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Karen Sachs Besson Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Karen Sachs Besson Foundation Inc

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.

$110k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$36kCrime & Legal$35kFood & Nutrition$30kHuman Services$15kInternational$15kScience & Tech$13kArts & Culture$10kHousing & Shelter$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $90k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$263k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VOICES FOR CHILDREN$20,000
EASTPORT YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION$20,000
THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN BERLIN$10,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$10,000
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO$10,000
MOVEABLE FEAST$10,000
PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II INC$10,000
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE$8,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$5,000
SPCA OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY$5,000
IMPACT100 GREATER CHESAPEAK$2,100
MARYLAND FOOD BANK$15
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 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 46% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN BERLIN: $10k → 17%AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: $8k → 14%GRASSROOTS CRISIS INTERVENTION: $20k → 6%EASTPORT YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION: $20k → 6%MARYLAND FOOD BANK: $10k → 11%MOVEABLE FEAST: $10k → 19%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $5k → 17%AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: $5k → 14%VOICES FOR CHILDREN: $20k → 6%SPCA OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY: $5k → 6%HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $10k → 11%PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II INC: $10k → 19%NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%VOICES FOR CHILDREN: $15k → 6%IMPACT100 GREATER CHESAPEAK: $2k → 6%MARYLAND FOOD BANK: $15 → 11%CAROLINE CENTER: $5k → 19%NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: $10k → 14%ST PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH: $5k → 6%MEALS ON WHEELS OF CENTRAL MD: $10k → 19%HOWARD ECOWORKS: $15k → 6%COMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL OF HOWARD COUNTY MARYLAND INC: $10k → 6%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 grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

28%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$58k · 3 repeat orgs$148k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
7

Total granted

$58k
$66k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+83%

Still filing today

100%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 25% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $82k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’24
InternationalCrime & LegalEnvironmentScience & TechFood & NutritionRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • VF
    VOICES FOR CHILDREN INC
    2× · 2020–2024 · $35k · revenue +51%
  • AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE
    2× · 2020–2024 · $13k · revenue +14%
  • TM
    THE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INC
    2× · 2020–2024 · $10k · revenue +18%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
  • HE
    HOWARD ECOWORKS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue +83%
  • MO
    MEALS ON WHEELS OF CENTRAL MARYLANDINC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +20%
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
Howard County Chamber of Commerce

To represent the business community of howard county, maryland

—
2
Maryland Center On Economic Policy Inc

The maryland center on economic policy advances innovative policy ideas to foster broad prosperity and help our state be the standard-bearer for responsible public policy.

Social Science
3
Healthcare Access Maryland Inc

We are making maryland healthier by connecting residents to insurance and care, educating the community about healthier living, and advocating a more equitable health care system.

Health
4
Montgomery County Food Council Inc

Mcfc builds an equitable, resilient and sustainable local food system through collaboration, transformation, and cultivation.mcfc envisions a vibrant and equitable food system that is healthy for our community, economy, and environment.

Food & Nutrition
5
Council for Court Excellence

Council for court excellence's (cce's) mission is to bring people together to conduct research, educate, and advocate to make d.c.'s unique legal systems more just, equitable, and accountable to the community.

—
6
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
7
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
8
Association of Washington Cities

The association of washington cities builds connections between our state's diverse cities and towns, while providing our members with the support needed to thrive through delivery of data-driven education, nationally recognized pooling…

—
9
American Society for Nutrition Inc

The american society for nutrition, inc. (asn) was established to advance health around the world through evidence based nutrition. this is accomplished through innovative programs and services designed to advance knowledge, create and…

Food & Nutrition
10
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.

—
11
American Foreign Service Association

American foreign service association (afsa) is both the principal advocate for the long-term institutional wellbeing of the professional career foreign service and responsible for safeguarding the interest of afsa members. (continued on…

—
12
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Create a more accessible, sustainable, prosperous and livable national capital region by being a discussion forum, expert resource, issue advocate, and catalyst for action.

Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Meals On Wheels of Central Marylandinc; the most unlike its peers is Impact 100 of the Greater Chesapeake Inc. 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

15 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. 15 of the 19 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
10/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INC: $10,015 · OtherTHE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INCMOVEABLE FEAST INC: $10,000 · OtherMOVEABLE FEAST INCHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $10,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITYPRIDE OF BALTIMORE II INC: $10,000 · OtherPRIDE OF BALTIMORE II INCCOMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL OF HOWARD COUNTY MARYLAND INC: $10,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL OF HOWARD COUNTY MARYLAND IN…ST PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH: $5,000 · OtherCAROLINE CENTER INC: $5,000 · OtherMEALS ON WHEELS OF CENTRAL MARYLANDINC: $10,000 · OtherMEALS ON WHEELS OF CENTRAL MARYLANDINCSOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY MD INC: $5,000 · Other+2 more: $3,100 · OtherVOICES FOR CHILDREN INC: $35,000 · Crime & LegalVOICES FOR CHILDREN…EASTPORT YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsEASTPORT Y…HOWARD ECOWORKS INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN ACADEMY IN BERLIN: $10,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $5,000 · InternationalAMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: $13,000 · Science & TechNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $10,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$98,115Crime & Legal$35,000Recreation & Sports$20,000Environment$15,000International$15,000Science & Tech$13,000Arts & Culture$10,000

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 budgetVOICES FOR CHILDREN INC: $35,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetEASTPORT YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetHOWARD ECOWORKS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: $13,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INC: $10,015 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMOVEABLE FEAST INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF CENTRAL MARYLANDINC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN ACADEMY IN BERLIN: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL OF HOWARD COUNTY MARYLAND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAROLINE CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY MD INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetImpact 100 of the Greater Chesapeake Inc: $2,100 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $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.

American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
American Online Giving Foundation IncDE6.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Karen Sachs Besson Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Karen Sachs Besson Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 18%
  • Community Action Council of Howard County Maryland Inc: 44% of income from government
  • Moveable Feast Inc: 18% of income from government
  • The Maryland Food Bank Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Howard Ecoworks Inc: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Karen Sachs Besson Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Karen Sachs Besson Foundation Inc 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 19 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 Karen Sachs Besson’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