· Private foundation
Berman Family Foundation Inc
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.
Read this first · the figures below need context
70% of Berman Family Foundation Inc’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Jewish Federation Of Madison Inc, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 6 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k9 grants · $9k
- $10k–50k1 grant · $22k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| JEWISH FEDERATION OF MADISON | $22,000 |
| TEMPLE OF BETH EL | $2,500 |
| Individual grant recipient | $1,500 |
| WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC | $1,500 |
| MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN | $1,500 |
| ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE | $1,025 |
| WAISMAN CENTER | $525 |
| OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS | $300 |
| WI CHAMBER ORCHESTRA | $300 |
| UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN | $200 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 25% of Berman Family Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 88% of the giving stays in WI; by stated purpose, 86%.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +66% since the first grant, against -80% for those funded once.
11 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $200 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC9× · 2017–2025 · $12k · revenue +66%- ALANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE9× · 2017–2025 · $8k · revenue +78%
- FOFRIENDS OF THE WAISMAN CENTER3× · 2021–2023 · $2k · revenue +7%
Funded once
- JBJEWISH BURIAL ASSOCIATION OF MADISON INCone grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue -80%
- IGIndividual grant recipientone grant, 2022 · $2k
- UCUW CARBONE CANCER CENTERone grant, 2022 · $250
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.
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.
The mission of the milwaukee bar association is to be an inclusive, equitable and diverse organization that serves the interests of the lawyers, judges and the people of milwaukee county by working to promote the professional interests of…
The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.
The museum of wisconsin art celebrates the value, diversity, and uniqueness of the visual arts and artists of wisconsin. this is achieved by collecting, conserving, documenting, exhibiting, and promoting aesthetic understanding of the…
To protect and improve the lives of its members through family supporting wages and benefits, as well as through programs and services designed to make its members the safest, most skilled and productive workers in the laborers industry.
The madison professional police officers association represents law enforcement professionals who serve the city of madison wisconsin as either police officers, detectives, investigators or sergeants.
Jewish social services of madison empowers families and individuals across generations and cultures to build community and self-sufficiency, with a strong commitment to the jewish community and inspired by jewish values. we offer services…
To promote the welfare of and advance the objectives of the university of wisconsin-madison by encouraging the interest, engagement, and financial support of alumni, donors, and friends in the life of the university and with each other.
The league of women voters of wisconsin (lwvwi) is a nonpartisan political organization. we encourage informed, active participation in government and work to increase understanding of major public policy issues. we influence public policy…
Midwest dairy works with others to give consumers an excellent dairy experience increasing sales, fostering innovation, and inspiring consumer confidence of dairy products and practices.
Madison teachers incorporated (mti) is a labor union representing teachers, substitute teachers, educational assistants, clerical/technical employees, and school security assistants who are employed by the madison metropolitan school…
Make downtown madison an economically strong, equitable, inclusive, and vibrant place to live, work, and visit.
To cultivate civil discourse, increase understanding, and create common ground by connecting wisconsin people and ideas.
How this is measured
8 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. 8 of the 17 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 JEWISH FEDERATION OF MADISON INC ↗
- Who funds MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN ↗
- Who funds WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC ↗
- Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ↗
- Who funds JEWISH BURIAL ASSOCIATION OF MADISON INC ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF THE WAISMAN CENTER ↗
- Who funds WISCONSIN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA INC ↗
- Who funds University of Michigan ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Berman Family Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Berman Family Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Berman Family’s filings →