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Screaming Comet Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Screaming Comet Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$7.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$4.0M
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, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$10MHealth$4.0MArts & Culture$3.4MFood & Nutrition$500kRecreation & Sports$45kHuman Services$25kPhilanthropy$25kSocial Science$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $50k–250k3 grants · $433k
  • $250k+6 grants · $7.0M
$500,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$159M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY$4,000,000
MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL MIAMI$999,663
AMHERST COLLEGE$786,173
THE SHED$500,000
FOOD FOR EDUCATION FOUNDATION$500,000
SPONSORS FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY$250,000
FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$157,950
AMERICAN HISTORY UNBOUND INC$150,000
CODE ORG$125,000
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 (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FOOD FOR EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $500k → 11%AMHERST COLLEGE: $1.0M → 12%USTA FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 9%THE CENTER: $25k → 17%OVARIAN FUND: $3k → 14%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $5k → 14%FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $158k → 11%DOLPHINS CHALLENGE (SYLVESTER COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER): $5k → 15%INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME INCORPORATED: $20k → 7%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $5k → 8%CODE ORG: $125k → 9%AMHERST COLLEGE ALUMNI FOUNDATION: $5k → 4%AMERICAN HISTORY UNBOUND INC: $150k → 12%AMHERST COLLEGE: $786k → 12%ARISE FOUNDATION AMERICA INC: $5k → 17%PETER G PETERSON INSTITUTE FO INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: $25k → 14%SURF CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 15%THE SHED: $500k → 17%MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL MIAMI: $2.0M → 15%THE SHED: $500k → 17%MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL MIAMI: $1.0M → 15%LINCOLN CENTER OF THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $750k → 17%MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL MIAMI: $1000k → 15%ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $4.0M → 17%ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $3.0M → 17%ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $1.0M → 17%THE SHED NYC INC: $500k → 17%ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $50k → 17%THE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION: $15k → 17%SPONSORS FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY: $250k → 17%NYC SUMMER SEARCH GALA: $10k → 17%MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL NEW YORK: $25k → 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

WA
NY
MA
NJ
RI
DE
DC
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$16M · 6 repeat orgs$2.2M to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
17

Total granted

$16M
$983k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-8%
0%

Still filing today

50%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.2M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureRecreation & SportsInternationalSocial ScienceHealthOther
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

  • TR
    THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY
    4× · 2018–2024 · $8.1M · revenue -8%
  • MS
    MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL MIAMI
    3× · 2022–2024 · $4.0M
  • AC
    AMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES
    2× · 2018–2024 · $1.8M · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • LC
    LINCOLN CENTER OF THE PERFORMING ARTS INC
    one grant, 2018 · $750k
  • MS
    MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL NEW YORK
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
  • PG
    PETER G PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +61%
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
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.

—
2
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
3
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
4
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
5
Atlantic University Inc

Provide post-secondary education of excellence.

Education
6
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
7
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
8
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
9
The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

Enhance the ability of actec members to provide the most efficient and highest quality services to their clients; develop qualified trust and estate counselors; improve and reform probate, trust and tax laws, procedures, and standards of…

Community Improvement
10
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
11
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
12
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Usta Foundation Incorporated; the most unlike its peers is Surf Club 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

16 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. 16 of the 28 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/16
Grantees still filing
7/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $8,050,581 · EducationTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITYAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $1,786,173 · EducationAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES+5 more: $707,950 · Education+5 moreMOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL MIAMI: $4,000,000 · OtherMOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL MIAMIVICTOR PINCHUK FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · OtherVICTOR PINCHUK FOUNDATIONLINCOLN CENTER OF THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $750,000 · OtherLINCOLN CENTER OF THE PERFORMING ART…+11 more: $140,500 · OtherSHED NYC INC: $1,500,000 · Arts & CultureSHED NYC …+1 more: $15,000 · Arts & CultureFOOD FOR EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $500,000 · Food & NutritionUSTA FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsINTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME INCORPORATED: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsPETER G PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: $25,000 · Social ScienceSURF CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Education$10,544,704Other$5,890,500Arts & Culture$1,515,000Food & Nutrition$500,000Recreation & Sports$45,000Social Science$25,000Public Safety & Disaster$10,000

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 budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $8,050,581 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $1,786,173 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSHED NYC INC: $1,500,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetFOOD FOR EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $500,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetSPONSORS FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $157,950 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN HISTORY UNBOUND INC: $150,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetCODEORG: $125,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPETER G PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUSTA FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME INCORPORATED: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSURF CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARISE FOUNDATION AMERICA: $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% 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.

National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
National Philanthropic TrustPA9.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Screaming Comet Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Screaming Comet Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Amherst College Trustees: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
4report 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 Screaming Comet Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Screaming Comet 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 28 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Screaming Comet’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