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The Bender Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bender 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.

$239k
Granted FY2025still arriving
38
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Arts & Culture$654kEducation$298kYouth Development$191kEnvironment$136kHuman Services$129kRecreation & Sports$103kPhilanthropy$94kHousing & Shelter$84kOther$0
02FY2025 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k25 grants · $62k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $177k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FRIENDS OF THACHER STATE PARK$25,000
ALBANY INSTITUTE OF HISTORY AND ART$15,500
CONNECT CENTER FOR YOUTH$15,000
WATERVLIET CIVIC CHEST INC$15,000
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD EDUCATION CENTER$15,000
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY FOUNDATION$15,000
STEAMER NO10 THEATRE INC$15,000
DESTROYER ESCORT HISTORICAL MUSEUM (USS SLATER)$11,000
CAPITAL DISTRICT WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT & RESOURCE CENTER (WERC)$10,250
NEW YORK NEWSPAPERS FOUNDATION$10,000
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK INC$10,000
PALACE THEATRE PALACE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC$10,000
GIRLS INCORPORATED OF THE GREATER CAPITAL REGION$10,000
ALBANY CENTER GALLERIES INC$8,250
THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM AT SARATOGA$7,600
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 (FY17–25, $129k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 89% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%FRIENDS IN ADOPTION: $2k → 9%FRIENDS IN ADOPTION: $1k → 12%FRIENDS IN ADOPTION: $1k → 9%FRIENDS IN ADOPTION: $1k → 12%FRIENDS IN ADOPTION: $1k → 12%FRIENDS IN ADOPTION: $1k → 12%FRIENDS IN ADOPTION: $1k → 12%COLLAR WORKS: $10k → 11%THINGS OF MY VERY OWN: $500 → 12%THINGS OF MY VERY OWN: $500 → 12%THINGS OF MY VERY OWN: $250 → 12%BABY INSTITUTE: $8k → 14%PARK PLAYHOUSE: $500 → 14%PARK PLAYHOUSE: $250 → 14%REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS INC: $10k → 14%REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS INC: $10k → 14%REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS: $10k → 14%REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS INC: $10k → 14%REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS: $10k → 14%REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS: $10k → 14%BABY INSTITUTE INC: $10k → 14%BABY INSTITUTE THE: $10k → 14%BABY INSTITUTE INC: $500 → 14%HOMELESS AND TRAVELERS AIR SOCIETY: $10k → 14%HOMELESS AND TRAVELERS AID SOCIETY: $10k → 14%PARK PLAYHOUSE: $500 → 14%PARK PLAYHOUSE: $250 → 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.
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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 61 repeat orgs$541k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

61 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 37 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

61
50

Total granted

$1.4M
$425k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+14%

Still filing today

70%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 52% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $116k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • AI
    ALBANY INSTITUTE OF HISTORY AND ART
    9× · 2017–2025 · $111k · revenue +42%
  • MH
    MOHAWK HUDSON LAND CONSERVANCY
    7× · 2018–2025 · $98k · revenue +151%
  • UA
    UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY FOUNDATION
    6× · 2018–2025 · $75k · revenue +126%

Funded once

  • GN
    GOV NELSON A ROCKEFELLER EMPIRE STATE PLAZA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
    one grant, 2024 · $15k
  • TF
    THE FRIENDS OF PRUYN HOUSE
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue -6%
  • LV
    LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY
    one grant, 2024 · $15k · 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
Upper Albany Main Street Program Inc

We preserve, revitalize, and support the commercial district, creating a center of choiceby collaborating with residents and stakeholders to foster a successful community.

Community Improvement
2
Saratoga Arts Inc

Saratoga arts was established to enrich the region by cultivating a vibrant arts community and by ensuring that the arts are accessible to all.

Arts & Culture
3
Cny Arts Inc

CNY Arts' mission is to promote, support, and celebrate arts and culture in Central New York.

Arts & Culture
4
Albany County Opportunity Inc

Acap works in partnership with families and communities to empower people to achieve economic self-sufficiency and an improved quality of life.

Human Services
5
Capitalize Albany Corporation

The mission of capitalize albany corporation is to facilitate strategic economic development and stimulate transformative investment throughout the city of albany, making new york's capital a vibrant place to thrive.

Community Improvement
6
Everson Museum of Art of Syracuse and Onondaga County

The everson museum of art of syracuse and onondaga county is a not-for-profit organization located in syracuse, new york. its stated purpose is to conduct cultural, charitable, and educational activities. the museum's support comes…

Arts & Culture
7
Adirondack North Country Association Inc

Support regional economic development in new york's 14 northernmost counties

Food & Nutrition
8
New York City Center Inc

The mission of new york city center is to be new york city's leading center for dance and musical theater. dedicated to making the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience, city center seeks to create a welcoming environment and…

Arts & Culture
9
The Albany Museum of Art Incorpora

The museum provides exposure to the visual arts, encourages awareness, participation, and enjoyment of the visual arts, and enhances the quality of life in the surrounding area.

Arts & Culture
10
Albany Barn Inc

Albany Barn is dedicated to providing a sustainable creative arts incubator and community arts center in Albany and Schenectady NY a place for artists to live, work and inspire.

Arts & Culture
11
New York Focus Inc

New york focus is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom covering state and local politics in the empire state.(continued on scheduleo)launched in october of 2020, new york focus aims to help make government more transparent by publishing…

Education
12
Downtown Albany Restoration Program Inc

To restore, promote, and maintain the character and viability of downtown Albany and to improve the quality of life and overall image for those who live, work and visit the Capital City

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Albany Academies Inc; the most unlike its peers is Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. 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

82 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. 82 of the 126 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)
27
Early backer (in before they grew)
80/82
Grantees still filing
60/82
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SHAKER HERITAGE SOCIETY: $41,000 · OtherWASHINGTON PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $40,000 · OtherTHE ALBANY ACADEMIES INC: $37,000 · OtherREGIONAL FOOD BANK OF NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK INC: $34,250 · OtherNEW YORK NEWSPAPERS FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · Other+67 more: $636,256 · Other+67 moreALBANY INSTITUTE OF HISTORY AND ART: $111,000 · Arts & CultureALBANY INSTITUTE OF HISTOR…HISTORIC ALBANY FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC ALBANY FOUNDATION…YOUTH FX INC: $45,000 · Arts & CultureYOUTH FX INCHISTORIC CHERRY HILL: $35,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC CHERRY HILLALBANY CENTER GALLERIES INC: $33,250 · Arts & CultureALBANY CENTER GALLERIES IN…EMPIRE STATE YOUTH ORCHESTRA INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureAlbany County Historical Association: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ARTS CENTER OF THE CAPITAL REGION: $18,000 · Arts & CultureDESTROYER-ESCORT HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $16,000 · Arts & Culture+11 more: $106,850 · Arts & Culture+11 moreUNIVERSITY AT ALBANY FOUNDATION: $74,800 · EducationUNIVERSITY …The RED Bookshelf Inc: $20,000 · EducationThe RED Boo…LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY: $15,000 · EducationLITERACY VO…ALBANY CAN CODE INC: $15,000 · EducationALBANY CAN …ALBANY COLLEGE OF PHARMACY AND HEALTH SCIENCES: $13,000 · EducationALBANY COLL…MARIST UNIVERSITY: $12,000 · EducationMARIST UNIV…SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AND TRAINING CENTER INC: $10,000 · EducationREACH OUT AND READ INC: $10,000 · EducationPOSITIVE IMPACT NEW YORK INC: $10,000 · EducationFRIENDS AND FOUNDATION OF THE ALB PUB LIB INC: $8,490 · EducationMACALESTER COLLEGE: $7,500 · Education+3 more: $13,981 · Education+3 moreMOHAWK HUDSON LAND CONSERVANCY: $97,500 · EnvironmentMOHAWK HU…CAPITAL ROOTS INC: $30,250 · EnvironmentCAPITAL R…Scenic Hudson Inc: $15,000 · EnvironmentScenic Hu…FRIENDS OF THE PINE BUSH COMMUNITY INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS O…LAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentLAND TRUS…+1 more: $3,410 · EnvironmentREFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesBABY INSTITUTE INC: $38,500 · Human ServicesHOMELESS AND TRAVELERS AID SOCIETY OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesCOLLAR WORKS INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS IN ADOPTION INC: $8,000 · Human Services+2 more: $3,000 · Human ServicesTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR THE GREATER CAPITAL REGION INC: $72,300 · PhilanthropyWATERVLIET CIVIC CHEST INC: $67,000 · PhilanthropyTHE WOMANS CLUB OF ALBANY INC: $25,000 · Community ImprovementGRASSROOT GIVERS INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementTRINITY ALLIANCE OF THE CAPITAL REGION INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementERIE CANALWAY HERITAGE FUND INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementTHE OLANA PARTNERSHIP: $10,000 · Community Improvement
Other$818,506Arts & Culture$460,100Education$209,771Environment$166,160Human Services$139,500Philanthropy$139,300Community Improvement$65,000

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 budgetALBANY INSTITUTE OF HISTORY AND ART: $111,000 over 9y, 1.4% of budgetMOHAWK HUDSON LAND CONSERVANCY: $97,500 over 7y, 2.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY AT ALBANY FOUNDATION: $74,800 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR THE GREATER CAPITAL REGION INC: $72,300 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetWATERVLIET CIVIC CHEST INC: $67,000 over 4y, 4.6% of budgetREFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SUPPORT SERVICES OF EMMAUS INC: $60,000 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetHISTORIC ALBANY FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetYOUTH FX INC: $45,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetTHE SHAKER HERITAGE SOCIETY: $41,000 over 4y, 5.1% of budgetWASHINGTON PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $40,000 over 4y, 31% of budgetBABY INSTITUTE INC: $38,500 over 4y, 8.3% of budgetTHE ALBANY ACADEMIES INC: $37,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHISTORIC CHERRY HILL: $35,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetREGIONAL FOOD BANK OF NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK INC: $34,250 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetALBANY CENTER GALLERIES INC: $33,250 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetCAPITAL ROOTS INC: $30,250 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetNEW YORK NEWSPAPERS FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetTROY SAVINGS BANK MUSIC HALL CORPORATION: $25,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE WOMANS CLUB OF ALBANY INC: $25,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetTHE COHOES CONNECT PROJECT INC: $24,500 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetWMHT EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEMPIRE STATE YOUTH ORCHESTRA INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetAlbany County Historical Association: $20,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY CAPITAL DISTRICT INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetThe RED Bookshelf Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetHOMELESS AND TRAVELERS AID SOCIETY OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetINTERFAITH PARTNERSHIP FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE CAPITAL AREA: $19,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMARIA COLLEGE: $18,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ARTS CENTER OF THE CAPITAL REGION: $18,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCAPITAL DISTRICT WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT & RESOURCE CENTER INC: $17,750 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetDESTROYER-ESCORT HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $16,000 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetTHE PALACE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetScenic Hudson Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSTEAMER 10 THEATRE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetGIRLS INC OF THE GREATER CAPITAL REGION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE FRIENDS OF PRUYN HOUSE: $15,000 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetLITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY: $15,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetGREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $15,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetALBANY CAN CODE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetALBANY COLLEGE OF PHARMACY AND HEALTH SCIENCES: $13,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $12,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMARIST UNIVERSITY: $12,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGRASSROOT GIVERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOLLAR WORKS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetTHOMAS COLE HISTORIC HOUSE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetALBANY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTRINITY ALLIANCE OF THE CAPITAL REGION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

The Community Foundat…Review FoundationPrice Chopper's Golub…United Way of the Gre…The Troy Savings Bank…Carl E Touhey Foundat…John D Picotte Family…David & Candace Weir …Kiwi FoundationPioneer Bank Charitab…JM McDonald Foundatio…Mvp Health Plan Inc
The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region IncNY115.2× affinity57 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region Inc · Review Foundation · Price Chopper's Golub Foundation · United Way of the Greater Capital Region · The Troy Savings Bank Charitable Fo · Carl E Touhey Foundation · John D Picotte Family Foundation (Formerly Equinox Foundation) · David & Candace Weir Foundation · Kiwi Foundation · Pioneer Bank Charitable Foundation · JM McDonald Foundation Inc · Mvp Health Plan 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 The Bender Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bender Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Reach Out and Read Inc: 9% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
35report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 The Bender Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Bender Family 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 126 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 Bender Family’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