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Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation

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.

$48M
Granted FY2023
62
Grants FY2023
12
States reached
$4.7M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

65% of Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to National Philanthropic Trust, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 80 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 42 organizations, $48M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

7
’22
42
’23
80
’24

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

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Philanthropy$331MCivil Rights$44MPublic Benefit$32MHuman Services$32MHealth$20MEducation$19MEmployment$14MArts & Culture$11MOther$0
02FY2023 · 62 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $40k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.7M
  • $250k+46 grants · $46M
$500,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$7.4B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW VENTURE FUND$4,700,000
PANORAMA GLOBAL$2,700,000
SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH ALLIANCE$2,400,000
HOPEWELL FUND$2,400,000
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$2,306,200
SURGO HEALTH PBC$2,009,141
ADVERTISING COUNCIL INC$1,850,000
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES INC$1,600,000
AMERICA ACHIEVES INC$1,500,000
THE COMPUTING RESEARCH ASSOCIATION INC$1,500,000
CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE$1,500,000
VOTERUNLEAD$1,250,000
THE JED FOUNDATION$1,142,600
ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC$1,000,000
NEW VENTURE FUND$1,000,000
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 (FY22–24, $35.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%SEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES INC: $400k → 17%WORKMONEY FOUNDATION INC: $4.0M → 17%JUSTICE AND JOY NATIONAL COLLABORATIVE: $2.5M → 12%ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE FOR CAREGIVERS INC: $500k → 22%LAST MILE EDUCATION FUND: $1.0M → 12%MOORE IMPACT INC: $2.0M → 12%TRANSLASH MEDIA INC: $125k → 20%THINK OF US: $1.0M → 14%ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE FOR CAREGIVERS INC: $367k → 22%ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE FOR CAREGIVERS INC: $133k → 22%BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC: $17.0M → 17%GIRLS WHO CODE INC: $500k → 17%GIRLS WHO CODE INC: $250k → 17%ALLIANCE FOR EARLY SUCCESS: $300k → 14%NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR CAREGIVING: $317k → 14%REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL: $5.0M → 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

WA
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NC
DC
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 50% of Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Pivotal Philanthropies Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

43%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$90M · 32 repeat orgs$120M to everyone else

32 repeat relationships: 30 still active in FY2023, 2 since wound down; 73 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, 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

32
2

Total granted

$90M
$500k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+133%

Still filing today

88%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 33% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $115M went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsHealthCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureOther
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

  • NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES
    2× · 2023–2024 · $16M · revenue +128%
  • CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE
    2× · 2023–2024 · $7.0M · revenue +66%
  • PG
    PANORAMA GLOBAL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $5.9M · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • BC
    Baby Cakes and Brunchgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue +48% · 70% of their budget
  • TA
    TURNOUT ACTIVISM INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue +133%
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
International Women's Forum Inc

The mission of the international women's forum is to advance women's leadership worldwide. iwf takes direct action to achieve our mission in three important ways. connect: our convenings provide networking and cutting-edge content…

Education
2
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
3
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
4
The Rand Corporation

Help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

Public Benefit
5
The Leadership Foundation

The leadership foundation, inc. (the foundation), established in 1990, is the mechanism by which iwf members advance the next generation of women leaders. the foundation accelerates the careers of top-performing women by offering…

—
6
Upturn Inc

Upturn advances equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology.

—
7
Partnership for Public Service Inc

Making our government work better is a daunting task, and we are a small organization seeking to transform a government that employs millions of civilians and manages trillions of dollars in taxpayer revenue needed to protect public…

Employment
8
Pro Publica Inc

Pro publica is an independent, non-profit, pulitzer prize-winning newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. our work focuses exclusively on truly important stories. [see continuation on schedule o] we produce…

Arts & Culture
9
Partnership On Ai to Benefit People and Society

Bringing diverse voices together across global sectors, disciplines, and demographics so developments in ai advance positive outcomes for people and society.

Science & Tech
10
Partnersglobal

Partnersglobal (partners) works through a global network to support local leaders and create partnerships that transform conflict, strengthen democratic institutions, and achieve sustainable development.

International
11
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
12
Fuller Project for International Reporting Inc

The fuller project is the global newsroom dedicated to groundbreaking reporting that catalyzes positive change for women.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Think of Us; the most unlike its peers is Hopelab 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.
05the grantee network

113 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. 113 of the 122 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.

19
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
113/113
Grantees still filing
50/113
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $257,500,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTHOPEWELL FUND: $20,450,000 · PhilanthropyHOPEWELL FUNDROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $14,000,000 · Philanthropy+8 more: $13,345,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES: $15,600,000 · OtherNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FO…NATIONAL WOMENS LAW CENTER FUND LLC: $7,000,000 · OtherNATIONAL WOMENS LAW CEN…NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: $5,000,000 · OtherNEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: $4,000,000 · OtherMOMSRISING EDUCATION FUND: $4,000,000 · OtherSURGO HEALTH PBC: $3,925,918 · OtherSchool-Based Health Alliance: $5,838,000 · OtherTHE 19TH NEWS: $4,450,000 · OtherBIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER INC: $4,000,000 · OtherPANORAMA GLOBAL: $5,874,500 · OtherPANORAMA GLOBAL+49 more: $50,096,206 · Other+49 moreBLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC: $17,000,000 · Human ServicesREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL: $5,000,000 · Human ServicesWORKMONEY FOUNDATION INC: $4,000,000 · Human ServicesNATIONAL FLORENCE CRITTENTON MISSION: $2,500,000 · Human ServicesMOORE IMPACT INC: $2,000,000 · Human ServicesTIDES CENTER: $1,428,119 · Human Services+8 more: $4,892,000 · Human ServicesMANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP FOR TOMORROW: $4,000,000 · EducationTHE ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE: $4,000,000 · EducationNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $3,800,000 · EducationRUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,733,700 · EducationREWRITING THE CODE INC: $3,000,000 · EducationAMERICA ACHIEVES INC: $2,000,000 · EducationCornell University: $2,000,000 · EducationExecutives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC): $2,000,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $1,510,716 · Education+8 more: $4,775,091 · EducationSTATES UNITED DEMOCRACY CENTER INC: $7,000,000 · Civil RightsNational Domestic Workers Alliance Inc: $4,000,000 · Civil RightsTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $4,000,000 · Civil RightsMS FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN INC: $4,000,000 · Civil RightsREPRESENTWOMEN INC: $2,000,000 · Civil RightsVOTE MAMA FOUNDATION INC: $1,550,000 · Civil RightsTREVOR PROJECT INC: $1,350,000 · Civil Rights+4 more: $1,075,000 · Civil RightsNEW VENTURE FUND: $17,376,900 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE: $7,000,000 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $3,000,000 · Community ImprovementVOTE RUN LEAD INC: $1,730,000 · Community ImprovementLOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION: $1,500,000 · Community ImprovementALL RAISE: $1,000,000 · Community ImprovementOPPORTUNITY LABS FOUNDATION INC: $750,000 · Community Improvement+3 more: $800,000 · Community Improvement
Philanthropy$305,295,000Other$109,784,624Human Services$36,820,119Education$30,819,507Civil Rights$24,975,000Environment$17,376,900Community Improvement$15,780,000

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 budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $257,500,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetHOPEWELL FUND: $20,450,000 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $17,376,900 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetBLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC: $17,000,000 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES: $15,600,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $14,000,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $8,425,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetSTATES UNITED DEMOCRACY CENTER INC: $7,000,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetCENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE: $7,000,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetPANORAMA GLOBAL: $5,874,500 over 3y, 7.0% of budgetSchool-Based Health Alliance: $5,838,000 over 3y, 31% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: $5,000,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL: $5,000,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetTHE 19TH NEWS: $4,450,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetMANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP FOR TOMORROW: $4,000,000 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetNational Domestic Workers Alliance Inc: $4,000,000 over 1y, 8.2% of budgetNEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: $4,000,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetTHE ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE: $4,000,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetWORKMONEY FOUNDATION INC: $4,000,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetBIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER INC: $4,000,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $4,000,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetMS FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN INC: $4,000,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $3,800,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,733,700 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE COMPUTING RESEARCH ASSOCIATION INC: $3,500,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $3,410,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetREWRITING THE CODE INC: $3,000,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $3,000,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ADVERTISING COUNCIL INC: $2,800,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetNATIONAL FLORENCE CRITTENTON MISSION: $2,500,000 over 1y, 59% of budgetALLIED MEDIA PROJECTS INC: $2,500,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetGIRLS FOR GENDER EQUITY INC: $2,500,000 over 1y, 51% of budgetFOOD FOR EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $2,500,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetTHE JED FOUNDATION: $2,397,460 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetSEATTLE FOUNDATION: $2,300,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCaring Across Generations Inc: $2,000,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetAMERICA ACHIEVES INC: $2,000,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetMOORE IMPACT INC: $2,000,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR WOMEN'S POLICY RESEARCH: $2,000,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetCornell University: $2,000,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetExecutives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC): $2,000,000 over 1y, 54% of budgetWASHINGTON CENTER FOR EQUITABLE GROWTH INC: $2,000,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetREPRESENTWOMEN INC: $2,000,000 over 2y, 73% of budgetGuttmacher Institute Inc: $1,750,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetVOTE RUN LEAD INC: $1,730,000 over 2y, 38% of budgetMe Too International Inc: $1,650,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetInseparable Inc: $1,600,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetVOTE MAMA FOUNDATION INC: $1,550,000 over 2y, 73% 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.

Tides FoundationThe Ford FoundationFoundation to Promote…Silicon Valley Commun…The William & Flora H…Amalgamated Charitabl…New Venture FundNEO Philanthropy IncSkoll FundJewish Community Fede…New York Women's Foun…Wellspring Philanthro…
Tides FoundationCA35× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tides Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Foundation to Promote Open Society · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund · NEO Philanthropy Inc · Skoll Fund · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · New York Women's Foundation Inc · Wellspring Philanthropic Fund Inc

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 Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 110%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • National Florence Crittenton Mission: 24% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Rutgers University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
11get no government money at all
14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Pivotal Philanthropies 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 122 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Pivotal Philanthropies’ 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