· Private foundation
Jay & Shirley Marks 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k3 grants · $14k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $28k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| CONTEMPORY ART MUSEUM | $15,000 |
| HOUSTON FOOD BANK | $13,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON | $5,000 |
| HOLOCAUST MUSEUM | $5,000 |
| RIVER OAKS BAPTIST SCHOOL | $3,500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $148k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
10 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down.
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- JFJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE5× · 2017–2023 · $147k · revenue +15%
- BSBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC4× · 2017–2023 · $60k · revenue +38%
- HSHouston Symphony Society3× · 2018–2021 · $31k · revenue +55%
Funded once
- HSHOUSTON SMYPHONY SOCIETYone grant, 2017 · $12k
- UJUH JS SCHOLARSHIP ENDone grant, 2021 · $10k
- CBCONGREGATION BETH ISREAL INCone grant, 2017 · $9k
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.
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.
Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…
The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."
The weitzman national museum of american jewish history, on independence mall in philadelphia, presents educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore, and celebrate the history of jews in america. its purpose is to connect…
Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…
The metropolitan museum of art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.
For over 150 years, the 92nd street y, new york has been serving its communities and the larger world by bringing people together (continued on schedule o)and providing exceptional, groundbreaking programs in the performing and visual…
*increase and diffusion of knowledge* is the mission set forth by james smithson. the smithsonian endeavors to shape the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.
The Cleveland Orchestra inspires and enriches lives by creating extraordinary musical experiences at the highest level of artistic excellence.
Deeply rooted in our local beverly hills community and influenced by cultural change, the wallis annenberg center for the performing arts, a public-private partnership with the city of beverly hills, strives to be a site for the…
Across the fields of performing arts, visual arts, education and outreach, business & policy, astc provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future. astc operates as a…
The san francisco jazz organization (the organization) is a recognized international leader in jazz creation, presentation, and education. the organization explores the full spectrum of jazz, from the music's origins in the african…
Harmonia Stellarum is an ensemble of professional vocalists and instrumentalists specialized in historically informed performance practice who seek to inspire, entertain, and enlighten audiences with meaningful, historically informed…
How this is measured
11 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. 11 of the 36 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ↗
- Who funds BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
- Who funds Houston Symphony Society ↗
- Who funds The Houston Food Bank ↗
- Who funds JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF DALLAS ↗
- Who funds BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY INC ↗
- Who funds THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC ↗
- Who funds EDITH WHARTON RESTORATION INC ↗
- Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ↗
- Who funds THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON ↗
- Who funds TEXAS JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.
Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Jay & Shirley Marks Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Jay & Shirley Marks Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Edith Wharton Restoration Inc: 1% of income from government
- Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Jay & Shirley Marks Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Jay & Shirley Marks 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.
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