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Mathew & Josephine Birnbaum Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Mathew & Josephine Birnbaum Foundation

Its FY2019 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$26k
Granted FY2019
36
Grants FY2019
6
States reached
$8k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2019.

International$24kHealth$18kReligion$7kFood & Nutrition$7kCivil Rights$6kArts & Culture$4kHousing & Shelter$2kSocial Science$2kOther$0
02FY2019 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$250
Median grant
6
States reached
$289k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GIVE WELL$7,600
BLYTHEDALE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL$5,000
FAYUN MONASTERY$1,500
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK$1,250
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SANTA CRUZ$1,000
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER$1,000
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH$1,000
HOMELESS GARDEN PROJECT$1,000
LIVE EARTH FARM DISCOVERY PROJECT$750
SANGHAPALA FOUNDATIONABHAYAGIRI MONASTERY$500
INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING$500
METTA FOREST MONASTERY$500
Individual grant recipient$500
PAJARO VALLEY LOAVES AND FISHES$500
VT DIGGER AND TV JOURNALISM TRUST$250
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 (FY17–19) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FORESTS FOREVER FOUNDATION: $500 → 10%GIVE WELL: $8k → 10%KIM SON MONASTERY: $750 → 11%KAZU PUBLIC RADIO: $250 → 12%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SANTA CRUZ: $1k → 13%SANGHAPALA FOUNDATIONABHAYAGIRI MONASTERY: $700 → 18%BLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $11k → 9%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $200 → 17%US HOLOCAUST MUSEAUM: $200 → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $2k → 18%NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND: $500 → 12%FAYUN MONASTERY: $2k → 11%INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING: $1k → 9%BARRE OPERA HOUSE: $200 → 9%EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: $300 → 10%GIVE WELL: $7k → 10%METTA FOREST MONASTERY: $650 → 11%HOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ: $1k → 13%SANGHAPALA FOUNDATIONABHAYAGIRI MONASTERY: $650 → 18%BLYTHEDALE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL: $5k → 9%US HOLOCAUST MUSEAUM: $200 → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $2k → 18%FAYUN MONASTERY: $1k → 11%INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING: $500 → 9%GIVE WELL: $7k → 10%METTA FOREST MONASTERY: $500 → 11%HOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ: $500 → 13%SANGHAPALA FOUNDATIONABHAYAGIRI MONASTERY: $500 → 18%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $1k → 18%FAYUN MONASTERY: $1k → 11%INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING: $500 → 9%KIM SON MONASTERY: $500 → 11%SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $2k → 13%KIM SON MONASTERY: $500 → 11%SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $2k → 13%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $1k → 17%METTA FOREST MONASTERY: $500 → 11%SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $1k → 13%PAJARO VALLEY LOAVES AND FISHES: $500 → 13%VT DIGGER AND TV JOURNALISM TRUST: $250 → 9%BIRCH BARK FOUNDATION: $250 → 13%CV VIBER: $250 → 9%BIRCH BARK FOUNDATION: $250 → 13%VT DIGGER AND TV JOURNALISM TRUST: $250 → 9%BIRCH BARK FOUNDATION: $250 → 13%LIVE EARTH FARM DISCOVERY PROJECT: $750 → 13%FARM DISCOVERY AT LIVE EARTH: $750 → 13%FARM DISCOVERY AT LIVE EARTH: $500 → 13%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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$70k · 31 repeat orgs$8k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +98% since the first grant, against +80% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2019, 3 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
10

Total granted

$70k
$4k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+98%
+80%

Still filing today

52%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2019, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19
EnvironmentArts & CultureInternationalHealthPhilanthropyCrime & LegalOther
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

  • TC
    THE CLEAR FUND
    3× · 2017–2019 · $22k · revenue +815%
  • BC
    BLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
    2× · 2017–2019 · $16k · revenue +32%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $5k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $1k · revenue +80%
  • HM
    HOUSING MATTERSgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $1k · revenue +592%
  • FF
    FORESTS FOREVER FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2017 · $500 · revenue -4%
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
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
4
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
5
Nature and Culture International

Nature and culture international conserves biologically diverse landscapes in latin america, in concert with local cultures, for the well-being of the planet.

Environment
6
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
7
United States Endowment for Forestry

The endowment works collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic, transformative, and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation's working forests and forest reliant communities.

Environment
8
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
9
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
10
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
11
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
12
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Foundation Santa Cruz County; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee 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

28 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. 28 of the 49 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
21/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $4,750 · OtherSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANKFA YUN MONASTERY: $3,900 · OtherFA YUN MONASTERYINSTITUTE FOR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING INC: $2,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR HUMAN UNDERSTANDING INCIndividual grant recipient: $1,750 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMETTA FOREST MONASTERY WAT METTAVANARAM: $1,650 · OtherMETTA FOREST MONASTERY WAT METTAVANARAMHOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $1,500 · OtherHOUSING MATTERS: $1,000 · OtherLIVE EARTH FARM DISCOVERY PROGRAM: $1,250 · OtherHOMELESS GARDEN PROJECT: $1,000 · Other+26 more: $10,050 · Other+26 moreTHE CLEAR FUND: $21,500 · PhilanthropyTHE CLEAR FUNDCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $1,000 · PhilanthropyBLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $16,000 · HealthBLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S H…+1 more: $450 · HealthSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $5,000 · Crime & LegalInternational Rescue Committee INC: $1,000 · InternationalHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $1,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $300 · InternationalSANGHAPALA FOUNDATION: $1,850 · ReligionFRIENDS OF THE WINOOSKI RIVER INC: $600 · EnvironmentFORESTS FOREVER FOUNDATION INC: $500 · EnvironmentEarth Island Institute Inc: $300 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $200 · EnvironmentNORTH BRANCH NATURE CENTER INC: $200 · Environment
Other$28,850Philanthropy$22,500Health$16,450Crime & Legal$5,000International$2,300Religion$1,850Environment$1,800

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 budgetTHE CLEAR FUND: $21,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $16,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSANGHAPALA FOUNDATION: $1,850 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLIVE EARTH FARM DISCOVERY PROGRAM: $1,250 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMELESS GARDEN PROJECT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSING MATTERS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIRCHBARK FOUNDATION INC: $750 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WINOOSKI RIVER INC: $600 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBARRE OPERA HOUSE INC: $600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFORESTS FOREVER FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH: $450 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSHELBURNE MUSEUM INC: $325 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTWIN VALLEY SENIORS INC: $300 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVermont Public Radio: $268 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH BRANCH NATURE CENTER INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTOWN HALL THEATER INC: $150 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT FOODBANK: $105 over 3y, 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.

Monterey Peninsula Fo…Volunteer Centers of …Community Foundation …Newman's Own Foundati…The Vermont Community…Kaiser Foundation Hos…Michael & Alice Chetk…American Gift FundImpactassetsincSilicon Valley Commun…Morgan Stanley Global…American Endowment Fo…
Monterey Peninsula FoundationCA17.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Monterey Peninsula Foundation · Volunteer Centers of Santa Cruz County · Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · Newman's Own Foundation · The Vermont Community Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Michael & Alice Chetkovich Foundation · American Gift Fund · Impactassetsinc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Endowment 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 Mathew & Josephine Birnbaum Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mathew & Josephine Birnbaum Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Vermont Foodbank: 13% of income from government
  • Cutler Memorial Library: 12% of income from government
  • Town Hall Theater Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Shelburne Museum Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Friends of the Winooski River Inc: 7% of income from government
  • North Branch Nature Center Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get 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 · 0–90%
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 Mathew & Josephine Birnbaum Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Mathew & Josephine Birnbaum 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 49 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Mathew & Josephine Birnbaum’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