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Denise Lefrak Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Denise Lefrak 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.

$218k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$1.1MHealth$382kArts & Culture$131kPhilanthropy$67kRecreation & Sports$60kReligion$35kInternational$27kHuman Services$13kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $156k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$25,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$5.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC$50,000
BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$25,550
RICHARD J CARON FOUNDATION$25,000
MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER$25,000
RACE TO ERASE MS$25,000
NYU LANGONE HEALTH$25,000
HARVARD UNIVERSTY$20,000
CONGREGATION OF EMANU-EL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK$10,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INC$6,000
PALM BEACH COUNTRY CLUB FOUNDATION$4,000
TOWN OF PALM BEACH UNITED WAY$2,000
ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION OF BARNARD COLLEGE$500
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 (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HARVARD UNIVERSTY: $20k → 8%RICHARD J CARON FOUNDATION: $25k → 11%RACE TO ERASE MS: $25k → 14%THE PARRISH ART MUSEUM: $36k → 7%NYU LANGONE HEALTH: $50k → 17%JEWISH FEDERATION OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $6k → 11%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $32k → 14%HARVARD UNIVERSTY: $20k → 8%CARON TREATMENT SERVICES: $25k → 11%THE PARRISH ART MUSEUM: $15k → 7%NYU LANGONE HEALTH: $25k → 17%JEWISH FEDERATION OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $6k → 11%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $18k → 14%HARVARD UNIVERSTY: $20k → 8%THE PARRISH ART MUSEUM: $14k → 7%CARON FOUNDATION: $45k → 17%CARON FOUNDATION: $13k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $337k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $110k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $90k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $51k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $14k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $92k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $84k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $54k → 17%NEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC: $50k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $49k → 17%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $25k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $48k → 17%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $25k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $25k → 17%CONGREGATION EMANU-EL: $20k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $23k → 17%CONGREGATION OF EMANU-EL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $10k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $20k → 17%MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $7k → 17%THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $7k → 17%THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $7k → 17%BARNARD COLLEGE: $6k → 17%FRIENDS OF ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $25k → 17%SOLOMON GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: $20k → 17%THE NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $25k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL MUSEUM: $10k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL MUSEUM: $5k → 17%BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $26k → 17%BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $25k → 17%BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $11k → 17%BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
NY
MA
IN
PA
CT
CA
VA
DE
NM
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 17 repeat orgs$266k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
24

Total granted

$1.5M
$155k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+20%

Still filing today

65%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 48% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $111k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthEducationInternationalRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BARNARD COLLEGE
    2× · 2021–2022 · $1.0M · revenue +32%
  • THE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $72k · revenue +29%
  • TP
    THE PARRISH ART MUSEUM INC
    3× · 2019–2021 · $65k · revenue +127%

Funded once

  • CT
    CARON TREATMENT SERVICES
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +8%
  • FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue -33%
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
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
2
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
3
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
4
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
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
The Baruch College Fund

The baruch college fund is an organization engaged in generating, encouraging and promoting the educational welfare of the students of the bernard m. baruch college of the city university of new york.

Education
7
Neurology Associates of Stony Brook University Faculty Practice Corp

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
8
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
9
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
10
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
11
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
12
Stony Brook Surgical Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County Inc; the most unlike its peers is Biographers International Organization. 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

30 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. 30 of the 47 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)
30/30
Grantees still filing
24/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BARNARD COLLEGE: $1,004,567 · EducationBARNARD COLLEGE+3 more: $17,500 · EducationNYU LANGONE HEALTH: $75,000 · OtherNYU LANGONE HEALTHHARVARD UNIVERSTY: $60,000 · OtherHARVARD UNIVERSTYCARON FOUNDATION: $57,500 · OtherCARON FOUNDATIONMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $50,000 · OtherMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING C…CARON TREATMENT SERVICES: $25,000 · OtherCARON TREATMENT SERVICESCONGREGATION EMANUEL: $25,000 · OtherCONGREGATION EMANUELRACE TO ERASE MS: $25,000 · OtherRACE TO ERASE MSSOLOMON GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: $20,000 · Other+17 more: $79,750 · Other+17 moreNEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · HealthNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $25,000 · HealthRICHARD J CARON FOUNDATION: $25,000 · HealthPULMONARY WELLNESS FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Health+2 more: $3,000 · HealthTHE PARRISH ART MUSEUM INC: $64,500 · Arts & CultureMuseum of Modern Art: $20,700 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL MUSEUM: $15,250 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $5,500 · Arts & CultureTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $71,550 · Public Safety & DisasterNorthwestern University: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $25,000 · InternationalTHE ELIE WIESEL FOUNDATION INC: $1,800 · International
Education$1,022,067Other$417,250Health$108,000Arts & Culture$105,950Public Safety & Disaster$71,550Recreation & Sports$55,000International$26,800

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 budgetBARNARD COLLEGE: $1,004,567 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $71,550 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PARRISH ART MUSEUM INC: $64,500 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetNorthwestern University: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRICHARD J CARON FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRACE TO ERASE MS: $25,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $20,700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL MUSEUM: $15,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $12,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPALM BEACH COUNTRY CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE HEWITT SCHOOL: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetIndiana State University Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPULMONARY WELLNESS FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTown of Palm Beach United Way Inc: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBONE HEALTH AND OSTEOPOROSIS FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PHILHARMONIC SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ELIE WIESEL FOUNDATION INC: $1,800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFILM AT LINCOLN CENTER INC: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBiographers International Organization: $1,250 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetCOLUMBUS CITIZENS FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUMANE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE FOR DEPRESSION RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% 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 FundThe Goldman Sachs Cha…Morgan Stanley Global…Renaissance Charitabl…The Bank of America C…Charities Aid Foundat…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Jewish Communal FundNY13.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Denise Lefrak Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Denise Lefrak Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 Denise Lefrak Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Denise Lefrak 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 47 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 Denise Lefrak’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