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Richard T Button Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Richard T Button 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.

$113k
Granted FY2019
39
Grants FY2019
8
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2019.

Arts & Culture$40kFood & Nutrition$27kEnvironment$23kHealth$12kPublic Safety & Disaster$10kHousing & Shelter$8kAnimals$6kRecreation & Sports$6kOther$0
02FY2019 · 39 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2019

  • Under $10k38 grants · $93k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $20k
$2,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$12k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DEVELOPMENT IN GARDENING$20,000
ICE DANCE INTERNATIONAL$6,000
NORTH SALEM VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE CO$6,000
NORTH SALEM OPEN LAND FDN$5,500
CITYMEALS ON WHEELS$5,000
HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY$4,000
NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE$4,000
WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE$4,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$4,000
CLASSICAL AMERICAN HOMES PRES TR$4,000
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS$3,000
THE ROYAL OAK FOUNDATION$3,000
THE GARDEN CONSERVANCY$3,000
PUTNAM COUNTY LAND TRUST$3,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$3,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–19) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%PROFESSIONAL SKATERS ASSOC FDN: $2k → 9%THE DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST: $2k → 10%NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE: $4k → 6%GARDEN CONSERVANCY SOCIETY: $3k → 6%NORTH SALEM VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE CO: $6k → 9%HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEWBURGH BAY: $1k → 14%ICE THEATER OF NEW YORK: $3k → 17%BARTOW-PELL MANSION MUSEUM: $3k → 28%NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRES: $2k → 14%DEVELOPMENT IN GARDENING: $20k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $3k → 7%ICE DANCE INTERNATIONAL: $10k → 9%THE GARDEN CONSERVANCY: $3k → 6%NORTH SALEM OPEN LAND FDN: $6k → 9%ICE DANCE INTERNATIONAL: $6k → 9%BOSCOBEL HOUSE & GARDENS: $2k → 6%NORTH SALEM OPEN LAND FDN: $2k → 9%UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $1k → 17%PUTNAM COUNTY LAND TRUST: $3k → 6%NORTH SALEM VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE CO: $1k → 9%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $4k → 17%BREWSTER CARMEL GARDEN CLUB: $2k → 6%NORTH SALEM OPEN LAND FDN: $1k → 9%BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $3k → 17%LANDMARKS PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $1k → 6%NORTH SALEM VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE CO: $1k → 9%HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY: $4k → 17%BEDFORD AUDUBON SOCIETY: $2k → 9%FRIENDS OF UPPER EAST SIDE HS: $2k → 17%JERICHO PROJECT: $1k → 17%NORTHERN WESTCHESTER HOSPITAL FDN: $3k → 9%STUDIO IN A SCHOOL: $2k → 17%WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST: $3k → 9%WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE: $4k → 17%HUDSON RIVER MUSEUM: $1k → 9%HISTORIC HOUSE TRUST OF NYC: $2k → 17%CROTON FALLS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $1k → 9%CROTON FALLS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $1k → 9%CLASSICAL AMERICAN HOMES PRES TR: $4k → 17%CLASSICAL AMERICAN HOMES PRES TR: $3k → 17%CITYMEALS ON WHEELS: $5k → 17%NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2k → 17%THE FRESH AIR FUND: $3k → 17%THE ROYAL OAK FOUNDATION: $3k → 17%INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL ART: $1k → 17%NY LANDMARKS CONSERVANCY: $1k → 17%THE BATTERY: $1k → 17%MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1k → 17%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

ME
MN
NY
PA
CT
VA
TN
DC
AL
GA
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.

35%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$50k · 10 repeat orgs$93k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +119% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2019, 2 since wound down; 30 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
8

Total granted

$50k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+119%
+12%

Still filing today

60%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2019, 26% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $82k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19
Arts & CultureEnvironmentInternationalRecreation & SportsCommunity ImprovementFood & NutritionOther
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

  • ID
    ICE DANCE INTERNATIONAL
    2× · 2017–2019 · $16k · revenue +34%
  • NS
    NORTH SALEM OPEN LAND FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $9k · revenue +338%
  • RH
    RICHARD HAMPTON JENRETTE FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2019 · $7k · revenue +65%

Funded once

  • BM
    BARTOW-PELL MANSION MUSEUM
    one grant, 2018 · $3k
  • IT
    ICE THEATRE OF NEW YORKgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +29%
  • GC
    GARDEN CONSERVANCY SOCIETY
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
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 Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
2
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
3
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
4
Innisfree Foundation Inc
—
5
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
6
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
7
Harvard Club of Ny Historical Foundation
Environment
8
The Long Island Museum of American Art History & Carriages

The long island museum is dedicated to inspiring people of all ages with an understanding and enjoyment of american art, history and carriages as expressed through the heritage of long island and its diverse communities.

Arts & Culture
9
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
10
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The metropolitan museum of art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.

Arts & Culture
11
The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection (the "Collection") operates an internationally recognized art museum and library program for the inspiration and enjoyment of the public and for the advancement of the study of fine arts and kindred subjects.

—
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Garden Conservancy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Boscobel Restoration 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

33 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. 33 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/33
Grantees still filing
25/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTH SALEM VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE CO: $8,000 · OtherNORTH SALEM VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE CORICHARD HAMPTON JENRETTE FOUNDATION: $6,500 · OtherRICHARD HAMPTON JENRETTE FOUNDATIONWEILL CORNELL MEDICINE: $4,400 · OtherWEILL CORNELL MEDICINEHOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY: $4,000 · OtherHOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERYTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $3,000 · OtherBARTOW-PELL MANSION MUSEUM: $3,000 · OtherBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $3,000 · OtherICE THEATRE OF NEW YORK: $3,000 · OtherGARDEN CONSERVANCY SOCIETY: $2,500 · OtherFRESH AIR FUND: $2,500 · OtherNORTHERN WESTCHESTER HOSPITAL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 · Other+17 more: $21,550 · Other+17 moreICE DANCE INTERNATIONAL: $16,000 · Arts & CultureICE DANCE INTERNATION…THE ROYAL OAK FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ROYAL OAK FOUNDAT…New York Historical Society: $2,000 · Arts & CultureNew York Historical S…HISTORIC HOUSE TRUST OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC HOUSE TRUST …THE DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST: $1,500 · Arts & CultureTHE DECORATIVE ARTS T…MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,000 · Arts & CultureHUDSON RIVER MUSEUM OF WESTCHESTER: $1,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEWBURGH BAY AND T: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $400 · Arts & CultureDEVELOPMENT IN GARDENING: $20,000 · Community ImprovementDEVELOPMENT IN …NORTH SALEM OPEN LAND FOUNDATION INC: $8,500 · EnvironmentNORTH SALEM OP…PUTNAM COUNTY LAND TRUST SAVE OPEN SPACE INC: $3,000 · EnvironmentPUTNAM COUNTY …THE GARDEN CONSERVANCY INC: $3,000 · EnvironmentTHE GARDEN CON…Westchester Land Trust Inc: $2,500 · EnvironmentWestchester La…BEDFORD AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $2,000 · EnvironmentBEDFORD AUDUBO…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $1,000 · International+1 more: $100 · InternationalCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $5,000 · Food & NutritionNORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA INC: $4,000 · Animals
Other$64,450Arts & Culture$27,900Community Improvement$20,000Environment$19,000International$5,100Food & Nutrition$5,000Animals$4,000

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 budgetDEVELOPMENT IN GARDENING: $20,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetICE DANCE INTERNATIONAL: $16,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetNORTH SALEM OPEN LAND FOUNDATION INC: $8,500 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetRICHARD HAMPTON JENRETTE FOUNDATION: $6,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPUTNAM COUNTY LAND TRUST SAVE OPEN SPACE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNORTHERN WESTCHESTER HOSPITAL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARDEN CONSERVANCY INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetICE THEATRE OF NEW YORK: $3,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFRESH AIR FUND: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWestchester Land Trust Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNew York Historical Society: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHISTORIC HOUSE TRUST OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBEDFORD AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSTUDIO IN A SCHOOL ASSOCIATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROTON FALLS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT INC: $2,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetTHE DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUDSON RIVER MUSEUM OF WESTCHESTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD FIGURE SPORT ORGANIZATION: $1,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEWBURGH BAY AND T: $1,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetJERICHO PROJECT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIGURE SKATING IN HARLEM INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHollister House Garden Inc: $350 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF ATTINGHAM INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHISTORIC HUDSON VALLEY: $50 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 New York Communit…Jewish Communal FundGreater Hudson Herita…Ibm International Fou…The Handley Foundatio…Malkin Fund IncNational Philanthropi…The Goldman Sachs Cha…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…
The New York Community TrustNY16.4× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The New York Community Trust · Jewish Communal Fund · Greater Hudson Heritage Network · Ibm International Foundation · The Handley Foundation Inc · Malkin Fund Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 T Button Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Richard T Button Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    6report 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 Richard T Button Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Richard T Button 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 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2019, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Richard T Button’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