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Janelia Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Janelia Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$100k
Granted FY2024still arriving
6
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through 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, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$167kCivil Rights$82kPublic Benefit$80kInternational$50kPhilanthropy$35kHealth$30kYouth Development$20kEducation$20kOther$0
02FY2024 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$15,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NCA Philip Randolph Institute$20,000
Common Defense Education Fund$20,000
NC Asian Americans Coming Together$15,000
Friends Committee on National$15,000
Hope Border Institute$15,000
RAICES$15,000
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 81% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Center for Coalfield Justice: $15k → 12%Education Works: $20k → 22%Consultative Group on Biodiversity: $3k → 10%The Watershed Center: $12k → 9%Environmental Grantmakers Association: $4k → 17%Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund: $20k → 10%Hope Border Institute: $15k → 21%New Mexico Voices for Children: $10k → 14%Physicians for Social Responsibility: $30k → 14%NCA Philip Randolph Institute: $20k → 8%Urban Sustainability Directors Ntwk: $20k → 16%Brown University: $20k → 14%Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund: $15k → 14%Western Reserve Land Conservancy: $20k → 17%Women of Color Advancing Peace: $12k → 7%Common Defense Education Fund: $20k → 17%Project on Government Oversight: $20k → 14%NC Asian Americans Coming Together: $15k → 8%Center for International Environmental Law: $20k → 14%Win Without War Education Fund: $20k → 14%Public Citizen Foundation: $20k → 14%Earth Island Institute: $20k → 14%Public Citizen Foundation: $20k → 14%League of Conservation Voters Education Fund: $15k → 14%Global Zero: $30k → 14%Food and Water Watch: $15k → 14%Friends Committee on National: $15k → 14%New Venture Fund: $15k → 14%Womens Action New Directions Ed Fd: $12k → 14%Earthworks: $15k → 14%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

NY
OH
PA
RI
CA
VA
NM
NC
DC
GA
TX
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 Janelia Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Janelia Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 8.4% 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 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
E3G Third Generation Environmentalism

E3g is a leading international not-for-profit think tank specialising in climate diplomacy harnessing expertise in the politics and economics of climate change.

Environment
2
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
3
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
4
Climate Foundation

To research and develop healthy climate solutions comprising global food security, ecosystem regeneration and carbon balance in seas and soils.

Science & Tech
5
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
6
Partnership for Policy Integrity

Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) uses data-driven advocacy and litigation to fight for forests, communities and the climate.

Environment
7
Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology Inc

Using legal advocacy to make advances in science and technology safer for people and the planet.

Science & Tech
8
Advocates for the Environment Inc

Advocates for the environment is organizaed to educate the public concerning the law and the environment, to provide low-cost legal services to the public and other nonprofit organizations, and to use legal means such as litigation to…

Civil Rights
9
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
10
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
11
Water Environment Federation

WEF's mission is inspiring the water community in pursuit of human and environmental well-being. WEF is a global environmental leader committed to water quality education and technical best practices. WEF connects water professionals;…

Environment
12
Center for Environmental Law & Policy

The Center for Environmental Law & Policy is a statewide organization whose mission is to protect, preserve and restore Washington's waters through education, advocacy, policy reform, and public interest litigation.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Venture Fund; the most unlike its peers is N C a Philip Randolph Institute Inc. 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

26 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. 26 of the 32 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/26
Grantees still filing
17/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GLOBAL ZERO: $30,000 · InternationalGLOBAL ZEROPHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: $30,000 · InternationalPHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL R…Win Without War Education Fund: $20,000 · InternationalWin Without War Educati…CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INC: $20,000 · InternationalCENTER FOR INTERNATIONA…HOPE BORDER INSTITUTE: $15,000 · InternationalHOPE BORDER INSTITUTEEDUCATION WORKS INC: $20,000 · OtherEDUCATION WORKS INCLIVEABLE ARLINGTON: $20,000 · OtherLIVEABLE ARLINGTONEarth Island Institute: $20,000 · OtherEarth Island InstituteFriends Committee on National: $15,000 · OtherFriends Committee on NationalNC Asian Americans Coming Together: $15,000 · OtherNC Asian Americans Coming Toge…Womens Action New Directions Ed Fd: $12,000 · OtherWomens Action New Directions E…Women of Color Advancing Peace: $12,000 · OtherWomen of Color Advancing PeaceTIDES FOUNDATION: $20,000 · OtherTIDES FOUNDATIONFOOD & WATER WATCH: $15,000 · OtherFOOD & WATER WATCH+1 more: $2,500 · OtherURBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS NETWORK: $20,000 · EnvironmentURBAN SUSTAINABILITY…WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY: $20,000 · EnvironmentWESTERN RESERVE LAND…GEORGIA CONSERVATION VOTERS ED FUND: $15,000 · EnvironmentGEORGIA CONSERVATION…LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $15,000 · EnvironmentLEAGUE OF CONSERVATI…NEW VENTURE FUND: $15,000 · EnvironmentNEW VENTURE FUNDCENTER FOR COALFIELD JUSTICE: $15,000 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR COALFIELD…ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTMAKERS ASSOCIATION: $4,000 · EnvironmentPUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · Public BenefitPUBLIC CITIZEN FOUN…COMMON DEFENSE EDUCATION FUND INC: $20,000 · Public BenefitCOMMON DEFENSE EDUC…PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC: $20,000 · Public BenefitPROJECT ON GOVERNME…Earthworks: $15,000 · Public BenefitEarthworksN C A PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE INC: $20,000 · Civil RightsN C A PHI…REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $15,000 · Civil RightsREFUGEE &…NEW MEXICO VOICES FOR CHILDREN: $10,000 · Civil RightsNEW MEXIC…BROWN UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · Community ImprovementTHE WATERSHED CENTER INC: $12,000 · Community ImprovementTexas Campaign for the Environment Fund: $20,000 · Housing & Shelter
International$115,000Other$151,500Environment$104,000Public Benefit$95,000Civil Rights$45,000Community Improvement$32,000Housing & Shelter$20,000

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 budgetPUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGLOBAL ZERO: $30,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetPHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: $30,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS NETWORK: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWin Without War Education Fund: $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCOMMON DEFENSE EDUCATION FUND INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTexas Campaign for the Environment Fund: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGIA CONSERVATION VOTERS ED FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEarthworks: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFOOD & WATER WATCH: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR COALFIELD JUSTICE: $15,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetHOPE BORDER INSTITUTE: $15,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetTHE WATERSHED CENTER INC: $12,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetNEW MEXICO VOICES FOR CHILDREN: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL GRANTMAKERS ASSOCIATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCONSULTATIVE GROUP ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC Biodiversity Funders Grp: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

United States Energy …Windward FundAmalgamated Charitabl…Tides FoundationRockefeller Family Fu…Resources Legacy FundMaine Community Found…New Venture FundThe Energy FoundationNatural Resources Def…Rockefeller Philanthr…The Partnership Proje…
United States Energy FoundationCA23.6× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United States Energy Foundation · Windward Fund · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Tides Foundation · Rockefeller Family Fund Inc · Resources Legacy Fund · Maine Community Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund · The Energy Foundation · Natural Resources Defense Council Inc · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · The Partnership Project 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 Janelia Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Janelia Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%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
    0get 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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Janelia Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Janelia 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 32 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 Janelia’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