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Saul & Devorah Sherman Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Saul & Devorah Sherman Fund

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.

$94k
Granted FY2025still arriving
19
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Civil Rights$136kEducation$120kInternational$78kHealth$66kArts & Culture$50kHuman Services$36kPhilanthropy$33kReligion$32kOther$0
02FY2025 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $54k
$2,500
Median grant
6
States reached
$247k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEAR NORTH MONTESSORI$18,129
THE TREVOR PROJECT$18,000
HOPEWELL FUND$18,000
SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$9,885
MT WASHINGTON PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL$7,255
COALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RTS$5,000
LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER$5,000
FRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH$2,860
NOURISHING HOPE$2,625
MAGEN DAVID ADOM$2,500
MISHKAN CHICAGO$1,258
Individual grant recipient$1,125
JOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION$500
BROADWAY CARES$500
THE CARTER BURDEN NETWORK$500
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 (FY17–24, $44k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 66% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1k → 10%GIFT OF LIFE FOUNDATION: $2k → 6%HEARING LOSS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $100 → 8%HEARING LOSS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $100 → 8%MAKE-A-WISH GREATER BAY AREA: $3k → 10%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $3k → 16%FREEDOM NETWORK USA: $1k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $6k → 7%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $5k → 7%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $3k → 7%BRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE: $1k → 14%BRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE: $1k → 14%THE HONEYCOMB PROJECT: $190 → 14%THE HONEYCOMB PROJECT: $190 → 14%HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE: $3k → 17%HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE: $2k → 17%HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE: $1k → 17%HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE: $50 → 17%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $10k → 17%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $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

IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
CT
CA
VA
MD
AZ
NM
DC
HI
OK
AL
GA
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$577k · 59 repeat orgs$144k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

59 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 51 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

59
96

Total granted

$577k
$122k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+8%

Still filing today

78%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesInternationalEducationCivil RightsEnvironmentOther
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

  • NN
    NEAR NORTH MONTESSORI SCHOOL
    6× · 2017–2025 · $73k · revenue +34%
  • AL
    ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
    6× · 2018–2024 · $70k · revenue +80%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $30k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
  • MA
    MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $7k
  • NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -41%
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
City Report Inc

CITY REPORT, INC. serves the people of New York through independent journalism that answers their information needs and holds the powerful to account.

Arts & Culture
2
Metropolitan Jewish Health System Inc

Mjhs health system is a charitable not-for-profit established to support the activities of affiliated organizations. mjhs is built on the core values of compassion, dignity and respect, first established by the four brooklyn ladies in…

Health
3
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
4
Allosource

Inspired by the gift of donation from our communities, allosource responsibly provides innovative cellular and tissue allografts to advance patient healing.

Health
5
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
6
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.

—
7
Health Care Without Harm

The mission of health care without harm (hcwh) is to transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a community anchor for sustainability and a leader in the global movement for environmental health…

Environment
8
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
9
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
10
Pro Publica Inc

Pro publica is an independent, non-profit, pulitzer prize-winning newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. our work focuses exclusively on truly important stories. [see continuation on schedule o] we produce…

Arts & Culture
11
Jewish Family and Children's Service of Minneapolis

Jewish family and children's service of minneapolis provides essential services to people of all ages and backgrounds to sustain healthy relationships, ease suffering and offer support in times of need.

Human Services
12
Center for Arms Control and

A nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to enhancing international peace and security in the 21st century, thereby retaining its focus on nuclear weapons but expanding to include other present emerging security threats.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Partnership With Children Inc; the most unlike its peers is Gift of Life Foundation 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

123 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. 123 of the 169 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)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
119/123
Grantees still filing
74/123
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $28,161 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMISHKAN CHICAGO: $24,688 · OtherMISHKAN CHICAGOBROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC: $15,500 · OtherSAG HARBOR UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRI: $13,709 · OtherHOPEWELL FUND: $18,000 · OtherHOPEWELL FUNDDestiny Arts Center: $15,000 · Other+112 more: $219,000 · Other+112 moreANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $70,210 · Civil RightsANTI-DEFAMATION LE…TREVOR PROJECT INC: $28,000 · Civil RightsTREVOR PROJECT INCNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $8,500 · Civil RightsNAACP LEGAL DEFENS…COALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: $5,000 · Civil Rights+5 more: $7,500 · Civil Rights+5 moreNEAR NORTH MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $72,629 · EducationNEAR NORTH MONT…DONORSCHOOSEORG: $21,533 · EducationDONORSCHOOSEORG+8 more: $8,480 · Education+8 moreSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $30,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN …THE POSSIBILITY PROJECT INC: $20,105 · Crime & LegalTHE POSSI…THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $7,000 · Crime & LegalTHE LEGAL…LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER: $5,000 · Crime & LegalLAWNDALE …+2 more: $1,518 · Crime & LegalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $13,001 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $11,999 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $6,046 · InternationalFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $5,000 · InternationalAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $5,000 · International+6 more: $3,200 · InternationalTHE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $24,500 · Human ServicesHARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE INC: $5,550 · Human ServicesMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF GREATER BAY AREA: $3,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,500 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesBRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE: $2,000 · Human ServicesGIFT OF LIFE FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 · Human Services+4 more: $2,658 · Human ServicesTHE SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $12,385 · HealthPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $9,500 · HealthMt Washington Pediatric Hospital Inc: $7,255 · HealthCenter for Therapeutic Riding of the East End Inc: $4,880 · Health
Other$334,058Civil Rights$119,210Education$102,642Crime & Legal$63,623International$44,246Human Services$44,208Health$34,020

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 budgetNEAR NORTH MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $72,629 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $70,210 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $28,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $24,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $21,533 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE POSSIBILITY PROJECT INC: $20,105 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC: $15,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDestiny Arts Center: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $13,001 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $12,385 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $11,999 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHAMPTONS COMMUNITY OUTREACH INC: $10,309 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $8,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMt Washington Pediatric Hospital Inc: $7,255 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $6,966 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $6,046 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE INC: $5,550 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $5,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budget350ORG: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $5,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICA GIVES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCenter for Therapeutic Riding of the East End Inc: $4,880 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS CHICAGO: $4,750 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $4,135 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOACHING CORPS: $4,060 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $3,125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAVENDER YOUTH RECREATION & INFORMATION CENTER INC LYRIC: $3,090 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSYLVESTER MANOR EDUCATIONAL FARM INC: $3,015 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF GREATER BAY AREA: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF THE HAMPTONS LTD: $2,768 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLONGHOUSE RESERVE: $2,560 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRECIOUS BLOOD MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION NFP: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPATH HOME: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…The Goldman Sachs Cha…Polk Bros Foundation …Jewish Communal FundField Foundation of I…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Circle of Service Fou…David B Kriser Founda…Jewish Federation of …The Riggio FoundationChicago Foundation fo…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL26.6× affinity13 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · Field Foundation of Illinois · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Circle of Service Foundation · David B Kriser Foundation Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · The Riggio Foundation · Chicago Foundation for Women

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 Saul & Devorah Sherman Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Saul & Devorah Sherman Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Oregon Community Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • Clearwater Marine Aquarium Inc: 1% of income from government
  • World Forestry Center: 0% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
  • Mt Washington Pediatric Hospital Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
33report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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.

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 169 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 Saul & Devorah Sherman’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