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Brahmaputra Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Brahmaputra 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.

$180k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$180k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$1.4MFood & Nutrition$200kInternational$175kHealth$131kHuman Services$53kSocial Science$50kPhilanthropy$10k
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$180,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$137k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREENHILL SCHOOL$180,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY19–23, $53k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 62% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FRANCIS HOUSE INC: $3k → 14%HOSTAGE US: $20k → 6%HOSTAGE US: $30k → 14%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 8 repeat orgs$113k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +37% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
4

Total granted

$2.1M
$113k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+31%

Still filing today

88%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesHealthInternationalSocial ScienceOther
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

  • GS
    GREENHILL SCHOOL
    5× · 2020–2025 · $870k · revenue +37%
  • Cornell University
    5× · 2019–2024 · $575k · revenue +50%
  • LA
    LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK
    2× · 2019–2020 · $200k · revenue +184%

Funded once

  • UE
    UNHCR EMERGENCY FUND
    one grant, 2019 · $50k
  • TB
    THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue +6%
  • GA
    GSD Advisers Incgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +43%
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
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
2
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
3
Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities

The auschwitz institute for the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities is dedicated to building a world that prevents genocide. we aim to see every state effectively integrate within government the domestically developed function of…

International
4
Center for Strategic and International Studies

The center for strategic and international studies (csis) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world's greatest challenges.

International
5
Council On Foreign Relations Inc

The council on foreign relations (cfr) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and…

International
6
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
7
The Central European University

Ceu is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. it aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social…

International
8
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
9
Columbia University Press

Enhance Columbia University's education mission by acquiring and publishing outstanding original works by scholars and others that contribute to an understanding of global human concerns. Columbia University Press became part of the…

Arts & Culture
10
Fordham University

Fordham university, the jesuit university of new york, is committed to the discovery of wisdom and the transmission of learning, through research and through education of the highest quality. for more information, see schedule o.

Education
11
Access to Advanced Health Institute

Aahi is a nonprofit biotech research institute, bringing together the best experts, technologies, and platforms to create accessible, high-quality products and solutions for harnessing the immune system to alleviate disease.

Health
12
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greenhill School; the most unlike its peers is The Foundation for Aids Research. 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

11 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. 11 of the 13 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREENHILL SCHOOL: $870,000 · EducationGREENHILL SCHOOLCornell University: $575,000 · EducationCornell University+2 more: $40,000 · EducationLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $200,000 · OtherLOS ANGELES REGION…UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - WHARTON: $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF PENN…UNHCR EMERGENCY FUND: $50,000 · OtherUNHCR EMERGENCY FU…THE FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH: $130,800 · HealthUnited States Association for UNHCR: $125,000 · InternationalHOSTAGE US INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesFRANCIS HOUSE INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $50,000 · Social ScienceENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Education$1,485,000Other$350,000Health$130,800International$125,000Human Services$52,500Social Science$50,000Philanthropy$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$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetGREENHILL SCHOOL: $870,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetCornell University: $575,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH: $130,800 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetUnited States Association for UNHCR: $125,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOSTAGE US INC: $50,000 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCARLTHORP SCHOOL: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGSD Advisers Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFRANCIS HOUSE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA9.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    0get 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, FY20–25
    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 13 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 Brahmaputra’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