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Edward L Bernays Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Edward L Bernays 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.

$42k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$21k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Food & Nutrition$86kHealth$36kEnvironment$21kEducation$17kHuman Services$13kArts & Culture$11kCrime & Legal$4kRecreation & Sports$4kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $21k
$3,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$870k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK$21,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
NORTHAMPTON SURVIVAL CENTER$3,000
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY$3,000
THE CARE CENTER$3,000
EARTHJUSTICE$2,000
MOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL$2,000
LESLEY UNIVERSITY$1,000
DINOSAUR ANNEX MUSIC ENSEMBLE$1,000
KESTREL LAND TRUST$1,000
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 (FY17–25, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 56% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%WELLESLEY STARS INC: $4k → 7%NORTHAMPTON SURVIVAL CENTER: $3k → 12%NORTHAMPTON SURVIVAL CENTER: $500 → 12%NORTHAMPTON SURVIVIAL CENTER: $500 → 12%NORTHAMPTON SURVIVAL CENTER: $500 → 12%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

NY
MA
CT
RI
CA
VA
AZ
DC
AL
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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$157k · 15 repeat orgs$48k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
24

Total granted

$157k
$43k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+5%

Still filing today

67%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentFood & NutritionArts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesCrime & LegalOther
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

  • GB
    GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $68k · revenue +89%
  • DA
    Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble
    8× · 2017–2025 · $8k · revenue +12%
  • CF
    CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC
    4× · 2018–2025 · $6k · revenue +123%

Funded once

  • CD
    COLLEY DICKINSON HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2023 · $6k
  • WS
    WELLESLEY STARS INC
    one grant, 2024 · $4k · revenue 0%
  • PC
    PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $4k · revenue 0%
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
Conservation Law Foundation Inc

Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. we use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources,…

Environment
2
Wildlands Trust Inc

The wildlands trust works throughout southeastern massachusetts to conserve and permanently protect native habitats, farmland, and lands of high ecologic and scenic value that serve to keep our communities healthy and our residents…

Environment
3
Environmental League of Massachusetts Inc

The organization's mission is to advocate for policy that meets the scale and urgency of our environmental challenges. as a massachusetts-based organization that engages in advocacy across a full spectrum of climate, environmental, and…

Environment
4
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
5
Central Ma Food Rescue Inc

Full belly foods purchases food from farms and wholesalers and donates the food to low-income communities across the country.

Food & Nutrition
6
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
7
Sudbury Valley Trustees Inc

Sudbury valley trustees, inc. ("the organization") works to protect natural areas and farmland for wildlife and people in the 36 communities that surround the sudbury, assabet, and concord rivers. the organization cares for some of the…

Environment
8
Kestrel Land Trust

Kestrel land trust conserves and cares for forests, farms, and riverways in the connecticut river valley of western massachusetts while nurturing an enduring love of the land

Environment
9
The Federation of Massachusetts Farmers and Gardeners Markets Inc

Mass farmers markets partners wtih farmers, consumers, and communities to improve the health of individuals, strenghten community vitality, and enhance local farm viability through farmers markets.

Food & Nutrition
10
Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc

To protect the nature of massachusetts for people and for wildlife through education, land conservation, advocacy, scientific research, and habitat stewardship/restoration.

Environment
11
Westport Land Conservation Trust Inc

To preserve and protect westport massachusetts natural resources for people and nature, and to educate the public about the wise use of natural resources.

Environment
12
Spoonfuls

Spoonfuls is an organization that facilitates the recovery and distribution of healthy, perishable food that would otherwise be discarded. spoonfuls works efficiently to deliver this food directly to the community organizations and…

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northampton Survival Center Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mount Auburn Hospital. 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

28 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. 28 of the 40 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)
27/28
Grantees still filing
18/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $68,150 · OtherGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INCMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $20,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATEDTHE CARE CENTER: $13,000 · OtherTHE CARE CENTERLESLEY UNIVERSITY: $8,000 · OtherCOLLEY DICKINSON HOSPITAL: $6,000 · Other+17 more: $38,600 · Other+17 moreEARTHJUSTICE: $5,000 · EnvironmentKESTREL LAND TRUST INC: $4,000 · EnvironmentGREENPEACE FUND INC: $2,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $1,750 · EnvironmentCONNECTICUT RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL INC: $1,000 · EnvironmentFRANKLIN LAND TRUST INC: $1,000 · EnvironmentDinosaur Annex Music Ensemble: $8,000 · Arts & CultureNORTHAMPTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $500 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF PUBLIC RELATIONS: $500 · Arts & CultureNORTHAMPTON SURVIVAL CENTER INC: $4,500 · Human ServicesWELLESLEY STARS INC: $3,500 · Human ServicesSAFE PASSAGE PROJECT CORPORATION: $3,500 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $3,500 · Crime & LegalRHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ASSOCIATION: $3,500 · Food & NutritionGROW FOOD NORTHAMPTON INC: $2,000 · Food & NutritionMERRIMACK VALLEY FOOD BANK INC: $650 · Food & NutritionWORCESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK INC: $550 · Food & NutritionCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $6,000 · Animals
Other$153,750Environment$14,750Arts & Culture$9,000Human Services$8,000Crime & Legal$7,000Food & Nutrition$6,700Animals$6,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $68,150 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetLESLEY UNIVERSITY: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetDinosaur Annex Music Ensemble: $8,000 over 8y, 4.4% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL: $5,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHAMPTON SURVIVAL CENTER INC: $4,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FOOD BANK OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INC: $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKESTREL LAND TRUST INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWELLESLEY STARS INC: $3,500 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE PASSAGE PROJECT CORPORATION: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WOLF SCHOOL INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ASSOCIATION: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGROW FOOD NORTHAMPTON INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREENPEACE FUND INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $1,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON MUSICA VIVA INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCONNECTICUT RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRANKLIN LAND TRUST INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMERRIMACK VALLEY FOOD BANK INC: $650 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORCESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK INC: $550 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHAMPTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF PUBLIC RELATIONS: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNorthampton Community Music Center Inc: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWEIR FARM ART ALLIANCE: $250 over 1y, 0.6% 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 Beveridge Family …Community Foundation …Boston Foundation IncLiving Springs Founda…Florence Savings Char…Amelia Peabody Charit…Ro Family FoundationHurdle Hill FoundationPeoplesbank Charitabl…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…Vanguard Charitable E…
The Beveridge Family FoundationMA19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Beveridge Family Foundation · Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts · Boston Foundation Inc · Living Springs Foundation · Florence Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund Trust · Ro Family Foundation · Hurdle Hill Foundation · Peoplesbank Charitable Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Connecticut River Watershed Council Inc: 40% of income from government
  • Grow Food Northampton Inc: 25% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble: 8% of income from government
  • Franklin Land Trust Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Mount Auburn Hospital: 5% of income from government
  • Merrimack Valley Food Bank Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Northampton Survival Center Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Worcester County Food Bank Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Lesley University: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 40 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 Edward L Bernays’ 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