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Bear-Sontz Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bear-Sontz Family 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.

$150k
Granted FY2025still arriving
48
Grants FY2025still arriving
11
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$230kArts & Culture$213kPhilanthropy$143kHealth$95kInternational$56kCivil Rights$49kHuman Services$43kAnimals$33kOther$0
02FY2025 · 48 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k44 grants · $89k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $62k
$1,500
Median grant
11
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BOSTON UNIVERSITY TANGLEWOOD$25,000
TURNOUT ACTIVISM INC$14,500
JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTH PALM$12,000
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$10,000
MILAGRO CENTER$8,500
LYNN WOMEN'S HEALTH INSTITUTE$6,500
ANTI DEFAMATION LEAGUE$5,500
AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE$5,000
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$4,000
GRACE CHURCH SCHOOL$4,000
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES$3,000
C-CAP$3,000
JEWISH FAMILY CHILDREN SERVICES$3,000
DELRAY BEACH LIBRARY$2,500
CROS MINISTRIES - DB FOOD PANTRY$2,500
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 (FY20–25, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 50% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%ISRAEL GUIDE DOG CENTER: $2k → 6%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $1k → 8%ISRAEL GUIDE DOG CENTER: $2k → 6%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $1k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $1k → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $500 → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $500 → 8%AMERICAN INDIAN SERVICES: $500 → 8%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 11%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 11%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 11%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

IL
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
TN
DC
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 66 repeat orgs$56k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

66 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2025, 30 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

66
21

Total granted

$1.0M
$34k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+21%

Still filing today

59%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalArts & CultureHealthEnvironmentCivil RightsAnimalsOther
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

  • BS
    BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
    6× · 2019–2025 · $131k · revenue +22%
  • MF
    MILAGRO FOUNDATION INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $50k · revenue +51%
  • NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2017–2019 · $48k · revenue +110%

Funded once

  • NR
    NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM AT STOCKBRIDGE INC
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +11%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue -45%
  • RN
    RUTH & NORMAN RALES JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +42%
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

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
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
5
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
6
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
7
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
8
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
9
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
10
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
11
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
12
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Animal Nations Dba Redrover; the most unlike its peers is Project High Hopes. 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

58 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. 58 of the 100 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
57/58
Grantees still filing
42/58
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTH PALM: $115,000 · OtherJEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTH PALMBOSTON UNIVERSITY TANGLEWOOD: $71,000 · OtherBOSTON UNIVERSITY TANGLEWOODTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $30,000 · OtherCAREERS THROUGH CULINARY ARTS: $25,500 · OtherGIVINGMULTIPLIER: $24,000 · OtherJEWISH FAMILY CHILDREN SERVICES: $23,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $21,000 · Other+55 more: $289,100 · Other+55 moreBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $131,122 · Arts & CultureBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHE…MILAGRO FOUNDATION INC: $49,500 · Arts & CultureMILAGRO FOUNDATION IN…RAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $9,500 · Arts & CultureHOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON: $9,500 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $8,650 · Arts & CultureANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $39,000 · Civil RightsTURNOUT ACTIVISM INC: $32,050 · Civil RightsAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $5,000 · Civil RightsNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $4,000 · Civil Rights+1 more: $1,000 · Civil RightsDIRECT RELIEF: $17,000 · InternationalTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $13,000 · InternationalTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $8,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $8,000 · InternationalAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 · InternationalIMPACTISRAEL INC: $5,500 · International+3 more: $3,000 · InternationalST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $25,000 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $18,000 · HealthHUMAN RELATIONS SERVICE INC: $8,000 · HealthRUTH & NORMAN RALES JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $2,500 · HealthNAMI National: $2,000 · Health+2 more: $1,250 · HealthNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $48,000 · EducationGRACE CHURCH SCHOOL: $4,000 · Education+1 more: $1,500 · EducationSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $8,000 · EnvironmentMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $6,500 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $6,500 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $4,500 · EnvironmentBERKSHIRE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION TEAM INC: $3,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $2,500 · Environment+1 more: $500 · Environment
Other$598,600Arts & Culture$208,272Civil Rights$81,050International$60,500Health$56,750Education$53,500Environment$31,500

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 budgetBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $131,122 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMILAGRO FOUNDATION INC: $49,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $48,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $39,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTURNOUT ACTIVISM INC: $32,050 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $25,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $18,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $17,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetIMPACT 100 PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $16,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $13,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetRAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $9,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON: $9,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLAPPIN FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CLEAR FUND: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $8,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF GREATER ORLANDO INC: $8,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $8,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $8,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RELATIONS SERVICE INC: $8,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $6,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $6,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetIMPACTISRAEL INC: $5,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetONEGOAL: $5,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM AT STOCKBRIDGE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetANIMAL HAVEN INC: $4,900 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Indian Services: $4,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $4,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGRACE CHURCH SCHOOL: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $4,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetISRAEL GUIDE DOG CENTER FOR THE BLIND: $3,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAREERS THROUGH CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM DBA CULINARY CAREERS PROGRAM: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBERKSHIRE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION TEAM INC: $3,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $2,650 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRUTH & NORMAN RALES JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMusicians of the Old Post Road Inc: $2,500 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetUNITED ANIMAL NATIONS DBA REDROVER: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT HIGH HOPES: $2,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetNAMI National: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL RELIEF TEAMS: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds MILAGRO FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds TURNOUT ACTIVISM INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc ↗
  • Who funds DIRECT RELIEF ↗
  • Who funds IMPACT 100 PALM BEACH COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC ↗
  • Who funds RAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds HOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds LAPPIN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE CLEAR FUND ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE CARTER CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF GREATER ORLANDO INC ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds HUMAN RELATIONS SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗

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.

Combined Jewish Phila…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Jewish Communal FundBoston Foundation IncMorgan Stanley Global…Raymond James Charita…The Chicago Community…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…The Pfizer Foundation…The Blackbaud Giving …
Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston IncMA14.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · Boston Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · The Chicago Community Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund

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 Bear-Sontz Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bear-Sontz Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Boston Area Rape Crisis Center Inc: 82% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Big Dog Ranch Rescue Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • K9S for Warriors Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.

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 100 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 Bear-Sontz Family’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