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· Private foundation

Alfred P Sloan Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$89M
Granted FY2024still arriving
522
Grants FY2024still arriving
39
States reached
$1.5M
Largest
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.

Education$196MScience & Tech$187MArts & Culture$57MSocial Science$49MEnvironment$41MEmployment$20MHealth$17MPublic Benefit$13MOther$0
02FY2024 · 522 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k61 grants · $1.7M
  • $50k–250k347 grants · $40M
  • $250k+114 grants · $48M
$99,540
Median grant
39
States reached
$2.2B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY$1,479,024
PERI SUPPORT FUND$1,332,967
CONVERGENT RESEARCH$1,030,788
RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NY$1,025,621
NATIONAL ACTION COUNCIL FOR MINORITIES IN ENGINEERING INC$1,001,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ$925,775
HARVARD UNIVERSITY$875,419
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY$843,319
SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL$767,551
WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION$715,000
RESEARCH CORPORATION FOR SCIENCE ADVANCEMENT$660,000
ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE INC$640,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS$623,618
ASPIRATION$605,000
SUNDANCE INSTITUTE$600,000
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 (FY22–23, $675k) 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%EXPANDED SCHOOLS: $350k → 17%EXPANDED SCHOOLS: $325k → 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

ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
LA
MS
AL
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.
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 9% of Alfred P Sloan Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Alfred P Sloan Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 6.6% 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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$488M · 352 repeat orgs$48M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

352 repeat relationships: 192 still active in FY2024, 160 since wound down; 54 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

352
255

Total granted

$488M
$39M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+11%

Still filing today

55%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8.2M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureScience & TechEnvironmentSocial SciencePublic BenefitOther
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

  • NA
    NATIONAL ACTION COUNCIL FOR MINORITIES IN ENGINEERING INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $17M · revenue +98% · 89% of their budget
  • NB
    NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $14M · revenue +15%
  • University of Chicago
    7× · 2017–2024 · $11M · revenue +56%

Funded once

  • NA
    Nat'l Action Council for Minorities in Engg Inc
    one grant, 2019 · $3.4M
  • NB
    NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC
    one grant, 2022 · $2.5M
  • HU
    HARVARD UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $2.4M
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
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
5
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
6
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
7
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
8
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
9
The Central European University

Ceu is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. it aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social…

International
10
Chancellor Masters & Scholars of the University of Oxford

The principal objects of the University are the advancement of learning by teaching and research, and its dissemination by every means. We work as one Oxford bringing together our staff, students and alumni, our colleges, faculties,…

—
11
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
12
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

University of the sciences prepares students to become leaders, innovators, and skilled practitioners in the sciences, the health professions, and related disciplines. we deliver excellence in teaching, research, and service through a safe…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Aspen Institute Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mr October Foundation for Kids. 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

368 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. 368 of the 679 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.

31
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
47
Early backer (in before they grew)
360/368
Grantees still filing
250/368
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY: $20,973,287 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEYUniversity of Michigan: $8,332,159 · Other+101 more: $199,511,919 · Other+101 moreMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $15,122,600 · EducationMassachusetts Institute of Tech…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $14,355,942 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LE…President and Fellows of Harvard College: $11,840,044 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvar…University of Chicago: $10,760,495 · EducationUniversity of ChicagoTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $10,369,872 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVER…New York University: $10,212,499 · EducationNew York UniversityCornell University: $6,973,194 · EducationWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $5,948,333 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton University: $5,933,701 · Education+36 more: $57,030,313 · Education+36 moreAstrophysical Research Consortium: $20,705,000 · Science & TechAstrophysic…NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $6,765,302 · Science & TechNATIONAL AC…CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON: $5,012,834 · Science & TechCARNEGIE IN…AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: $3,568,285 · Science & TechAMERICAN AS…CODE FOR SCIENCE & SOCIETY INC: $3,455,627 · Science & TechCODE FOR SC…NumFOCUS INC: $2,529,308 · Science & TechSIMONS LAUFER MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE: $2,360,820 · Science & TechCONVERGENT RESEARCH INC: $1,967,868 · Science & Tech+11 more: $10,141,889 · Science & Tech+11 moreWGBH Educational Foundation: $8,700,000 · Arts & CultureENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE INC: $4,590,000 · Arts & CultureFILM INDEPENDENT: $2,890,947 · Arts & CultureWOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC: $2,395,629 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $2,350,000 · Arts & CultureCOOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE FOUNDATION INC: $2,169,282 · Arts & CultureMANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB INC: $1,943,333 · Arts & CultureSundance Institute: $1,900,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE: $1,637,023 · Arts & CultureGREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,540,340 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $1,400,000 · Arts & CulturePIONEER WORKS ART FOUNDATION: $1,374,410 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $5,777,993 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $13,998,972 · Social ScienceSOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL: $5,776,315 · Social ScienceTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $5,247,903 · Social ScienceTHE URBAN INSTITUTE: $2,913,205 · Social ScienceWOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS: $1,543,351 · Social ScienceCOUNCIL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION: $1,353,500 · Social Science+2 more: $1,495,694 · Social ScienceNATIONAL ACTION COUNCIL FOR MINORITIES IN ENGINEERING INC: $16,543,066 · Civil RightsFUND FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC: $6,647,237 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $4,711,990 · PhilanthropyHOPEWELL FUND: $2,522,731 · PhilanthropyOPENCOLLECTIVE FOUNDATION: $1,602,318 · PhilanthropyCANDID: $769,670 · Philanthropy
Other$228,817,365Education$148,546,993Science & Tech$56,506,933Arts & Culture$38,668,957Social Science$32,328,940Civil Rights$16,543,066Philanthropy$16,253,946

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetAstrophysical Research Consortium: $20,705,000 over 6y, 61% of budgetNATIONAL ACTION COUNCIL FOR MINORITIES IN ENGINEERING INC: $16,543,066 over 6y, 89% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $15,122,600 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $14,355,942 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $13,998,972 over 6y, 6.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $11,840,044 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $10,760,495 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $10,369,872 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $10,212,499 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $8,700,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $7,539,336 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCornell University: $6,973,194 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $6,765,302 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetFUND FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC: $6,647,237 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $5,948,333 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $5,933,701 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL: $5,776,315 over 7y, 6.7% of budgetTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $5,247,903 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetCARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON: $5,012,834 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetResources for the Future Inc: $4,917,968 over 7y, 11% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $4,711,990 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE INC: $4,590,000 over 7y, 90% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $4,411,686 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $4,241,283 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $3,913,872 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDIGITAL PUBLIC LIBRARY OF AMERICA: $3,765,719 over 6y, 39% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: $3,568,285 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $3,488,237 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCODE FOR SCIENCE & SOCIETY INC: $3,455,627 over 7y, 29% of budgetCONSUMER REPORTS INC: $3,412,378 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $3,394,156 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $3,392,859 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetPECAN STREET INC: $3,119,063 over 6y, 92% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $3,026,522 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION: $2,933,248 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE URBAN INSTITUTE: $2,913,205 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $2,907,714 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFILM INDEPENDENT: $2,890,947 over 7y, 6.1% of budgetResearch Foundation of the City University of New York: $2,812,056 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $2,529,715 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNumFOCUS INC: $2,529,308 over 4y, 39% of budgetHOPEWELL FUND: $2,522,731 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetINSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC: $2,457,750 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $2,442,301 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetWOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC: $2,395,629 over 5y, 8.8% of budgetSIMONS LAUFER MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE: $2,360,820 over 7y, 6.4% of budgetNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $2,350,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetCOOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE FOUNDATION INC: $2,169,282 over 4y, 12% 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.

  • Who funds Astrophysical Research Consortium ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ACTION COUNCIL FOR MINORITIES IN ENGINEERING INC ↗
  • Who funds Massachusetts Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds New York University ↗
  • Who funds WGBH Educational Foundation ↗
  • Who funds University of Michigan ↗
  • Who funds Carnegie Mellon University ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ↗
  • Who funds FUND FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC ↗
  • Who funds WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds The Trustees of Princeton University ↗
  • Who funds SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON ↗
  • Who funds Resources for the Future Inc ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY INITIATIVES ↗
  • Who funds ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds DIGITAL PUBLIC LIBRARY OF AMERICA ↗

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.

Gordon E and Betty I Moore FoundationCA50.7× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · Gates Foundation · The Simons Foundation Inc · The Ford Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · John S and James L Knight Foundation · The Heising-Simons Foundation · The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · Laura and John Arnold Foundation · The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur 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 Alfred P Sloan Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alfred P Sloan Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • National Bureau of Economic Research Inc: 48% of income from government
  • Verse Video Education: 35% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • University of Delaware: 30% of income from government
  • Marine Biological Laboratory: 20% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • American Academy of Arts & Sciences: 3% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • Digital Public Library of America: 2% of income from government
  • Code for Science & Society Inc: 2% of income from government
  • American Physical Society: 1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Documentary Educational Resources Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Barry University Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Eckerd College: 0% of income from government
  • Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • American Institute of Physics Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
30report 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.

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 679 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

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