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Desert Flower Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Desert Flower 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.

$1.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$650k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$7.0MPhilanthropy$1.0MHealth$997kArts & Culture$183kFood & Nutrition$139kInternational$80kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $3k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $124k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $429k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.3M
$50,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$6.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE SHEFA SCHOOL$650,000
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA$625,000
FIDELITY CHARITABLE GIFT FUND$200,000
THE ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL SCHOOL$125,000
CITY MEALS ON WHEELS$54,000
TARGET ALS FOUNDATION INC$50,000
SOLOMON R GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION$35,000
YAMBA MALAWI INC$33,000
UBUNTU PATHWAYS INC$25,000
NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC$20,900
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND$10,000
CROWDED ISRAEL RELIEF FUND$2,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY23–24, $67k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%YAMBA MALAWI INC: $34k → 17%YAMBA MALAWI INC: $33k → 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.
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 9 repeat orgs$66k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
3

Total granted

$3.5M
$39k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+293%

Still filing today

89%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $28k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’22’23’24
EducationHealthArts & CultureFood & NutritionHuman ServicesOther
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

  • SS
    SHEFA SCHOOL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +50%
  • NY
    NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $421k · revenue +46%
  • AJ
    ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL SCHOOL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $375k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF SHAMIR (ASSAF HAROFEH) MEDICAL CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $18k · revenue -30%
  • TC
    THE CENTURION FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $13k · revenue +293%
  • NE
    NY ENGELWOOD HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
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
Yeshiva University

The university is composed of several colleges and schools providing undergraduate, graduate, professional and post-doctoral education and training and research and clinical programs.

Education
2
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
3
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

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

—
4
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
5
University of Judaism Foundation
—
6
Greater Miami Hillel Foundation Inc

The mission of the organization is to enrich the lives of jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the jewish people and the world.

—
7
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

To prepare students for the rabbinate and to issue the traditional certificate of ordination in connection therewith. the seminary is authorized to confer the degree of master of hebrew literature (m.h.l.), doctor of hebrew literature…

Education
8
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
9
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…

Arts & Culture
10
Shalom School

Shalom school's mission is to provide each child with an outstanding education in a nurturing environment that is academically excellent, inclusive, innovative, and inspired by jewish values and traditions.

—
11
Abraham & Florence Mendel Foundation
—
12
Yeshiva Ohr Yisroel
Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Shefa School; the most unlike its peers is Target Als Foundation Inc. 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

14 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. 14 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
10/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $2,200,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIASHEFA SCHOOL: $1,238,400 · EducationSHEFA SCHOOLTARGET ALS FOUNDATION INC: $550,000 · EducationTARGET ALS FOUNDATION INCABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL SCHOOL: $375,000 · EducationABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL SCHOOL+1 more: $25,000 · EducationFIDELITY CHARITABLE GIVING: $566,000 · OtherFIDELITY C…+3 more: $23,300 · OtherFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $450,000 · Community ImprovementNEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC: $420,900 · HealthAMERICAN FRIENDS OF SHAMIR (ASSAF HAROFEH) MEDICAL CENTER: $18,000 · HealthFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $100,000 · Arts & CultureSOLOMON R GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION: $70,000 · Arts & CultureCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $139,000 · Food & NutritionYAMBA MALAWI INC: $67,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH NATIONAL FUND (KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL) INC: $10,000 · International
Education$4,388,400Other$589,300Community Improvement$450,000Health$438,900Arts & Culture$170,000Food & Nutrition$139,000Human Services$67,000International$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $2,200,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSHEFA SCHOOL: $1,238,400 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetTARGET ALS FOUNDATION INC: $550,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $450,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC: $420,900 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL SCHOOL: $375,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $139,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOLOMON R GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetYAMBA MALAWI INC: $67,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetUBUNTU PATHWAYS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF SHAMIR (ASSAF HAROFEH) MEDICAL CENTER: $18,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE CENTURION FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH NATIONAL FUND (KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL) INC: $10,000 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.

The Goldman Sachs Cha…Jewish Communal FundNational Philanthropi…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift FundNY13× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Jewish Communal Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable 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 Desert Flower Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Desert Flower Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 17 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 Desert Flower’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