $40,000 · AnimalsINTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD TRUST: $30,000 · AnimalsROCKY MOUNTAIN BUTTERFLY CONSORTIUM: $30,000 · AnimalsWILD SHEEP FOUNDATION: $30,000 · AnimalsCOMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: $20,000 · AnimalsCULTURAL SURVIVAL INC: $105,000 · Civil RightsEMERSON COLLEGE: $30,000 · EducationACADEMY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA INC: $25,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $20,000 · Education
Other$3,447,985Arts & Culture$1,690,174Environment$1,196,817International$774,800Animals$195,000Civil Rights$105,000Education$75,000

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 budgetCEC ARTSLINK INC: $644,800 over 2y, 49% of budgetRESIDENCY UNLIMITED INC: $517,800 over 2y, 38% of budgetThe Ocean Foundation: $401,817 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetMOVEMENT RESEARCH INC: $321,000 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $257,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT: $185,000 over 2y, 42% of budgetMONGOL ECOLOGY CENTER: $130,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetLIVING DESERT THE: $120,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCULTURAL SURVIVAL INC: $105,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetDOUBLE EDGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INC: $100,500 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetEarthcorps: $100,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetWaxfactory Inc: $82,637 over 2y, 22% of budgetTHE DRAMA LEAGUE OF NEW YORK INC: $80,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetPARTNERSHIPS FOR NATURE: $80,000 over 2y, 56% of budgetMID ATLANTIC ARTS INC: $70,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetINTERNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT INC: $52,000 over 1y, 36% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LAW ALLIANCE WORLDWIDE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCLOCKSHOP: $50,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetCLIMATE CONSERVATION DBA CENTER FOR LARGE LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION: $45,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $45,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKnights of Indulgence Theatre United Sta: $42,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetBETH MORRISON PROJECTS INC: $40,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetWILD SALMON CENTER: $40,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMy Balkans Inc: $35,000 over 1y, 42% of budgetALASKA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTRANSCAUCASIAN TRAIL ASSOCIATION: $35,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetHEADLANDS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $35,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC: $35,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetGASPARD&DANCERS INC: $35,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetEMERSON COLLEGE: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetES EXPERIMENTAL INTERMEDIA FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 30% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD TRUST: $30,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN BUTTERFLY CONSORTIUM: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetInclusive Development International: $30,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetWILD SHEEP FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNORTHEAST DOCUMENT CONSERVATION CENTER INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTR1314 MULTIDISCIPLINARY VISUAL PERFORMANCES INC: $30,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetTheater Grottesco North America Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 46% of budgetCULTUREHUB INC: $25,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetACADEMY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA INC: $25,000 over 2y, 59% of budgetAFTERIMAGE PUBLIC MEDIA: $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE PERFORMANCE ZONE INC: $22,490 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCRUDE ACCOUNTABILITY INCORPORATED: $22,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW YORK LIVE ARTS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $20,000 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.

Mid Atlantic Arts IncThe Andrew W Mellon F…The Howard Gilman Fou…The Andy Warhol Found…The Ford FoundationFoundation to Promote…The Aaron Copland Fun…Rockefeller Brothers …New England Foundatio…Rsf Social Finance IncGordon E and Betty I …The Amphion Foundatio…
Mid Atlantic Arts IncMD28.4× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mid Atlantic Arts Inc · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · The Howard Gilman Foundation Inc · The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc · The Ford Foundation · Foundation to Promote Open Society · The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLP · Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc · New England Foundation for the Arts Incorporated · Rsf Social Finance Inc · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · The Amphion Foundation Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLP

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 Trust for Mutual Understanding funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Trust for Mutual Understanding. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Mid Atlantic Arts Inc: 66% of income from government
  • Wild Salmon Center: 49% of income from government
  • Northeast Document Conservation Center Inc: 13% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Commonwealth Zoological Corporation D/B/a Zoo New England: 2% of income from government
  • Double Edge Theatre Productions Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Emerson College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Trust for Mutual Understanding?

Find your warmest path to Trust for Mutual Understanding 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 126 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Trust for Mutual Understanding’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