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Alexander W Casdin Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Alexander W Casdin 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.

$90k
Granted FY2017
18
Grants FY2017
4
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Alexander W Casdin Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Brown University, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2017, the last year Alexander W Casdin Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $90k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

9
’17
6
’18
12
’19
0
’20
2
’22
2
’23
0
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$211kHealth$148kYouth Development$49kReligion$26kArts & Culture$15kPhilanthropy$12kHuman Services$11kRecreation & Sports$5kOther$0
02FY2017 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k14 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $73k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE BUCKLEY SCHOOL$30,000
ALLEN STEVENSON SCHOOL$20,000
STEPHEN D HASENFELD CHILDRENS CENTER - NYU HOSPITALS CENTER$12,600
TRUSTEES OF UNIVERSITY OF PENSSYLVANIA$10,000
CONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION$5,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL MUSEUM$2,500
ASPHALT GREEN$1,500
LUNG CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$1,350
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY$1,000
HARLEM ACADEMY$1,000
CENTER FOR HEARING & COMMUNICATION$1,000
Individual grant recipient$750
GIRL SCOUTS OF AMERICA$750
NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN$700
PUBLICOLOR$500
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 (FY18–19, $18k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $684 → 16%THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER IN MANHATTAN INC: $10k → 17%Marlene MEYERSON JCC MANHATTAN: $7k → 17%GOOD SHEPHERD SERVICES: $800 → 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

NY
MA
PA
RI
CA
VA
OK
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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$237k · 7 repeat orgs$84k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2017, 2 since wound down; 26 grantees were first funded in FY2017 (too recent to call). Read against FY2017, 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

7
26

Total granted

$237k
$84k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+4%
+31%

Still filing today

57%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’22’23
Arts & CultureRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesHealthEducationAnimalsOther
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
    CONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY
    3× · 2019–2023 · $115k · revenue +36%
  • TA
    THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL
    3× · 2017–2019 · $41k · revenue +1%
  • PI
    PUBLICOLOR INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $3k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • BI
    BROWN-RHODE ISLAND SCHOOLD OF DESIGN HILLEL
    one grant, 2019 · $15k
  • SD
    STEPHEN D HASENFELD CHILDRENS CENTER - NYU HOSPITALS CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $13k
  • EF
    Erasca Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
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
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
2
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
3
The Graduate Center Foundation Inc

The graduate center foundation is committed to promoting and safe-guarding the success of the graduate center by raising funds and managing and investing donations for use by the graduate center. the board of trustees of the foundation…

—
4
Dickinson College

Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship

Education
5
Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan school of music is deeply committed to excellence in education, performance, and creative activity; to the humanity of the school's environment; and to the cultural enrichment of the larger community. a premiere international…

Arts & Culture
6
Boston Architectural College

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

—
7
New York Studio School

The new york studio school is committed to giving a significant education to the aspiring artist, a preamble to a lifetime's engagement in drawing, painting, and sculpture. (see schedule o for continuation)

—
8
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

We educate the next generation of leaders to improve the health of our society.

Education
9
New York Hall of Science

Nysci's mission is to nurture generations of passionate learners, critical thinkers, and active citizens through design make play - an approach to learning and engagement that is deeply rooted in research on stem learning and guides the…

Arts & Culture
10
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
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
The Baruch College Fund

The baruch college fund is an organization engaged in generating, encouraging and promoting the educational welfare of the students of the bernard m. baruch college of the city university of new york.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is City Parks Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Erasca Foundation. 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

23 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. 23 of the 36 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
16/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BROWN UNIVERSITY: $149,453 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITYTHE BUCKLEY SCHOOL: $41,000 · OtherTHE BUCKLEY SCHOOLTHE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL: $40,500 · OtherTHE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOLCONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION: $18,389 · OtherCONQUER CANCER FOUNDATIONBROWN-RHODE ISLAND SCHOOLD OF DESIGN HILLEL: $15,000 · OtherBROWN-RHODE ISLAND SCHOOLD OF DESIGN …STEPHEN D HASENFELD CHILDRENS CENTER - NYU HOSPITALS CENTER: $12,600 · OtherSTEPHEN D HASENFELD CHILDRENS CENTER …TRUSTEES OF UNIVERSITY OF PENSSYLVANIA: $10,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF UNIVERSITY OF PENSSYLVANI…+15 more: $22,050 · Other+15 moreCONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY: $114,500 · HealthCONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION O…+1 more: $1,350 · HealthTHE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER IN MANHATTAN INC: $17,000 · Human ServicesGOOD SHEPHERD SERVICES: $800 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $684 · Human ServicesTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $10,000 · EducationPUBLICOLOR INC: $2,500 · EducationHARLEM ACADEMY: $1,000 · EducationMuseum of Modern Art: $10,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL MUSEUM: $2,500 · Arts & CultureSCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET INC: $500 · Arts & CultureARTSCONNECTION INC: $500 · Arts & CultureErasca Foundation: $10,000 · PhilanthropyTHE DALLAS FOUNDATION: $1,500 · Philanthropy
Community Improvement$149,453Other$159,539Health$115,850Human Services$18,484Education$13,500Arts & Culture$13,500Philanthropy$11,500

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 budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $149,453 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY: $114,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL: $40,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER IN MANHATTAN INC: $17,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTAND UP GIRLS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetPUBLICOLOR INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL MUSEUM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DALLAS FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASPHALT GREEN INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLUNG CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $1,350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARLEM ACADEMY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR HEARING AND COMMUNICATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOOD SHEPHERD SERVICES: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $684 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARTSCONNECTION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH & EDUCATION INC: $150 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.

Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO6.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Alexander W Casdin Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alexander W Casdin Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Alexander W Casdin Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Alexander W Casdin 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 36 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 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2017, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Alexander W Casdin’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