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Peggy & Ellis Wachs Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Peggy & Ellis Wachs 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.

$114k
Granted FY2025still arriving
49
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$11k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$281kHealth$111kEducation$84kPhilanthropy$33kReligion$16kHousing & Shelter$15kFood & Nutrition$7kScience & Tech$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 49 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k44 grants · $64k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $51k
$1,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$2.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY$10,500
BALLET X$10,000
PHILA CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY$10,000
PHIALDELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION$10,000
CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC$10,000
TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA$5,100
THE PARKINSON COUNCIL$5,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$5,000
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART$5,000
FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA$5,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA$3,000
PROJECT HOME$2,500
J STREET EDUCATION FUND$2,300
PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION$2,100
MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S$2,100
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 (FY20–25, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 21%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%CENTER FOR FAMILY SERVICES: $200 → 12%PROJECT HOME: $3k → 22%PROJECT HOME: $3k → 22%PROJECT HOME: $3k → 22%PROJECT HOME: $3k → 22%PROJECT HOME: $3k → 22%PROJECT HOME: $3k → 22%JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $2k → 22%JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $200 → 22%PHILADELPHIA JEWISH FILM AND MEDIA: $500 → 22%PENNS VILLAGE: $250 → 22%PENNS VILLAGE: $250 → 22%PENNS VILLAGE: $250 → 22%PENNS VILLAGE: $200 → 22%PENNS VILLAGE: $200 → 22%PENNS VILLAGE: $200 → 22%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
MA
PA
NJ
CA
DC
LA
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$474k · 56 repeat orgs$23k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

56 repeat relationships: 41 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

56
33

Total granted

$474k
$19k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
0%

Still filing today

68%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesInternationalEducationCivil RightsOther
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

  • PM
    PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
    6× · 2020–2025 · $45k · revenue +14%
  • B
    BALLETX
    6× · 2020–2025 · $40k · revenue +134%
  • CI
    CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $35k · revenue +95%

Funded once

  • HD
    HEADLONG DANCE THEATER INC
    one grant, 2023 · $2k · revenue -14%
  • P
    PCCY
    one grant, 2020 · $2k
  • ND
    NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue +76%
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 Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
2
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
3
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

The weitzman national museum of american jewish history, on independence mall in philadelphia, presents educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore, and celebrate the history of jews in america. its purpose is to connect…

Arts & Culture
4
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
5
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
6
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

Pidc plans and implements economic development initiatives (see schedule o) which enhance the competitive environment, generate jobs and produce higher tax ratables throughout philadelphia.

Community Improvement
7
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
8
Philadelphia Contemporary

We connect the people and places of philadelphia through art and partnership. the organization is a free-standing platform that endeavors to show forward-thinking, high-quality contemporary visual and performance art in the city. the…

Human Services
9
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…

Arts & Culture
10
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
11
The Phillips Collection

The phillips collection is the oldest museum of modern and contemporary art in the u.s. in addition to presentation of works from the permanent collection and special exhibitions, the museum maintains active educational, academic,…

Arts & Culture
12
Artphilly

The mission of artphilly is to amplify philadelphia's arts and culture by commissioning, presenting, producing, and promoting art of all kinds for local audiences and the world. its vision is to spotlight(continued on schedule o)the city…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Philadelphia Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Penns Village. 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

64 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. 64 of the 98 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
62/64
Grantees still filing
41/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $45,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ARTBALLETX: $40,000 · Arts & CultureBALLETXCURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $35,000 · Arts & CultureCURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSICPHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $31,800 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION1616 LATIMER FUND: $20,160 · Arts & Culture1616 LATIMER FUND+15 more: $30,601 · Arts & Culture+15 morePHILA CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY: $35,000 · OtherPHILA CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETYFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUND…PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $27,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOODMICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S: $12,100 · OtherMICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKI…Individual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE PRINT CENTER: $7,775 · OtherAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $7,000 · OtherPhilabundance: $6,500 · Other+47 more: $47,185 · Other+47 moreTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $74,550 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE…THE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE: $7,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF…+4 more: $2,900 · EducationNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $32,000 · HealthNATIONAL MUL…THE PARKINSON COUNCIL: $26,900 · HealthTHE PARKINSO…PARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC: $5,400 · HealthPARKINSON'S …+3 more: $1,300 · HealthJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA: $22,100 · PhilanthropyTHE PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $7,100 · PhilanthropyPROJECT HOME: $15,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF PITTSBURGH: $2,200 · Human ServicesNATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE: $2,000 · Human ServicesPenns Village: $1,350 · Human Services+2 more: $700 · Human ServicesJ STREET EDUCATION FUND INC: $13,650 · ReligionHILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE: $1,000 · Religion+1 more: $200 · Religion
Arts & Culture$202,561Other$182,560Education$84,450Health$65,600Philanthropy$29,200Human Services$21,250Religion$14,850

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 budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $74,550 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $45,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBALLETX: $40,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $35,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $32,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $31,800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PARKINSON COUNCIL: $26,900 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA: $22,100 over 6y, 0.0% of budget1616 LATIMER FUND: $20,160 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetPROJECT HOME: $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetJ STREET EDUCATION FUND INC: $13,650 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PRINT CENTER: $7,775 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $7,100 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPhilabundance: $6,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPLAY ON PHILLY: $6,150 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ROSENBACH OF THE FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA: $6,100 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC: $5,400 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of Suenos: $3,600 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $2,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF PITTSBURGH: $2,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHYY INC: $1,850 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF RITTENHOUSE SQUARE: $1,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BARNES FOUNDATION: $1,421 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPenns Village: $1,350 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetHEIGHTS PHILADELPHIA: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PENNSYLVANIA BALLET ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEducation Law Center - PA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DRAMATISTS GUILD FUND INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRESERVATION ALLIANCE FOR GREATER PHILADELPHIA: $800 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMAZON A Jewish Response to Hunger: $800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA: $800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLIVEWELL FOUNDATION: $700 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSENIORLAW CENTER: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIAL IMPACT CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF NATAL INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA JEWISH FILM AND MEDIA: $500 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.

  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds BALLETX ↗
  • Who funds CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE PARKINSON COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds 1616 LATIMER FUND ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT HOME ↗
  • Who funds J STREET EDUCATION FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PRINT CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Philabundance ↗
  • Who funds PLAY ON PHILLY ↗
  • Who funds THE ROSENBACH OF THE FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds PARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Friends of Suenos ↗
  • Who funds OPERA PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF PITTSBURGH ↗
  • Who funds TREVOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC ↗
  • Who funds HEADLONG DANCE THEATER INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE ↗

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.

The William Penn Foun…Independence Foundati…The Philadelphia Foun…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…Lindback Cr & Mf Foun…The Philadelphia Cult…The Neubauer Family F…Jewish Federation of …Henrietta Tower Wurts…Salem D Shuchman & Ba…The University of the…John S and James L Kn…
The William Penn FoundationPA34.7× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The William Penn Foundation · Independence Foundation · The Philadelphia Foundation · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · Lindback Cr & Mf Foundation Tw Main · The Philadelphia Cultural Fund Inc · The Neubauer Family Foundation · Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia · Henrietta Tower Wurts Memorial Foundation · Salem D Shuchman & Barbara L Klock Foundation C/O Bessemer Trust Company Na · The University of the Arts · John S and James L Knight 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 Peggy & Ellis Wachs Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Peggy & Ellis Wachs Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 73%
  • Center for Family Services: 73% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Mount Holyoke College: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
14report 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 98 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 Peggy & Ellis Wachs’ 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