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Benzak Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Benzak Foundation

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.

$300k
Granted FY2024still arriving
11
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2024.

Education$934kEnvironment$386kFood & Nutrition$162kRecreation & Sports$90kArts & Culture$55kReligion$40kPublic Safety & Disaster$15kHealth$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $170k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $125k
$20,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$7.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES$75,000
CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION$50,000
AQUIDNECK LAND TRUST$30,000
TAHOE FUND$30,000
ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK$25,000
FRIENDS OF NEWPORT SKATEPARK$20,000
THE WHEELER SCHOOL$20,000
TABOR ACADEMY$20,000
LAKE TAHOE SCHOOL$15,000
THE SAILING MUSEUM$10,000
TAHOE RIM TRAIL ASSOCIATION$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 53% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 8%TABOR ACADEMY: $20k → 8%WILDLANDS FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION: $15k → 8%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES: $75k → 16%TAHOE FUND: $35k → 6%GREENWICH EMS: $30k → 9%AQUIDNECK LAND TRUST: $30k → 7%THE WHEELER SCHOOL: $20k → 14%ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK: $40k → 8%CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION: $60k → 6%FOOD BANK OF NORTHERN NEVADA: $10k → 7%LAKE TAHOE SCHOOL: $15k → 10%BALTIMORE INTL SEAFARERS CTR: $40k → 19%TABOR ACADEMY: $10k → 8%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES: $75k → 16%TAHOE FUND: $35k → 6%NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR: $10k → 9%NEWPORT CO YMCA: $30k → 7%THE WHEELER SCHOOL: $10k → 14%ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK: $30k → 8%CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION: $55k → 6%LAKE TAHOE SCHOOL: $15k → 10%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES: $70k → 16%TAHOE FUND: $30k → 6%NORMAN BIRD SANCTUARY: $10k → 7%RI COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $52k → 14%ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK: $25k → 8%CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION: $50k → 6%LAKE TAHOE SCHOOL: $15k → 10%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES: $60k → 16%TAHOE FUND: $15k → 6%STAR KIDS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: $10k → 7%THE WHEELER SCHOOL: $10k → 14%ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK: $25k → 8%CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION: $50k → 6%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES: $35k → 16%RI COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $40k → 14%ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK: $25k → 8%CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION: $45k → 6%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES: $35k → 16%ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK: $25k → 8%CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION: $45k → 6%RI COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $40k → 14%ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK: $24k → 8%CHILDREN OF FALLEN PATRIOTS FOUNDATION: $41k → 6%FRIENDS OF NEWPORT AND SKATEPARK: $30k → 7%THE SAILING MUSEUM: $20k → 7%FRIENDS OF NEWPORT SKATEPARK: $20k → 7%THE SAILING MUSEUM: $20k → 7%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

AK
ID
NY
MA
NV
PA
CT
RI
CA
VA
MD
TX
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 20 repeat orgs$137k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
9

Total granted

$1.7M
$137k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+4%

Still filing today

70%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EducationEnvironmentRecreation & SportsFood & NutritionReligionAnimalsOther
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

  • CO
    Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
    7× · 2017–2024 · $346k · revenue +72%
  • IT
    Island Trails Network
    7× · 2017–2024 · $194k · revenue +254%
  • TF
    TAHOE FUND
    4× · 2021–2024 · $115k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • BI
    BALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL SEAFARERS CENTER
    one grant, 2020 · $40k · revenue -4%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $30k
  • WF
    WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $15k · revenue -10%
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
Eastern National

Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.

Recreation & Sports
2
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.

—
3
Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc

The nantucket conservation foundation owns, protects, and stewards over 9,000 acres of land and coastal shoreline, conserves nantucket's rare and significant natural resources, and engages in impactful ecological research to inform…

Environment
4
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
5
The Island School

The Island School provides a flexible learning environment where each child is known and celebrated.

Education
6
Islesboro Islands Trust

The mission of Islesboro Islands Trust is to enhance the quality of residents' lives through the preservation of open space, educate all residents as to the value of the island's natural ecosystems, and act as an environmental advocate on…

Philanthropy
7
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
8
Creekside Charter Management

To cultivate student success through mindful perseverance, critical thinking, resourcefulness and advanced knowledge that will prepare students for high levels of success in school, work, and life, while honoring the individuality and…

Education
9
San Francisco Friends School

At san francisco friends school, students learn in a community grounded in the quaker values of reflection, integrity, peaceful problem-solving and stewardship. our teachers challenge students with a dynamic curriculum that inspires…

Education
10
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
11
Aquarium of the Pacific Corporation

The aquarium of the pacific's mission is to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the pacific ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems.

Animals
12
Tahoe Institute for Natural Science

To advance the natural history, conservation and ecosystem knowledge of the Tahoe region through science, education and outreach.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Neighbor to Neighbor Inc; the most unlike its peers is Baltimore International Seafarers Center. 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

21 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. 21 of the 29 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
13/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES: $360,000 · OtherPENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESRI COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $132,000 · OtherRI COMMUNITY FOOD BANKTHE SAILING MUSEUM: $50,000 · OtherTHE SAILING MUSEUMIndividual grant recipient: $50,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientST MICHAEL'S COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $37,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $30,000 · Other+5 more: $46,000 · Other+5 moreChildren of Fallen Patriots Foundation: $346,000 · EducationChildren of Fallen Patriots Found…NEWPORTFALL RIVER STAR KIDS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: $60,000 · EducationNEWPORTFALL RIVER STAR KIDS SCHOL…Lake Tahoe School: $45,000 · EducationLake Tahoe SchoolTHE WHEELER SCHOOL: $40,000 · EducationTHE WHEELER SCHOOLTABOR ACADEMY: $39,000 · EducationTABOR ACADEMY+1 more: $7,000 · EducationIsland Trails Network: $194,000 · EnvironmentIsland Trails NetworkTAHOE FUND: $115,000 · EnvironmentTAHOE FUNDAQUIDNECK ISLAND LAND TRUST: $63,500 · EnvironmentAQUIDNECK ISLAND LAND TRU…WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION: $15,000 · EnvironmentCLEAN OCEAN ACCESS INC: $13,500 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF NEWPORT SKATEPARK: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsTahoe Rim Trail Association: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsSAIL NEWPORT: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsBALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL SEAFARERS CENTER: $40,000 · ReligionFood Bank of Northern Nevada Inc: $10,000 · Food & NutritionFEEDING THE FOOTHILLS: $10,000 · Food & NutritionTHE NORMAN BIRD SANCTUARY TRUST: $10,000 · Animals
Other$705,000Education$537,000Environment$401,000Recreation & Sports$90,000Religion$40,000Food & Nutrition$20,000Animals$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetChildren of Fallen Patriots Foundation: $346,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetIsland Trails Network: $194,000 over 7y, 20% of budgetTAHOE FUND: $115,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetAQUIDNECK ISLAND LAND TRUST: $63,500 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetNEWPORTFALL RIVER STAR KIDS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: $60,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF NEWPORT SKATEPARK: $50,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetLake Tahoe School: $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL SEAFARERS CENTER: $40,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetTHE WHEELER SCHOOL: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTABOR ACADEMY: $39,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetST MICHAEL'S COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $37,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTahoe Rim Trail Association: $20,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetSAIL NEWPORT: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCLEAN OCEAN ACCESS INC: $13,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetFood Bank of Northern Nevada Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NORMAN BIRD SANCTUARY TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFEEDING THE FOOTHILLS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetST GEORGE'S SCHOOL: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMPANY OF THE REDWOOD LIBRARY AND ATHENAEUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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 Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Island Trails Network ↗
  • Who funds TAHOE FUND ↗
  • Who funds AQUIDNECK ISLAND LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds NEWPORTFALL RIVER STAR KIDS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF NEWPORT SKATEPARK ↗
  • Who funds Lake Tahoe School ↗
  • Who funds BALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL SEAFARERS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE WHEELER SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds TABOR ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds ST MICHAEL'S COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Tahoe Rim Trail Association ↗
  • Who funds SAIL NEWPORT ↗
  • Who funds WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CLEAN OCEAN ACCESS INC ↗
  • Who funds Food Bank of Northern Nevada Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE NORMAN BIRD SANCTUARY TRUST ↗
  • Who funds FEEDING THE FOOTHILLS ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR INC ↗
  • Who funds ST GEORGE'S SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE COMPANY OF THE REDWOOD LIBRARY AND ATHENAEUM ↗

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 Rhode Island Comm…Van Beuren Charitable…Gruben Charitable Fou…Ejmp Fund for Philant…Frederick Henry Princ…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Howell Family Charita…Bazarsky Family Found…Hamilton Family Found…Amica Companies Found…Boston Foundation IncLarry and Anne Glenn …
The Rhode Island Community FoundationRI21.3× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Rhode Island Community Foundation · Van Beuren Charitable Foundation Inc · Gruben Charitable Foundation · Ejmp Fund for Philanthropy · Frederick Henry Prince Testamentary Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Howell Family Charitable Foundation · Bazarsky Family Foundation · Hamilton Family Foundation · Amica Companies Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Larry and Anne Glenn Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    7report 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 29 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 Benzak’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