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Kennedy Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Kennedy Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$30k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through 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, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$237kEducation$121kFood & Nutrition$65kHealth$39kHuman Services$16kPublic Benefit$15kCommunity Improvement$10kHousing & Shelter$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$926k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART$10,000
SALVATION ARMY$10,000
RENO PHILHARMONIC$5,000
FOOD BANK OF NORTHERN NEVADA$5,000
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 (FY20–23, $21k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%EVERFREE: $1k → 10%CLASSICAL TAHOE: $5k → 10%CLASSICAL TAHOE: $5k → 10%CLASSICAL TAHOE: $5k → 10%CLASSICAL TAHOE: $5k → 10%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

IL
NY
NV
IA
CA
UT
VA
HI
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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$450k · 12 repeat orgs$65k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +106% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
10

Total granted

$450k
$50k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+106%
+23%

Still filing today

92%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureFood & NutritionHuman ServicesHealthEducationInternationalOther
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

  • NM
    Nevada Museum of Art
    9× · 2017–2025 · $151k · revenue +199%
  • LT
    LAKE TAHOE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
    6× · 2017–2022 · $55k · revenue +48%
  • JUNIPERO SERRA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
    4× · 2021–2024 · $51k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • TT
    TUNNEL TO TOWERS FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • UC
    UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY ASSOC OF OCgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue +60%
  • CD
    CHILDREN'S DAY SCHOOL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $7k · revenue +55%
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
San Diego Opera Association

Mission: the mission of san diego opera is to deliver exceptional performances and exciting, accessible programs to diverse audiences, focusing on community partnerships, and the transformative and expressive power of the human voice. as…

Arts & Culture
2
The Fresno Philharmonic Association

The mission of the Fresno Philharmonic is to enrich the lives of Central San Joaquin Valley residents through inspiring performances of orchestral music. We are an essential and collaborative member of a vibrant arts scene which unites,…

Arts & Culture
3
Hawaii Symphony Orchestra

To present the highest-quality performances of great music, bringing national and international distinction to the orchestra and its community; to delight and educate audiences of all ages and backgrounds, and enhance the cultural vitality…

Arts & Culture
4
University of California Irvine Foundation

The mission of the university of california, irvine foundation (uc irvine foundation) is to raise and manage private funds to support uc irvine's broader mission of excellence in teaching, research and public service. to this end, the uc…

Education
5
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
6
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.

—
7
Reno Chamber Orchestra Inc

To create intimate, inspirational musical experiences by engaging the community through vibrant music making by the chamber orchestra and chamber ensembles.

Arts & Culture
8
University Cooperative School

We take a joyful, community-oriented approach to raising engaged citizens, deep learners, and brave adventurers with the skills, creativity, and heart needed to better the world.

—
9
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
10
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

University of the sciences prepares students to become leaders, innovators, and skilled practitioners in the sciences, the health professions, and related disciplines. we deliver excellence in teaching, research, and service through a safe…

—
11
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
12
Opera Santa Barbara

See schedule 0founded in 1994, opera santa barbara is the signature provider of professional opera on the california central coast. we aspire to be a cultural leader in the santa barbara region, voicing and advancing our community's spirit…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Friends of the Orphans D/B/a Nph-Usa; the most unlike its peers is Willow International Everfree. 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

19 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 19 of the 24 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)
19/19
Grantees still filing
14/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Nevada Museum of Art: $151,000 · Arts & CultureNevada Museum of ArtLAKE TAHOE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $55,000 · Arts & CultureLAKE TAHOE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALJUNIPERO SERRA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: $50,500 · Arts & CultureJUNIPERO SERRA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL+2 more: $10,000 · Arts & CultureSierra Nevada College: $40,000 · OtherSierra Nevada Colle…UCP OF ORANGE COUNTY: $15,000 · OtherUCP OF ORANGE COUNT…TUNNEL TO TOWERS FUND: $10,000 · OtherTUNNEL TO TOWERS FU…SALVATION ARMY: $10,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMYCHILDREN'S DAY SCHOOL INC: $7,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S DAY SCHO…NORTHERN NEVADA VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER: $5,000 · OtherNORTHERN NEVADA VET…+1 more: $1,000 · OtherFood Bank of Northern Nevada Inc: $50,000 · Food & NutritionFood Bank of N…FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH & EDUCATION INC: $10,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD ALLERGY R…MAUI FOOD BANK INC: $5,000 · Food & NutritionMAUI FOOD BANK…INCLINE VILLAGE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $28,500 · HealthUNITED CEREBRAL PALSY ASSOC OF OC: $10,000 · HealthCLASSICAL TAHOE: $20,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $5,000 · Human ServicesWillow International Everfree: $1,000 · Human ServicesTHE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION: $16,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $7,500 · EducationBUILD A MIRACLE: $6,000 · PhilanthropyFRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS D/B/A NPH-USA: $1,000 · International
Arts & Culture$266,500Other$88,000Food & Nutrition$65,000Health$38,500Human Services$26,000Education$23,500Philanthropy$6,000International$1,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNevada Museum of Art: $151,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetLAKE TAHOE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $55,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetJUNIPERO SERRA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: $50,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFood Bank of Northern Nevada Inc: $50,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSierra Nevada College: $40,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetINCLINE VILLAGE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $28,500 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetCLASSICAL TAHOE: $20,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetTHE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION: $16,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH & EDUCATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED CEREBRAL PALSY ASSOC OF OC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S DAY SCHOOL INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILD A MIRACLE: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRENO PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWillow International Everfree: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS D/B/A NPH-USA: $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.

Tahoe Community Found…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Tahoe Community FoundationNV17.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tahoe Community Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · 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 Kennedy Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kennedy 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s 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 · 0–10%
    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 Kennedy Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Kennedy 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 24 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Kennedy’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