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Gaines Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Gaines Family 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.

$20k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$12k
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 2025.

Philanthropy$116kEducation$44kReligion$36kHuman Services$21kPublic Benefit$16kInternational$6kArts & Culture$4kHousing & Shelter$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $8k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $12k
$1,800
Median grant
4
States reached
$2.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FDD$11,700
Tikva$5,000
Prager University$1,800
Commentary$1,075
Lower Merion Scholarship Fund$470
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 (FY20–23, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Jewish Relief Agency: $2k → 7%Jewish Relief Agency: $1k → 7%Jewish Relief Agency: $540 → 7%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
PA
CT
CA
VA
TN
DC
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

45%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$65k · 4 repeat orgs$80k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +77% since the first grant, against +35% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
27

Total granted

$65k
$60k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+77%
+35%

Still filing today

50%
37%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesPublic Safety & DisasterReligionOther
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

  • CA
    CHABAD AT RICE INC
    4× · 2020–2024 · $26k
  • UL
    UVA Law School Foundation
    3× · 2021–2024 · $21k
  • FF
    Foundation for the Defense of Democracies Inc
    2× · 2022–2023 · $15k · revenue +77%

Funded once

  • JF
    Jewish Fed of the Lehigh Valley
    one grant, 2024 · $13k
  • JF
    Jewish Federation of the LV
    one grant, 2022 · $13k
  • CO
    CHABAD OF EAST DELRAY
    one grant, 2024 · $4k
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 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…

—
2
Jewish Electorate Institute

The jewish electorate institute (jei) is an independent, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization that surveys, interprets, reports, and educates the public about the perspectives, voting behaviors, and motivations of the american jewish…

Civil Rights
3
Foundation for Conservative Judiasm of South Florida
—
4
Jewish Educational Media

Preserve and curate educational and historical video, audio and photography, sharing these archival treasures through educational programming. our most prominent subject is the rebbe, rabbi menachem m. schneerson, of righteous memory

Religion
5
University of Judaism Foundation
—
6
New Jewish Narrative Inc

To support a strong and secure israel and to carry out public information activities on the middle east peace issues in the united states.

International
7
The Academy for Jewish Religion

The academy for jewish religion serves the needs of the jewish people by ordaining rabbis and cantors and training leaders. we affirm our commitment to a vibrant and inclusive jewish pluralism; to an interweaving of sacred texts, critical…

—
8
Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Buffalo Inc

Education opportunity for the jewish community

—
9
Partners in Torah

Offering jewish adults a personal connection to judaism,fostering a sense of belonging to the greater jewishcommunity, and building bridges between jews of allbackgrounds. to date, over 74,000 men and women from 39countries have been…

Religion
10
Boundless Israel Inc

The organization is a think-action tank partnering with community leaders to revitalize israel education and take bold collective action to combat jew-hatred.

Education
11
Jewish Federation Council of Greater La

Based on jewish values, the jewish federation of greater los angeles convenes and leads the community and leverages its resources to assure the continuity of the jewish people, support a secure state of israel, care for jews in need here…

Philanthropy
12
Israel 21c

Through its news service and public programs, Israel 21c educates individuals and groups about comtemporary life in Israel providing news and information on the people of Israel, its culture and business and scientific achievements.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Jewish Policy Center; the most unlike its peers is Laporte Volunteer Fire Company. 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

16 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. 16 of the 37 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
11/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHABAD AT RICE INC: $26,000 · OtherCHABAD AT RICE INCUVA Law School Foundation: $21,000 · OtherUVA Law School FoundationJewish Fed of the Lehigh Valley: $12,861 · OtherJewish Fed of the Lehigh ValleyJewish Federation of the LV: $12,861 · OtherJewish Federation of the LVFDD: $11,700 · OtherFDDCHABAD OF EAST DELRAY: $4,000 · OtherJewish Federation of Philadelphia: $3,600 · Other+15 more: $14,045 · Other+15 moreJEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $100,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEYFoundation for the Defense of Democracies Inc: $15,000 · InternationalFoundation …PENCILS OF PROMISE INCORPORATED: $3,000 · InternationalPENCILS OF …Central Fund of Israel: $1,800 · InternationalCentral Fun…FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $1,800 · InternationalFRIENDS OF …JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA INC: $1,500 · InternationalJUNIOR ACHI…SCHOLARS FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: $1,000 · International+1 more: $180 · InternationalTIKVA CORP: $5,000 · EducationBROAD AND LIBERTY INC: $1,000 · EducationLower Merion Township Scholarship Fund: $470 · EducationJEWISH EDUCATION IN MEDIA INC DBA JBS JEWISH BROADCASTING SERVICE: $3,600 · Arts & CultureJEWISH RELIEF AGENCY: $3,340 · Human ServicesCOMMENTARY INC: $1,075 · ReligionLAPORTE VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY: $500 · Public Safety & Disaster
Other$106,067Philanthropy$100,000International$24,280Education$6,470Arts & Culture$3,600Human Services$3,340Religion$1,075Public Safety & Disaster$500

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 budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $100,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetFoundation for the Defense of Democracies Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH EDUCATION IN MEDIA INC DBA JBS JEWISH BROADCASTING SERVICE: $3,600 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH RELIEF AGENCY: $3,340 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPENCILS OF PROMISE INCORPORATED: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCentral Fund of Israel: $1,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $1,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSCHOLARS FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRAYMOND AND RUTH PERELMAN JEWISH DAY SCHOOL: $540 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLower Merion Township Scholarship Fund: $470 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL JEWISH POLICY CENTER: $180 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.

Erlbaum Family Founda…Jewish Communal FundVanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…American Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Erlbaum Family FoundationPA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Erlbaum Family Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · 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 Gaines Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Gaines Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get 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 · 0–5%
    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 Gaines Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Gaines Family 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 37 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 Gaines Family’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