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Harold and Renee Berger Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Harold and Renee Berger Foundation

Its FY2018 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$86k
Granted FY2018
25
Grants FY2018
4
States reached
$38k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2018.

Education$73kReligion$21kArts & Culture$14kPhilanthropy$13kCivil Rights$3kInternational$2kAnimals$256Public Benefit$255Other$0
02FY2018 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2018

  • Under $10k22 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $72k
$250
Median grant
4
States reached
$198k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA$38,225
GERMANTOWN JEWISH CENTER$20,600
JEWISH FEDERATION OF PHILADELPHIA$13,000
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH CENTER$5,118
CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC$1,500
PHILADELPHIA CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY$1,500
GERSHMAN Y$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
HIAS$900
1807 & FRIENDS$650
JEWISH HERITAGE SOCIETY$250
EGOPO CLASSIC THEATRE$250
JONAS BERGER MEMORIAL FUND$250
KTA ACADEMY$180
MUSE - U OF PENN$150
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 (FY17–18, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 22%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%GERSHMAN Y: $1k → 22%GERSHMAN Y: $1k → 22%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.

57%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$32k · 10 repeat orgs$25k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2018, 0 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
5

Total granted

$32k
$3k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+78%

Still filing today

80%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2018, 55% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $21k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18
Arts & CultureCivil RightsEducationInternationalHuman ServicesAnimalsOther
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

  • CI
    CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $3k · revenue +62%
  • HI
    HIAS INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $2k · revenue +122%
  • ZS
    ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA
    2× · 2017–2018 · $256 · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • AL
    ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +78%
  • RC
    ROMAN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $300
  • II
    INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPACE LAW
    one grant, 2017 · $240
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 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
2
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
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 Phillips Collection

The phillips collection is the oldest museum of modern and contemporary art in the u.s. in addition to presentation of works from the permanent collection and special exhibitions, the museum maintains active educational, academic,…

Arts & Culture
5
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
6
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
7
Philadelphia Museum of Art

The philadelphia museum of art - in partnership with the city, the region, and art museums around the globe - seeks to preserve, enhance, interpret, and extend the reach of its great collection in particular, and the visual arts in…

Arts & Culture
8
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
9
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
10
The Newark Museum Association

Nmoa mission statement is: we welcome everyone with inclusive experiences that spark curiosity and foster community.

Arts & Culture
11
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
12
American Philosophical Society

The American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States, was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of "promoting useful knowledge." In the 21st century the Society sustains this mission in three…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Museum of the American Revolution; the most unlike its peers is Ego Po 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

17 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. 17 of the 30 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)
17/17
Grantees still filing
11/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $72,162 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA+2 more: $265 · EducationGERMANTOWN JEWISH CENTRE: $21,272 · OtherGERMANTOWN JEWISH CENTREJEWISH FEDERATION OF PHILADELPHIA: $13,000 · OtherJEWISH FEDERATION OF PHILADELPHIAIndividual grant recipient: $2,000 · Other+12 more: $2,868 · Other+12 moreWEITZMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY: $5,118 · Arts & CultureCURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $2,750 · Arts & CulturePhiladelphia Chamber Music Society: $1,500 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $843 · Arts & CultureANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $2,750 · Civil RightsCOMMITTEE OF SEVENTY: $125 · Civil RightsHIAS INC: $2,400 · InternationalPHILADELPHIA JEWISH FILM AND MEDIA: $2,000 · Human ServicesZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA: $256 · Animals
Education$72,427Other$39,140Arts & Culture$10,211Civil Rights$2,875International$2,400Human Services$2,000Animals$256

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 budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $72,162 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWEITZMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY: $5,118 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $2,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $2,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHIAS INC: $2,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA JEWISH FILM AND MEDIA: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPhiladelphia Chamber Music Society: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA: $256 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS: $215 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BARNES FOUNDATION: $143 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMITTEE OF SEVENTY: $125 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEAST MOUNT AIRY NEIGHBORS INC: $50 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 Philadelphia Foun…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
The Philadelphia FoundationPA13.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Harold and Renee Berger Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Harold and Renee Berger Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 88%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 Harold and Renee Berger Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Harold and Renee Berger 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 30 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Harold and Renee Berger’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