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Sonder Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sonder Foundation

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.

$83k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$43k
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$349kArts & Culture$231kHuman Services$81kInternational$70kCrime & Legal$32kPhilanthropy$28kHealth$16kHousing & Shelter$13kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$43,100
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA INC$43,100
TEACH FOR AMERICA INC$40,000
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 (FY17–23, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%YWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $5k → 14%YWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $3k → 14%CENTER FOR INDEPENDENCE OF THE DISABLED IN NEW YOR: $500 → 17%TIDES CENTER: $1k → 17%TIDES CENTER: $1k → 17%TIDES CENTER: $792 → 17%TIDES CENTER: $500 → 17%HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $1k → 16%YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF MONTCLAIR: $1k → 16%HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $1k → 16%HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $1k → 16%HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $1k → 16%SUCCEED 2GETHER INC: $250 → 16%HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $250 → 16%SUCCEED 2GETHER INC: $250 → 16%SUCCEED 2GETHER INC: $250 → 16%SUCCEED 2GETHER INC: $250 → 16%HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $250 → 16%SUCCEED 2GETHER INC: $250 → 16%SUCCEED 2GETHER INC: $250 → 16%SUCCEED 2GETHER INC: $250 → 16%HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $250 → 16%YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF MONTCLAIR: $43 → 16%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
IL
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CT
CA
MD
SC
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$780k · 38 repeat orgs$59k to everyone else

38 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 36 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

38
12

Total granted

$780k
$59k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+98%

Still filing today

79%
83%

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
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesCrime & LegalInternationalPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BP
    BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $95k · revenue +50%
  • MC
    MONTCLAIR CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC
    7× · 2017–2023 · $70k · revenue +17%
  • MF
    MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC
    7× · 2017–2023 · $69k · revenue +124%

Funded once

  • GP
    GATES PHILANTHROPY PARTNERSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +33%
  • THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCHgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +250%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +98%
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
Manhattanville University

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

Education
2
Public Media Nj Inc

To bring quality public television programs and resources to communities throughout new jersey and its tri-state neighbors. its content, both on-air and online, aims to reflect the diverse

Arts & Culture
3
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
4
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
5
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
6
Museum of American Finance

Finance impacts everyone. as a socially relevant organization, the museum of american finance seeks to improve understanding of the influence of financial institutions and capital markets on the u.s. and global economies, and on…

—
7
The German Marshall Fund of the United States

The german marshall fund of the united states (gmf) strives to champion democratic values and the transatlantic alliance by strengthening civil society, forging bold and innovative policy ideas, and developing a new generation of leaders…

International
8
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
9
The Morris Museum Inc

Vision: the morris museum is the region's premier engine of curiosity and wonderment. mission: the morris museum enriches lives with exemplary exhibitions and performances of art, design, and science. see statement attached on schedule o.

Arts & Culture
10
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
11
Morristown-Beard School

Morristown beard school is an educational college preparatory school in grades 6 to 12 located in morristown, new jersey.

Education
12
Mitchell College

Mitchell college educates students through a highly individualized educational approach that brings forward each student's potential, reveals their strengths, and fosters personal growth.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Montclair Child Development Center Inc; the most unlike its peers is Berkeley Law 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

42 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. 42 of the 52 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/42
Grantees still filing
35/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Teach for America Inc: $125,000 · EducationTeach for America IncMONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $68,500 · EducationMONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION…RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $30,000 · EducationRUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDA…WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $18,000 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INCIMANI Inc: $13,065 · EducationHER JUSTICE INC: $12,250 · EducationSHARRON MILLER'S ACADEMY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $11,250 · Education+3 more: $7,550 · EducationBLACK PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $95,200 · Arts & CultureBLACK PUBLIC MEDIA INCTHE NEWARK MUSEUM ASSOCIATION: $50,000 · Arts & CultureTHE NEWARK MUSEUM ASSOCIATIONTHE MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUMGROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureGROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE INCMONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL INC: $12,000 · Arts & CultureMONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL INC+3 more: $5,800 · Arts & CultureMONTCLAIR CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $70,000 · OtherMONTCLAIR CHILD DEVELOPMEN…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC - DOCTORS WITHOUT: $54,500 · OtherMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES U…Yale Law School Yale Law School Fund: $17,000 · OtherYale Law School Yale Law S…HARVARD COLLEGE: $10,000 · OtherMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $10,000 · Other+15 more: $39,959 · Other+15 moreMONTCLAIR SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $33,250 · PhilanthropyGATES PHILANTHROPY PARTNERS: $25,000 · PhilanthropyMONTCLAIR AMBULANCE UNIT: $11,050 · HealthTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $10,050 · HealthPARTNERS FOR WOMEN AND JUSTICE INC: $13,250 · Crime & LegalBERKELEY LAW FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Crime & LegalJUVENILE LAW CENTER: $1,000 · Crime & LegalYWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $7,500 · Human ServicesHUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $4,750 · Human ServicesTIDES CENTER: $3,292 · Human ServicesSUCCEED2GETHER INC: $1,750 · Human ServicesYMCA of Montclair NEW JERSEY: $1,043 · Human Services+1 more: $500 · Human Services
Education$305,615Arts & Culture$223,000Other$201,459Philanthropy$58,250Health$21,100Crime & Legal$19,250Human Services$18,835

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 budgetTeach for America Inc: $125,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBLACK PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $95,200 over 8y, 1.6% of budgetMONTCLAIR CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $70,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $68,500 over 7y, 13% of budgetTHE NEWARK MUSEUM ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM: $40,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetMONTCLAIR SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $33,250 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetRUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGATES PHILANTHROPY PARTNERS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $18,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS FOR WOMEN AND JUSTICE INC: $13,250 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetIMANI Inc: $13,065 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetHER JUSTICE INC: $12,250 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL INC: $12,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetSHARRON MILLER'S ACADEMY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $11,250 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetMONTCLAIR AMBULANCE UNIT: $11,050 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $10,050 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMONTCLAIR SHARED HOUSING ASSOCIATION INC: $5,250 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetBERKELEY LAW FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTCLAIR EMERGENCY SERVICES FOR HOPE INC: $4,750 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetHUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC: $4,750 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF YOGI INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTIDES CENTER: $3,292 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCASA MARIANELLA INC: $3,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $2,609 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWATER MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSUCCEED2GETHER INC: $1,750 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWEST TISBURY LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $1,550 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetYMCA of Montclair NEW JERSEY: $1,043 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJUVENILE LAW CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF ANDERSON PARK: $900 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetMONTCLAIR HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $800 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMONTCLAIR AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetCENTER FOR INDEPENDENCE OF THE DISABLED IN NEW YORK INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% 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 Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NEWARK MUSEUM ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR SCHOLARSHIP FUND ↗
  • Who funds RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GATES PHILANTHROPY PARTNERS ↗
  • Who funds GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERS FOR WOMEN AND JUSTICE INC ↗
  • Who funds IMANI Inc ↗
  • Who funds HER JUSTICE INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds SHARRON MILLER'S ACADEMY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR AMBULANCE UNIT ↗
  • Who funds THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds YWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR SHARED HOUSING ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BERKELEY LAW FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds MONTCLAIR EMERGENCY SERVICES FOR HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF YOGI INC ↗
  • Who funds TIDES CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CASA MARIANELLA INC ↗
  • Who funds Save The Children Federation Inc ↗
  • Who funds WATER MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds HARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds SUCCEED2GETHER INC ↗

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.

Investors Foundation …Partners for Health I…Community Foundation …The Silver Family Fou…The Hyde and Watson F…Princeton Area Commun…Montclair Foundation …Susan V Bershad Chari…The Whitehill Foundat…JOHN J & ROSE CALI FA…The Lazard Charitable…Falcon Foundation Inc
Investors Foundation IncNJ26.9× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Investors Foundation Inc · Partners for Health Inc · Community Foundation of New Jersey · The Silver Family Foundation Inc · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Princeton Area Community Foundation Inc · Montclair Foundation Inc · Susan V Bershad Charitable Fund Inc · The Whitehill Foundation a New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation · JOHN J & ROSE CALI FAMILY FOUNDATION co CALI FUTURES · The Lazard Charitable Foundation · Falcon Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 110%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Montclair Child Development Center Inc: 70% of income from government
  • Montclair Historical Society: 67% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Partners for Women and Justice Inc: 26% of income from government
  • The Montclair Art Museum: 11% of income from government
  • Sharron Miller's Academy for the Performing Arts Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Montclair Film Festival Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Grounds for Sculpture Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Montclair Ambulance Unit: 0% of income from government
  • Rutgers University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
11get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Sonder Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Sonder 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 52 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 Sonder’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