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Sydney and Elizabeth Ross Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sydney and Elizabeth Ross Family 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.

$230k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$70k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$667kEnvironment$276kArts & Culture$146kHealth$102kReligion$92kHuman Services$48kInternational$20kFood & Nutrition$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $40k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $175k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MICHIGAN MEN'S HEALTH FOUNDATION$69,947
TEMPLE EMANU-EL$54,576
COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES$50,000
DETROIT FOOD ACADEMY$20,000
TUNNELS TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$10,000
LUBAVITCH FOUNDATION$10,000
PAYNE-PULLIAM SCHOOL OF TRADE & COMMERCE$5,000
YESHIVAS OHR V DAAS$5,000
THE MIRASOL FOUNDATION$5,000
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 (FY18–23, $48k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%THE GREAT DECORATE: $19k → 8%THE GREAT DECORATE: $10k → 8%THE GREAT DECORATE: $10k → 8%THE GREAT DECORATE: $1k → 8%YATOOMA'S FOUNDATION FOR THE KIDS: $8k → 8%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.
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 8 repeat orgs$233k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +7% since the first grant, against -51% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
7

Total granted

$1.1M
$68k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+7%
-51%

Still filing today

50%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 28% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $165k 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
EducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyArts & CultureHealthReligionOther
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 Miami
    2× · 2017–2018 · $400k · revenue +96%
  • TG
    THE GARDEN PARTY ROSS
    3× · 2020–2022 · $276k · revenue +1% · 100% of their budget
  • COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES
    2× · 2024–2025 · $100k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE CHARITY INC
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue -64%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue -51%
  • YF
    YATOOMA'S FOUNDATION FOR THE KIDS INC
    one grant, 2018 · $8k · revenue -34%
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
Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Mcad provides a transformative education within a community of support for creative students of all backgrounds to work, collaborate, and lead with confidence in a dynamic, interconnected world.

Education
2
Marian Friedman Greenblatt Education Fund Inc
—
3
Massimo and Chiara Ferragamo Family Foundation Inc
Philanthropy
4
International Academy of Fine Art

The florence acadamy of art was founed in 1991 by daniel graves (see schedule o for details).

International
5
New York Academy of Art

The new york academy of art is a unique graduate school that combines intensive technical training in the fine arts with active critical discourse. we believe that rigorously trained artists are best able to realize their artistic vision.…

—
6
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Inc

The milwaukee institute of art and design's mission is to ignite curious minds through art, design and service. we value courage to seek our own path, integrity to pursue our lives and work with meaning, kindness to thoughtfully engage…

—
7
University of Miami
—
8
Yeshiva University

The university is composed of several colleges and schools providing undergraduate, graduate, professional and post-doctoral education and training and research and clinical programs.

Education
9
The Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation
Philanthropy
10
New York Studio School

The new york studio school is committed to giving a significant education to the aspiring artist, a preamble to a lifetime's engagement in drawing, painting, and sculpture. (see schedule o for continuation)

—
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
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Detroit Food & Entrepreneurship Academy; the most unlike its peers is University of Miami. 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

14 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. 14 of the 21 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/14
Grantees still filing
8/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE GARDEN PARTY ROSS: $276,000 · OtherTHE GARDEN PARTY ROSSMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $137,000 · OtherMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITYKRAVIS CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS: $100,000 · OtherKRAVIS CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTSTEMPLE EMANU-EL: $54,576 · OtherTEMPLE EMANU-ELLUBAVITCH FOUNDATION: $45,000 · OtherLUBAVITCH FOUNDATION+3 more: $15,000 · OtherUniversity of Miami: $400,000 · EducationUniversity of MiamiCOLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES: $100,000 · EducationCOLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIESDETROIT FOOD & ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACADEMY: $20,000 · Education+2 more: $15,000 · EducationMICHIGAN MEN'S HEALTH FOUNDATION: $69,947 · HealthTHE GREAT DECORATE: $40,000 · Human ServicesYATOOMA'S FOUNDATION FOR THE KIDS INC: $7,500 · Human ServicesYESHIVAS OHR V'DAAS: $37,800 · ReligionCHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE CHARITY INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTHE MIRASOL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $20,000 · InternationalPRESERVATION BLOOMFIELD: $500 · Arts & Culture
Other$627,576Education$535,000Health$69,947Human Services$47,500Religion$37,800Philanthropy$30,000International$20,000Arts & Culture$500

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 budgetUniversity of Miami: $400,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARDEN PARTY ROSS: $276,000 over 3y, 100% of budgetCOLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GREAT DECORATE: $40,000 over 4y, 29% of budgetYESHIVAS OHR V'DAAS: $37,800 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE CHARITY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYATOOMA'S FOUNDATION FOR THE KIDS INC: $7,500 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetTHE MIRASOL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPRESERVATION BLOOMFIELD: $500 over 1y, 1.4% 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.

Charities Aid Foundat…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Charities Aid Foundation AmericaVA8.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charities Aid Foundation America · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Sydney and Elizabeth Ross Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sydney and Elizabeth Ross Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 21 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

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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