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Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson 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.

$72k
Granted FY2025still arriving
18
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$27k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$111kEducation$107kInternational$92kRecreation & Sports$46kHealth$32kHuman Services$17kAnimals$10kPhilanthropy$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
$3,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$694k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNSCA FOUNDATION$27,000
THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION$12,550
KERES CHILDRENS LEARNING CENTER$4,000
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK$4,000
SUNRISE CLINICS$3,500
CANCER FOUNDATION FOR NEW MEXICO$3,000
PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS$3,000
AMIGOS BRAVOS INC$3,000
Individual grant recipient$3,000
BREATH OF MY HEART BIRTHPLACE$2,000
AMERICAN HUMANE ASSOCIATION$2,000
BRONXVILLE HISTROCIAL CONSRVANCY$1,000
HARVARD LAMPOON TRUST$1,000
COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION$1,000
BRONXVILLE BEAUTIFICATION COUNCIL INC$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 82% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK: $4k → 10%THE BEREAVEMENT CENTER OF WESTCHESTER: $6k → 9%NY PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP: $3k → 17%SANTA FE PREP SCHOOL: $10k → 12%PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE: $5k → 14%BREATH OF MY HEART BIRTHPLACE: $2k → 18%AMIGOS BRAVOS INC: $3k → 18%SUNRISE CLINICS: $4k → 24%THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE: $2k → 14%THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS: $1k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $25k → 13%UNSCA FOUNDATION: $33k → 15%PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $3k → 14%THE BEREAVEMENT CENTER OF WESTCHESTER: $5k → 9%SANTA FE PREP SCHOOL: $10k → 12%KERES CHILDRENS LEARNING CENTER: $4k → 14%THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION: $13k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $17k → 13%UNSCA FOUNDATION: $30k → 15%PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $3k → 14%COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%THE BEREAVEMENT CENTER OF WESTCHESTER: $3k → 9%SANTA FE PREP SCHOOL: $10k → 12%NEW MEXICO WILD: $7k → 14%THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION: $2k → 14%UNSCA FOUNDATION: $27k → 15%PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $3k → 14%COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%SANTA FE PREP: $5k → 12%NEW MEXICO WILD: $3k → 14%AMERICAN HUMANE ASSOCIATION: $2k → 14%UNSCA FOUNDATION: $15k → 15%PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $3k → 14%COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%HARVARD LAMPOON TRUST: $17k → 9%CANCER FOUNDATION FOR NEW MEXICO: $4k → 12%UNSCA FOUNDATION: $15k → 15%PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $3k → 14%HARVARD LAMPOON TRUST: $13k → 9%CANCER FOUNDATION FOR NEW MEXICO: $3k → 12%BATES COLLEGE SQUASH: $16k → 16%PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $5k → 9%THE HORSE SHELTER: $3k → 12%BATES COLLEGE SQUASH: $5k → 16%PARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $5k → 9%THE BRONXVILLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 9%THE BRONXVILLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 9%BRONXVILLE HISTROCIAL CONSRVANCY: $1k → 9%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

MN
NY
MA
CT
RI
CA
NM
TN
NC
DC
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 5% of Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 6.1% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$400k · 19 repeat orgs$46k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
9

Total granted

$400k
$26k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+27%

Still filing today

58%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHealthArts & CulturePhilanthropyAnimalsCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • HL
    HARVARD LAMPOON TRUST
    6× · 2020–2025 · $55k · revenue +92%
  • LC
    LAWRENCE COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES
    4× · 2019–2022 · $15k · revenue +34%
  • CC
    COMMONWEALTH CORPORATION FOUNDATION
    4× · 2022–2025 · $7k · revenue +721%

Funded once

  • SF
    SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $8k · revenue +141%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE
    one grant, 2024 · $5k
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
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
2
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
3
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
4
Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation

Brooklyn bridge park corporation's mission, d/b/a brooklyn bridge park ("bbp") mission is to provide an exceptional public space that connects people, nature, and the waterfront, through inclusive, innovative, and sustainable management…

Recreation & Sports
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
Harvard Conservation Trust

To preserve the unique character and natural resources of harvard.

Environment
7
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
8
New York Landmarks Conservancy Inc

The conservancy preserves and revitalizes new york's architecture. by doing so, it contributes to new york's economy, tourism and quality of life.

—
9
Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Corporation

The mission of the alliance for flushing meadows corona park is to support nyc parks to preserve, maintain, and improve flushing meadows corona park for the benefit and use of the surrounding communities and all new yorkers.

Environment
10
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Inc

See attached schedule othe conservancy has sole responsibility for managing all aspects of the rose kennedy greenway, including horticulture, programming, public art, maintenance, and capital improvements. we envision a vibrant, inclusive,…

Recreation & Sports
11
Bartlett Arboretum Association Inc

To cultivate and develop an expansive collection of trees, gardens, and plants for all to explore, enjoy and study; and to provide through education and stewardship, a greener, healthier, more beautiful environment.

Environment
12
Governors Island Corporation

The governors island corporation, doing business as the trust for governors island, is the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization created by the city of new york and charged with the planning, redevelopment and ongoing operations of 150…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Cultural Landscape Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Bronxville Beautification Council. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

23 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. 23 of the 35 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
14/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNSCA FOUNDATION: $119,000 · OtherUNSCA FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $42,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILLSANTA FE PREP SCHOOL: $30,000 · OtherSANTA FE PREP SCHOOLHARVARD LAMPOON TRUST: $29,500 · OtherHARVARD LAMPOON TRUSTBATES COLLEGE SQUASH: $21,400 · OtherBATES COLLEGE SQUASHTHE BEREAVEMENT CENTER: $16,600 · OtherTHE BEREAVEMENT CENTERIndividual grant recipient: $10,250 · Other+9 more: $31,150 · Other+9 moreHARVARD LAMPOON TRUST: $55,000 · PhilanthropyHARVARD LAMPOON …COMMONWEALTH CORPORATION FOUNDATION: $7,250 · PhilanthropyCOMMONWEALTH COR…THE BRONXVILLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $2,750 · PhilanthropyLAWRENCE COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES: $14,500 · HealthCANCER FOUNDATION FOR NEW MEXICO: $6,500 · HealthSUNRISE CLINICS: $3,500 · HealthBREATH OF MY HEART BIRTH PLACE: $2,000 · HealthTHE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS INC: $2,400 · Arts & CultureBronxville Historical Conservancy Inc: $1,000 · Arts & CulturePARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $13,500 · Recreation & SportsSANTA FE ART INSTITUTE INC: $8,000 · EducationKERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER: $4,000 · EducationPROPRIETORS OF THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM: $550 · EducationETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC: $500 · Education+1 more: $400 · EducationWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $4,000 · AnimalsTHE HORSE SHELTER: $2,500 · AnimalsAMERICAN HUMANE ASSOCIATION: $2,000 · Animals
Other$299,900Philanthropy$65,000Health$26,500Arts & Culture$18,400Recreation & Sports$13,500Education$13,450Animals$8,500

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHARVARD LAMPOON TRUST: $55,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetTHE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLAWRENCE COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES: $14,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR PROVIDENCE PARKS: $13,500 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetSANTA FE ART INSTITUTE INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH CORPORATION FOUNDATION: $7,250 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetCANCER FOUNDATION FOR NEW MEXICO: $6,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSUNRISE CLINICS: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmigos Bravos Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BRONXVILLE SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $2,750 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE HORSE SHELTER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN INC: $2,400 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS INC: $2,400 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBRONXVILLE BEAUTIFICATION COUNCIL: $2,250 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetAMERICAN HUMANE ASSOCIATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROPRIETORS OF THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM: $550 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRAMATAN VILLAGE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY LIBRARY FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $400 over 2y, 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.

Santa Fe Community Fo…Marilynn and John Hil…Tracy Flanigan McVey …The Nagle Family Foun…The Joan C and David …Esmond Nissim Foundat…Marshall L and Perrin…Amg Charitable Gift F…The Chicago Community…Jewish Communal FundNational Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…
Santa Fe Community FoundationNM19.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 6 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Santa Fe Community Foundation · Marilynn and John Hill Foundation Inc · Tracy Flanigan McVey Family Foundation · The Nagle Family Foundation · The Joan C and David L Henle Foundation · Esmond Nissim Foundation Inc Co Bosworth Gray & Fuller Esq · Marshall L and Perrine D McCune Charitable Foundation Inc · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Jewish Communal Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Friends of the Public Garden Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Proprietors of the Boston Athenaeum: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson 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 35 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 Harris J and Geraldine S Nelson’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