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Gerald & Roberta Franklin Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Gerald & Roberta Franklin Charitable 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.

$410k
Granted FY2025still arriving
18
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$55k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$483kEducation$280kAnimals$200kInternational$198kHuman Services$183kArts & Culture$116kEnvironment$100kHousing & Shelter$95kOther$0
02FY2025 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k16 grants · $305k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $105k
$20,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILDCARE$55,000
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER$50,000
RAINBOW SHELTER FOR HOMELESS WOMEN$45,000
MACULAR DEGENERATION ASSOCIATION$30,000
UNITED WAY OF JACKSON COUNTY$30,000
BRANDEIS COLLEGE$25,000
AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION$20,000
FAMILY SUPPORT NETWORK$20,000
WOUNDED WARRIORS PROJECT$20,000
OXFAM$15,000
ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION$15,000
SOLOMON GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM$15,000
BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY$15,000
PURCHASE COLLEGE FOUNDATION$15,000
NEW YORK CITY BALLET$10,000
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 (FY19–23, $120k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%WOUNDED WARRIORS PROJECT: $15k → 14%YWCA of Greater Portland: $75k → 12%Wounded Warrior Project: $10k → 14%WOUNDED WARRIORS PROJECT: $10k → 14%WOUNDED WARRIORS PROJECT: $10k → 14%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
OR
OH
CA
VA
MD
KS
TN
NC
DC
GA
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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 24 repeat orgs$318k to everyone else

24 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
11

Total granted

$1.3M
$183k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+53%

Still filing today

83%
27%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $135k 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
HealthAnimalsArts & CultureInternationalEducationHuman 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

  • GI
    GRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $88k · revenue +189%
  • W
    WILDCARE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $80k · revenue +190%
  • WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC
    7× · 2017–2023 · $68k · revenue +90%

Funded once

  • YWCA OF GREATER PORTLANDgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $75k · revenue +112%
  • BC
    BRANDIES COLLEGE
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
  • BU
    BRANDIES UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
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
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
Boston Architectural College

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

—
4
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
5
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
6
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
7
Society for Neuroscience

Sfn's mission is to: 1. advance the understanding of the brain and the nervous system by bringing together scientists of all segments of neuroscience, by facilitating the integration of research directed at all levels of biological…

Health
8
American Astronomical Society

The american astronomical society (aas), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in north america. the basic objective of the aas is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of…

Science & Tech
9
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
10
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
11
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
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 Arthritis Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Samaritan's Purse. 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 43 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)
27/28
Grantees still filing
18/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $230,000 · OtherMD ANDERSON CANCER CENTERRAINBOW SHELTER FOR HOMELESS WOMEN: $95,000 · OtherRAINBOW SHELTER FOR HOMELESS WOMENWILDCARE: $80,000 · OtherWILDCARENATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $60,000 · OtherNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATIONOXFAM: $30,000 · OtherTHIRTEENWNET: $30,000 · OtherNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $30,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF JACKSON COUNTY INC: $30,000 · Other+15 more: $197,750 · Other+15 moreARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $65,000 · HealthARTHRITIS FOUND…LYMPHOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $60,000 · HealthLYMPHOMA RESEAR…Macular Degeneration Association: $50,000 · HealthMacular Degener…AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $25,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER…American Diabetes Association: $20,000 · HealthAmerican Diabet…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $20,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDRE…ANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $95,000 · EducationANTIOCH COLLE…BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $75,000 · EducationBRANDEIS UNIV…PURCHASE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · EducationPURCHASE COLL…GRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $88,000 · InternationalGRASSROOTS…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $50,000 · InternationalMEDECINS S…SEVA FOUNDATION: $20,000 · InternationalSEVA FOUND…YWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND: $75,000 · Human ServicesYWCA OF G…WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $67,500 · Human ServicesWOUNDED W…AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION INC: $65,000 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY OF BLUE RIDGE INC: $40,000 · AnimalsBlue Ridge Humane Society Inc: $15,000 · AnimalsBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC: $40,500 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK CITY BALLET INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureSOLOMON R GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$782,750Health$240,000Education$205,000International$158,000Human Services$142,500Animals$120,000Arts & Culture$90,500

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 budgetANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $95,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetGRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $88,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetWILDCARE: $80,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetYWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND: $75,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $67,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION INC: $65,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $65,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLYMPHOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMacular Degeneration Association: $50,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $50,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC: $40,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF BLUE RIDGE INC: $40,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetPURCHASE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF JACKSON COUNTY INC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetNEW YORK CITY BALLET INC: $30,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Diabetes Association: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOLOMON R GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY SUPPORT NETWORK: $20,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSEVA FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBlue Ridge Humane Society Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $5,150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 2.8% 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.

  • Who funds ANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds GRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds WILDCARE ↗
  • Who funds YWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND ↗
  • Who funds BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LYMPHOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Macular Degeneration Association ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY OF BLUE RIDGE INC ↗
  • Who funds PURCHASE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF JACKSON COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW YORK CITY BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds American Diabetes Association ↗
  • Who funds SOLOMON R GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY SUPPORT NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds SEVA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Blue Ridge Humane Society Inc ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds SHARE OUR STRENGTH ↗

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 Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation IncNC8.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Gerald & Roberta Franklin Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Gerald & Roberta Franklin Charitable 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Ywca of Greater Portland: 15% of income from government
  • United Way of Jackson County Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get 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 · 0–20%
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 Gerald & Roberta Franklin Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Gerald & Roberta Franklin Charitable 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 43 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 Gerald & Roberta Franklin’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