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Benjamin and Susan Shapell Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Benjamin and Susan Shapell Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$50k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$32k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

63% of Benjamin and Susan Shapell Foundation Inc’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Pef Israel Endowment Funds Inc, 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.

Organizations named directly on the return

4
’20
4
’21
5
’22
0
’24

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

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

International$161kReligion$110kFood & Nutrition$20kHealth$10kEducation$10kArts & Culture$4kHuman Services$3k
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $42k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUND$31,500
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAYANOTMAYANOT INSTITUTE OF JEWISH STUDIES$10,000
JEWISH OUTREACH CENTEROHEL ARI FUND$5,000
GIVING GROUP COMMUNITY (A PARTNER OF SUNFLOWERS)$3,600
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 (FY21–21, $13k) land where the poverty rate runs at 19%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%LIFES DOOR INC: $10k → 20%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF BEIT ISSIE SHAPIRO: $3k → 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.
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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$159k · 5 repeat orgs$54k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +101% since the first grant, against +38% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
11

Total granted

$159k
$40k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+101%
+38%

Still filing today

40%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 27% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’24
InternationalPhilanthropyHuman ServicesArts & CultureCivil 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

  • LT
    LIVING TORAH CENTER
    2× · 2020–2022 · $41k
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MATAN INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $36k · revenue +42%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAYANOT
    3× · 2020–2022 · $31k

Funded once

  • OI
    ONE ISRAEL FUND LTDgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $12k · revenue +228%
  • LD
    LIFE'S DOOR INC
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -33%
  • FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCESgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +110%
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
Sherit Isroel
—
2
Idf Memorial Foundation
Philanthropy
3
University of Judaism Foundation
—
4
American Friends of Tzir Hemed
Philanthropy
5
American Friends of the Us - Israel Binational Science Foundation

The mission of the american friends of the u.s.-israel binational science foundation (afbsf) is to ensure the continuation of collaborative world-class scientific research by israeli and american scientists through the us israel binational…

Science & Tech
6
American Friends of Yeshiva Aish Hatorah
—
7
Physicians for Palestine
Health
8
The Israel Independence Fund

To raise and distribute funds for charitable organizations with the goal to strengthen the jewish and zionist spirit of the state of israel.

Philanthropy
9
American Friends of Torat Eliyahu
Philanthropy
10
American Friends of Menifa Inc

To create, form, and establish an organization to address the growing educational and cultural crises in israel, as well as the negative stereotyping and widening gulf between secular and religious jews in israel. to address the lack of…

Youth Development
11
Friends of Institute for Zionist

The organization seeks to reinforce the foundations of israel as a jewish and democratic state. it acts to promote programs to educate the israeli public on the importance of both values and to demonstrate how each contributes to and…

International
12
Better Future for Israel

To strengthen israel's future in these areas: 1)providing new immigrants with assistance in a few key areas: representing them as they navigate government ministries and assisting them with their challenges as new immigrants to israel.…

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is One Israel Fund Ltd; the most unlike its peers is University of Southern California. 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

12 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. 12 of the 20 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
10/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $94,500 · PhilanthropyPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INCAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MATAN INC: $36,000 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MATAN INCAMERICAN FRIENDS OF LEKET ISRAEL INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN FRIENDS OF LEKET ISRAEL INCLIVING TORAH CENTER: $41,250 · OtherLIVING TORAH CENTERAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAYANOT: $31,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAYANOTJEWISH OUTREACH CENTEROHEL ARI FUND: $30,600 · OtherJEWISH OUTREACH CENTEROHEL ARI FUNDAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAYANOTMAYANOT INSTITUTE OF JEWISH STUDIES: $10,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAYANOTMAYANOT INSTITU…+4 more: $5,900 · OtherONE ISRAEL FUND LTD: $12,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $5,000 · InternationalTHE GESHER FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · InternationalLIFE'S DOOR INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesAMERICAN FRIENDS OF BEIT ISSIE SHAPIRO INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $10,000 · EducationThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $3,600 · Arts & Culture2048 THE SECOND CENTURY: $1,800 · Civil RightsAMERICAN FRIENDS OF PANIM EL PANIM INC: $500 · Religion
Philanthropy$150,500Other$118,750International$19,500Human Services$12,500Education$10,000Arts & Culture$3,600Civil Rights$1,800Religion$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 budgetPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $94,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MATAN INC: $36,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF LEKET ISRAEL INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetONE ISRAEL FUND LTD: $12,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLIFE'S DOOR INC: $10,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $3,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GESHER FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF BEIT ISSIE SHAPIRO INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budget2048 THE SECOND CENTURY: $1,800 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF PANIM EL PANIM INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Jewish Communal FundJewish Federation of …Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Jewish Communal FundNY14.3× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift 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 Benjamin and Susan Shapell Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Benjamin and Susan Shapell Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    typical government reliance, FY20–24
    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 Benjamin and Susan Shapell Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Benjamin and Susan Shapell 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 20 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

    Play a game based on Benjamin and Susan Shapell’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
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    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