Skip to content
J Craig Venter Institute at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

J Craig Venter Institute

J.

$1.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$355k
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 2024.

Science & Tech$14MHealth$2.5MEducation$1.6MFood & Nutrition$8k
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $43k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $520k
  • $250k+3 grants · $970k
$98,012
Median grant
8
States reached
$39M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EMORY UNIVERSITY$354,924
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY$350,485
THE GENEVA FOUNDATION$264,577
REGENTS U OF CA SAN DIEGO$197,818
DUKE UNIVERSITY$98,012
RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL$78,596
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$75,371
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND$70,249
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL SECURITY LLC$32,770
CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION$10,089
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 80% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%LELAND STANFORD JR UNIVERSITY: $255k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE: $389k → 10%LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY: $105k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $785k → 11%SANTA FE INSTITUTE: $101k → 12%MRI GLOBAL: $117k → 15%RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL: $394k → 14%EMORY UNIVERSITY: $355k → 14%CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $410k → 17%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $88k → 14%UNITED STATES TREASURY-MD: $380k → 6%UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: $201k → 11%LELAND STANFORD JR UNIVERSITY: $198k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE: $219k → 10%LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY: $105k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $768k → 11%SANTA FE INSTITUTE: $98k → 12%RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL: $330k → 14%CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $350k → 17%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $77k → 14%UNITED STATES TREASURY-MD: $117k → 6%LELAND STANFORD JR UNIVERSITY: $150k → 8%UC IRVINE: $144k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $688k → 11%RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL: $304k → 14%CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $243k → 17%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $75k → 14%LELAND STANFORD JR UNIVERSITY: $141k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE: $131k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $646k → 11%RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL: $256k → 14%LELAND STANFORD JR UNIVERSITY: $137k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $628k → 11%RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL: $201k → 14%LELAND STANFORD JR UNIVERSITY: $80k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $570k → 11%RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL: $79k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $269k → 11%SANFORD BURNHAM PRESBYS: $236k → 11%SANFORD BURNHAM PRESBYS: $206k → 11%SYNTHETIC GENOMICS: $204k → 11%REGENTS U OF CA SAN DIEGO: $198k → 11%SANFORD BURNHAM PRESBYS: $150k → 11%SALK INSTITUTE: $124k → 11%SYNTHETIC GENOMICS INC: $83k → 11%GLOBAL ALGAE INNOVATIONS: $327k → 11%GLOBAL ALGAE INNOVATIONS: $276k → 11%GLOBAL ALGAE INNOVATIONS: $276k → 11%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

WA
MN
IL
MA
OH
RI
CA
CO
MO
MD
NM
TN
NC
LA
AL
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$17M · 27 repeat orgs$668k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
5

Total granted

$17M
$38k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+26%

Still filing today

56%
20%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $630k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationScience & TechHealthRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • Rhode Island Hospital
    6× · 2019–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +64%
  • Vanderbilt University
    6× · 2018–2023 · $1.5M · revenue +65%
  • CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • US
    UT SOUTHWESTERN MED CTR
    one grant, 2017 · $11k
  • UA
    USDA AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICES
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
  • CC
    CARLETON COLLEGEgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $7k · revenue +26%
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
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
2
University of Miami

See Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.

Education
3
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
4
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
5
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
6
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
7
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
8
Drexel University

Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…

Education
9
Cornell University

Education, research, medical services and other public services.

Education
10
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
11
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Trustees of Boston University; the most unlike its peers is Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. 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

21 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. 21 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
17/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $4,551,984 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILLCOLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY: $1,989,531 · OtherCOLORADO STATE UNIVERSITYREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINE: $955,444 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINEGLOBAL ALGAE INNOVATIONS: $900,000 · OtherGLOBAL ALGAE INNOVATIONSUNITED STATES TREASURY-MD: $496,938 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK: $338,798 · Other+11 more: $847,750 · Other+11 moreVanderbilt University: $1,477,086 · EducationVanderbilt UniversityCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $1,003,433 · EducationCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSIT…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $990,578 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE L…DUKE UNIVERSITY: $440,271 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITYEmory University: $354,924 · EducationEmory UniversityWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $327,447 · EducationWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY+5 more: $266,809 · Education+5 moreRhode Island Hospital: $1,562,824 · HealthRhode Island …SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $592,123 · HealthSANFORD BURNH…+1 more: $10,089 · HealthSANTA FE INSTITUTE: $295,799 · Science & TechGENEVA FOUNDATION: $264,577 · Science & TechThe Salk Institute for Biological Studies: $225,211 · Science & TechMRIGlobal: $143,275 · Science & Tech+1 more: $25,423 · Science & TechNorthwestern University: $240,112 · Recreation & Sports
Other$10,080,445Education$4,860,548Health$2,165,036Science & Tech$954,285Recreation & Sports$240,112

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 budgetRhode Island Hospital: $1,562,824 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University: $1,477,086 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $1,003,433 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $990,578 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $592,123 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $440,271 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEmory University: $354,924 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $327,447 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA FE INSTITUTE: $295,799 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetGENEVA FOUNDATION: $264,577 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNorthwestern University: $240,112 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Salk Institute for Biological Studies: $225,211 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMRIGlobal: $143,275 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNova Southeastern University Inc: $90,487 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAL POLY CORPORATION: $66,628 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $55,579 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $46,836 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $27,848 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $25,423 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND VA MEDICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10,089 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCARLETON COLLEGE: $7,279 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.

  • Who funds Rhode Island Hospital ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University ↗
  • Who funds CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Emory University ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SANTA FE INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds GENEVA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds The Salk Institute for Biological Studies ↗
  • Who funds MRIGlobal ↗
  • Who funds Nova Southeastern University Inc ↗
  • Who funds CAL POLY CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CARLETON COLLEGE ↗

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.

Johns Hopkins Univers…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Johns Hopkins UniversityMD17× affinity6 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Johns Hopkins University · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 J Craig Venter Institute funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from J Craig Venter Institute. 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 12%
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Nova Southeastern University Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report 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 J Craig Venter Institute?

Find your warmest path to J Craig Venter Institute 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 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 J Craig Venter Institute’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