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Robert Sydney Needham Fdn Main at a glance

· Private foundation

Robert Sydney Needham Fdn Main

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$402k
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$63k
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 2025.

Education$3.1MScience & Tech$84k
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k24 grants · $271k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $113k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$5.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY$63,000
FDN AT NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOG$50,000
PASSAIC ACADEMY FOR SCIENCE & ENGINEERIN$15,000
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY$15,000
RIDER UNIVERSITY$15,000
PASSAIC PREPARATORY ACADEMY$15,000
THOMAS EDISON STATE UNIVERSITY$15,000
RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDAT$14,000
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$12,000
GEORGIAN COURT UNIVERSITY$10,000
DREW UNIVERSITY$10,000
NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION IN$10,000
WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY$10,000
MIDDLESEX COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC$10,000
FELICIAN UNIVERSITY$10,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 60% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $12k → 20%COLLEGE OF SAINT ELIZABETH: $10k → 4%RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $15k → 5%SUSSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $15k → 6%MIDDLESEX COUNTY COLLEGE: $15k → 8%ATLANTIC CAPE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $15k → 10%THOMAS EDISON STATE UNIVERSITY: $15k → 11%CAMDEN COUNTY COLLEGE: $15k → 12%PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $30k → 12%INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $12k → 20%RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDAT: $14k → 5%MIDDLESEX COUNTY COLLEGE: $15k → 8%THOMAS EDISON STATE UNIVERSITY: $15k → 11%PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $20k → 12%THOMAS EDISON STATE UNIVERSITY: $15k → 11%PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $20k → 12%PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $15k → 12%PASSAIC PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $15k → 12%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FDN: $60k → 14%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FDN: $15k → 14%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FDN: $15k → 14%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%NJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 16%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $63k → 7%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 16%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $62k → 7%PASSAIC ACADEMY FOR SCIENCE & ENGINEERIN: $15k → 12%NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 16%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $62k → 7%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 16%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $62k → 7%PASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 12%NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 16%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $58k → 7%RIDER UNIVERSITY: $15k → 11%FDN AT NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOG: $50k → 16%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $55k → 7%NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 16%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $55k → 7%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $55k → 7%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $50k → 7%FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: $15k → 7%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.
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.9M · 40 repeat orgs$305k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

40 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

40
13

Total granted

$2.9M
$225k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+31%

Still filing today

60%
15%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time
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

  • NJ
    NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $140k · revenue +151%
  • AC
    ATLANTIC CAPE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATI
    9× · 2017–2025 · $95k · revenue +110%
  • RU
    ROWAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $80k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • FF
    FOUNDATION FOR NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF
    one grant, 2024 · $50k
  • NI
    NJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    one grant, 2017 · $50k
  • SI
    STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECH FBO DARLENE
    one grant, 2022 · $15k
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
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
2
St Francis College

St. francis college is an independent, coeducational institution of higher education chartered by an act of the regents of the university of the state of new york on april 10, 1957.

Education
3
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
4
Roger Williams University

At Roger Williams University, students are prepared to be thinkers and doers ready to solve challenging problems with innovative solutions. RWU offers robust offerings of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across eight…

Education
5
Saint John's University

To foster the vitality of community through learning and the pursuit of wisdom.

—
6
Dickinson College

Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship

Education
7
University of Mount Saint Vincent

Founded by the sisters of charity of new york, the university of mount saint vincent is an academically excellent, authentically inclusive, catholic and ecumenical liberal arts university. (cont. in sch.o)

Education
8
Manhattanville University

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

Education
9
Trustees of Clark University

Clark university's mission is to educate undergraduate and graduate students to be imaginative and contributing citizens of the world, and to advance the frontiers of knowledge and understanding through rigorous scholarship and creative…

Education
10
Molloy University

Molloy university, an independent catholic university, rooted in the dominican tradition of study, spirituality, service, and community, is committed to academic excellence with respect for each person. through transformative education,…

Education
11
Saint Joseph's University

As philadelphia's jesuit catholic university, saint joseph's provides a rigorous, student-centered education rooted in the liberal arts. we prepare students for personal excellence, professional success, and engaged citizenship. striving…

Education
12
St Mary's University

St. marys university, as a catholic marianist university, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Montclair State University Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Ocean County College Foundation. 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 56 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
19/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Fairleigh Dickinson University: $537,000 · EducationFairleigh Dickinson UniversityNEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $140,000 · EducationNEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INCATLANTIC CAPE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATI: $95,000 · EducationRIDER UNIVERSITY: $85,000 · EducationDREW UNIVERSITY: $80,000 · EducationROWAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 · EducationGEORGIAN COURT UNIVERSITY: $70,000 · EducationTHE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF THE STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $70,000 · EducationFELICIAN UNIVERSITY: $70,000 · Education+13 more: $486,500 · Education+13 moreNEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $265,000 · OtherNEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYPASSAIC HIGH SCHOOL: $120,000 · OtherPASSAIC HIGH SCHOOLPASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $115,000 · OtherPASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGESTOCKTON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $70,000 · OtherWILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY OF: $60,000 · OtherSUSSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $55,000 · OtherCAMDEN COUNTY COLLEGE: $55,000 · OtherRARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $55,000 · OtherSETON HALL UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · OtherFOUNDATION FOR NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF: $50,000 · OtherNJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50,000 · OtherBLOOMFIELD COLLEGE OF MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY INC: $50,000 · Other+21 more: $414,000 · Other+21 more
Education$1,783,500Other$1,409,000

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 budgetFairleigh Dickinson University: $537,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $140,000 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetATLANTIC CAPE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATI: $95,000 over 9y, 1.5% of budgetRIDER UNIVERSITY: $85,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetDREW UNIVERSITY: $80,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetROWAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSTOCKTON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetGEORGIAN COURT UNIVERSITY: $70,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $70,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFELICIAN UNIVERSITY: $70,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSETON HALL UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION AT NJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLOOMFIELD COLLEGE OF MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMIDDLESEX COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetCALDWELL UNIVERSITY INC: $47,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSaint Elizabeth University: $45,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHOMAS EDISON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetSAINT PETER'S UNIVERSITY: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRAMAPO COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMONMOUTH UNIVERSITY INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUNION COUNTY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetOCEAN COUNTY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetRaritan Valley Community College Foundation: $24,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetSUSSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetROWAN COLLEGE AT BURLINGTON COUNTY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% 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.

  • Who funds Fairleigh Dickinson University ↗
  • Who funds NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ATLANTIC CAPE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATI ↗
  • Who funds RIDER UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds DREW UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ROWAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds STOCKTON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GEORGIAN COURT UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF THE STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds FELICIAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SETON HALL UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION AT NJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE OF MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds MIDDLESEX COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CALDWELL UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds Saint Elizabeth University ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS EDISON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SAINT PETER'S UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds RAMAPO COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNION COUNTY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN COUNTY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Raritan Valley Community College Foundation ↗

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.

Walter and Louise Sut…E and S Van Houten Me…Community Foundation …Scott Carolyn J Char …The Provident Bank Fo…Pseg Foundation IncBristol-Myers Squibb …Verizon FoundationAmmon Foundation a Nj…Oceanfirst FoundationInvestors Foundation …Independent Colleges …
Walter and Louise Sutcliffe 1990 FdMO34.9× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Walter and Louise Sutcliffe 1990 Fd · E and S Van Houten Memorial Fund · Community Foundation of New Jersey · Scott Carolyn J Char Tua-Main · The Provident Bank Foundation · Pseg Foundation Inc · Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Inc · Verizon Foundation · Ammon Foundation a Nj Nonprofit Corporat · Oceanfirst Foundation · Investors Foundation Inc · Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey a Nj Nonprofit Corporation

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 Sydney Needham Fdn Main funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert Sydney Needham Fdn Main. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • The Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology: 12% of income from government
  • Georgian Court University: 2% of income from government
  • Caldwell University Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University: 1% of income from government
  • Rider University: 1% of income from government
  • Seton Hall University: 0% of income from government
  • Monmouth University Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Drew University: 0% of income from government
  • Ramapo College Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • The College of New Jersey Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Sydney Needham Fdn Main?

Find your warmest path to Robert Sydney Needham Fdn Main 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 56 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 Sydney Needham Fdn Main’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