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Patrick Byrne Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Patrick Byrne Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.4M
Granted FY2017
16
Grants FY2017
12
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

77% of Patrick Byrne Foundation Inc’s FY2023 grant dollars went to The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2023 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2017, the last year Patrick Byrne Foundation Inc named its own grantees at scale: 8 organizations, $1M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

8
’17
3
’18
0
’19
3
’20
2
’21
1
’22
1
’23

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0185% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2023.

Education$2.9MSocial Science$2.7MRecreation & Sports$796kHuman Services$602kPhilanthropy$125kHealth$88kInternational$25kArts & Culture$25kOther$0
02FY2017 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k3 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $110k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $217k
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.1M
$25,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$141k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Hoover Institute - Standford Univer$500,000
Darthmouth Hitchcock Giesle School$333,333
Foundation for Educational Choice$250,000
Mercatus Center - GMU$100,000
Pembroke College NA Foundation$66,667
Mount Vernon Ladies Association$50,000
Mayo Clinic$25,000
Council on Foreign Relations$25,000
Association of Marshall Scholars$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
Institute for Justice$10,000
Foundation for Economic Education$10,000
Cato Institute$10,000
Shaya Barnett Foundation$5,000
Connect to Compete$5,000
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 (FY20–23, $550k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%No Greater Love: $250k → 10%MOMS FOR AMERICA INC: $300k → 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

NH
ID
MN
NY
IN
OH
PA
CA
UT
VA
AZ
TN
DC
LA
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.

49%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.1M · 7 repeat orgs$3.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2017, 1 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2017 (too recent to call). Read against FY2017, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
19

Total granted

$3.1M
$3.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+10%

Still filing today

43%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $300k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Social ScienceEducationPublic BenefitHealthHuman ServicesInternationalOther
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

  • MC
    Mercatus Center Inc
    2× · 2017–2020 · $200k · revenue +63%
  • PC
    PEMBROKE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $133k · revenue +147% · 36% of their budget
  • TJ
    THE JED FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2022 · $35k · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • SU
    STANDFORD UNIVERSTITY
    one grant, 2022 · $1.0M
  • SW
    SALMON WHITEWATER PARK ASSOCIATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $796k · revenue -92% · 85% of their budget
  • DH
    Darthmouth Hitchcock Giesle School
    one grant, 2017 · $333k
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
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
2
Frontiers of Freedom Institute

To educate the public on constitutional issues and public policy matters. We are dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, peace through strength, limited government, free enterprise, and the values embodied in the Declaration of…

Public Benefit
3
Institute for New Global Politics Inc

The Institute for New Global Politics is a California-based educational nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. It is an independent and nonpartisan thinktank dedicated to educating the general…

International
4
Foreign Policy Association Inc

The mission of the foreign policy association today, as it has been for over 100 years, is to serve as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding, and informed opinion on united states foreign policy and global issues. through its…

International
5
The Fund for American Studies

The fund for american studies (tfas) seeks to create a brighter, more prosperous future by preparing young people for leadership and teaching them the ideas of freedom and a free-market economy. founded in 1967, tfas organizes programs for…

—
6
Constituting America Inc

Constituting america's mission is to educate students and adults about the constitution through the culture. constituting america's mission is to utilize the culture: film, internet, tv and social media to reach, educate and inform…

Education
7
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
8
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
10
Center for Democracy and Technology

Advocating for public policies that advance democratic values in the digital age.

Civil Rights
11
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Competitive enterprise institute (cei) is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. we believe that consumers are best helped not by government regulation but by being…

—
12
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Foundation for Economic Education Inc; the most unlike its peers is Shaya Barnett Foundation 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

16 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. 16 of the 27 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
10/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Hoover Institute - Standford Univer: $2,533,000 · OtherHoover Institute - Standford UniverSTANDFORD UNIVERSTITY: $1,000,000 · OtherSTANDFORD UNIVERSTITYDarthmouth Hitchcock Giesle School: $333,333 · OtherDarthmouth Hitchcock Giesle SchoolFoundation for Educational Choice: $250,000 · OtherFoundation for Educational Choice+12 more: $464,500 · Other+12 moreTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUS…PEMBROKE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $133,334 · EducationPEMBROKE COLLEGE …+1 more: $5,000 · EducationSALMON WHITEWATER PARK ASSOCIATION INC: $796,000 · Recreation & SportsSALMON WHITE…Moms for America Inc: $300,000 · Human ServicesNO GREATER LOVE: $250,000 · Human ServicesMercatus Center Inc: $200,000 · Social ScienceFoundation for Economic Education Inc: $10,000 · Social ScienceTHE JED FOUNDATION: $35,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,500 · HealthFREE TO CHOOSE NETWORK INC: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$4,580,833Education$1,138,334Recreation & Sports$796,000Human Services$550,000Social Science$210,000Health$37,500Arts & Culture$25,000

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 budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSALMON WHITEWATER PARK ASSOCIATION INC: $796,000 over 1y, 85% of budgetMoms for America Inc: $300,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetNO GREATER LOVE: $250,000 over 1y, 85% of budgetMercatus Center Inc: $200,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPEMBROKE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $133,334 over 2y, 36% of budgetTHE JED FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFREE TO CHOOSE NETWORK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN OF MENA IN TECHNOLOGY: $25,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFoundation for Economic Education Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCONNECT TO COMPETE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,500 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.

Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA9.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Patrick Byrne Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Patrick Byrne Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–20%
    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 27 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 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2017, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Patrick Byrne’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