· Private foundation
The Beker Foundation
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.
What you funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2020–2024.
Where the money goes
Your grants by size, and where they go.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k69 grants · $224k
- $10k–50k58 grants · $986k
- $50k–250k14 grants · $1.2M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| COMBINED JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES | $150,000 |
| CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE BOSTON | $135,000 |
| PRIZMAH | $113,500 |
| KESHET | $98,000 |
| BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY | $89,500 |
| SOLOMON SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL | $85,090 |
| BRIGHAM & WOMENS HOSPITAL | $85,000 |
| MOISHE HOUSE | $75,000 |
| METROWEST JEWISH DAY SCHOOL | $68,828 |
| GANN ACADEMY | $56,960 |
| SHALEM FOUNDATION | $50,000 |
| GRUBSTREET | $50,000 |
| JEWISH STUDIO PROJECT | $50,000 |
| LEHRHAUS CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE AND LEARNING | $50,000 |
| JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES | $42,850 |
Do your dollars go where the need is?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.
Your human-services grants (FY20–24, $438k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 59% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.
Which US states your grants reach
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.
Where the work is directed
The same grants, placed two ways — where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose earmarks the money.
About 9% of The Beker Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another.
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 foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.
Who you back again
Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.
And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +38% since the first grant, against +16% for the ones you funded once.
151 repeat relationships — 104 still active in FY2024, 47 since wound down; 32 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $192k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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
- TSThe Shalem Foundation5× · 2020–2024 · $358k · revenue +120%
SOCIAL INNOVATION FORUM INC5× · 2020–2024 · $170k · revenue +78%- JFJEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE INC3× · 2020–2024 · $163k · revenue +23%
Funded once
ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAIgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $150k · revenue +39%- MGMASS GENERAL HOSPITALone grant, 2020 · $50k
- BCBOSTON CHARITABLE TRUST FUND CITY OF BOSTON TREASURY DEPARTMENTone grant, 2020 · $50k
Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.
To empower individuals from diverse communities to find employment and build careers, while partnering with employers to hire, develop, and retain productive workforces.
The jewish teen initiative (jti) is an organization committed to building community among all jewish teens through institutional collaboration, a rich spectrum of innovative programming and participation in national opportunities. jti…
Bais yaakov of boston, the only all girls jewish high school in boston, is a college preparatory school that provides a comprehensive and challenging judaic and secular studies program. it offers orthodox jewish young women an environment…
The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide access to and conduct activities in furtherance of higher education.
New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…
Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…
Our mission is to ensure that the people of greater boston benefit from a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive waterfront, harbor, and islands; these spaces are equitable, accessible, and adapted to climate change; and to ensure our public,…
Mjhs health system is a charitable not-for-profit established to support the activities of affiliated organizations. mjhs is built on the core values of compassion, dignity and respect, first established by the four brooklyn ladies in…
To develop, strengthen, and learn from nonprofit, philanthropic, public, as well as other projects, organizations, and networks that benefit society by advancing civic engagement, community-building, culture, education, religion, service,…
Our vision is to reignite the zionist spirit and meet the needs of jewish civilization in the twenty-first century by connecting people around the world through the vibrancy and creativity of contemporary israeli culture.
For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Family Service of Metrowest Inc and the most unlike its peers is Cut Circle. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.
Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.
Your grantees are a median of 29 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.
The field is 20% startups (under 5 years old) — 6% of your grantees by number, and just 5% of your money.
The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 12% of the field you don’t fund.
Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.
161 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 161 of the 255 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.
Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee
Showing your 200 largest grantees by grant value.
Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them
A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc ↗
- Who funds The Shalem Foundation ↗
- Who funds METROWEST JEWISH DAY SCHOOL INC ATTN F DAVID ROTHKOPF ↗
- Who funds GRUB STREET INC ↗
- Who funds KESHET INC ↗
- Who funds SOCIAL INNOVATION FORUM INC ↗
- Who funds JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE INC ↗
- Who funds ESPLANADE ASSOCIATION INC ↗
- Who funds ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI ↗
- Who funds The Frisch School ↗
- Who funds New York University ↗
- Who funds SHADY HILL SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds THE JEWISH STUDIO PROJECT ↗
- Who funds YAD CHESSED FUND INC ↗
- Who funds WONDERMORE INC ↗
- Who funds LEHRHAUS CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE AND LEARNING INC ↗
- Who funds EDEN VILLAGE CAMP INC ↗
- Who funds ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC ↗
- Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
- Who funds MOISHE HOUSE ↗
- Who funds HEBREW COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds ONE CAN HELP INC ↗
- Who funds WEST END HOUSE INC ↗
- Who funds SOCIEDAD LATINA INC ↗
- Who funds THE SPORTSMEN'S TENNIS & ENRICHMENT CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF GREATER BOSTON INC ↗
- Who funds ALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT INC ↗
The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · The Klarman Family Foundation · The Cabot Family Charitable Trust · Bushrod H Campbell & Adah F Hall Charity Fund · Barr Foundation · Riley Mabel Louise Tr Uwill · The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation · Boston After School & Beyond Inc
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.
Government reliance of your grantees
Every dot is one organization The Beker Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution — 63% of income from government
- Utec Inc — 46% of income from government
- The Midas Collaborative Inc — 39% of income from government
- Bagly Inc — 39% of income from government
- Children's Services of Roxbury Inc — 35% of income from government
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology — 35% of income from government
- Brookview House Inc — 34% of income from government
- Neighborhood Villages Inc — 33% of income from government
- Fenway Community Health Center Inc — 27% of income from government
- Masscreative Inc — 26% of income from government
- More Than Words Inc — 24% of income from government
- HomeStart Inc — 20% of income from government
- Boston Area Gleaners Inc — 20% of income from government
- Kids in Tech Inc — 15% of income from government
- Sociedad Latina Inc — 15% of income from government
- The Teachers' Lounge Inc — 14% of income from government
- Rise Above Foundation Inc — 14% of income from government
- Housing Families Inc — 12% of income from government
- New England Hebrew Academy — 10% of income from government
- Tech Goes Home Incorporated — 10% of income from government
- Silver Lining Mentoring Inc — 10% of income from government
- Brandeis University — 9% of income from government
- Boston Music Project Inc — 9% of income from government
- Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Inc — 8% of income from government
- Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston Inc — 8% of income from government
- Zamir Chorale of Boston Inc — 8% of income from government
- One Can Help Inc — 8% of income from government
- Raw Art Works Inc — 7% of income from government
- President and Fellows of Harvard College — 7% of income from government
- Citysprouts Inc — 6% of income from government
- Steps to Success Inc — 5% of income from government
- Coaching for Change Inc — 5% of income from government
- Zumix Inc — 5% of income from government
- The Urban Farming Institute of Bostoninc — 4% of income from government
- Catie's Closet Inc — 4% of income from government
- Metrowest Jewish Day School Inc Attn F David Rothkopf — 4% of income from government
- Young Man With a Plan Inc — 3% of income from government
- 826 Boston Inc — 3% of income from government
- Trustees of Eliot School — 2% of income from government
- Trustees of Clark University — 2% of income from government
- West End House Inc — 2% of income from government
- Artists for Humanity Inc — 2% of income from government
- Brighter Boston Inc — 2% of income from government
- Speak for the Trees Inc — 2% of income from government
- Bikes Not Bombs Inc — 2% of income from government
- Grub Street Inc — 2% of income from government
- Brookline Arts Center — 2% of income from government
- Jewish Family & Children's Service Inc — 1% of income from government
- Greenroots Inc — 1% of income from government
- Boston Center for the Arts Inc — 1% of income from government
- The Institute of Contemporary Art Inc — 1% of income from government
- Breaktime United Inc — 1% of income from government
- Friends of the Public Garden Inc — 1% of income from government
- Cotuit Center for the Arts Inc — 1% of income from government
- Beat the Odds Inc — 1% of income from government
- One Family Inc — 1% of income from government
- Community Music Center of Boston Inc — 1% of income from government
- The Bottom Line Inc — 0% of income from government
- American Repertory Theatre Co Inc — 0% of income from government
- Hebrew Senior Life Inc — 0% of income from government
- The Frisch School — 0% of income from government
- Animal Rescue League of Boston — 0% of income from government
- Keshet Inc — 0% of income from government
- Boston Foundation Inc — 0% of income from government
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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Beker Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Beker 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.