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Joel and Elaine Gershman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Joel and Elaine Gershman 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.

$140k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
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.

Human Services$380kScience & Tech$80kInternational$70kEnvironment$45kPublic Safety & Disaster$25kArts & Culture$10kEducation$10kFood & Nutrition$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE$25,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$25,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$25,000
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK$15,000
OCEAN CONSERVANCY$10,000
HELEN KELLER INTL$10,000
AMERICAN FORESTS$10,000
THE LIFE YOU CAN SAVE$10,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$10,000
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 20%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 96% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%PHILAELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $10k → 22%RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: $15k → 10%CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $10k → 16%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $25k → 17%AMERICAN FORESTS: $10k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10k → 7%THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $80k → 22%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $25k → 17%WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: $25k → 14%FRIENDS OF RITTENHOUSE SQUARE: $10k → 22%HELEN KELLER INTL: $10k → 17%OCEAN CONSERVANCY: $10k → 14%PHILABUNDANCE: $10k → 22%THE SALVATION ARMY: $150k → 22%THE SALVATION ARMY: $150k → 22%THE SALVATION ARMY: $80k → 22%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.
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 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
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
Rainforest Alliance Inc

RA works at the intersection of business, agriculture & forests to improve lives & protect nature by transforming how land is used, production of goods & consumer choices.

—
4
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
5
Rainforest Alliance Holding Inc

RA works at the intersection of business, agriculture & forests to improve lives & protect nature by transforming how land is used, production of goods & consumer choices.

Environment
6
Floresta Usa Incorporated

Plant with purpose, a christian nonprofit organization, reverses deforestation and poverty around the world by transforming the lives of the rural poor. we do this through: - watershed restoration & regenerative agriculture - savings…

International
7
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
8
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
9
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
10
Oceana Inc

To advocate for policy changes by governments and corporations in order to preserve ocean life and return the oceans to their former abundance.

Environment
11
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc

We safeguard the earth: its people, its plants and animals, and (see schedule o) the natural systems on which all life depends. we work to restore the integrity of the elements that sustain life - air, land, and water - to defend…

Environment
12
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Medecins Sans Frontieres Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Life You Can Save. 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

13 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. 13 of the 15 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)
13/13
Grantees still filing
7/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SALVATION ARMY: $380,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY+2 more: $20,000 · OtherWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $25,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL K…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $25,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS F…International Rescue Committee INC: $25,000 · InternationalInternational R…HELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL: $10,000 · InternationalHELEN KELLER IN…THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $80,000 · Arts & CultureTHE FRANKLIN I…Rainforest Action Network: $15,000 · EnvironmentOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $10,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF RITTENHOUSE SQUARE: $10,000 · EnvironmentAmerican Forests: $10,000 · EnvironmentPhilabundance: $10,000 · Food & NutritionCornell University: $10,000 · EducationThe Life You Can Save: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Other$400,000International$85,000Arts & Culture$80,000Environment$45,000Food & Nutrition$10,000Education$10,000Philanthropy$10,000

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 budgetTHE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $80,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRainforest Action Network: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPhilabundance: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF RITTENHOUSE SQUARE: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetHELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Forests: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Life You Can Save: $10,000 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Joel and Elaine Gershman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Joel and Elaine Gershman Foundation. 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 →
    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)
    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.

    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 15 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 Joel and Elaine Gershman’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