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Reader's Digest Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Reader's Digest 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.

$2.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
26
Grants FY2024still arriving
12
States reached
$2.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Public Benefit$5.2MPhilanthropy$228kArts & Culture$200kHealth$12kFood & Nutrition$10kEducation$9kHousing & Shelter$5kCommunity Improvement$1kOther$0
02FY2024 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k24 grants · $20k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.1M
$280
Median grant
12
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED THROUGH READING$2,066,100
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY$100,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC$5,000
FROM THE HEART PRODUCTIONS$5,000
HOLLYWOOD SCHOOLHOUSE INC$2,000
OFF ASSIGNMENT INC$2,000
CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY - WAGON ROAD CAMP$1,055
BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR PEACE INC (BPEACE)$1,025
MEQUON-THIENSVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT$1,000
TATTERED PAWS AND GOLDEN HEARTS RESCUE$970
PTA WISCONSIN CONGRESS$500
MILWAUKEE RESCUE MISSION$450
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA$280
TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$200
OSSINING FOOD PANTRY$200
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 (FY24–24, $200) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%OSSINING FOOD PANTRY: $200 → 9%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
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CT
CA
NE
VA
AZ
TN
NC
MS
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.5M · 14 repeat orgs$128k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +0% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
27

Total granted

$5.5M
$15k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+0%

Still filing today

43%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $113k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthArts & CultureEducationAnimalsInternationalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • UT
    UNITED THROUGH READING
    8× · 2017–2024 · $5.2M · revenue +178% · 52% of their budget
  • Feeding America
    3× · 2019–2023 · $10k · revenue +77%
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $10k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • FC
    Friendship Circle of Connecticut Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +0%
  • MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER INC
    one grant, 2023 · $2k · revenue -33%
  • WI
    Westhab Incgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue +65%
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
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
2
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
3
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
4
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
5
Manhattan University

Manhattan university is an independent catholic instituion of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. the mission of manhattan university is to provide a contemporary, person-centered…

Education
6
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
7
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
8
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
9
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.

—
10
Michigan Humane Society

To improve and save lives through compassionate care, community engagement and advocacy for animals.

Animals
11
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Inc

The multiple myeloma research foundation (mmrf) is the largest nonprofit in the world solely focused on accelerating acurefor multiple myeloma patient. we drive the development and delivery of next-generation therapies, leverage data to…

Health
12
New York Blood Center Inc

As one of the most preeminent and comprehensive blood centers in theworld, nybc operates under a four-part mission. for more information,see sch. o and part iii, 4a-c.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Milwaukee Art Museum Inc; the most unlike its peers is Birdies and Bogeys for Bob 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

42 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. 42 of the 61 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/42
Grantees still filing
21/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNITED THROUGH READING: $5,150,100 · Public BenefitUNITED THROUGH READINGJK Group Trustee for Reader's Diges: $173,480 · OtherMatching Gifts Program: $84,844 · OtherDirect Charitable Activities - Part: $37,824 · OtherVolunteer Incentive Program: $11,250 · Other+32 more: $15,366 · OtherNew York Historical Society: $100,000 · Arts & CultureJACOB BURNS FILM CENTER INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureFrom The Heart Productions: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $3,000 · Arts & CulturePLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC: $10,000 · HealthBirdies and Bogeys for Bob Inc: $500 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $450 · Health+5 more: $645 · HealthFeeding America: $10,100 · Food & NutritionFriendship Circle of Connecticut Inc: $5,000 · EducationOFF ASSIGNMENT INC: $2,000 · EducationHollywood Schoolhouse Inc: $2,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $500 · Education+3 more: $190 · EducationWesthab Inc: $1,500 · Housing & Shelter
Public Benefit$5,150,100Other$322,764Arts & Culture$118,000Health$11,595Food & Nutrition$10,100Education$9,690Housing & Shelter$1,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNITED THROUGH READING: $5,150,100 over 8y, 52% of budgetNew York Historical Society: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFeeding America: $10,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJACOB BURNS FILM CENTER INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFriendship Circle of Connecticut Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetFrom The Heart Productions: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER INC: $2,225 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOFF ASSIGNMENT INC: $2,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetHollywood Schoolhouse Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWesthab Inc: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTattered Paws and Golden Hearts Rescue: $970 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTURKISH PHILANTHROPY FUNDS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBirdies and Bogeys for Bob Inc: $500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $450 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $280 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJudges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert Inc: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE DOMES ALLIANCE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $225 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM INC: $225 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOssining Food Pantry: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $125 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHOSEN 300 MINISTRIES INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUIDON INC: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREENBELT LAND TRUST: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetABILIS INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN ECOLOGY CENTER INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAKELAND UNIVERSITY: $55 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOOVERS HAUSE ALL DOG RESCUE: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROTON FALLS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIG EAST AKITA RESCUE: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBEADS OF COURAGE INC DBA CENTER FOR ARTS IN NURSING: $45 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJONATHAN MONTESSORI HOUSE OF CHILDREN INC: $35 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $31 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARTY'S PLACE SENIOR DOG SANCTUARY: $25 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMID HUDSON ANIMAL AID INC: $25 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.

The Pfizer Foundation…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Chubb Charitable Foun…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Verizon FoundationAmerican Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Morgan Stanley Global…Charities Aid Foundat…National Philanthropi…Paypal Charitable Giv…American Online Givin…
The Pfizer Foundation IncNY12.5× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Chubb Charitable Foundation · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Verizon Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · National Philanthropic Trust · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Reader's Digest Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Reader's Digest Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 74%
  • Abilis Inc: 74% of income from government
  • Greenbelt Land Trust: 31% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Reader's Digest Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Reader's Digest 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 61 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Reader's Digest’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