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Marks Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Marks 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.

$19k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$36kHealth$34kReligion$26kFood & Nutrition$19kAnimals$19kPhilanthropy$16kRecreation & Sports$15kYouth Development$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,500
Median grant
4
States reached
$271k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation$2,416
Camp Laurelwood$1,854
Camp Courant$1,800
Bnai Brith Youth Organization$1,800
The Animal Haven Inc$1,510
Farmington Food Pantry Inc$1,500
The Simon Foundation Incorporated$1,500
Cheshire Community Food Pantry Inc$1,500
Connecticut Foodshare$1,500
Connecticut Humane Society$1,500
St Jude's Children's Research Hospital$1,500
Farmington Public Schools Foundation Inc$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:

Its human-services grants (FY18–24, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 58% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Camp Hazen YMCA: $3k → 7%Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation: $3k → 11%Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation: $1k → 11%ITN Central CT: $500 → 11%ITN Central CT: $500 → 11%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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$141k · 24 repeat orgs$39k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +14% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
16

Total granted

$141k
$30k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+4%

Still filing today

67%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 55% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k 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
Arts & CultureHealthAnimalsHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsFood & NutritionOther
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

  • CH
    CONNECTICUT HUMANE SOCIETY
    8× · 2018–2025 · $15k · revenue +13%
  • FI
    FOODSHARE INC
    6× · 2018–2023 · $11k · revenue +65%
  • CC
    CAMP COURANT INC
    6× · 2018–2025 · $10k · revenue +55%

Funded once

  • CH
    CAMP HAZEN YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $3k · revenue +4%
  • CF
    CT Foodshare Inc
    one grant, 2024 · $3k
  • TC
    Travelers Championship - Birdies for Charity
    one grant, 2024 · $3k
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
Connecticut Farmland Trust Inc

Protect Connecticuts farmland for agricultural use by purchasing and accepting donations of agricultural conservation easements

Food & Nutrition
2
Connecticut Cancer Foundation Inc

To provide funds to benefit families affected by cancer and to support cancer research and education.

—
3
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

The hartford foundation for public giving puts philanthropy into action to create lasting solutions that result in vibrant communities within the greater hartford region. as the region's community foundation, it is a public, grantmaking…

Philanthropy
4
Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities Inc

The association is the leader in providing services to and advocating for, the state's providers of long-term, subacute, rehabilitative, and assisted living care. additionally, the association serves as a clearing house for information…

—
5
Connecticut Council for Philanthropy

Ccp organizes, inspires, and equips a community of funders to learn, collaborate, and lead together for sustained impact and social change in connecticut.

Philanthropy
6
Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association Inc

The new england air museum's mission is to preserve and present the story of aviation and aerospace, with an emphasis on new england's role, and the genius and inspiration that made it possible. the museum also seeks to inspire young…

Arts & Culture
7
Connecticut Housing Coalition Inc

The connecticut housing coalition works to expand housing opportunity and to increase the quantity and quality of affordable housing available to people with low and moderate incomes in connecticut through advocacy, education and…

—
8
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
9
Community Health Services Inc

To provide medical services for the residents of the greater hartford connecticut area. to provide quality health care services to low and moderate income individuals in the greater hartford connecticut area regardless of ability to pay.

Health
10
The Hospital of Central Connecticut

The Hospital of Central Connecticut is dedicated to fostering, sustaining and improving the health status of the people in the communities we serve.

Health
11
Jewish Family Service of Greater New Hav

Jewish family service of greater new haven (jfsgnh) supports and strengthens individual, family, and community life by providing a wide range of social services. we welcome people of all ages, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations,…

Human Services
12
The Connecticut Project Inc

The connecticut project, a 501c3 organization, brings together people, ideas, and resources to build opportunity.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Connecticut Foodshare Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Simon 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

29 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. 29 of the 47 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/29
Grantees still filing
20/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EMANUEL SYNAGOGUE: $11,200 · OtherEMANUEL SYNAGOGUEFOODSHARE INC: $10,900 · OtherFOODSHARE INCCAMP COURANT INC: $10,300 · OtherCAMP COURANT INCTemple Beth Torah Memorial: $8,500 · OtherTemple Beth Torah MemorialSt Jude Children's Research: $5,200 · OtherSt Jude Children's ResearchUCONN Health Center Aux: $4,000 · OtherUCONN Health: $3,500 · OtherCT Foodshare Inc: $3,200 · OtherTravelers Championship - Birdies for Charity: $3,200 · OtherTEMPLE BETH SHOLOM: $3,200 · OtherTemple Beth Torah: $3,200 · Other+14 more: $20,900 · Other+14 moreTHEATERWORKS INC: $9,400 · Arts & CultureTHEATERWORKS INCCONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $8,000 · Arts & CultureCONNECTICUT PUBLIC …REAL ART WAYS INC: $5,300 · Arts & CultureREAL ART WAYS INCWADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART: $5,200 · Arts & CultureWADSWORTH ATHENEUM …NEW BRITAIN MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureNEW BRITAIN MUSEUM …HARTFORD STAGE COMPANY INC: $2,200 · Arts & CultureHARTFORD STAGE COMP…+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureCONNECTICUT HUMANE SOCIETY: $15,030 · AnimalsCONNECTICUT …THE SIMON FOUNDATION INC: $4,700 · AnimalsTHE SIMON FO…THE ANIMAL HAVEN INC: $1,510 · AnimalsTHE ANIMAL H…CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $5,616 · HealthCYSTIC FI…CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 · HealthCROHN'S &…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $4,500 · HealthST JUDE C…HEBREW HOME & HOSPITAL: $2,100 · HealthHEBREW HO…+1 more: $100 · HealthJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HARTFORD: $11,500 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL POLICE DOG FOUNDATION INC: $1,970 · PhilanthropyCAMP LAURELWOOD INC: $10,054 · Recreation & SportsELIZABETH PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $750 · Recreation & SportsFIDELCO GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION INC: $3,500 · Human ServicesCAMP HAZEN YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION INC: $3,200 · Human ServicesItn Central Ct: $1,000 · Human Services
Other$87,300Arts & Culture$33,600Animals$21,240Health$16,816Philanthropy$13,470Recreation & Sports$10,804Human Services$7,700

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCONNECTICUT HUMANE SOCIETY: $15,030 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HARTFORD: $11,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFOODSHARE INC: $10,900 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP COURANT INC: $10,300 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCAMP LAURELWOOD INC: $10,054 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHEATERWORKS INC: $9,400 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $8,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $5,616 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREAL ART WAYS INC: $5,300 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART: $5,200 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SIMON FOUNDATION INC: $4,700 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFIDELCO GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCAMP HAZEN YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION INC: $3,200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW BRITAIN MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHARTFORD STAGE COMPANY INC: $2,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEBREW HOME & HOSPITAL: $2,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Family Service of Greater Hartford Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL POLICE DOG FOUNDATION INC: $1,970 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFARMINGTON FOOD PANTRY INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWEST HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetItn Central Ct: $1,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetELIZABETH PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $750 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $100 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.

  • Who funds CONNECTICUT HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HARTFORD ↗
  • Who funds FOODSHARE INC ↗
  • Who funds CAMP COURANT INC ↗
  • Who funds CAMP LAURELWOOD INC ↗
  • Who funds THEATERWORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC ↗
  • Who funds CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds REAL ART WAYS INC ↗
  • Who funds WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds THE SIMON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds FIDELCO GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CAMP HAZEN YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW BRITAIN MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART INC ↗
  • Who funds HARTFORD STAGE COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds HEBREW HOME & HOSPITAL ↗
  • Who funds Jewish Family Service of Greater Hartford Inc ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL POLICE DOG FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ANIMAL HAVEN INC ↗
  • Who funds FARMINGTON FOOD PANTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds The Cheshire Community Food Pantry Inc ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC ↗
  • Who funds WEST HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 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.

Aetna Foundation IncThe Zachs Family Foun…Hartford Foundation f…Sandra & Arnold Chase…The Auerbach Schiro F…The William and Alice…Farmington Bank Commu…Ion Bank Foundation I…Elizabeth M Landon & …The Saunders Foundati…Cheryl Chase & Stuart…Edward C & Ann T Robe…
Aetna Foundation IncCT26.5× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Aetna Foundation Inc · The Zachs Family Foundation Inc · Hartford Foundation for Public Giving · Sandra & Arnold Chase Family Foundation Inc · The Auerbach Schiro Foundation · The William and Alice Mortensen Foundation · Farmington Bank Community Foundation Inc · Ion Bank Foundation Inc · Elizabeth M Landon & Harriette M Landon · The Saunders Foundation Co Shipman & Goodwin · Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Family Foundation Inc · Edward C & Ann T Roberts 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 Marks Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Marks Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Real Art Ways Inc: 38% of income from government
  • New Britain Museum of American Art Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Connecticut Foodshare Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art: 5% of income from government
  • Theaterworks Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Hartford Stage Company Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc: 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get 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 · 0–75%
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 47 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 Marks Family’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