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Sesame Workshop at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Sesame Workshop

SESAME WORKSHOP's mission is to help kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder.

$8.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$2.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

International$72MEducation$14MHealth$3.7MArts & Culture$570kPublic Benefit$320kHuman Services$10kPhilanthropy$10k
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 4 grants below total $3,204,724, the rows itemized in this filing. The $8,774,556 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $5,569,832 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
  • $250k+2 grants · $3.2M
$1,017,800
Median grant
2
States reached
$585M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY$2,146,924
SESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC$1,017,800
CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP$30,000
CONCORDIA SUMMIT INC$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 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Museum of the Moving Image: $10k → 13%Concordia Summit Inc: $20k → 17%John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts: $18k → 14%CONCORDIA SUMMIT INC: $10k → 17%CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: $44k → 14%CONCORDIA SUMMIT INC: $10k → 17%CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: $40k → 14%CONCORDIA SUMMIT INC: $10k → 17%Center for US Global Leadership: $37k → 14%Bob Woodruff Foundation: $10k → 17%CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: $37k → 14%CONCORDIA SUMMIT INC: $10k → 17%Center for US Global Leadership: $36k → 14%CONCORDIA SUMMIT INC: $10k → 17%Center for US Global Leadership: $36k → 14%CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: $30k → 14%Center for US Global Leadership: $30k → 14%US Fund for UNICEF: $10k → 17%CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: $30k → 14%UNICEF: $10k → 17%US Fund for UNICEF: $10k → 17%US Fund for UNICEF - The UNICEF Snowflake Ball: $10k → 17%New York Cares - 2018 Sponsorship: $10k → 17%Asia Society - Asia Game Changer Awards: $10k → 17%SESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC: $2.0M → 17%SESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC: $1.8M → 17%SESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC: $1.7M → 17%New York University: $2.6M → 17%SESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC: $1.5M → 17%NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: $2.1M → 17%SESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC: $1.0M → 17%New York University: $1.2M → 17%Sesame Workshop International Inc: $525k → 17%new york university: $165k → 17%Sesame Workshop International: $1.0M → 17%WNET - THIRTEEn: $171k → 17%WNET - THIRTEEN: $150k → 17%WNET - THIRTEEN: $127k → 17%The Church of St Paul The Apostle: $11k → 17%NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: $4.2M → 17%NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: $3.9M → 17%NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: $3.1M → 17%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $16.9M → 17%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $16.5M → 17%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $11.8M → 17%International Rescue Committee: $8.6M → 17%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $4.6M → 17%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $3.7M → 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.

Grants abroad, by region: $5.6M on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 3 regions. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

South Asia$4.6M · 82% · 5 grants

Stated purpose: PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION · GENERAL SUPPLEMENT

Middle East and North Africa$899k · 16% · 3 grants

Stated purpose: GENERAL SUPPLEMENT

South America$115k · 2% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: GENERAL SUPPLEMENT

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$90M · 10 repeat orgs$101k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +76% since the first grant, against +43% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
10

Total granted

$90M
$101k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+76%
+43%

Still filing today

90%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
InternationalEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyPublic BenefitHealthOther
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

  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INC
    6× · 2018–2023 · $62M · revenue +80%
  • NY
    New York University
    7× · 2018–2025 · $17M · revenue +59%
  • SW
    SESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $9.6M · revenue +120% · 100% of their budget

Funded once

  • TW
    THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • NY
    NEW YORK CARES INC
    one grant, 2018 · $10k · revenue -19%
  • BW
    BOB WOODRUFF FAMILY FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +236%
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
Berggruen Institute
Education
2
Council On Foreign Relations Inc

The council on foreign relations (cfr) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and…

International
3
Institute for State Effectiveness

The institute for state effectiveness seeks to close the governance gap and advance inclusive growth so that states and markets deliver to citizens. ise advances practical approaches to strengthen capacity for transformation, through…

International
4
New York Hall of Science

Nysci's mission is to nurture generations of passionate learners, critical thinkers, and active citizens through design make play - an approach to learning and engagement that is deeply rooted in research on stem learning and guides the…

Arts & Culture
5
The Paley Center for Media

Description of organization mission: the paley center for media is the premier institution dedicated to advancing the understanding of media-it's artistic value, social impact and historical importance-for the public and media…

Arts & Culture
6
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
7
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.": - count it: our work is…

International
8
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
9
Nuclear Threat Initiative Inc

Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing nuclear, biological, and emerging technology threats imperiling humanity. NTI works to transform global security by developing and advancing…

International
10
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The metropolitan museum of art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.

Arts & Culture
11
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
12
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New York Cares Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee 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

15 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. 15 of the 20 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
12/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

International Rescue Committee INC: $62,086,383 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INC+3 more: $120,000 · InternationalNew York University: $17,271,005 · EducationNew York UniversitySESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC: $9,568,344 · EducationSESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC+2 more: $33,800 · EducationWNET: $447,899 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE: $21,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $14,258 · Arts & CultureCenter for US Global Leadership: $320,000 · Public BenefitTHE WALL STREET JOURNAL: $24,800 · OtherNew York Women in Communication: $18,500 · OtherSmithsonian Media Group-American Ingenuity Award: $10,000 · OtherFree Art for Abused Children: $7,921 · OtherSugar Hill Children Museum: $7,571 · OtherNEW YORK CARES INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyBOB WOODRUFF FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Health
International$62,206,383Education$26,873,149Arts & Culture$483,157Public Benefit$320,000Other$68,792Philanthropy$10,000Health$10,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $62,086,383 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetNew York University: $17,271,005 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSESAME WORKSHOP INTERNATIONAL INC: $9,568,344 over 7y, 100% of budgetWNET: $447,899 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCenter for US Global Leadership: $320,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetCONCORDIA SUMMIT INC: $70,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA FOUNDATION: $27,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE: $21,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNEW YORK CARES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOB WOODRUFF FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ASIA SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCreative Arts Workshops for Kids Inc: $8,258 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHome for Contemporary Theatre and Art Ltd dba HERE Art Center: $6,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA7.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

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

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 20 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 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 Sesame Workshop’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