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New York · Private foundation

Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$4.3M
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
85
Grants FY2025
86
Organizations funded FY2024
37%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$10,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$500,000
Organizations funded a year
31 to 86
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
6
Total assets, FY2025
$123M
Applications
Takes unsolicited applications
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 37% of the organizations Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 26% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.7M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentScience & TechCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving80$4.2M30%
FY202486$6.4M37%
FY202359$3.6M22%
FY202256$3.9M23%
FY202157$4.6M47%
FY202066$3.9M48%
FY201931$3.8M42%
FY201841$4.6M54%
100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$19MEducation$12MScience & Tech$4.8MEnvironment$918kPhilanthropy$338kAnimals$275kCivil Rights$264kReligion$184kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
NH
IL
MI
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
VA
DC

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Long Island University$3,269,89490%
Pbs Foundation$2,666,66778%
New York Historical Society$2,654,05773%
New York University$1,658,76980%
Molloy University$1,500,00040%
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory$1,259,34650%
The Brooklyn Historical Society$1,200,00138%
Iona University$750,00030%
The Green-Wood Historic Fund Inc$630,00037%
Webb Institute$629,24960%
Show all 135 grantees
All grantees of Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Long Island University$3,269,89490%
Pbs Foundation$2,666,66778%
New York Historical Society$2,654,05773%
New York University$1,658,76980%
Molloy University$1,500,00040%
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory$1,259,34650%
The Brooklyn Historical Society$1,200,00138%
Iona University$750,00030%
The Green-Wood Historic Fund Inc$630,00037%
Webb Institute$629,24960%
Montauk Historical Society$623,067513%
The Roslyn Landmark Society Inc$609,575725%
Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum$571,453472%
The Historymakers$500,00027%
Three Village Historical Society$481,100556%
The Friends of Raynham Hall Inc$429,62834%
Greater Hudson Heritage Network$407,000615%
Old Westbury Gardens Inc$383,54533%
Yaphank Historical Society$363,629791%
East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation$352,040412%
Mystic Seaport Museum Inc$296,30121%
University of Rochester$289,10020%
Preservation League of New York State$285,00064%
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History$250,00012%
The North Shore Land Alliance Inc$250,00016%
Oyster Bay Railroad Museum$243,623497%
Museum of the City of New York$233,33331%
St Thomas Aquinas College$229,62420%
Suffolk County Historical Society$222,000417%
The Northport Historical Society and Museum$218,381416%
The Sag Harbor Historical Museum Inc$213,87643%
Planting Fields Foundation$210,45523%
Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society Inc$207,725234%
Thomas Moran Trust$200,000119%
New York Landmarks Conservancy Inc$200,00041%
East Hampton Historical Society Inc$188,385411%
Friends of Science East Inc$186,689222%
The Friends of Cedarmere Inc$175,38130%
New York State Archives Partnership Tr$165,00046%
Museum Association of New York$160,000410%
Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society$150,645443%
National Audubon Society Inc$150,00010%
Smithtown Historical Museums$149,518421%
Guild Hall of East Hampton Inc$145,41931%
New Amsterdam History Center$142,238248%
Ketcham Inn Foundation Inc$136,809682%
Oysterponds Historical Society Inc$134,700619%
Shelter Island History Museum$133,200524%
The Parrish Art Museum Inc$130,42521%
The Museum of Democracy Inc$125,0001n/a
The Research Foundation for The State University of New York$124,99010%
Stony Brook Foundation Inc$120,00010%
Brooklyn Public Library$105,50010%
Long Island Children's Museum$105,50021%
Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum$103,49051%
Lower East Side Tenement Museum$100,00011%
Hofstra University$96,09010%
Rocky Point Historical Society$94,100559%
Caumsett Foundation Inc$88,42438%
St Joseph's University New York$83,94450%
Fenimore Art Museum$83,57920%
Southold Historical Society$81,245519%
Long Island Library Resources Council Inc$70,38923%
Cutchogue Civic Association$67,6602n/a
Huntington Historical Society$58,20058%
Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities$54,70048%
Long Island Traditions Inc$53,500217%
The Jazz Loft Inc$52,755515%
The Ward Melville Heritage Organization Ltd$52,12536%
Queens Museum of Art$51,60011%
Babylon Beautification Society Inc$50,000126%
Walt Whitman Birthplace Association$47,578510%
Longhouse Reserve$46,75712%
Long Beach Historical Society$45,5801n/a
Caroline Church of Brookhaven$44,6503n/a
Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society$44,339610%
American Folk Art Museum$43,89511%
Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society Inc$43,25545%
Marist University$40,00040%
Michigan State University$40,0004n/a
Messiah University$39,25140%
The Waterfront Museum$36,42047%
Friends of Connetquot Inc$34,944310%
Moriches Bay Historical Society$30,0001n/a
The Whaling Museum Society Inc$29,95042%
The Garden City Historical Society$26,582514%
Friends of Alice Austen House Inc$26,47015%
San Diego Historical Society$25,00011%
Islip Arts Council Inc$25,000111%
Louis Armstrong House Museum$25,00011%
Long Island Seaport & Ecocenter Inc$24,568136%
Heckscher Museum$23,80041%
Historical Society of Greater Port Jefferson$23,461312%
Huguenot Historical Society New Paltz Ny$22,6981n/a
Quogue Historical Society$21,60029%
Wainscott Heritage Project$20,0001n/a
Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery$20,000218%
Hallockville Inc$18,88854%
Long Island Historical Society Inc$18,0002n/a
Wading River Historical Society Inc$16,1922n/a
Carmans River Maritime Center$14,000130%
Sagtikos Manor Historical Society$13,813216%
King Manor Assoc of Long Island Inc$13,75015%
The Agricultural Society Fund Inc$13,200215%
Davis Town Meeting House Society Inc$13,1513n/a
Miller Place-Mount Sinai Historical Society$12,2503n/a
Long Island Maritime Museum$11,27722%
Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation Inc$10,50015%
Historical Society of Islip Hamlet$10,2932n/a
Victor D'Amico Institute of Art$10,0001n/a
Wading River Cemetery Assoc Inc$10,00019%
Trustees of Boston College$10,00030%
Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society$8,2785n/a
Brooks Park Arts & Nature Center$7,8501n/a
Greater Patchogue Foundation Inc$7,29516%
Ma's House & Bipoc Art Studio Inc$6,60021%
Eastville Community Historical Society of Sag Harbor Inc$6,298311%
Longwood Alliance$5,5462n/a
Sag Harbor Partnership Inc$4,60010%
Village of Babylon Historical & Preservation Society$4,5003n/a
Stirling Historical Society$3,2002n/a
Lake Ronkonkoma Heritage Association$3,0002n/a
Freeport Historical Society$3,0001n/a
Rites of Spring Music Festival Inc$2,50012%
Sea Education Association Inc$2,50010%
Mastic Peninsula Historical Society$2,0001n/a
Sayville Historical Society$2,00013%
North Shore Historical Museum Inc$1,75615%
Lindenhurst Historical Society$1,6001n/a
The Greater Westhampton Historical Museum$1,58614%
Local Tv Inc$1,50010%
Babylon Town Historical Society$1,5001n/a
Greater Patchogue Historical Society$1,5001n/a
Southampton History Museum$1,50010%
The Arts Project of Cherry Grove Ny Inc$1,00011%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 88 recipients with no EIN on record ($9.8M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 12 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 110 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLong Island University: $3,269,894 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPbs Foundation: $2,666,667 over 7y, 7.6% of budgetNew York Historical Society: $2,654,057 over 7y, 2.6% of budgetNew York University: $1,658,769 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMolloy University: $1,500,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCold Spring Harbor Laboratory: $1,259,346 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetThe Brooklyn Historical Society: $1,200,001 over 3y, 7.8% of budgetIona University: $750,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Green-Wood Historic Fund Inc: $630,000 over 3y, 7.0% of budgetWebb Institute: $629,249 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetMontauk Historical Society: $623,067 over 5y, 13% of budgetThe Roslyn Landmark Society Inc: $609,575 over 7y, 25% of budgetFireboat Fire Fighter Museum: $571,453 over 4y, 72% of budgetThe Historymakers: $500,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetThree Village Historical Society: $481,100 over 5y, 56% of budgetThe Friends of Raynham Hall Inc: $429,628 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetGreater Hudson Heritage Network: $407,000 over 6y, 15% of budgetOld Westbury Gardens Inc: $383,545 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetYaphank Historical Society: $363,629 over 7y, 91% of budgetEast End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation: $352,040 over 4y, 12% of budgetMystic Seaport Museum Inc: $296,301 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetUniversity of Rochester: $289,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPreservation League of New York State: $285,000 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetThe Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: $250,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetThe North Shore Land Alliance Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetOyster Bay Railroad Museum: $243,623 over 4y, 97% of budgetMuseum of the City of New York: $233,333 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetSt Thomas Aquinas College: $229,624 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSuffolk County Historical Society: $222,000 over 4y, 17% of budgetThe Northport Historical Society and Museum: $218,381 over 4y, 16% of budgetThe Sag Harbor Historical Museum Inc: $213,876 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetPlanting Fields Foundation: $210,455 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetHuntington Lighthouse Preservation Society Inc: $207,725 over 2y, 34% of budgetThomas Moran Trust: $200,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetNew York Landmarks Conservancy Inc: $200,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetEast Hampton Historical Society Inc: $188,385 over 4y, 11% of budgetFriends of Science East Inc: $186,689 over 2y, 22% of budgetThe Friends of Cedarmere Inc: $175,381 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetNew York State Archives Partnership Tr: $165,000 over 4y, 6.3% of budgetMuseum Association of New York: $160,000 over 4y, 9.8% of budgetCow Neck Peninsula Historical Society: $150,645 over 4y, 43% of budgetNational Audubon Society Inc: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSmithtown Historical Museums: $149,518 over 4y, 21% of budgetGuild Hall of East Hampton Inc: $145,419 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetNew Amsterdam History Center: $142,238 over 2y, 48% of budgetKetcham Inn Foundation Inc: $136,809 over 6y, 82% of budgetOysterponds Historical Society Inc: $134,700 over 6y, 19% of budgetShelter Island History Museum: $133,200 over 5y, 24% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 110.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Greater Hudson Heritage NetworkNY45.9× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Hudson Heritage Network · The William G Pomeroy Foundation · Preservation League of New York State · The New York Community Trust · The Claire Friedlander Family Foundation · New York Community Bank Foundation · New York Council for the Humanities · Peggy N & Roger G Gerry Charitable · Charles and Helen Reichert Family Foundation Inc · The McGrath Family Charitable Foundation · Frederic R Coudert Foundation · John C Dunphy Private 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.

Compare Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc 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.

About Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc

How much does Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc give?
Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc reported 85 grants totaling $4,262,675 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 31 and 86 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (50%), Education (31%), Science & Tech (13%).
Who are Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Long Island University ($3.3M), Pbs Foundation ($2.7M), New York Historical Society ($2.7M).
Does Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 37% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Greater Hudson Heritage Network, The William G Pomeroy Foundation, Preservation League of New York State.
Where is Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc based?
Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Inc is based in NY.

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 226 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

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