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Richard & Deborah Polonsky Charitable Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Richard & Deborah Polonsky Charitable Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$12k
Granted FY2020
19
Grants FY2020
5
States reached
$7k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0189% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2020.

Arts & Culture$17kReligion$10kHuman Services$4kHealth$2kEducation$2kPhilanthropy$475Crime & Legal$225International$200Other$0
02FY2020 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$150
Median grant
5
States reached
$179
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TEMPLE BAT YAHM$7,330
PHILHARMONICA SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY$2,000
CA LITERARY & PROLOGUE SOCIETY$505
US HOLOCAUST MUSEUM$330
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION$300
AARP FOUNDATION$249
Individual grant recipient$200
YIDDISH BOOK CENTER$154
BOSTON UNIVERSITY$150
DISABLED VETERANS NATIONAL FOUNDATION$150
HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$100
SHRINERS HOSPITAL$100
SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTS$100
PACIFIC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$100
WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS$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 (FY17–19, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%HERITAGE POINTE: $1k → 10%HERITAGE POINTE: $1k → 10%HERITAGE POINTE: $300 → 10%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

NY
MA
IA
RI
CA
MD
TN
DC
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$33k · 22 repeat orgs$2k to everyone else

22 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2020, 9 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
19

Total granted

$33k
$2k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+61%

Still filing today

50%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $525 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
HealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationInternationalRecreation & 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

  • PS
    PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY
    4× · 2017–2020 · $11k · revenue +16%
  • TU
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    3× · 2018–2020 · $790 · revenue +34%
  • NY
    NATIONAL YIDDISH BOOK CENTER INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $662 · revenue +99%

Funded once

  • TW
    THE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $350 · revenue +24%
  • FO
    Friends of the Academy of Music Incgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $200 · revenue +67%
  • PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC
    one grant, 2018 · $150 · revenue -19%
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
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.

—
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
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
4
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
5
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
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
Neurology Associates of Stony Brook University Faculty Practice Corp

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
8
Stony Brook Urology University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
9
Stony Brook Ophthalmology University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
10
Stony Brook Surgical Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
11
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of California Irvine Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Friends of the Academy of Music 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

27 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. 27 of the 49 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
21/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEMPLE BAT YAHM: $9,465 · OtherTEMPLE BAT YAHMCA LITERARY & PROLOGUE SOCIETY: $2,390 · OtherCA LITERARY & PROLOGUE SOCIETYALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION: $850 · Other+27 more: $4,714 · Other+27 morePHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY: $11,100 · Arts & CulturePHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTYThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $790 · Arts & CultureThe United States Holocaust Memorial Muse…NATIONAL YIDDISH BOOK CENTER INC: $662 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $417 · Arts & CultureJEWISH HOME FOR THE AGING OF ORANGE COUNTY: $2,711 · Human ServicesJEWISH HOM…AARP FOUNDATION: $669 · Human ServicesAARP FOUND…+1 more: $50 · Human ServicesNEWPORT BEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $620 · EducationFriends of the Academy of Music Inc: $200 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $50 · EducationHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $300 · HealthPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $150 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $50 · HealthNATIONAL PANCREAS FOUNDATION: $50 · HealthAmerican Heart Association Inc: $40 · HealthCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $25 · HealthJEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $245 · PhilanthropyBROWN UNIVERSITY: $200 · Community Improvement
Other$17,419Arts & Culture$12,969Human Services$3,430Education$870Health$615Philanthropy$245Community Improvement$200

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 budgetPHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY: $11,100 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH HOME FOR THE AGING OF ORANGE COUNTY: $2,711 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $790 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAARP FOUNDATION: $669 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL YIDDISH BOOK CENTER INC: $662 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNEWPORT BEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $620 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART LOS ANGELES: $317 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $245 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEWPORT BEACH POLICE ASSOCIATION: $225 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of the Academy of Music Inc: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSegerstrom Center for the Arts: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRYSTAL COVE CONSERVANCY: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAZON A Jewish Response to Hunger: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PANCREAS FOUNDATION: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $40 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $25 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $15 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.

Argyros Family Founda…Jewish Community Foun…Samueli FoundationOrange County Communi…The Bassman Family Ch…California Community …American Endowment Fo…The Blackbaud Giving …National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…
Argyros Family FoundationCA15.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Argyros Family Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County · Samueli Foundation · Orange County Community Foundation · The Bassman Family Charitable Trust · California Community Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · 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 Richard & Deborah Polonsky Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Richard & Deborah Polonsky Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • National Yiddish Book Center Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 49 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Richard & Deborah Polonsky’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