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Robert Lehman Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Robert Lehman Foundation Inc

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.

$2.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
56
Grants FY2025still arriving
17
States reached
$1.1M
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$9.0MEducation$370kScience & Tech$68kYouth Development$65kInternational$50kSocial Science$35kEnvironment$35kCrime & Legal$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 56 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $66k
  • $10k–50k41 grants · $703k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $210k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.1M
$15,000
Median grant
17
States reached
$39M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE FRICK COLLECTION$1,126,954
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART$60,000
THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON$50,000
BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES$50,000
NEWARK MUSEUM OF ART$50,000
THE DENVER ART MUSEUM$35,000
BRONX MUSEUM OF THE ARTS$33,000
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART$30,000
THE DRAWING CENTER INC$28,000
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON$25,000
THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER$25,000
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART$25,000
CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS$25,000
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART$25,000
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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%BROOKS SCHOOL: $50k → 10%STERLING & FRANCINE CLARK INSTITUTE: $30k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER: $50k → 16%PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $25k → 22%CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $25k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $25k → 14%STORM KING ART CENTER: $25k → 14%NEW YORK STUDIO SCHOOL OF DRAWING PAINTING & SCULPTURE: $30k → 17%BRONX MUSEUM OF THE ARTS: $33k → 28%THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION: $25k → 14%THE JOHN AND MABLE RINGLING MUSEUM OF ART: $25k → 10%THE DENVER ART MUSEUM: $35k → 12%THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON: $50k → 11%WILLAIM A FARNSWORTH LIBRARY & ART MUSEUM: $25k → 11%BROOKS SCHOOL: $50k → 10%STERLING & FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE: $25k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER: $25k → 16%THE BARNES FOUNDATION: $25k → 22%CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $25k → 10%NEW YORK STUDIO SCHOOL: $25k → 17%PORTLAND ART MUSEUM: $100k → 12%CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $60k → 17%NEWARK MUSEUM OF ART: $50k → 16%PORTLAND ART MUSEUM: $70k → 12%THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $50k → 17%NXTHVN INC: $28k → 12%PARRISH ART MUSEUM: $33k → 7%BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $50k → 20%PARRISH ART MUSEUM: $31k → 7%THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM: $35k → 20%BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS & SCIENCE: $35k → 20%THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM: $33k → 20%NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART: $35k → 14%BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS & SCIENCE DBA: $30k → 20%THE MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM: $50k → 17%MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM: $50k → 17%THE FRICK COLLECTION: $1.1M → 17%METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $1.8M → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON: $50k → 17%METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $1.1M → 17%METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $1.1M → 17%METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $1.0M → 17%METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $795k → 17%METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $30k → 17%MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $30k → 17%SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SMITHSONIAN INSTITUT: $50k → 17%THE DRAWING CENTER INC: $31k → 17%THE DRAWING CENTER INC: $28k → 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
WA
ID
MT
MN
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
AR
NC
DC
LA
TX
FL
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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.5M · 67 repeat orgs$2.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

67 repeat relationships: 39 still active in FY2025, 28 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

67
97

Total granted

$9.5M
$1.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+7%

Still filing today

94%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $318k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentHousing & ShelterInternationalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • MM
    METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
    5× · 2021–2025 · $5.2M · revenue +69%
  • TF
    The Frick Collection
    2× · 2023–2025 · $1.2M · revenue +12%
  • PORTLAND ART MUSEUM
    4× · 2021–2025 · $210k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • MM
    METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
    one grant, 2020 · $811k
  • SI
    SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SMITHSONIAN INSTITUT
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON INC
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue -31%
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
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute

Munson-williams-proctor arts institute (mwpai) is a fine arts center dedicated to serving diverse audiences by advancing the appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts. the art institute aims to promote interest and…

Arts & Culture
2
Clyfford Still Museum

Home to the art and legacy of the american painter clyfford still, we invite all to explore the potential of individual creative endeavor.

Arts & Culture
3
Berggruen Institute
Education
4
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
5
Art Explorium
—
6
Kadist Collection Manager Inc
Arts & Culture
7
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
8
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston

The museum of fine arts, houston serves as a welcoming and inclusive place for all people, connecting the communities of houston with diverse histories of art spanning 6,000 years and six continents. through our permanent collections,…

Arts & Culture
9
Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery

The huntington library, art museum, and botanical gardens shares its world-renowned collections to support scholarship, foster learning, inspire creativity, and offer transformative experiences for diverse audiences.

Arts & Culture
10
Newport Art Museum and Art Association

The newport art museum's mission is to share a diversity of art and experiences that spark reflection, inspiration, and connection within our newport community and beyond. the museum was founded in 1912 on the belief that arts and culture…

Arts & Culture
11
Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation

Committed to innovation, the solomon r. guggenheim foundation (the "foundation") collects, (continued on schedule o)

Arts & Culture
12
Institute of Contemporary Art Miami Inc

The institute of contemporary art, miami (ica miami), is dedicated to promoting the work of contemporary artists, and to the exchange of art and ideas throughout the miami region and internationally. through an energetic calendar of…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Folk Art Museum; the most unlike its peers is Archives for Research in Archetypal Symbolisminc. 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

120 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 120 of the 183 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
120/120
Grantees still filing
78/120
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $5,184,861 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART+83 more: $2,694,600 · Arts & Culture+83 moreThe Frick Collection: $1,151,954 · OtherThe Frick CollectionMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $811,454 · OtherMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ARTNEW YORK STUDIO SCHOOL: $108,000 · Other+70 more: $997,996 · Other+70 moreThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $115,000 · EducationBROOKS SCHOOL: $107,500 · EducationAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON INC: $50,000 · EducationPRATT INSTITUTE: $49,500 · EducationAMERICANS FOR OXFORD INC: $45,000 · EducationPUBLICOLOR INC: $45,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $40,000 · EducationNew York University: $32,559 · EducationCARLETON COLLEGE: $30,080 · Education+11 more: $106,500 · EducationMYRIAD USA INC: $50,000 · InternationalART OMI INC: $30,000 · InternationalNEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $20,000 · EnvironmentMADISON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentSOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK INC: $30,000 · Community ImprovementYOUNG NEW YORKERS INC: $20,000 · Crime & Legal
Arts & Culture$7,879,461Other$3,069,404Education$621,139International$80,000Environment$35,000Community Improvement$30,000Crime & Legal$20,000

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 budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $5,184,861 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetThe Frick Collection: $1,151,954 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetPORTLAND ART MUSEUM: $210,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $183,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $115,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $110,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNEW YORK STUDIO SCHOOL: $108,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBROOKS SCHOOL: $107,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $90,600 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: $75,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DRAWING CENTER INC: $74,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetTHE PARRISH ART MUSEUM INC: $70,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetSUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $70,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetThe Bronx Museum of the Arts: $63,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSTUDIO IN A SCHOOL ASSOCIATION INC: $55,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSTERLING AND FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE: $55,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetURBANGLASS NEW YORK CONTEMPORARY GLASS CENTER INC: $55,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetCORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER ART MUSEUM: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMYRIAD USA INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILLIAM A FARNSWORTH LIBRARY AND ART MUSEUM INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE ART MUSEUM: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PHILLIPS COLLECTION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPRATT INSTITUTE: $49,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTRANSFORMER INC: $47,500 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetAMERICANS FOR OXFORD INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNew Museum of Contemporary Art: $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSTORM KING ART CENTER: $45,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPUBLICOLOR INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetNXTHVN INC: $42,500 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE HYDE COLLECTION TRUST: $42,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC: $40,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $40,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNational Gallery of Art: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetART21 INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetWOODMERE ART MUSEUM: $34,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNew York University: $32,559 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCARLETON COLLEGE: $30,080 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetART OMI INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetALLIANCE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS AND WRITERS INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS INC: $30,000 over 2y, 1.5% 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 Cowles Charitable…Hillman Family Founda…Helen Frankenthaler F…The Andy Warhol Found…Ag FoundationTerra Foundation for …Milton and Sally Aver…Arison Arts FoundationThe Hyde and Watson F…Lily Auchincloss Foun…The New York Communit…Wolf Kahn Foundation …
The Cowles Charitable TrustNY40× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Cowles Charitable Trust · Hillman Family Foundations · Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Inc · The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc · Ag Foundation · Terra Foundation for American Art · Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation · Arison Arts Foundation · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Lily Auchincloss Foundation Inc · The New York Community Trust · Wolf Kahn 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 Robert Lehman Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert Lehman Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • The Montclair Art Museum: 11% of income from government
  • The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Camp 45 Contemporary Converge 45: 8% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • New Britain Museum of American Art Inc: 7% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • Oregon Center for Contemporary Art Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Baltimore Museum of Art: 4% of income from government
  • Eastern Oregon Regional Arts Council dba Art Center East: 3% of income from government
  • The Institute of Contemporary Art Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Portland Art Museum: 1% of income from government
  • Nxthvn Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The College of New Jersey Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
31report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 Robert Lehman Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Robert Lehman 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.

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 183 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

Play a game based on Robert Lehman’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