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· Private foundation

Melvin and Sylvia Kafka Foundation co Sara Suchman

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.

$31k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

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

International$72kCivil Rights$30kArts & Culture$18kCrime & Legal$15kHuman Services$15kHousing & Shelter$11kScience & Tech$11kEducation$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,250
Median grant
8
States reached
$37k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
American Jewish World Service$3,500
National Immigrant Justice Center$3,250
American Friends of Combatants for Peace$3,250
Individual grant recipient$3,058
HIAS$3,000
Center for Constitutional Rights$2,250
Carolina Abortion Fund$2,250
Southern Documentary Fund$2,250
Doctors without Borders$2,250
Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust$2,000
Americans United for Separation of Church and State$2,000
National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector$1,000
The American Bar Foundation$1,000
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 (FY24–24, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Empowerment Inc: $2k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
MN
IL
NY
MA
OH
CT
VA
MD
TN
NC
DC
AL
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$180k · 12 repeat orgs$35k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
8

Total granted

$180k
$20k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+33%

Still filing today

83%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
InternationalCivil RightsCrime & LegalArts & CultureEducationEnvironmentOther
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

  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $28k · revenue +98%
  • HI
    HIAS INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $21k · revenue +114%
  • FRACTURED ATLAS INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $12k · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • SV
    School Volunteers of Bridgeport
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
  • EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +85%
  • A
    ALIGHTgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +33%
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
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
2
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
3
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
4
Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Southern coalition for social justice partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities across the south to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights. through an intersectional and…

Crime & Legal
5
Center for Arms Control and

A nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to enhancing international peace and security in the 21st century, thereby retaining its focus on nuclear weapons but expanding to include other present emerging security threats.

International
6
Center for Justice and International Law

To contribute to the full enjoyment of human rights in the americas through effective use of the tools of the inter-american system and international human rights law

Crime & Legal
7
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
8
Common Future

Common future is a network of pioneering leaders across the u.s. and canada who work deeply within their communities to create alternative approaches to business, philanthropy, and investing. we envision an economy that has transitioned…

Community Improvement
9
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

Educational & charitable. to provide legal and scientific information to public interest attorneys and scientists in numerous countries.

—
10
American Foreign Service Association

American foreign service association (afsa) is both the principal advocate for the long-term institutional wellbeing of the professional career foreign service and responsible for safeguarding the interest of afsa members. (continued on…

—
11
Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology Inc

Using legal advocacy to make advances in science and technology safer for people and the planet.

Science & Tech
12
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Louisiana

To support the work of the amercian civil liberties union of louisiana through litigation, public education and limited lobbying in support of civil liberties.

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Americans United for Separation of Church and State; the most unlike its peers is Carolina Abortion Fund. 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 29 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
15/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $28,125 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INCHIAS INC: $20,950 · InternationalHIAS INCTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $11,000 · InternationalTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INCPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $8,750 · InternationalPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUNDAMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE INC: $3,500 · InternationalALIGHT: $3,000 · InternationalIndividual grant recipient: $45,374 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSchool Volunteers of Bridgeport: $5,000 · OtherSchool Volunteers of BridgeportMusic Makers Relief Fund: $3,850 · OtherNational Immigrant Justice Center: $3,250 · OtherCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $4,000 · OtherNC WARN INC: $3,000 · Other+6 more: $11,250 · Other+6 moreCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $16,250 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR…EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $3,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUST…AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $2,000 · Civil RightsAMERICANS …SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $11,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN P…Human Kindness Foundation: $8,000 · Crime & LegalHuman Kind…AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Crime & LegalFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $12,000 · Arts & CultureSOUTHERN DOCUMENTARY FUND: $2,250 · Arts & CultureBOSTON NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC: $11,250 · Housing & ShelterAMERICAN FRIENDS OF COMBATANTS FOR PEACE INC: $3,250 · EducationNATIONAL CENTER FOR MONTESSORI IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: $1,000 · Education
International$75,325Other$75,724Civil Rights$21,250Crime & Legal$20,000Arts & Culture$14,250Housing & Shelter$11,250Education$4,250

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 budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $28,125 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHIAS INC: $20,950 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $16,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC: $11,250 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $11,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $8,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHuman Kindness Foundation: $8,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNC WARN INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetALIGHT: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAROLINA ABORTION FUND: $2,250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEMPOWERMENT INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHIGHLANDER RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR MONTESSORI IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Shared Visions Foundation IncNC13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Shared Visions Foundation Inc · Triangle Community Foundation Inc · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Melvin and Sylvia Kafka Foundation co Sara Suchman funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Melvin and Sylvia Kafka Foundation co Sara Suchman. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 88%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 29 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

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