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Isdell Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Isdell Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$971k
Granted FY2024still arriving
5
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$480k
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, FY2019 to 2024.

Environment$2.4MInternational$1.8MEducation$500kYouth Development$250kPublic Benefit$85kPublic Safety & Disaster$54kArts & Culture$27kFood & Nutrition$10k
02FY2024 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $9k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
  • $250k+2 grants · $862k
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$7.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
American Rescue Project$480,000
Individual grant recipient$382,400
Student Sponsor Partners$50,000
Renew Democracy Initiative$50,000
Earthworks$8,760
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.

US giving: 85% of grant dollars ($4.3M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 15% that went abroad ($750k) is mapped below.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 40% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Gettysburg College: $5k → 9%Earthjustice: $1.0M → 10%Tactical Medicine North: $382k → 9%Catskill Art Society: $25k → 16%The Tibet Fund: $15k → 17%American Rescue Project: $550k → 14%The Oxford Academy: $5k → 7%The Green Dragons Fund: $1.0M → 7%Emory University: $50k → 14%Earthjustice: $315k → 10%Tactical Medicine North: $277k → 9%The Tibet Fund: $10k → 17%American Rescue Project: $480k → 14%Renew Democracy Initiative: $50k → 17%American Rescue Project: $36k → 14%Renew Democracy Initiative: $35k → 17%Franklin Education Forum: $200k → 14%York Preparatory School: $50k → 17%Earthworks: $22k → 14%Columbia University: $150k → 17%Earthworks: $9k → 14%Kaufman Music Center: $2k → 17%Earthworks: $6k → 14%Spence School: $25k → 17%Spence School: $5k → 17%Spence School: $5k → 17%Spence School: $5k → 17%Student Sponsor Partners: $200k → 17%Student Sponsor Partners: $50k → 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.

Beyond the US: 15% of all-years giving ($750k)

3 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
Ukraine$659k · 2 grants
Czechia$54k · 1 grant
Colombia$37k · 1 grant
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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 8 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
11

Total granted

$3.5M
$1.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+18%

Still filing today

88%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationInternationalArts & CultureEnvironmentCivil RightsPublic 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

  • EARTHJUSTICE
    2× · 2019–2021 · $1.3M · revenue +66%
  • SP
    STUDENTSPONSOR PARTNERS INC
    2× · 2020–2024 · $250k · revenue +35%
  • E
    Earthworks
    3× · 2021–2024 · $36k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • TG
    The Green Dragons Fund
    one grant, 2020 · $1.0M
  • DM
    DEMOCRACY MATTERS FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $200k · revenue +416%
  • HT
    Helping to Leave zs
    one grant, 2023 · $54k
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
Ie New York College

(see schedule o)

Education
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
Manhattanville University

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

Education
4
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
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
7
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
8
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
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
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
11
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
12
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Gettysburg College; the most unlike its peers is Earthjustice. 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

14 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. 14 of the 20 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
11/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Green Dragons Fund: $1,000,000 · OtherThe Green Dragons FundIndividual grant recipient: $659,400 · OtherIndividual grant recipient+4 more: $151,040 · Other+4 moreEARTHJUSTICE: $1,315,000 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICEAMERICAN RESCUE PROJECT: $1,066,356 · InternationalAMERICAN RESCUE PROJECT+1 more: $25,000 · InternationalSTUDENTSPONSOR PARTNERS INC: $250,000 · EducationSTUDENTSPONSO…THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $150,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES …The Renew Democracy Initiative Inc: $85,000 · EducationThe Renew Dem…Emory University: $50,000 · EducationEmory Univers…THE SPENCE SCHOOL: $40,000 · EducationTHE SPENCE SC…+2 more: $10,000 · EducationDEMOCRACY MATTERS FOUNDATION: $200,000 · Civil RightsEarthworks: $36,360 · Public BenefitCATSKILL ART SOCIETY INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureELAINE KAUFMAN CULTURAL CENTER LUCY MOSES SCHOOL FOR MUSIC AND DANCE: $1,500 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,810,440Environment$1,315,000International$1,091,356Education$585,000Civil Rights$200,000Public Benefit$36,360Arts & Culture$26,500

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $1,315,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetAMERICAN RESCUE PROJECT: $1,066,356 over 3y, 58% of budgetSTUDENTSPONSOR PARTNERS INC: $250,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetDEMOCRACY MATTERS FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Renew Democracy Initiative Inc: $85,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetEmory University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SPENCE SCHOOL: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEarthworks: $36,360 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCATSKILL ART SOCIETY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetTibet Fund Inc: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetOXFORD ACADEMY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGETTYSBURG COLLEGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELAINE KAUFMAN CULTURAL CENTER LUCY MOSES SCHOOL FOR MUSIC AND DANCE: $1,500 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.

Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA10.2× affinity5 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

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

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely 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 Isdell Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Isdell 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 20 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Isdell’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