Skip to content
Minerva Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Minerva 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.

$567k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$180k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$771kInternational$611kArts & Culture$468kHealth$465kPublic Benefit$348kEducation$335kAnimals$180kCivil Rights$91kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k9 grants · $212k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $355k
$30,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DEMOCRACY FORWARD FDN$180,164
DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE$75,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION$50,000
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$50,000
UNRWA USA$44,164
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$44,164
FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT$30,000
SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE$25,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$25,000
Individual grant recipient$14,000
NEW URBAN ARTS$10,000
826NYC INC$10,000
ALEX MANFULL FUND$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 65% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER: $219k → 8%WRRAP: $41k → 14%SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $50k → 9%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $100k → 17%826NYC INC: $25k → 20%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVT: $60k → 14%OSCEOLA CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $20k → 13%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $50k → 18%PROJECT NEW URBAN ARTS: $20k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 7%NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM: $200k → 9%WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $61k → 6%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $50k → 19%ALEX MANFULL FUND: $50k → 5%WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER: $60k → 8%SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $25k → 9%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $95k → 17%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $30k → 14%NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM: $100k → 9%ALEX MANFULL FUND: $40k → 5%WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER: $20k → 8%SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $25k → 9%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $50k → 17%WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $174k → 14%SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $25k → 9%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $50k → 17%WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $60k → 14%SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $25k → 9%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $50k → 17%WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $51k → 14%SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $25k → 9%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $50k → 17%DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE: $75k → 14%SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $25k → 9%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $40k → 17%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVT: $30k → 14%MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS USA INC: $128k → 17%UNRWA USA: $44k → 14%MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS USA INC: $80k → 17%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVT: $28k → 14%MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS USA INC: $80k → 17%MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS USA INC: $63k → 17%FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVT: $20k → 14%MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS USA INC: $50k → 17%UNRWA USA: $81k → 14%NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: $50k → 17%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $44k → 17%MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS USA INC: $40k → 17%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

NH
NY
MA
PA
RI
CA
VA
MD
DC
AL
TX
FL
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.8M · 14 repeat orgs$506k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
5

Total granted

$2.8M
$261k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
0%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 55% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $244k 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
HealthArts & CultureInternationalEducationCivil RightsScience & TechOther
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
    7× · 2019–2025 · $485k · revenue +79%
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $435k · revenue +43%
  • WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
    4× · 2019–2024 · $347k · revenue +34%

Funded once

  • NN
    NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue 0%
  • NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue -54%
  • EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue -66%
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
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

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

—
2
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
3
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
4
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

To sustain, restore, and enhance the nation's fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats.

Animals
5
Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Research Center generates a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and…

Social Science
6
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
7
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
8
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
9
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners

Founded in 1889, the national association of regulatory utility commisioners (naruc) is a non-profit organization dedicated to representing the state public service commisions who regulate the utilities that provide essential services such…

—
10
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
11
Natural History Institute

Natural History Institute is organized to provide leadership and resources for a revitalized practice of natural history that integrates art, science, and humanities to promote the health and well-being of humans and the rest of the…

Arts & Culture
12
Partnership for Policy Integrity

Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) uses data-driven advocacy and litigation to fight for forests, communities and the climate.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Democracy Forward Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Alex Manfull 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

23 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. 23 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
14/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $485,284 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INCWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $346,689 · InternationalWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTEUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC: $125,384 · InternationalUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INCPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $434,500 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD F…THE ALEX MANFULL FUND: $100,000 · HealthTHE ALEX MANFULL FUN…Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project: $41,390 · HealthWomen's Reproductive…PANDAS NETWORKORG: $30,000 · HealthNATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM: $300,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL WOMEN'…New Urban Arts: $80,000 · Arts & CultureNew Urban ArtsNATIONAL SCENIC VISITORS CENTER: $68,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL SCENIC…Osceola Arts Inc: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $200,000 · EducationSARAH LAWRE…826NYC Inc: $85,000 · Education826NYC IncJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKI…Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: $299,239 · Science & TechWoodwell C…DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION: $180,164 · Crime & LegalFUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $168,000 · Public BenefitNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND: $100,000 · OtherNATIONAL NE…NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $50,000 · OtherNAACP LEGAL…EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $50,000 · OtherEQUAL JUSTI…Defenders of Wildlife: $80,000 · OtherDefenders o…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25,000 · OtherTHE NATURE …Individual grant recipient: $14,000 · Other+1 more: $10,000 · Other
International$957,357Health$605,890Arts & Culture$468,000Education$335,000Science & Tech$299,239Crime & Legal$180,164Public Benefit$168,000Other$329,000

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: $485,284 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $434,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $346,689 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM: $300,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetWoodwell Climate Research Center Inc: $299,239 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: $200,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetDEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION: $180,164 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: $168,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC: $125,384 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND: $100,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetTHE ALEX MANFULL FUND: $100,000 over 3y, 22% of budget826NYC Inc: $85,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetNew Urban Arts: $80,000 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetDefenders of Wildlife: $80,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL SCENIC VISITORS CENTER: $68,000 over 6y, 58% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWomen's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project: $41,390 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetPANDAS NETWORKORG: $30,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOsceola Arts Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetNew Hampshire Charitable Foundation: $10,000 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.

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.

Jpmorgan Chase Founda…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Jpmorgan Chase FoundationNY10.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Minerva Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Minerva Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 Minerva Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Minerva 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 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 Minerva’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