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David & Janet Polak Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

David & Janet Polak 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.

$2.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
82
Grants FY2024still arriving
16
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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$3.5MEducation$2.7MScience & Tech$1.4MHealth$1.1MPhilanthropy$1.1MArts & Culture$786kCivil Rights$676kReligion$558kOther$0
02FY2024 · 82 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k33 grants · $163k
  • $10k–50k30 grants · $520k
  • $50k–250k18 grants · $1.4M
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$10,000
Median grant
16
States reached
$70M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY INC$250,000
STANDWITHUS$200,000
FRIENDS OF ELNET$150,000
JEWISH FEDERATION COUNCIL OF GREATER LOS ANGELES$110,000
CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER$100,000
THE JEWISH INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY OF AMER$100,000
FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES$100,000
SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER INC$61,000
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$60,000
MOISHE HOUSE$60,000
AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY INC$56,000
PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$55,000
TURNING POINT USA INC$50,000
REPORT INC - RESEARCH EVALUATION PROMOTING OR$50,000
TRIBE MEDIA CORP$50,000
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 (FY20–20, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $5k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
TN
DC
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 15% of David & Janet Polak Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

David & Janet Polak Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 24% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.7M · 69 repeat orgs$234k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

69 repeat relationships: 59 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

69
12

Total granted

$9.7M
$165k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+1%

Still filing today

87%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $69k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
InternationalArts & CultureEducationReligionHealthCivil RightsOther
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

  • AF
    AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +108%
  • IE
    ISRAEL EMERGENCY ALLIANCE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +52%
  • CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
    5× · 2020–2024 · $641k · revenue +55%

Funded once

  • RI
    REPORT INC-RESEARCHEVALUATIONPROMOTING ORG RESP
    one grant, 2021 · $50k
  • RE
    RESEARCH - EVAL - PROMOTING ORG RESPON & TRANSPARENCY - REPORT - INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +127%
  • TJ
    THE JEWISH HOME AND SENIOR LIVING FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -12%
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
The Israel Institute Inc

The israel institute, inc. (the institute) enhances knowledge about modern israel by ensuring that more students have access to courses about israel during their time on campus.

International
2
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
3
Us Middle East Project Inc

The organization's mission is to engage in non partisan analysis of u.s. foreign policy in the middle east, with special emphasis on the middle east peace process, and to present policymakers in the united states, in the region and in the…

International
4
The Jewish Agency for Israel

The jewish agency binds jews across ideologies and civilizations together in a worldwide jewish family with israel at its center. it provides the global framework for aliyah, ensures global jewish safety, strengthens jewish identity and…

—
5
Weizmann Institute of Science

The weizmann institute of science, located in rehovot, israel, is one of the worlds top-ranking, multidisciplinary research institutions. at any one time, several thousand scientists, staff and students are involved in hundreds of research…

Science & Tech
6
American Friends of Bar-Ilan University

We fundraise in the u.s. to support, and raise awareness of, bar-ilan university in israel.

Education
7
American Friends of Hebrew University Inc

Support the hebrew univ. of jerusalem, israel's foremost center of higher edu. & research.

International
8
University of Southern California Hillel Foundation

To create an informed, celebratory and satisfying jewish community for students at the university of southern california, to deepen jewish identity through social, intellectual and spiritual participation, to offer diversified…

—
9
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
10
The Shalom Hartman Institute of North America

The shalom hartman institute (shi) is a leading research and educational center serving israel and world jewry. we work to enrich the moral and spiritual life of israel and the jewish people, deepen the commitment to pluralism and israel's…

International
11
American Israel Public Affairs Committee

To strengthen and expand the u.s.-israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the united states and israel.

International
12
Yivo Institute for Jewish Research Inc

Yivo's mission is to study the thousand-year history of jewish life in eastern europe and russia in all its aspects: language, history, religion, folkways and material culture. yivo's archive and library preserves a significant collection…

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Funders Network; the most unlike its peers is Pacific Legal Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

87 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. 87 of the 97 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
84/87
Grantees still filing
58/87
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TECHNION ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $1,395,000 · InternationalAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TECHNION ISRAEL INSTI…ISRAEL EMERGENCY ALLIANCE: $1,000,000 · InternationalISRAEL EMERGENCY ALLIANCEJEWISH INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY OF AMERICA: $544,820 · InternationalJEWISH INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY OF …FRIENDS OF ELNET: $530,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF ELNETFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $373,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCESMIDDLE EAST FORUM: $220,000 · InternationalCentral Fund of Israel: $185,000 · International+12 more: $493,800 · International+12 moreAMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY INC: $1,631,500 · EducationAMERICANS FOR BEN-GURIO…PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $305,000 · EducationPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUND…UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $280,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN …Massachusetts Institute of Technology: $200,000 · EducationMassachusetts Institute…PROCLAIMING JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS INC: $100,000 · Education+7 more: $126,800 · EducationTRIBE MEDIA CORP: $315,000 · OtherTRIBE MEDIA CORPTHE HAROLD GRINSPOON FOUNDATION: $262,724 · OtherTHE HAROLD GRINSPOON F…TURNING POINT USA INC: $240,000 · OtherTURNING POINT USA INCBarak Ballet Corporation: $205,000 · OtherBarak Ballet Corporati…FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES - LOS ANGELES: $156,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL …ISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC: $153,500 · OtherISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH…REPORT INC - RESEARCH EVALUATION PROMOTING OR: $130,000 · OtherYoung America's Foundation: $110,000 · OtherAMCHA Initiative: $110,000 · OtherLOS ANGELES JEWISH HOME FOR THE AGING: $135,000 · OtherLOS ANGELES JEWISH HOM…ENDOWMENT FOR MIDDLE EAST TRUTH: $90,000 · Other+25 more: $596,900 · Other+25 moreJEWISH FEDERATION COUNCIL OF GREATER LA: $844,000 · PhilanthropyCONCERN FOUNDATION: $31,500 · Philanthropy+2 more: $8,600 · PhilanthropySIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER INC: $351,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM: $227,500 · Arts & CultureHONESTREPORTINGCOM INC: $38,000 · Arts & CultureLOS ANGELES BALLET INC: $30,000 · Arts & Culture+13 more: $143,100 · Arts & CultureCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $640,500 · HealthAMERICAN FRIENDS OF SHEBA MEDICAL CENTER INC: $75,000 · Health+2 more: $27,500 · HealthMOISHE HOUSE: $265,000 · ReligionOPENDOR MEDIA INC: $55,000 · ReligionJEWBELONG INC: $25,000 · Religion+2 more: $12,800 · Religion
International$4,741,620Education$2,643,300Other$2,504,124Philanthropy$884,100Arts & Culture$789,600Health$743,000Religion$357,800

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 budgetAMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY INC: $1,631,500 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TECHNION ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $1,395,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetISRAEL EMERGENCY ALLIANCE: $1,000,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION COUNCIL OF GREATER LA: $844,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $640,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY OF AMERICA: $544,820 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF ELNET: $530,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $373,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER INC: $351,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTRIBE MEDIA CORP: $315,000 over 5y, 3.4% of budgetPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $305,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $280,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMOISHE HOUSE: $265,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE HAROLD GRINSPOON FOUNDATION: $262,724 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC: $240,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM: $227,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMIDDLE EAST FORUM: $220,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetBarak Ballet Corporation: $205,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $200,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCentral Fund of Israel: $185,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC: $153,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetLOS ANGELES JEWISH HOME FOR THE AGING: $135,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF ISRAELI NAVY SEALS INC: $130,200 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $110,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetAMCHA Initiative: $110,000 over 5y, 8.6% of budgetPROCLAIMING JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS INC: $100,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetTHE LAWFARE PROJECT INC: $100,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetENDOWMENT FOR MIDDLE EAST TRUTH: $90,000 over 5y, 4.2% of budgetCOMMITTEE FOR ACCURACY IN MIDDLE EAST REPORTING IN AMERICA INC: $80,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetDAVID HOROWITZ FREEDOM CENTER: $80,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF SHEBA MEDICAL CENTER INC: $75,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOPENDOR MEDIA INC: $55,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetRESEARCH - EVAL - PROMOTING ORG RESPON & TRANSPARENCY - REPORT - INC: $50,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetTHE BUCKLEY SCHOOL: $47,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMIDDLE EAST MEDIA AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $40,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHONESTREPORTINGCOM INC: $38,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $35,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCONCERN FOUNDATION: $31,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetJEWISH NEWS SERVICE INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLOS ANGELES BALLET INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetJEWBELONG INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetSTUDENTS RUN AMERICA: $25,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPacific Legal Foundation: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MAPLE COUNSELING CENTER: $22,500 over 5y, 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.

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 Community Foun…The Milstein Family F…Hochberg Family Found…Jewish Community Fede…California Community …Jewish Communal FundCombined Jewish Phila…The Snider FoundationThe Ahmanson Foundati…The Annenberg Foundat…The Sandra & Lawrence…Gs Donor Advised Phil…
Jewish Community Foundation of Los AngelesCA41.8× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles · The Milstein Family Foundation · Hochberg Family Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · California Community Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · The Snider Foundation · The Ahmanson Foundation · The Annenberg Foundation · The Sandra & Lawrence Post Family Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management 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 David & Janet Polak Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from David & Janet Polak Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 35%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 David & Janet Polak Foundation?

Find your warmest path to David & Janet Polak Foundation 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 97 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 David & Janet Polak’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