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Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$331k
Granted FY2024still arriving
13
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$110k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$323kArts & Culture$291kAnimals$130kReligion$128kPhilanthropy$75kRecreation & Sports$51kInternational$30kHuman Services$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $8k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $163k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $160k
$15,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$10k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Princeton University$110,000
Southampton Playhouse Inc$50,000
Individual grant recipient$37,563
First Church of Christ Scientist$36,000
Elephant Club$25,000
Columbia University$25,000
Signature Theatre Company$15,000
Philadelphia Union Foundation$14,063
Hamptons Art Camp$10,290
Watermill Center$3,068
Park Avenue Armory New York$2,500
South Bronx United$1,065
High Point University$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 (FY21–24, $140k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Elephant Cooperation: $55k → 11%Good Foundation Inc: $10k → 17%Elephant Club: $25k → 11%Elephant Club: $25k → 11%ELEPHANT COOPERATION: $25k → 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

NY
OH
PA
NJ
CA
AZ
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 7% of Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 8 repeat orgs$449k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
14

Total granted

$2.1M
$343k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-3%
0%

Still filing today

63%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $105k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsYouth DevelopmentPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    4× · 2017–2020 · $1.5M
  • EC
    ELEPHANT COOPERATION
    4× · 2021–2024 · $130k · revenue -3%
  • FC
    First Church of Christ Scientist
    4× · 2021–2024 · $128k

Funded once

  • BF
    BROADWAYEVERYDAY FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $125k · 57% of their budget
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
  • TC
    THE CALHOUN SCHOOL INC
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue +1%
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
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
4
Boston Architectural College

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

—
5
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
6
Manhattanville University

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

Education
7
The York School

York school is an award-winning, private, coed college-prep school for grades 8-12, that develops confident and authentic leaders. we offer an academically challenging experiential program for bright, kind, and driven students in an…

Education
8
Harvard Club of Washington Dc

To inform and enrich the intellectual lives of 20,000 alumni of harvard university in the washington, dc area and to assist harvard university with respect to applicants and undergraduates from the dc area.

Education
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
University of Hartford

Dedicated to learning, personal growth, knowledge creation, and the betterment of society. the university engages students in aquiring the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to thrive in and contribute to a pluralistic, complex world.

Education
11
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
12
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Heights Youth Inc; the most unlike its peers is Aip Foundation 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

17 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. 17 of the 30 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)
16/17
Grantees still filing
7/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $1,469,259 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFirst Church of Christ Scientist: $128,300 · OtherFirst Church of Christ ScientistScripps National Spelling Bee: $89,127 · Other+10 more: $173,441 · Other+10 moreBROADWAYEVERYDAY FOUNDATION INC: $125,000 · Arts & CultureBROADWAYEVER…BYRD HOFFMAN WATER MILL FOUNDATION: $65,000 · Arts & CultureBYRD HOFFMAN…SOUTHAMPTON PLAYHOUSE INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureSOUTHAMPTON …SIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSIGNATURE TH…HAMPTONS COMMUNITY OUTREACH INC: $10,290 · Arts & CultureSCOA INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureThe Trustees of Princeton University: $110,084 · EducationTHE CALHOUN SCHOOL INC: $50,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $25,000 · EducationKHAN ACADEMY INC: $10,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationELEPHANT COOPERATION: $130,000 · Human ServicesGOOD PLUS FOUNDATION INC: $10,225 · Human ServicesPHILADELPHIA UNION FOUNDATION: $75,063 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $1,065 · Recreation & SportsAIP FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Public Safety & DisasterNEW HEIGHTS YOUTH INC: $2,500 · Youth Development
Other$1,860,127Arts & Culture$280,290Education$196,084Human Services$140,225Recreation & Sports$76,128Public Safety & Disaster$5,000Youth Development$2,500

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 budgetELEPHANT COOPERATION: $130,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetBROADWAYEVERYDAY FOUNDATION INC: $125,000 over 1y, 57% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $110,084 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA UNION FOUNDATION: $75,063 over 3y, 6.1% of budgetBYRD HOFFMAN WATER MILL FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetSOUTHAMPTON PLAYHOUSE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetTHE CALHOUN SCHOOL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHAMPTONS COMMUNITY OUTREACH INC: $10,290 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGOOD PLUS FOUNDATION INC: $10,225 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKHAN ACADEMY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCOA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAIP FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW HEIGHTS YOUTH INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSouth Bronx United Inc: $1,065 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: $1,000 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.

Jewish Communal FundThe New York Communit…The Goldman Sachs Cha…National Philanthropi…Gs Donor Advised Phil…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
Jewish Communal FundNY16.6× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · The New York Community Trust · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Jay and Kelly Sugarman 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 30 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 Jay and Kelly Sugarman’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