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Lois & Max Beren Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lois & Max Beren Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$181k
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$18k
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.

Education$1.5M
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k18 grants · $133k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $48k
$7,500
Median grant
10
States reached
$621k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS$18,250
WASHBURN UNIVERSITY$15,000
NEWMAN UNIVERSITY$15,000
WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY$7,500
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER$7,500
CENTRAL COLLEGE$7,500
COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES$7,500
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY$7,500
MIAMI DADE COLLEGE$7,500
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA$7,500
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY$7,500
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH$7,500
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY$7,500
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER$7,500
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY$7,500
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 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 88% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS: $8k → 12%NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $8k → 16%STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY: $8k → 7%QUEENS COLLEGE: $7k → 13%UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY: $8k → 14%CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC: $7k → 17%FLORIDA INT'L UNIV BISCAYNE BAY CAMPUS: $10k → 15%CENTRAL COLLEGE: $8k → 8%BUENA VISTA UNIVERSITY: $8k → 10%WASHBURN UNIVERSITY: $15k → 14%NEWMAN UNIVERSITY: $15k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER: $8k → 16%SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE: $8k → 16%EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $38k → 16%KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $21k → 20%SOUTHEASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL: $8k → 8%COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES: $8k → 7%COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF AURORA: $8k → 8%GONZAGA UNIVERSITY: $8k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON: $8k → 18%UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS: $8k → 12%UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY: $8k → 14%MIAMI DADE COLLEGE: $8k → 15%WASHBURN UNIVERSITY: $12k → 14%NEWMAN UNIVERSITY: $15k → 16%EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $30k → 16%KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $21k → 20%SOUTHEASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL: $8k → 8%GONZAGA UNIVERSITY: $8k → 12%MIAMI DADE COLLEGE: $8k → 15%WASHBURN UNIVERSITY: $12k → 14%WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY: $23k → 16%EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $24k → 16%KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $18k → 20%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $12k → 16%WASHBURN UNIVERSITY: $12k → 14%WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY: $21k → 16%EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $14k → 16%KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $17k → 20%BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $11k → 16%MIAMI DADE COLLEGE: $10k → 15%WASHBURN UNIVERSITY: $11k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: $23k → 15%WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY: $19k → 16%KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 20%UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: $18k → 15%WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY: $8k → 16%KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $8k → 20%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

AK
WA
NY
MA
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
CT
RI
UT
CO
WV
VA
NM
KS
NC
SC
MS
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 54 repeat orgs$132k to everyone else

54 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 38 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

54
17

Total granted

$1.4M
$95k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+24%

Still filing today

26%
24%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $38k went to new ones.

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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
    5× · 2017–2025 · $44k · revenue +33%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    6× · 2018–2023 · $41k · revenue +40%
  • NU
    NEWMAN UNIVERSITY INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $30k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • FI
    FLORIDA INT'L UNIV BISCAYNE BAY CAMPUS
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • TS
    THE SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE
    one grant, 2024 · $8k · revenue +10%
  • JC
    JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
    one grant, 2020 · $7k
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
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
2
St Marys University of Minnesota

Enriched by the lasallian catholic heritage, saint mary's university of minnesota awakens, nurtures, and empowers learners to ethical lives of service and leadership.

Education
3
Endicott College

Endicott college offers students a vibrant academic environment that remains true to its founding principle of integrating professional and liberal arts with experiential learning. for more information see schedule o.

Education
4
Dickinson College

Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship

Education
5
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
6
The Catholic University of America

As the national university of the catholic church in the united states, founded and sponsored by the bishops of the country with the approval of the holy see, the catholic university of america is committed to being a comprehensive…

Education
7
Bentley University

Organization's mission bentley university believes good business can impact more than the bottom line - it can change the world. bentley is a community of future business leaders who will deliver value in the marketplace and lasting…

Education
8
Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & clark is a premier private higher education institution offering an exceptional education in an inclusive environment. by fostering critical thinking, innovation, creativity, civic engagement, and leadership, both inside and…

Education
9
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
10
Texas Christian University

Texas christian university is an institution of higher education which includes nine major academic units: liberal arts, science and engineering, business, education, fine arts, communication, honors, nursing and health sciences, and the…

Education
11
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
12
Fairleigh Dickinson University

Fairleigh dickinson university is a center of academic excellence dedicated to the preparation of world citizens through global education. the university strives to provide students with the multi-disciplinary, intercultural, and ethical…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northeastern University; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. 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

22 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. 22 of the 77 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
16/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $113,012 · OtherEMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITYKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $105,050 · OtherKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITYWICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY: $85,000 · OtherWICHITA STATE UNIVERSITYWASHBURN UNIVERSITY: $67,250 · OtherWASHBURN UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: $62,750 · OtherMIAMI DADE COLLEGE: $42,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $42,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $41,000 · Other+48 more: $660,328 · Other+48 moreUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $43,750 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF DENVERNEWMAN UNIVERSITY INC: $30,000 · EducationNEWMAN UNIVERSITY INCCORPORATION OF GONZAGA UNIVERSITY: $29,000 · EducationCORPORATION OF GONZAGA U…NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $21,500 · EducationNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITYST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK: $20,212 · EducationST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY NEW…THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER: $20,000 · EducationTHE COLLEGE OF WOOSTERRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $20,000 · EducationRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF D…THE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE: $20,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HO…BAKER UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · EducationBAKER UNIVERSITYTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $19,900 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA…THE UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON INC: $15,400 · Education+10 more: $68,644 · Education+10 more
Other$1,218,390Education$328,406

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

25%50%75%100%$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $43,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $41,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNEWMAN UNIVERSITY INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCORPORATION OF GONZAGA UNIVERSITY: $29,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $21,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK: $20,212 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBAKER UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $19,900 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON INC: $15,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBucknell University: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL COLLEGE: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBuena Vista University: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANDERSON UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe New School: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetITHACA COLLEGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPALM BEACH ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY INC: $3,644 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DENVER ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds NEWMAN UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds CORPORATION OF GONZAGA UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER ↗
  • Who funds RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds BAKER UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON INC ↗

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.

Tulsa Community Found…Greater Kansas City C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Tulsa Community FoundationOK14.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tulsa Community Foundation · Greater Kansas City Community Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Lois & Max Beren Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lois & Max Beren Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 4% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Mount Holyoke College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get 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 · 0–20%
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 Lois & Max Beren Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Lois & Max Beren 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 77 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 Lois & Max Beren’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