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Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$110k
Granted FY2023
9
Grants FY2023
5
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

83% of Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable Foundation Inc’s FY2025 grant dollars went to President And Fellows Of Harvard College, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 2 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable Foundation Inc named its own grantees at scale: 6 organizations, $110k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

4
’17
1
’18
2
’19
4
’20
4
’21
7
’22
6
’23
2
’24
2
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$214kEducation$82kReligion$5kHuman Services$4kAnimals$2kRecreation & Sports$1kInternational$1kHousing & Shelter$750Other$0
02FY2023 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k8 grants · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$1,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$159k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BETTERHUMANS INC$100,000
ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL$1,800
MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION$1,500
OPERATION SMILE$1,500
TUNNELS TO TOWERS$1,500
GIVE THE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE$1,000
SPECIAL OLYMPICS$1,000
ROSEMARIES RESCUE RANCH INC$750
11TH HOUR RESCUE$750
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 89% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $2k → 11%PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE: $50k → 8%LIFESPAN RESEARCH INSTITUTION: $10k → 8%LIFESPAN EXTENSION ADVOCACY FOUNDATION: $10k → 6%TUNNELS TO TOWERS: $2k → 11%SPECIAL OLYMPICS: $1k → 14%GIVE THE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE: $1k → 13%HUMAN AGE REVERSAL PROJECT: $25k → 13%BETTERHUMANS INC: $100k → 19%ST JUDE: $5k → 17%11TH HOUR RESCUE: $750 → 4%OPERATION SMILE: $2k → 7%MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%THE PENNINGTON SCHOOL: $5k → 11%SETON HALL PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $25k → 16%OPERATION SMILE INC: $2k → 10%MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%SENS RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%TUNNELS TO TOWERS: $250 → 11%ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL: $2k → 17%OPERATION SMILE: $500 → 7%GARDEN ACADEMY: $5k → 16%SENS RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL: $2k → 17%GARDEN ACADEMY: $5k → 16%ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL: $2k → 17%GARDEN ACADEMY: $5k → 16%ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL: $2k → 17%GARDEN ACADEMY: $5k → 16%GARDEN ACADEMY: $5k → 16%GARDEN ACADEMY: $5k → 16%ST VINCENTS NURSING HOME: $3k → 16%ST VINCENTS NURSING HOME: $1k → 16%ST VINCENTS NURSING HOME: $1k → 16%ST VINCENTS NURSING HOME: $1k → 16%BANYAN SCHOOL: $250 → 16%ST VINCENT'S NURSING HOME AUXILIARY INC: $250 → 16%RESCUE HAVEN: $500 → 16%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
MA
NJ
CA
VA
AZ
TN
DC
FL
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.

31%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$81k · 9 repeat orgs$178k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +78% since the first grant, against +38% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2023, 4 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
8

Total granted

$81k
$40k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+78%
+38%

Still filing today

56%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $500 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
HealthEducationRecreation & SportsInternationalOther
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

  • GA
    GARDEN ACADEMY INC
    6× · 2017–2022 · $30k · revenue +21%
  • THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH
    4× · 2019–2023 · $9k · revenue +338%
  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $7k · revenue +78%

Funded once

  • HA
    HUMAN AGE REVERSAL PROJECT INC
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -19% · 33% of their budget
  • TP
    The Pennington Schoolgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +36%
  • SJ
    ST JUDE
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
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
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
2
The Lieber Institute Inc

The mission of the institute is to translate basic genetic and molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia and related developmental brain disorders into clinical advances that change the lives of affected individuals. it is catalyzing a new…

Health
3
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation
Philanthropy
4
The Scripps Research Institute

The scripps research institute ("tsri") performs high impact basic biomedical research, improves the human condition by fostering translation of its discoveries into useful products and engages in the highest quality graduate scientific…

Health
5
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
6
Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation

The samuel waxman cancer research foundation (the "foundation") funds innovative research to bring faster cures to patients. in addition to supporting ongoing collaborative research in specific cancers, our scientists are investigating the…

—
7
Diabetes Research Institute Foundation Inc

To provide the diabetes research institute with the funding to cure diabetes now.

Health
8
Buck Institute for Research On Aging

To increase the healthy, productive years of life through basic biomedical research on aging and age-related diseases.

Social Science
9
Hugo W Moser Research Institute At Kennedy Krieger Inc

The hugo w. moser research institute at kennedy krieger, inc. (the "research institute") is an internationally recognized research facility finding answers to problems and injuries that affect a child's developing brain. researchers have…

Science & Tech
10
The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research

The graduate school of the stowers institute for medical research ("gssimr") exempt purpose is to provide graduate education that will prepare scholars for scientific research in the biological sciences.

Education
11
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
12
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is Breakthrough T1D. 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 25 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)
15/15
Grantees still filing
9/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BETTERHUMANS INC: $100,000 · HealthBETTERHUMANS INCLifespan Research Institution: $20,000 · HealthLifespan Research InstitutionLIFESPAN EXTENSION ADVOCACY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthLIFESPAN EXTENSION ADVOCACY FOUNDATIONTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $9,300 · HealthTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCHST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $6,900 · Health+1 more: $500 · HealthPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $50,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harv…GARDEN ACADEMY INC: $30,000 · EducationGARDEN ACADEMY INC+1 more: $1,750 · EducationSETON HALL PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $25,000 · OtherSETON HALL PREPARATORY SCHOO…HUMAN AGE REVERSAL PROJECT INC: $25,000 · OtherHUMAN AGE REVERSAL PROJECT I…ST VINCENTS NURSING HOME: $6,000 · OtherST VINCENTS NURSING HOMEThe Pennington School: $5,000 · OtherThe Pennington SchoolST JUDE: $5,000 · OtherST JUDEMAKE A WISH FOUNDATION: $3,300 · Other+8 more: $8,500 · Other+8 moreOPERATION SMILE INC: $2,000 · InternationalSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $1,000 · Recreation & Sports
Health$146,700Education$81,750Other$77,800International$2,000Recreation & Sports$1,000

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 budgetBETTERHUMANS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGARDEN ACADEMY INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHUMAN AGE REVERSAL PROJECT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 33% of budgetLifespan Research Institution: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLIFESPAN EXTENSION ADVOCACY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $9,300 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $6,900 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Pennington School: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION SMILE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $1,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBANYAN SCHOOL INC: $250 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.

Charities Aid Foundat…Network for GoodThe Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Charities Aid Foundation AmericaVA9.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charities Aid Foundation America · Network for Good · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Lawrence and Karen Levinson Charitable 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 25 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Lawrence and Karen Levinson’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