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Lulu Frankel Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lulu Frankel 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.

$30k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0182% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$532kEducation$97kReligion$57kRecreation & Sports$21kEnvironment$6kAnimals$5kHealth$2kInternational$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$15,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$355k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Camp Nebagamon$15,000
Central Synagogue$14,600
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Brandeis University: $4k → 8%SAVE THE BOUNDARY WATERS: $1k → 8%CAMP NEBAGAMON SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $1k → 7%EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER: $2k → 11%BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $2k → 17%HORACE MANN SCHOOL: $5k → 28%AUSTIN ANGELS: $1k → 10%CAMPERSHIPS FOR NEBAGAMON: $1k → 10%Camp Nebagamon: $15k → 11%Temple Emanuel Denver: $29k → 12%HOLISTIC LIFE FOUNDATION: $5k → 19%Central Synagogue: $15k → 17%CONGREGATION AGUDAS ACHIM - RABBI BLUMOFE FUND: $1k → 10%Camp Nebagamon: $5k → 11%Temple Emanuel Denver: $29k → 12%Central Synagogue: $4k → 17%ROSE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $512k → 12%Central Synagogue: $3k → 17%JEWISH COLORADO: $15k → 12%MNDFL ED: $10k → 17%JEWISH COLORADO: $5k → 12%INSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP: $2k → 17%JEWISH COLORADO: $5k → 12%THREE JEWELS: $2k → 17%JEWISH COLORADO: $5k → 12%THE DENVER ZOO: $5k → 12%COLORADO UPLIFT: $2k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $30k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $30k → 12%HERBERT CRANE ENDOWMENT FUND: $10k → 12%CU FOUNDATION: $10k → 12%HERBERT CRANE ENDOWMENT FUND: $10k → 12%University of Colorado Foundation: $5k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%INTERMOUNTAIN JEWISH NEWS: $3k → 12%ADL: $2k → 12%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

MN
WI
NY
MA
PA
CA
CO
MD
TX
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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$200k · 5 repeat orgs$55k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +79% since the first grant, against +44% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
20

Total granted

$200k
$55k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+79%
+44%

Still filing today

40%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationInternationalHealthRecreation & SportsAnimalsEnvironmentOther
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 COLORADO FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2022 · $80k · revenue +79%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    2× · 2022–2023 · $58k
  • CS
    CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE
    3× · 2022–2024 · $22k

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • HM
    Horace Mann School
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +7%
  • FS
    FRANKEL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
    one grant, 2019 · $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
Colorado State University Foundation

See schedule o colorado state university foundation assists in the promotion, development, and enhancement of facilities and educational programs and enhancements of faculty, students, and alumni of colorado state university (csu). this is…

Education
2
The Baruch College Fund

The baruch college fund is an organization engaged in generating, encouraging and promoting the educational welfare of the students of the bernard m. baruch college of the city university of new york.

Education
3
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
4
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
5
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
6
University of Northern Colorado Foundation

The foundation is entrusted to provide support and steward donations for the university of northern colorado.

Education
7
Colorado Academy

Creating curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders.

Education
8
Alexander Dawson Foundation

The mission of the alexander dawson foundation is to establish, operate and maintain an educational organization that will provide students with the highest quality education, nurture future leaders, prepare young adults to excel in…

Education
9
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
10
Jewish Community Foundation of Nm

To build and perpetuate support for a vibrant, caring jewish community through partnerships with donors and organizations. the foundation receives, administers and disposes of funds for charitable purposes.

Philanthropy
11
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
12
University of New Mexico Foundation Inc

Create powerful engagements and partnerships that lead to increased philanthropy, investment, innovation, and support for the university of new mexico.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Birthright Israel Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Holistic Life Foundation 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

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 28 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
13/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Rose Community Foundation: $512,222 · PhilanthropyRose Community FoundationJEWISHColorado: $30,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISHColoradoIndividual grant recipient: $58,212 · OtherIndividual grant re…CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE: $22,150 · OtherCENTRAL SYNAGOGUEHERBERT CRANE ENDOWMENT FUND: $20,000 · OtherHERBERT CRANE ENDOW…Individual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant re…FRANKEL SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $5,000 · Other+11 more: $19,866 · Other+11 moreUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $80,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF…Horace Mann School: $5,000 · EducationHorace Mann S…BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $3,600 · Education+3 more: $3,500 · EducationCAMP NEBAGAMON: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $5,000 · AnimalsHOLISTIC LIFE FOUNDATION INC: $4,910 · Youth DevelopmentBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $2,000 · International
Philanthropy$542,222Other$135,228Education$92,100Recreation & Sports$20,000Animals$5,000Youth Development$4,910International$2,000

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 budgetRose Community Foundation: $512,222 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $80,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISHColorado: $30,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCAMP NEBAGAMON: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHorace Mann School: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOLISTIC LIFE FOUNDATION INC: $4,910 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $3,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEisenhower Medical Center: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO UPLIFT INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP NEBAGAMON FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP NEBAGAMON SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% 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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO5.9× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Lulu Frankel Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lulu Frankel 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • Holistic Life Foundation Inc: 0% of 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 · 0–15%
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 Lulu Frankel Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Lulu Frankel 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 28 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

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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