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Alson Foundation Fka the Neil Barsky and Joan S Davidson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Alson Foundation Fka the Neil Barsky and Joan S Davidson 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.

$332k
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$70k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$798kCrime & Legal$473kCivil Rights$150kFood & Nutrition$88kEducation$84kReligion$73kPhilanthropy$70kPublic Benefit$48kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $241k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $70k
$10,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$1.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM$70,000
THE WORLD AROUND$45,000
MARSHALL PROJECT$35,717
WOMEN DONOR NETWORK$25,000
FLORENCE IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE RIGHTS PROJECT$20,000
CUNY SCHOOL OF LAW FOUNDATION$15,000
J STREET EDUCATION FUND$15,000
OLA OF EASTERN LONG ISLAND$15,000
NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$10,000
WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
NEW ROOTS FOUNDATION$10,000
NEW ISRAEL FUND$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
THE ABRAHAM INITIATIVES$10,000
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 (FY19–21, $14k) 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%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $10k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $4k → 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

VT
IL
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CT
CA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
LA
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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 35 repeat orgs$461k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 24 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
65

Total granted

$1.5M
$376k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+17%

Still filing today

74%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $85k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationInternationalCrime & LegalCivil RightsReligionOther
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

  • TS
    THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM
    6× · 2020–2025 · $355k · revenue +305%
  • TM
    THE MARSHALL PROJECT INC
    4× · 2019–2025 · $181k · revenue +59%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM
    4× · 2019–2022 · $130k · revenue +70%

Funded once

  • TS
    THE STUDIO MUSEUM
    one grant, 2019 · $50k
  • FA
    FREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +91%
  • PL
    Pacific Links Foundation
    one grant, 2019 · $22k · revenue -3%
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
The Architectural League of New York

The architectural league of new york supports critically transformative work in the allied fields that shape the built environment. as a vital, independent forum, the league stimulates thinking, debate, and action on today's (continued on…

—
2
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
3
The Paris Review Foundation Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster the development of creative individuals as writers and artists and to promote public appreciation of excellence in the literary and graphic arts by publishing a magazine containing fiction,…

Education
4
Committee to Protect Journalists Inc

The committee to protect journalists promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. cpj ensures the free flow of news and commentary by taking action wherever…

Civil Rights
5
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
6
The Asia Society

The society is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization which connects people and institutions in asia and the world to build understanding, address challenges and maximize opportunities.

International
7
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
8
Berggruen Institute
Education
9
New Museum of Contemporary Art

A center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists since 1977, which continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.

Arts & Culture
10
Justice Innovation Inc

The center for justice innovation is a non-profit organization that works to create a fair, effective, and humane justice system and build strong, thriving communities.

Crime & Legal
11
Artpace Inc (Audit)

Artpace san antonio is a nonprofit residency program which supports texas, national, and international artists in the creation of new art. see schedule o for continuation.

Arts & Culture
12
City Report Inc

CITY REPORT, INC. serves the people of New York through independent journalism that answers their information needs and holds the powerful to account.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Prison Book Program; the most unlike its peers is Artyard (Formerly Sprocket Arts). 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

62 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. 62 of the 112 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
62/62
Grantees still filing
40/62
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: $355,000 · Arts & CultureTHE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEMAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $130,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUMWORLD AROUND INC: $70,000 · Arts & CultureWORLD AROUND INCSTORM KING ART CENTER: $42,500 · Arts & CultureSTORM KING ART CENTER+14 more: $52,430 · Arts & Culture+14 moreTHE OSBORNE ASSOCIATION INC: $52,500 · OtherTHE OSBORNE ASSOCIATION INCTHE STUDIO MUSEUM: $50,000 · OtherTHE STUDIO MUSEUMCITIZENS COMMITTE FOR CHILDREN: $35,000 · OtherWDN: $25,000 · OtherFREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INC: $25,000 · OtherWOMEN DONORS NETWORK: $35,000 · Other+73 more: $499,372 · Other+73 moreTHE MARSHALL PROJECT INC: $180,717 · Community ImprovementTHE MARSHA…T'RUAH: $50,000 · InternationalNEW ISRAEL FUND: $45,000 · InternationalTHE ABRAHAM INITIATIVES INC: $35,000 · InternationalPacific Links Foundation: $22,000 · International+2 more: $6,000 · InternationalTHE BRONX DEFENDERS: $70,000 · Crime & LegalAlliance of Families for Justice Inc: $35,000 · Crime & LegalFLORENCE IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE RIGHTS PROJECT INC: $30,000 · Crime & Legal+1 more: $1,000 · Crime & LegalNEW ROOTS FOUNDATION INC: $86,500 · Food & NutritionJ STREET EDUCATION FUND INC: $62,500 · ReligionCENTER AT WEST PARK INC: $6,505 · Religion+1 more: $2,000 · Religion
Arts & Culture$649,930Other$721,872Community Improvement$180,717International$158,000Crime & Legal$136,000Food & Nutrition$86,500Religion$71,005

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: $355,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE MARSHALL PROJECT INC: $180,717 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $130,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetNEW ROOTS FOUNDATION INC: $86,500 over 6y, 13% of budgetWORLD AROUND INC: $70,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetTHE BRONX DEFENDERS: $70,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJ STREET EDUCATION FUND INC: $62,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetTHE OSBORNE ASSOCIATION INC: $52,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetT'RUAH: $50,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetNEW ISRAEL FUND: $45,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSTORM KING ART CENTER: $42,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetAlliance of Families for Justice Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetWOMEN DONORS NETWORK: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ABRAHAM INITIATIVES INC: $35,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetFLORENCE IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE RIGHTS PROJECT INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetPacific Links Foundation: $22,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetIMPACT JUSTICE: $17,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOPEWELL FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR CHILDREN OF NEW YORK INC: $13,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $13,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CARDIAC ALLIANCE INC: $12,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetSUNFLOWER NETWORK CORPORATION: $12,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE INC: $10,500 over 3y, 13% of budgetCONEY ISLAND PREP BUILDERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCITIZENS UNION FOUNDATION INC OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEACHING MATTERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFUTURE NOW ACTION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVIA ART FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNEW YORK LIVE ARTS INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER AT WEST PARK INC: $6,505 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetARTYARD (FORMERLY SPROCKET ARTS): $5,232 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNATION FUND FOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALISMINC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGLSEN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUNTER COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREPRIEVE (US): $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHAMPTONS COMMUNITY OUTREACH INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $4,370 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetA JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetREHABILITATION THROUGH THE ARTS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSAMARITAN DAYTOP FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetART21 INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINSPIRATIONAL TRIATHLON RACING INTERNATIONAL CORP: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PERFORMANCE ZONE INC: $2,000 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.

The New York Communit…The Goldman Sachs Cha…The Jm Kaplan Fund IncJewish Communal FundSilicon Valley Commun…The Reba Judith Sandl…Altman FoundationEugene M Lang Foundat…The Ford FoundationRockefeller Philanthr…The San Francisco Fou…Tides Foundation
The New York Community TrustNY19.3× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The New York Community Trust · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The Jm Kaplan Fund Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The Reba Judith Sandler Foundation Inc · Altman Foundation · Eugene M Lang Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Tides 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 Alson Foundation Fka the Neil Barsky and Joan S Davidson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alson Foundation Fka the Neil Barsky and Joan S Davidson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Guthrie Center Corp: 1% of income from government
  • Bennington College Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Alson Foundation Fka the Neil Barsky and Joan S Davidson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Alson Foundation Fka the Neil Barsky and Joan S Davidson 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 112 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Alson Foundation Fka the Neil Barsky and Joan S Davidson’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