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Plinth

· Private foundation

Lise and Jeffrey Wilks Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$340k
Largest
01What you fund
0191% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Arts & Culture$2.0MEducation$1.4MPhilanthropy$555kReligion$225kHealth$174kRecreation & Sports$156kYouth Development$76kSocial Science$38kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $36k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $201k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $141k
  • $250k+2 grants · $640k
$12,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA$340,000
UNITED JEWISH APPEAL$300,000
STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM$90,640
STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM$50,000
COURTAULD INSTITUTE$37,500
THE JEWISH BOARD$35,000
CITY PARKS FOUNDATION$30,000
CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE$25,950
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART$25,000
UJA FEDERATION$25,000
MUSEUM AT ELDRIDGE STREET$12,500
THE JEWISH MUSEUM$10,000
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NYC INC$9,500
STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM$8,600
CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE$5,525
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY25–25, $35k) land where the poverty rate runs at 6%, against an area that typically sits at 4%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 4%THE JEWISH BOARD: $35k → 6%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$5.6M · 38 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +17% since the first grant, against +4% for the ones you funded once.

38 repeat relationships — 13 still active in FY2025, 25 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

38
54

Total granted

$5.6M
$373k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+4%

Still filing today

24%
11%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 29% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $719k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHealthPhilanthropyRecreation & SportsEnvironmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • TS
    THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM
    3× · 2023–2025 · $1.0M · revenue +31%
  • UJ
    UNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC
    2× · 2023–2025 · $125k · revenue +34%
  • CP
    CITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2023–2025 · $80k · revenue +17%

Funded once

  • MS
    MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING
    one grant, 2024 · $67k
  • NM
    New Museum
    one grant, 2017 · $32k
  • BB
    Big Brothers Big Sisters Of NYC Inc
    one grant, 2018 · $25k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
2
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
3
The Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association

For over 150 years, the 92nd street y, new york has been serving its communities and the larger world by bringing people together (continued on schedule o)and providing exceptional, groundbreaking programs in the performing and visual…

Religion
4
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
5
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
6
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
7
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
8
Museum of Jewish Heritage a Living Memorial to the Holocaust

The museum of jewish heritage - a living memorial to the holocaust is new york's contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. see schedule o for additional information.

Arts & Culture
9
Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation

Committed to innovation, the solomon r. guggenheim foundation (the "foundation") collects, (continued on schedule o)

Arts & Culture
10
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
11
Berggruen Institute
Education
12
Columbia University Press

Enhance Columbia University's education mission by acquiring and publishing outstanding original works by scholars and others that contribute to an understanding of global human concerns. Columbia University Press became part of the…

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City Inc and the most unlike its peers is Bronx Letters Foundation. 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

18 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 18 of the 99 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
12/18
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

SCHEDULE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST — $1,965,686 · OtherSCHEDULE AVAILABLE UPON REQUESTUniversity Of Pennsylvania — $740,000 · OtherUniversity Of PennsylvaniaStudio Museum In Harlem — $536,180 · OtherStudio Museum In HarlemUNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA — $340,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIAUNITED JEWISH APPEAL — $300,000 · OtherUNITED JEWISH APPEALCollegiate School — $182,500 · Other+82 more — $1,203,779 · Other+82 moreTHE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM — $1,003,580 · Arts & CultureTHE STUDIO MUSEUM…+3 more — $46,200 · Arts & CultureUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC — $125,000 · Philanthropy+1 more — $750 · PhilanthropyCOLLEGIATE SCHOOL INC — $100,000 · EducationBRONX LETTERS FOUNDATION — $5,000 · EducationCITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC — $80,000 · Recreation & SportsMUSEUM AT ELDRIDGE STREET — $37,500 · EnvironmentJEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC — $35,000 · Human Services
Other$5,268,145Arts & Culture$1,049,780Philanthropy$125,750Education$105,000Recreation & Sports$80,000Environment$37,500Human Services$35,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM — $1,003,580 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC — $125,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLEGIATE SCHOOL INC — $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC — $80,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC — $44,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMUSEUM AT ELDRIDGE STREET — $37,500 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetJEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC — $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC — $21,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JEWISH MUSEUM — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GIFT OF LIFE INC — $15,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetTHE SYLVIA CENTER — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBRONX LETTERS FOUNDATION — $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetGEOSENTINEL FOUNDATION INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART — $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNAL FUND — $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM
  • Who funds UNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC
  • Who funds COLLEGIATE SCHOOL INC
  • Who funds CITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC
  • Who funds MUSEUM AT ELDRIDGE STREET
  • Who funds JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC
  • Who funds LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC
  • Who funds THE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds THE JEWISH MUSEUM
  • Who funds THE GIFT OF LIFE INC
  • Who funds THE SYLVIA CENTER

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Jewish Communal FundNY12.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Lise and Jeffrey Wilks Family Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 99 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph