Skip to content

· Private foundation

Max and Bertha Dressler 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.

$40k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it funds
0183% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$110kEducation$75kInternational$22kHousing & Shelter$13kPublic Benefit$6kHuman Services$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
$2,250
Median grant
6
States reached
$654k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROXBURY LAND TRUST$15,000
REED COLLEGE$15,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$2,250
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$2,250
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA$2,000
PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS$2,000
Individual grant recipient$1,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY25–25, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS: $2k → 14%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

IL
NY
OR
CT
CA
VA
DC
GA
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$190k · 14 repeat orgs$6k to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
3

Total granted

$190k
$4k

Still filing today

57%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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
EnvironmentInternationalHuman ServicesOther
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

  • RL
    ROXBURY LAND TRUST INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $63k · revenue +295%
  • NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $15k · revenue +41%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    6× · 2018–2025 · $13k · revenue +111%

Funded once

  • SC
    SIERRA CLUB JOHN MUIR SOCIETY
    one grant, 2021 · $2k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $1k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $1k
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
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
2
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
3
Third Way

To research and develop centrist policy ideas.

Civil Rights
4
Conservation Law Foundation Inc

Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. we use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources,…

Environment
5
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
6
The 5 Gyres Institute

The 5 Gyres Institute (5 Gyres) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, with a global network of supporters united in the pursuit of a planet free of plastic pollution. 5 Gyres' mission is to empower action against the…

—
7
Conservation International Foundation

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

Environment
8
Earth & Space Research

Increase societal understanding of the earth system through scientific research and education.

Science & Tech
9
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
10
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Food & Nutrition
11
Climate Institute

The climate institute is organized for the purpose of educating the general public and policy makers as to the gravity of potential climate change, exploring the policy implications of the latest scientific findings on climate modelling…

Environment
12
Environment Now
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated; 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

10 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. 10 of the 19 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
8/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROXBURY LAND TRUST INC: $62,750 · EnvironmentROXBURY LAND TRUST INCNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $14,500 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INCENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $13,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATEDEARTHJUSTICE: $5,258 · EnvironmentOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $3,500 · EnvironmentJOSEPH CEITHONAL SCHOLARSHIP FD: $25,000 · OtherJOSEPH CEITHONAL SCHOLARSHIP FDHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $13,130 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITYAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA: $10,000 · OtherAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USAGREENPEACE INC: $9,500 · OtherGREENPEACE INCIndividual grant recipient: $9,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPUBLIC CITIZEN: $5,750 · OtherPUBLIC CITIZENIndividual grant recipient: $5,600 · OtherIndividual grant recipient+3 more: $3,975 · OtherREED INSTITUTE: $50,000 · EducationREED INSTITUTEInternational Rescue Committee INC: $7,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $5,250 · InternationalPartnership With Native Americans: $2,000 · Human Services
Environment$99,008Other$82,455Education$50,000International$12,250Human Services$2,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetROXBURY LAND TRUST INC: $62,750 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetREED INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $14,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $13,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGREENPEACE INC: $9,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $5,258 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $5,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPartnership With Native Americans: $2,000 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 ROXBURY LAND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds REED INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds GREENPEACE INC ↗
  • Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
  • Who funds EARTHJUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds Partnership With Native Americans ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Max and Bertha Dressler Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Max and Bertha Dressler Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Reed Institute: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Max and Bertha Dressler Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Max and Bertha Dressler 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 19 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 Max and Bertha Dressler’s filings →

More from the funding graph