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Jackson & Evelyn Spears Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Jackson & Evelyn Spears 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.

$114k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$55k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$429kArts & Culture$258kScience & Tech$115kHealth$48kPhilanthropy$34kSocial Science$30kCrime & Legal$28kReligion$22kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $55k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$804k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE FANNIE AND JOHN HERTZ FOUNDATION$55,000
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA$10,000
NEW YORK CARES$10,000
ST BASIL GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH$10,000
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY$10,000
CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL$10,000
INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL$5,000
MUSIC IN THE MOUNTAINS$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,000
PAGOSA SPRINGS MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION$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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–21, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%RISE ABOVE VIOLENCE: $1k → 10%RISE ABOVE VIOLENCE: $500 → 10%RISE ABOVE VIOLENCE: $250 → 10%RISE ABOVE VIOLENCE: $250 → 10%RISE ABOVE VIOLENCE: $250 → 10%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
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OH
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$850k · 39 repeat orgs$185k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +42% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

39 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 31 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

39
44

Total granted

$850k
$165k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+27%

Still filing today

69%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k 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
EducationEnvironmentArts & CultureHealthCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyOther
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

  • AC
    ASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $150k · revenue +5%
  • QU
    QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY
    4× · 2018–2021 · $100k · revenue +14%
  • NY
    NEW YORK SCHOOL OF INTERIOR DESIGN
    5× · 2019–2024 · $98k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • NO
    NATIONAL ORGANIZATION ON DISABILITY
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue -33%
  • TL
    THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +17%
  • NW
    NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +39%
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
3
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
4
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

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
Rhode Island School of Design

The mission of rhode island school of design, through its college and museum,is to educate its students and the public in the creation and (see schedule o)appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to…

Education
7
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.

—
8
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
9
Manhattanville University

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

Education
10
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
11
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
12
Stony Brook Urology 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 New York Cares Inc; the most unlike its peers is Pagosa Rotary Community Assistance. 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

51 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. 51 of the 86 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
51/51
Grantees still filing
45/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · EducationQUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITYNEW YORK SCHOOL OF INTERIOR DESIGN: $98,000 · EducationNEW YORK SCHOOL OF INTERIOR DESIGNCHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $71,000 · EducationCHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORAT…Fordham University: $50,000 · EducationFordham UniversityThe Trustees of Princeton University: $31,000 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton UniversityINDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC: $25,000 · EducationINDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC+7 more: $11,000 · EducationFANNIE AND JOHN HERTZ FOUNDATION: $112,500 · OtherFANNIE AND JOHN HERTZ FOUNDATIONTHE METROPOLITAN OPERA: $60,000 · OtherTHE METROPOLITAN OPERATHE WINDSOR SCHOOL: $21,500 · OtherHARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL: $20,000 · Other+57 more: $191,400 · Other+57 moreASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL INC: $150,000 · InternationalASIAN CULTURAL C…+1 more: $1,000 · InternationalNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ON DISABILITY: $25,000 · Civil RightsTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $25,000 · Crime & LegalMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $14,830 · Arts & CultureST LUKES CHAMBER ENSEMBLE INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureJACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL INC: $2,000 · Arts & CulturePROVINCETOWN ART ASSOCIATION AND MUSEUM INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureMuseum of Modern Art: $800 · Arts & CultureUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyNEW YORK CARES INC: $10,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $320 · Philanthropy
Education$386,000Other$405,400International$151,000Civil Rights$25,000Crime & Legal$25,000Arts & Culture$23,630Philanthropy$20,320

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL INC: $150,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetFANNIE AND JOHN HERTZ FOUNDATION: $112,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetQUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK SCHOOL OF INTERIOR DESIGN: $98,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $71,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFordham University: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $31,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ON DISABILITY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetINDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $14,830 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetConnecticut Challenge Inc DBA Mission Your Mission CT Challenge: $10,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEPIPHANY MAGAZINE INC: $9,600 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetRUBY M SISSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetLAKE WARAMAUG TASK FORCE INC: $7,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetST LUKES CHAMBER ENSEMBLE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMusic in the Mountains Inc: $4,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetDR MARY FISHER MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $3,950 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetSTEEP ROCK ASSOCIATION INC: $3,800 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPAGOSA ROTARY COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE: $3,750 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetWESTERN HERITAGE EVENT CENTER INC: $2,900 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetARCHULETA COUNTY VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM INC: $2,250 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCROSSING THRESHOLDS INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetONE STORY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHAPIN SCHOOL LTD: $1,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARCHANGEL ANCIENT TREE ARCHIVE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN INCORPORATED: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Rogosin Institute Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBUILD PAGOSA INC: $750 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetWARREN LAND TRUST INC: $600 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARCHULETA COUNTY EDUCATION CENTER INC: $500 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSEA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $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.

The Goldman Sachs Cha…Jewish Communal FundFairfield County's Co…El Pomar FoundationFjcThe New York Communit…Vanguard Charitable E…The Ayco Charitable F…Morgan Stanley Global…Ge Aerospace Foundati…National Philanthropi…Gs Donor Advised Phil…
The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift FundNY16.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Jewish Communal Fund · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · El Pomar Foundation · Fjc · The New York Community Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management 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 Jackson & Evelyn Spears Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Jackson & Evelyn Spears Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Center for Coastal Studies Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Steep Rock Association Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Sea Education Association Inc: 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Friends of the Public Garden Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Quinnipiac University: 0% of income from government
  • Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation Incorporated: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
8report 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 Jackson & Evelyn Spears Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Jackson & Evelyn Spears 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 86 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 Jackson & Evelyn Spears’ 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