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Lee and Cynthia Vance Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lee and Cynthia Vance 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.

$480k
Granted FY2024still arriving
15
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$155k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Human Services$2.5MEducation$270kEnvironment$80kPublic Safety & Disaster$35kPhilanthropy$30kArts & Culture$10kHealth$3kAnimals$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $165k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $305k
$25,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$8.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SCO FAMILY OF SERVICES$155,000
BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL$100,000
WARREN LAND TRUST$50,000
WARREN VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY$30,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
EDUCATION DEV CENTER$25,000
EDUCATION DEV CENTER$25,000
ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION$15,000
ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION$10,000
LAKE WARAMAUG TASK FORCE$10,000
RIPLEY WATERFOWL CONSERVANCY$2,500
BEDLAM INC$2,500
BEDLAM INC$2,500
LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS$2,100
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 (FY23–24, $311k) land where the poverty rate runs at 6%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SCO FAMILY OF SERVICES: $156k → 6%SCO FAMILY OF SERVICES: $155k → 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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$766k · 6 repeat orgs$101k to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
4

Total granted

$766k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+4%
+17%

Still filing today

83%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 81% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $90k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
EnvironmentPhilanthropyHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • SF
    SCO FAMILY OF SERVICES
    2× · 2023–2024 · $311k · revenue +4%
  • BL
    BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL
    2× · 2023–2024 · $200k · revenue +7%
  • RH
    ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $30k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • WV
    WARREN VOL FIRE COMPANY INC
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • TP
    THE PUBLIC THEATRE
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • GI
    Guttmacher Institute Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · 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
Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation

Brooklyn bridge park corporation's mission, d/b/a brooklyn bridge park ("bbp") mission is to provide an exceptional public space that connects people, nature, and the waterfront, through inclusive, innovative, and sustainable management…

Recreation & Sports
2
The Real Estate Board of New York Inc

1. to unite in common organization those professionally engaged in real estate. 2. to protect and promote the mutual interests of its members. 3. to formulate and maintain ethical standards for the guidance of its members in their…

—
3
Regional Plan Association Inc

Promote improvement of quality of life/economy in the new york, new jersey & connecticut tri-state region.

Community Improvement
4
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
5
The Urban Land Institute

Shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. we are a global network of professionals in every sector of real estate development and land use, from private enterprise to public service.

Environment
6
Workforce Professionals Training Institute

Wpti's mission is to build the capacities of people, programs, and organizations that provide job training, placement, and career guidance for individuals and to advocate for policies that promote economic opportunities for all.

Employment
7
Research Triangle Institute

Research Triangle Institute is one of the world's leading research institutes, dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. Our staff of more than 5,300 provides research and technical (continued on…

Science & Tech
8
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Inc

The Knight First Amendment Institute defends the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, public advocacy and public education. Our aim is to promote a system of free expression that is…

Education
9
The Berkeley Policy Institute Inc
Social Science
10
Berggruen Institute
Education
11
New York City Center Inc

The mission of new york city center is to be new york city's leading center for dance and musical theater. dedicated to making the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience, city center seeks to create a welcoming environment and…

Arts & Culture
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Robin Hood Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Ripley 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

12 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. 12 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)
12/12
Grantees still filing
6/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SCO FAMILY OF SERVICES: $311,000 · Human ServicesSCO FAMILY OF SERVICESIndividual grant recipient: $125,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientEDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $70,000 · OtherEDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTE…+4 more: $12,500 · Other+4 moreBROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL: $200,000 · EducationBROOKLYN LAW SCHOOLWARREN LAND TRUST INC: $50,000 · EnvironmentWARREN LAN…LAKE WARAMAUG TASK FORCE INC: $30,000 · EnvironmentLAKE WARAM…ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $30,000 · PhilanthropyBedlam Inc: $5,000 · PhilanthropyWARREN VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY INC: $30,000 · Public Safety & DisasterLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $2,100 · Arts & CultureCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $1,000 · Recreation & Sports
Human Services$311,000Other$207,500Education$200,000Environment$80,000Philanthropy$35,000Public Safety & Disaster$30,000Arts & Culture$2,100Recreation & 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 budgetSCO FAMILY OF SERVICES: $311,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $70,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWARREN LAND TRUST INC: $50,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetWARREN VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY INC: $30,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE WARAMAUG TASK FORCE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetBedlam Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGuttmacher Institute Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRIPLEY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $2,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $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.

National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
National Philanthropic TrustPA11.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Lee and Cynthia Vance Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lee and Cynthia Vance Foundation. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 65%
  • Education Development Center Inc: 65% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Lee and Cynthia Vance’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