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Michael Palm Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Michael Palm 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.

$63k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$123kEducation$109kCivil Rights$57kFood & Nutrition$25kPhilanthropy$20kYouth Development$15kPublic Benefit$10kHealth$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $45k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION$25,000
PRIDE AT JEFFERSON CENTER$10,000
MICHAEL PALM THEATRE$10,000
ROUNDABOUT THEATRE CO$5,000
ALVERNIA UNIVERSITY$5,000
SPRING GARDEN CIVIC ASSOCIATION$5,000
GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS$2,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 24% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%HAYMAKERS FOR HOPE: $5k → 16%ALVERNIA UNIVERSITY: $10k → 11%SPRING GARDEN CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $5k → 22%CHRISTOPHER STREET WEST ASSOCIATION INC: $27k → 14%SPACE ON RYDER FARM: $10k → 6%ROUNDABOUT THEATRE CO: $5k → 17%ST ANN'S WAREHOUSE INC: $5k → 20%STANLEY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $20k → 21%PRIDE AT JEFFERSON CENTER: $10k → 7%MICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $10k → 7%ALVERNIA UNIVERSITY: $5k → 11%SPRING GARDEN CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $5k → 22%SPACE ON RYDER FARM: $10k → 6%FRACTURED ATLAS: $3k → 17%PRIDE AT JEFFERSON CENTER: $10k → 7%MICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $10k → 7%READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $25k → 11%SPACE ON RYDER FARM: $5k → 6%CLASSICAL ACTION: $15k → 17%PRIDE AT JEFFERSON CENTER: $10k → 7%MICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $10k → 7%READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $20k → 11%MICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $10k → 7%READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $15k → 11%MICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $10k → 7%GENESIUS THEATRE: $15k → 11%MICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $10k → 7%READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $12k → 11%MICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $10k → 7%READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%TELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT: $5k → 7%GIRLS ON THE RUN OF BERKS COUNTY: $5k → 11%GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 11%GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 11%GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 11%GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 11%GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 11%GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 11%GOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 11%READING CIVIC THEATRE: $1k → 11%GENESIUS THEATRE: $2k → 11%WEST READING COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%BERKS COUNTY BREAST CANCER SUPPORT SERVICES: $1k → 11%FOUNDATION FOR READING AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $10k → 11%READING SCHOOL DISTRICT KNIGHT'S CLOSET: $3k → 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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$276k · 9 repeat orgs$111k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +73% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
14

Total granted

$276k
$106k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+73%
+4%

Still filing today

22%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthCivil RightsYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementEducationOther
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

  • RE
    READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $82k · revenue +73%
  • MP
    MICHAEL PALM THEATRE
    7× · 2019–2025 · $70k
  • PA
    PRIDE AT JEFFERSON CENTER
    3× · 2023–2025 · $30k

Funded once

  • CS
    CHRISTOPHER STREET WEST ASSOCIATION INC
    one grant, 2019 · $27k · revenue -48%
  • SF
    STANLEY FAMILY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $20k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
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
The Broad Art Foundation
Arts & Culture
2
Penn Entertainment Foundation
Philanthropy
3
Bang On a Can

Presenting, commissioning, performing, recording and teaching contemporary music. bang on a can believes in exposing exciting new music as broadly and accessibly as possible. through it's summer institute, bang on a can hopes to bring this…

Arts & Culture
4
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Inc
—
5
The Kranzberg Arts Foundation
Arts & Culture
6
Stevenson Arts Foundation
Arts & Culture
7
West End Players
Arts & Culture
8
Atlantic Arts Foundation
—
9
Rutter Family Art Foundation
Philanthropy
10
The American Playwriting Foundation
—
11
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
12
George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts Inc
Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Foundation for Reading Area Community College; the most unlike its peers is Stanley Family Foundation. 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

14 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. 14 of the 24 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
8/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

READING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $81,700 · OtherREADING EDUCATION FOUNDATIONMICHAEL PALM THEATRE: $70,000 · OtherMICHAEL PALM THEATREPRIDE AT JEFFERSON CENTER: $30,000 · OtherPRIDE AT JEFFERSON CENTERSPACE ON RYDER FARM: $25,000 · OtherSPACE ON RYDER FARMSTANLEY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · OtherSTANLEY FAMILY FOUNDATIONGOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $17,500 · OtherGOOGLE WORKS CENTER FOR THE ARTSGENESIUS THEATRE: $17,000 · OtherGENESIUS THEATREALVERNIA UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · Other+4 more: $23,500 · Other+4 moreCHRISTOPHER STREET WEST ASSOCIATION INC: $27,250 · Civil RightsST ANN'S WAREHOUSE INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureSOUTHERN DOCUMENTARY FUND: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureTELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT INC: $5,000 · HealthHAYMAKERS FOR HOPE INC: $5,000 · HealthBREAST CANCER SUPPORT SERVICES OF BERKS COUNTY: $1,000 · HealthFOUNDATION FOR READING AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $10,000 · EducationGIRLS ON THE RUN OF BERKS COUNTY: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentWEST READING COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION FOUNDATION: $1,500 · Community Improvement
Other$314,700Civil Rights$27,250Arts & Culture$17,500Health$11,000Education$10,000Youth Development$5,000Community Improvement$1,500

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 budgetREADING EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $81,700 over 5y, 9.7% of budgetCHRISTOPHER STREET WEST ASSOCIATION INC: $27,250 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetALVERNIA UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR READING AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetST ANN'S WAREHOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHAYMAKERS FOR HOPE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSOUTHERN DOCUMENTARY FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN OF BERKS COUNTY: $5,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWEST READING COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBREAST CANCER SUPPORT SERVICES OF BERKS COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Stanley Family Founda…Berks County Communit…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Stanley Family FoundationNY13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Stanley Family Foundation · Berks County Community Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Michael Palm Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michael Palm Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    1report 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.

    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 24 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 Michael Palm’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