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Fareed and Paula Zakaria Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Fareed and Paula Zakaria 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.

$151k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$65k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

International$405kArts & Culture$174kEducation$101kReligion$95kRecreation & Sports$78kEnvironment$35kPublic Benefit$33kScience & Tech$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $3k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $83k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $65k
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$759k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
International Rescue Committee$65,000
International Center for Journalism$25,000
Riverside Park Conservancy$20,000
Greater Houston Community Foundatio$15,000
The Public Theater$12,500
House of Speakeasy$10,000
The Chamber Music Center$2,500
102-103 Street Block Association$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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%AFC Foundation: $7k → 7%Arts Connection Partners: $10k → 14%Winnakee Land Trust: $10k → 9%Riverside Park Conservancy: $20k → 17%Project Row Houses: $10k → 16%New America Foundation: $10k → 14%Whitworth University: $10k → 12%Omega Institute: $10k → 9%Riverside Park Conservancy: $18k → 17%Project Row Houses: $10k → 16%New America Foundation: $10k → 14%Riverside Park Conservancy: $13k → 17%Project Row Houses: $10k → 16%RTCA: $15k → 14%Riverside Tennis Association: $13k → 17%Greater Houston Community Foundatio: $15k → 16%New America Foundation: $8k → 14%Riverside Park Conservancy: $10k → 17%Literacy Partners: $14k → 17%Literacy Partners: $10k → 17%Barnard College: $20k → 17%Barnard College: $20k → 17%HEAF: $15k → 17%International House: $10k → 17%Harlem Educational Activities Fund: $10k → 17%International House: $10k → 17%International House: $8k → 17%The Public Theater: $15k → 17%The Public Theater: $13k → 17%Saint Hilda's and Saint Hugh's Scho: $50k → 17%The Public Theater: $10k → 17%Saint Hilda's and Saint Hugh's Scho: $20k → 17%The Public Theater: $10k → 17%Saint Hilda's and Saint Hugh's Scho: $15k → 17%The Public Theater: $10k → 17%House of Speakeasy: $10k → 17%The Public Theater: $10k → 17%Council On Foreign Relations: $35k → 17%Council On Foreign Relations: $25k → 17%Council On Foreign Relations: $15k → 17%Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious: $10k → 17%International Rescue Committee: $70k → 17%International Rescue Committee: $65k → 17%International Rescue Committee: $40k → 17%International Rescue Committee: $30k → 17%International Rescue Committee: $30k → 17%International Rescue Committee: $30k → 17%Foreign Press Foundation: $15k → 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

WA
NY
MA
NJ
CT
CA
DC
TX
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$814k · 16 repeat orgs$162k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against -4% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
16

Total granted

$814k
$127k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
-4%

Still filing today

81%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $36k 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
InternationalArts & CultureEducationEnvironmentScience & TechMembership BenefitOther
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

  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INC
    6× · 2017–2025 · $265k · revenue +81%
  • CO
    COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC
    4× · 2017–2021 · $77k · revenue +18%
  • NY
    NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
    6× · 2017–2025 · $68k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • FP
    FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2018 · $15k · revenue -99%
  • H
    HEAF
    one grant, 2017 · $15k
  • RI
    RTCA INC
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue -4%
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
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
2
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
3
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
4
The Paris Review Foundation Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster the development of creative individuals as writers and artists and to promote public appreciation of excellence in the literary and graphic arts by publishing a magazine containing fiction,…

Education
5
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
6
Dickinson College

Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship

Education
7
Manhattanville University

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

Education
8
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
9
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
10
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
11
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
12
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is International House; the most unlike its peers is National Poetry Series 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

22 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 22 of the 36 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/22
Grantees still filing
14/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

International Rescue Committee INC: $265,000 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INCCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $77,000 · InternationalCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INCHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $35,000 · InternationalHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INCINTERNATIONAL HOUSE: $27,500 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL HOUSESaint Hilda's and Saint Hugh's Scho: $85,000 · OtherSaint Hilda's and Saint Hugh…NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: $27,500 · OtherNEW AMERICA FOUNDATIONInternational Center for Journalism: $25,000 · OtherInternational Center for Jou…FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · OtherFOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION INCHEAF: $15,000 · OtherHEAFRiverside Tennis Association: $12,500 · OtherArts Connection Partners: $10,000 · OtherOmega Institute: $10,000 · OtherHARLEM EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FUND INC: $10,000 · OtherTanenbaum Center for Interreligious: $10,000 · Other+9 more: $32,480 · Other+9 moreNEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $67,500 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK SHAK…Project Row Houses: $30,000 · Arts & CultureProject Row H…SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC: $12,000 · Arts & CultureSHAKESPEARE &…American Museum of Natural History: $5,000 · Arts & CultureRIVERSIDE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $65,000 · EnvironmentRIVERSIDE …WINNAKEE LAND TRUST INC: $30,000 · EnvironmentWINNAKEE L…BARNARD COLLEGE: $40,000 · EducationBARNARD C…Literacy Partners Inc: $28,768 · EducationLiteracy …WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · EducationWHITWORTH…+1 more: $1,000 · EducationGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropyRTCA INC: $15,000 · Science & TechHOUSE OF SPEAKEASY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Membership Benefit
International$404,500Other$252,480Arts & Culture$114,500Environment$95,000Education$84,768Philanthropy$15,000Science & Tech$15,000Membership Benefit$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 budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $265,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $77,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $67,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRIVERSIDE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $65,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetBARNARD COLLEGE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetProject Row Houses: $30,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetWINNAKEE LAND TRUST INC: $30,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetLiteracy Partners Inc: $28,768 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetNEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: $27,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL HOUSE: $27,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWHITWORTH UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetRTCA INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHARLEM EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican Museum of Natural History: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL POETRY SERIES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSAINT ANN'S SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Frick Collection: $300 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.

National Philanthropi…Charities Aid Foundat…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA9.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Charities Aid Foundation America · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Fareed and Paula Zakaria Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Fareed and Paula Zakaria 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%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Shakespeare & Company Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
9report 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 Fareed and Paula Zakaria Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Fareed and Paula Zakaria 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 36 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 Fareed and Paula Zakaria’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