Skip to content
Spunk Fund Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Spunk Fund Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$665k
Granted FY2024still arriving
14
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$200k
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 2024.

Arts & Culture$2.3MEducation$1.2MHealth$1.1MInternational$309kCivil Rights$230kScience & Tech$190kYouth Development$159kPhilanthropy$61kOther$0
02FY2024 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $159k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $494k
$35,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAFE SPACE PICTURES FOUNDATION$200,000
MINORS INC$109,000
TISCH MS RESEARCH CENTER OF NEW YORK INC$75,000
THE EPIDAVROS PROJECT INC$60,000
HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY$50,000
APOPO US INC$39,657
BALLET TECH FOUNDATION INC$35,000
PEACE PLAYERS INTERNATIONAL$34,000
SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET INC$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH - SEWANEE$13,200
UGLY DUCKLING PRESSE LTD$12,500
THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY$6,000
COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS$4,000
PHILANTHROPY NEW YORK$2,000
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.

US giving: 89% of grant dollars ($5.0M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 11% that went abroad ($615k) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY22–24, $90k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GRAHAM WINDHAM: $50k → 20%APOPO US INC: $40k → 14%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

MN
NY
MA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
TN
DC
HI
TX
FL

Beyond the US: 11% of all-years giving ($615k)

2 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
Belgium$475k · 5 grants
United Kingdom$140k · 2 grants
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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
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 19% of Spunk Fund Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 42% of the giving stays in NY; by stated purpose, 29%.

Spunk Fund Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 20% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.5M · 26 repeat orgs$909k to everyone else

26 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
16

Total granted

$4.5M
$857k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+36%

Still filing today

73%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $52k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentHealthOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION
    5× · 2018–2022 · $400k · revenue +87%
  • BT
    BALLET TECH FOUNDATION INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $245k · revenue +65%
  • DE
    DOCUMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $180k · revenue +34%

Funded once

  • JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $250k · revenue +51%
  • SF
    SharedImpact Foundation
    one grant, 2017 · $70k
  • WNET
    one grant, 2018 · $55k · revenue -15%
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
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
2
Manhattanville University

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

Education
3
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
4
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
5
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
6
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
7
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
8
Ie New York College

(see schedule o)

Education
9
The New School

The new school's mission is to prepare our students to understand, contribute to, and succeed in a rapidly changing society, and thus make the world a better and more just place. (continued on schedule o)

Education
10
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…

—
11
The Graduate Center Foundation Inc

The graduate center foundation is committed to promoting and safe-guarding the success of the graduate center by raising funds and managing and investing donations for use by the graduate center. the board of trustees of the foundation…

—
12
The Paris Review Foundation Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster the development of creative individuals as writers and artists and to promote public appreciation of excellence in the literary and graphic arts by publishing a magazine containing fiction,…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Documentary Educational Resources Inc; the most unlike its peers is Liberty Science Center. 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

33 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. 33 of the 45 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/33
Grantees still filing
19/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MINORS INC: $595,000 · OtherMINORS INCJACOB BURNS FILM CENTER INC: $475,000 · OtherJACOB BURNS FILM CENTER INCHOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY: $360,000 · OtherHOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERYJOHN HOPKINS: $160,000 · OtherJOHN HOPKINSKING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION UNITED STATES: $140,000 · OtherKING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION UNITED STATESGO TO COLLEGE NYC INC: $90,000 · Other+10 more: $341,000 · Other+10 moreThe Epidavros Project Inc: $617,950 · Arts & CultureThe Epidavros Project IncSAFE SPACE PICTURES FOUNDATION: $285,000 · Arts & CultureSAFE SPACE PICTURES FOUNDATIONBALLET TECH FOUNDATION INC: $245,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET TECH FOUNDATION INCDOCUMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INC: $180,000 · Arts & CultureDOCUMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INCLIBERTY SCIENCE CENTER: $150,000 · Arts & CultureLIBERTY SCIENCE CENTERFive Myles Inc: $66,000 · Arts & Culture+8 more: $302,500 · Arts & Culture+8 moreUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $400,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINN…JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $250,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIV…UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $138,000 · EducationUC SAN DIEGO FOUND…SCRIPTED INC DBA CODE NATION: $50,000 · EducationSCRIPTED INC DBA C…UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $32,000 · Education+2 more: $28,000 · EducationTISCH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS RESEARCH CENTER OF NEW YORK INC: $285,000 · HealthPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $200,000 · PhilanthropyCouncil on Foundations Inc: $34,600 · Philanthropy+2 more: $11,750 · PhilanthropyGRAHAM WINDHAM: $50,000 · Human ServicesAPOPO US INC: $39,657 · Human ServicesPEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL: $84,000 · Youth Development
Other$2,161,000Arts & Culture$1,846,450Education$898,000Health$285,000Philanthropy$246,350Human Services$89,657Youth Development$84,000

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 Epidavros Project Inc: $617,950 over 7y, 97% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSAFE SPACE PICTURES FOUNDATION: $285,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetTISCH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS RESEARCH CENTER OF NEW YORK INC: $285,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET TECH FOUNDATION INC: $245,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDOCUMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INC: $180,000 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetLIBERTY SCIENCE CENTER: $150,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $138,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGO TO COLLEGE NYC INC: $90,000 over 2y, 40% of budgetPEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL: $84,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetFive Myles Inc: $66,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetGRAHAM WINDHAM: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUTH COMMUNICATION NY CENTER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetANGKOR DANCE TROUPE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetSCRIPTED INC DBA CODE NATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAPOPO US INC: $39,657 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetTheater Labrador Inc dba New Georges: $35,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetCouncil on Foundations Inc: $34,600 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $32,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCULTUREHUB INC: $30,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetCITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR CHILDREN OF NEW YORK INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $18,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPHILANTHROPY NEW YORK INC: $14,800 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUGLY DUCKLING PRESSE LTD: $12,500 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetDE LA SALLE ACADEMY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCANDID: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGRANTMAKERS CONCERNED WITH IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES: $5,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH ON SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DEPRESSION: $2,000 over 2y, 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.

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.

Jewish Communal FundThe Ford FoundationThe Goldman Sachs Cha…American Express Foun…The Pfizer Foundation…Silicon Valley Commun…National Philanthropi…Network for GoodJpmorgan Chase Founda…Vanguard Charitable E…The Bank of America C…American Endowment Fo…
Jewish Communal FundNY14.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · The Ford Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · American Express Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Network for Good · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment 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 Spunk Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Spunk Fund Inc. 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%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Liberty Science Center: 14% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Angkor Dance Troupe Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Documentary Educational Resources Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Spunk Fund Inc?

Find your warmest path to Spunk Fund 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 45 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 Spunk’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