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· Private foundation

Sherman Fairchild Foundation Inc

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.

$48M
Granted FY2024still arriving
88
Grants FY2024still arriving
26
States reached
$10M
Largest
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.

Education$87MArts & Culture$71MScience & Tech$31MRecreation & Sports$21MCrime & Legal$6.4MPublic Safety & Disaster$5.9MHuman Services$5.5MYouth Development$2.1MOther$0
02FY2024 · 88 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k32 grants · $836k
  • $50k–250k37 grants · $3.7M
  • $250k+19 grants · $44M
$80,847
Median grant
26
States reached
$690M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Union Theological Seminary$10,000,000
Northwestern University$7,500,000
The New 42nd Street Inc$5,750,000
Bard College$5,000,000
Worcester Art Museum$5,000,000
Yale Divinity School$2,000,000
Equal Justice Initiative$2,000,000
Corporation of the Fine Arts Museums$1,500,000
The Apollo Theater Foundation Inc$1,000,000
NXTHVN$750,000
The Salvation Army of Greater New York Division$700,000
The Boys' Club of New York Inc$500,000
The Salvation Army Miami$300,000
The Salvation Army National Capital Area Command$300,000
The Salvation Army of Greater Cleveland$300,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $985k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 40% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Its a She Thing Inc: $20k → 20%Homeless Children's Playtime Project: $40k → 14%Fathers Support Center St Louis: $50k → 21%Irwin A and Robert D Goodman Community Ctr Inc: $50k → 10%Pathfinders Milwaukee Inc: $50k → 17%Building One Community Corp: $175k → 9%Homeward: $40k → 7%Shalom Farms: $30k → 9%Thorne Building Community Center Inc: $250k → 9%Homeless Children's Playtime Project: $30k → 14%Family Services Inc: $25k → 8%A Breeze of Hope Foundation: $25k → 10%YMCA of Greater Richmond: $25k → 22%Hetrick-Martin Institute Inc: $25k → 17%Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children: $50k → 17%Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children: $50k → 17%Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children: $50k → 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
VT
NH
WA
ID
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
SD
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
LA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 9% of Sherman Fairchild Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Sherman Fairchild Foundation Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$167M · 92 repeat orgs$51M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +22% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

92 repeat relationships: 37 still active in FY2024, 55 since wound down; 49 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

92
114

Total granted

$167M
$24M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+22%
+17%

Still filing today

79%
81%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 44% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $27M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthInternationalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • CI
    CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    3× · 2020–2022 · $30M · revenue +0%
  • Northwestern University
    4× · 2020–2024 · $18M · revenue +33%
  • MM
    METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
    5× · 2020–2024 · $18M · revenue +119%

Funded once

  • UO
    University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
    one grant, 2022 · $7.5M
  • YU
    Yale University
    one grant, 2021 · $4.0M
  • LC
    LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC
    one grant, 2023 · $3.0M · revenue 0%
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
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
3
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
4
Manhattanville University

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

Education
5
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
6
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
7
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
8
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
9
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
10
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
11
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
12
Manhattan University

Manhattan university is an independent catholic instituion of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. the mission of manhattan university is to provide a contemporary, person-centered…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Museum of Manhattan; the most unlike its peers is Black Star Lacrosse. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

210 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. 210 of the 261 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.

9
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
209/210
Grantees still filing
147/210
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $30,439,136 · EducationCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $10,960,000 · EducationThe Pierpont Morgan LibraryUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $10,900,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIADENISON UNIVERSITY: $10,075,000 · EducationDENISON UNIVERSITYUNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $10,000,000 · EducationUNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARYUniversity of Miami: $5,200,000 · EducationBARD COLLEGE: $5,000,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $5,000,000 · Education+54 more: $12,641,314 · Education+54 moreMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $18,160,000 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF AR…THE NEW 42ND STREET INC: $8,100,000 · Arts & CultureTHE NEW 42ND STREET INCWORCESTER ART MUSEUM: $5,000,000 · Arts & CultureWORCESTER ART MUSEUMAPOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $4,500,000 · Arts & CultureAPOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION…CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $4,500,000 · Arts & CultureCORPORATION OF THE FINE A…LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $3,000,000 · Arts & CultureLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PE…HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $2,500,000 · Arts & CultureTHE PHILLIPS COLLECTION: $2,468,890 · Arts & CultureNXTHVN INC: $2,125,000 · Arts & Culture+27 more: $2,705,847 · Arts & CultureUniversity of North Carolina Chapel Hill: $7,500,000 · OtherUniversity of North C…The Frick Collection: $5,530,000 · OtherThe Frick CollectionUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO: $5,000,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFOR…Yale University: $4,000,000 · OtherYale UniversityThe Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters: $3,500,000 · OtherThe Salvation Army Te…Yale Divinity School: $2,000,000 · OtherThe Salvation Army Greater New York Division: $1,700,000 · Other+86 more: $15,915,336 · Other+86 moreNorthwestern University: $18,204,066 · Recreation & SportsNorthwest…CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $1,500,000 · Recreation & SportsCENTRAL P…+1 more: $75,000 · Recreation & SportsPARTNERSHIP FOR INNER CITY EDUCATION DBA PARTNERSHIP SCHOOLS: $7,375,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $50,000 · PhilanthropyEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $6,250,000 · Civil Rights+1 more: $30,000 · Civil RightsTHE BOYS' CLUB OF NEW YORK: $2,000,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $35,000 · Youth Development
Education$100,215,450Arts & Culture$53,059,737Other$45,145,336Recreation & Sports$19,779,066Philanthropy$7,425,000Civil Rights$6,280,000Youth Development$2,035,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $30,439,136 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetNorthwestern University: $18,204,066 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $18,160,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $10,960,000 over 3y, 42% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $10,900,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDENISON UNIVERSITY: $10,075,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetUNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $10,000,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetTHE NEW 42ND STREET INC: $8,100,000 over 3y, 21% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR INNER CITY EDUCATION DBA PARTNERSHIP SCHOOLS: $7,375,000 over 4y, 20% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $6,250,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetThe Frick Collection: $5,530,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $5,200,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBARD COLLEGE: $5,000,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $5,000,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORCESTER ART MUSEUM: $5,000,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetAPOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $4,500,000 over 4y, 9.3% of budgetCORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $4,500,000 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $3,000,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetHISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $2,500,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetTHE PHILLIPS COLLECTION: $2,468,890 over 5y, 10% of budgetNXTHVN INC: $2,125,000 over 4y, 32% of budgetTHE BOYS' CLUB OF NEW YORK: $2,000,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $1,500,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCAL RIPKEN SR FOUNDATION INC: $1,055,000 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $790,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBUFFALO STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $790,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetKNOX COLLEGE: $500,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $500,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSKIDMORE COLLEGE: $494,240 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE: $489,736 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLAFAYETTE COLLEGE: $442,418 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $437,082 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COOPER UNION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE & ART: $421,227 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBELOIT COLLEGE: $406,756 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCORPORATION OF HAVERFORD COLLEGE: $392,902 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE: $389,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATED: $325,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetNEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $322,945 over 3y, 8.9% of budgetLA CASA NORTE: $301,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetWhittier College: $288,342 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPORTLAND ART MUSEUM: $280,847 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetWILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY: $250,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY FOUNDATION INC: $247,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetMOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $247,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAgnes Scott College: $247,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES: $247,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetOCCIDENTAL COLLEGE: $247,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJUNIATA COLLEGE: $246,500 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds The Pierpont Morgan Library ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds DENISON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY ↗
  • Who funds THE NEW 42ND STREET INC ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERSHIP FOR INNER CITY EDUCATION DBA PARTNERSHIP SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds The Frick Collection ↗
  • Who funds University of Miami ↗
  • Who funds BARD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds WORCESTER ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds APOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION ↗
  • Who funds NXTHVN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE BOYS' CLUB OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds CAL RIPKEN SR FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ↗
  • Who funds BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds KNOX COLLEGE ↗

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.

Greater Washington Community FoundationDC23.8× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Washington Community Foundation · The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation · Herndon Foundation · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · The Shubert Foundation Inc · Robins Foundation · The Ford Foundation · The Community Foundation Inc · The Annenberg Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Estes Foundation Co Matthew Breidenbach Pitcairn · The Goldman Sachs 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 Sherman Fairchild Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sherman Fairchild Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Casa Familia Inc: 53% of income from government
  • World Learning Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Upper Valley Haven: 38% of income from government
  • University of Delaware: 30% of income from government
  • Cal Ripken Sr Foundation Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Shelburne Museum Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art: 5% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • Round House Theatre Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Trustees of Clark University: 2% of income from government
  • Lewis & Clark College: 2% of income from government
  • Miami Music Project Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Willamette University: 1% of income from government
  • University of Portland: 1% of income from government
  • Wesleyan University: 1% of income from government
  • Simmons University: 1% of income from government
  • Portland Art Museum: 1% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Mount Holyoke College: 1% of income from government
  • Worcester Art Museum: 1% of income from government
  • Nxthvn Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Goucher College: 0% of income from government
  • Rollins College: 0% of income from government
  • The College of New Jersey Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
52report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Sherman Fairchild Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Sherman Fairchild 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 261 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

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