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Ben & Estelle Sommers Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Ben & Estelle Sommers Foundation Inc

Its FY2023 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$7k
Granted FY2023
28
Grants FY2023
6
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2023.

Arts & Culture$22kReligion$22kPublic Safety & Disaster$1kYouth Development$1kEducation$990Environment$365Health$340Food & Nutrition$334Other$0
02FY2023 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$100
Median grant
6
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE$2,007
JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE$1,410
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$1,200
LINCOLN CENTER THEATRE$406
TEMPLE EMANUEL STREICKER CENTER$360
CITY CENTER ENCORES$285
UNTERMYER GARDENS CONSERVANCY$200
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART$198
UNITED HATZALAH$180
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM$180
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART$175
NEW YORK CITY BALLET$119
LINCOLN CENTER DANCE AGAINST CANCER$103
KING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION$100
AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL$100
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 (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 79% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%UNTERMYER GARDENS CONSERVANCY: $200 → 9%JESSICA LANG DANCE: $1k → 13%SHAKE AND BAKE THEATRE: $261 → 17%FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: $400 → 28%JOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $451 → 14%WESTON PLAYHOUSE: $421 → 9%JESSICA LANG DANCE: $666 → 13%FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: $400 → 28%WESTON PLAYHOUSE THEATRE CO: $343 → 9%WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: $1k → 14%WESTON PLAYHOUSE THEATRE CO: $252 → 9%JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE: $2k → 12%JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE: $1k → 12%JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE: $1k → 12%RAMAPO FOR CHILDREN: $1k → 17%JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE: $869 → 12%ROUNDABOUT THEATRE: $258 → 17%JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE: $468 → 12%JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE: $295 → 12%JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE: $200 → 12%CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $4k → 17%CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $3k → 17%CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $3k → 17%CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $3k → 17%CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $3k → 17%CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $2k → 17%CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $2k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $1k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $625 → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $542 → 17%LINCOLN CENTER THEATRE: $406 → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $334 → 17%LINCOLN CENTER THEATRE: $244 → 17%NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC: $217 → 17%JCC: $210 → 17%LINCOLN CENTER THEATRE: $202 → 17%LINCOLN CENTER THEATRE: $186 → 17%THE PUBLIC THEATRE: $256 → 17%CITY CENTER ENCORES: $1k → 17%ALVIN AILEY: $413 → 17%CITY CENTER ENCORES: $285 → 17%NEW YORK CITY CENTER: $221 → 17%MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $215 → 17%MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $198 → 17%TEMPLE EMANUEL STREICKER CENTER: $360 → 17%WSCAHWESTSIDE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HUNGER: $234 → 17%NY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $209 → 17%UNTERMYER CONSERVATORY GARDENS: $400 → 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
OH
PA
NJ
CA
NC
SC
DC
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$41k · 34 repeat orgs$9k to everyone else

34 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2023, 18 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
60

Total granted

$41k
$8k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+35%

Still filing today

53%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $970 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentInternationalRecreation & SportsReligionOther
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

  • JP
    JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL INC
    7× · 2017–2023 · $7k · revenue +95%
  • NY
    NEW YORK CITY BALLET INC
    6× · 2017–2023 · $3k · revenue +21%
  • FU
    Fordham University
    2× · 2017–2018 · $800 · revenue +47%

Funded once

  • RF
    RAMAPO FOR CHILDREN INC
    one grant, 2018 · $1k · revenue -13%
  • JF
    JOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $451 · revenue +160%
  • WP
    WESTON PLAYHOUSE
    one grant, 2017 · $421
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
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
2
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
3
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
4
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
5
Bang On a Can

Presenting, commissioning, performing, recording and teaching contemporary music. bang on a can believes in exposing exciting new music as broadly and accessibly as possible. through it's summer institute, bang on a can hopes to bring this…

Arts & Culture
6
Amigos Del Museo Del Barrio Inc El Museo Del Barrio

El museo's mission is to preserve, interpret, and promote the artistic heritage of puerto ricans and all latin americans in the united states by means of exhibitions, public programs, publications, and educational activities.

Arts & Culture
7
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute

Munson-williams-proctor arts institute (mwpai) is a fine arts center dedicated to serving diverse audiences by advancing the appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts. the art institute aims to promote interest and…

Arts & Culture
8
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
9
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
10
Philadelphia Museum of Art

The philadelphia museum of art - in partnership with the city, the region, and art museums around the globe - seeks to preserve, enhance, interpret, and extend the reach of its great collection in particular, and the visual arts in…

Arts & Culture
11
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
12
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Philharmonic Symphony Society of Ny Inc; the most unlike its peers is Brant Lake Foundation Inc. 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

51 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. 51 of the 106 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/51
Grantees still filing
36/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $19,940 · OtherCENTRAL SYNAGOGUEJESSICA LANG DANCE INC: $1,733 · OtherJESSICA LANG DANCE INCCITY CENTER ENCORES: $1,325 · OtherLINCOLN CENTER THEATRE: $1,038 · Other+59 more: $6,909 · Other+59 moreJACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL INC: $6,865 · Arts & CultureJACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL INCNEW YORK CITY BALLET INC: $2,793 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK CITY BALLET INCMuseum of Modern Art: $600 · Arts & CultureTHE WESTON PLAYHOUSE THEATER: $595 · Arts & Culture+26 more: $3,869 · Arts & Culture+26 moreWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,300 · InternationalAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $180 · InternationalT'RUAH: $100 · InternationalMYRIAD USA INC: $100 · InternationalRAMAPO FOR CHILDREN INC: $1,000 · Recreation & SportsUNTERMYER GARDENS CONSERVANCY INC: $200 · Recreation & SportsFordham University: $800 · EducationMoveOnorg Civic Action: $77 · Education+1 more: $30 · EducationNEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $70 · EnvironmentBRANT LAKE FOUNDATION INC: $50 · EnvironmentPHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC: $27 · EnvironmentTHE YOUNG MEN'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION: $80 · Religion
Other$30,945Arts & Culture$14,722International$1,680Recreation & Sports$1,200Education$907Environment$147Religion$80

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 budgetJACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL INC: $6,865 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK CITY BALLET INC: $2,793 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetJESSICA LANG DANCE INC: $1,733 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAMAPO FOR CHILDREN INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFordham University: $800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WESTON PLAYHOUSE THEATER: $595 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $488 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $451 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INC: $258 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK CITY CENTER INC: $251 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $242 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PHILHARMONIC SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NY INC: $217 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMarlboro School of Music Inc: $209 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNTERMYER GARDENS CONSERVANCY INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC: $178 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF HILDENE INC: $167 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE A LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST: $166 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC: $141 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHEATRE DEVELOPMENT FUND INC: $138 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION: $136 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $121 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDISCALCED INC: $120 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetT'RUAH: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMYRIAD USA INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTERLING AND FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE: $98 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDORSET THEATRE FESTIVAL INC: $93 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM: $86 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG MEN'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION: $80 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMoveOnorg Civic Action: $77 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JEWISH MUSEUM: $73 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $70 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTACONIC MUSIC INC: $60 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION: $58 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOYE GROUP INC: $52 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION: $52 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIGAL MUSIC MUSEUM: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRANT LAKE FOUNDATION INC: $50 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN: $45 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROADWAY CARESEQUITY FIGHTS AIDS INC: $40 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBARYSHNIKOV ARTS CENTER INC: $39 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUILLIARD SCHOOL: $30 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC: $27 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP INC: $25 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.

Ibm International Fou…Vermont Council on th…The Shubert Foundatio…The Enoch FoundationThe Harkness Foundati…Ge Aerospace Foundati…The Howard Gilman Fou…National Philanthropi…The Ayco Charitable F…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…
Ibm International FoundationNY15.6× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ibm International Foundation · Vermont Council on the Arts Inc · The Shubert Foundation Inc · The Enoch Foundation · The Harkness Foundation for Dance Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · The Howard Gilman Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Ben & Estelle Sommers Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ben & Estelle Sommers Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Christopher Reeve Foundation: 49% of income from government
  • New England Aquarium Corporation: 12% of income from government
  • Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Weston Playhouse Theater: 0% of income from government
  • Tampa Museum of Art Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Ben & Estelle Sommers Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Ben & Estelle Sommers Foundation Inc 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 106 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Ben & Estelle Sommers’ 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