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The Benificus Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Benificus 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.

$186M
Granted FY2024still arriving
56
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$46M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Environment$265MEducation$211MHealth$89MCommunity Improvement$31MPublic Benefit$17MInternational$17MArts & Culture$11MPhilanthropy$11MOther$0
02FY2024 · 56 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $120k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $912k
  • $250k+36 grants · $185M
$512,663
Median grant
10
States reached
$8.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION$45,776,097
CALICO LIFE SCIENCES LLC$31,400,000
MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH$21,383,580
ASPEN GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE$10,135,118
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$8,078,312
TED FOUNDATION$7,412,671
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$7,094,660
ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION DBA CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT$7,000,001
KHAN ACADEMY$5,032,740
UNITED STATES OF CARE CAMPAIGN$4,037,717
TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$3,908,304
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$3,528,330
NEW SCHOOLS FUND$3,037,004
ONE CAMPAIGN$3,026,445
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION$2,579,647
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 (FY17–24, $3.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 71% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AVENIDAS: $5k → 8%GOLD HOUSE FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 14%AVENIDAS: $5k → 8%AVENIDAS: $5k → 8%THE DREAMCATCHER FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%MY NEW RED SHOES: $10k → 7%AVENIDAS: $5k → 8%MY NEW RED SHOES: $10k → 7%AVENIDAS: $5k → 8%MY NEW RED SHOES: $10k → 7%MY NEW RED SHOES: $10k → 7%MY NEW RED SHOES: $10k → 7%FIREFIGHTERS TOYS FOR TOTS: $5k → 7%FIREFIGHTERS TOYS FOR TOTS: $5k → 7%ACCOUNTABLE FOR HEALTH INSTITUTE INC: $250k → 14%NEWDEAL FORUM: $513k → 14%NEWDEAL FORUM: $257k → 14%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $341k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $110k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $100k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $100k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $100k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $10k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $10k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $10k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $10k → 10%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

ME
NH
IL
NY
MA
PA
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
DC
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$504M · 60 repeat orgs$56M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

60 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

60
30

Total granted

$504M
$11M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+8%

Still filing today

85%
87%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $46M 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
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • CI
    CLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION
    4× · 2021–2024 · $134M · revenue +23%
  • AG
    ASPEN GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $62M · revenue +779% · 32% of their budget
  • WM
    William Marsh Rice University
    4× · 2021–2024 · $33M · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • VU
    VILLANOVA UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $1.7M · revenue +44%
  • VH
    VALLEY HEALTH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $1.3M · revenue -33%
  • TV
    THE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1.0M · revenue +55%
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 Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
3
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
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
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
6
The California Medical Innovations Institute Inc

The Institute is a scientific research center dedicated to conducting basic and applied research to advance the understanding of human disease and the improvement of human health. The Institute fosters an innovative research environment…

Education
7
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
8
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
9
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
10
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
11
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
12
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United States of Care Campaign; the most unlike its peers is Dreamcatcher Foundation Inc. 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

91 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. 91 of the 103 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.

10
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
89/91
Grantees still filing
58/91
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $112,785,010 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD …ASPEN GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE INC: $62,442,509 · EducationASPEN GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE INCWilliam Marsh Rice University: $33,479,713 · EducationWilliam Marsh Rice UniversityKHAN ACADEMY INC: $26,936,869 · EducationKHAN ACADEMY INCNEW SCHOOLS FUND: $24,315,937 · EducationNEW SCHOOLS FUND+10 more: $14,961,130 · Education+10 moreCLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION: $133,863,577 · EnvironmentCLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATI…ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $18,149,266 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND …THE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $10,092,409 · EnvironmentTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PR…+5 more: $4,058,853 · EnvironmentCALICO LIFE SCIENCES LLC: $31,400,000 · OtherCALICO LIFE SCIENCES…ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION DBA CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT: $26,006,487 · OtherALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE…The ONE Campaign: $16,372,140 · OtherThe ONE CampaignMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $5,033,309 · OtherNorthwestern University: $8,078,312 · OtherNorthwestern Univers…CalMatters: $4,086,256 · OtherWATTTIME CORPORATION: $4,535,017 · OtherSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $5,385,157 · Other+42 more: $20,867,975 · Other+42 moreTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $31,283,501 · HealthTexas Children's Hospital: $10,480,047 · HealthUNITED STATES OF CARE CAMPAIGN: $6,050,950 · Health+6 more: $2,028,259 · HealthTED FOUNDATION INC: $31,238,330 · Community Improvement+1 more: $102,411 · Community ImprovementTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $15,368,702 · Arts & CultureGREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC: $4,703,915 · Arts & CultureSMARTHISTORY INC: $2,156,364 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF LANGUAGE ARTS INC: $1,406,931 · Arts & Culture+10 more: $1,434,616 · Arts & CultureROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $10,095,594 · PhilanthropyUNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $4,049,814 · Philanthropy+3 more: $240,000 · Philanthropy
Education$274,921,168Environment$166,164,105Other$121,764,653Health$49,842,757Community Improvement$31,340,741Arts & Culture$25,070,528Philanthropy$14,385,408

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 budgetCLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION: $133,863,577 over 4y, 17% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $112,785,010 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetASPEN GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE INC: $62,442,509 over 6y, 32% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $33,479,713 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $31,283,501 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetTED FOUNDATION INC: $31,238,330 over 5y, 11% of budgetKHAN ACADEMY INC: $26,936,869 over 5y, 18% of budgetNEW SCHOOLS FUND: $24,315,937 over 7y, 9.3% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $18,149,266 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetThe ONE Campaign: $16,372,140 over 5y, 23% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $15,368,702 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $10,480,047 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $10,095,594 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $10,092,409 over 2y, 42% of budgetNorthwestern University: $8,078,312 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED STATES OF CARE CAMPAIGN: $6,050,950 over 2y, 68% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $5,385,157 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetCOLLEGE TRACK: $5,298,321 over 3y, 9.6% of budgetGREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC: $4,703,915 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetWATTTIME CORPORATION: $4,535,017 over 2y, 23% of budgetCalMatters: $4,086,256 over 4y, 11% of budgetUNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $4,049,814 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION INC: $3,922,314 over 4y, 14% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $2,579,647 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSMARTHISTORY INC: $2,156,364 over 6y, 44% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $2,033,671 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF WILDCARE: $2,006,885 over 1y, 33% of budgetASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $1,750,000 over 7y, 9.3% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $1,739,248 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF LANGUAGE ARTS INC: $1,406,931 over 3y, 22% of budgetVALLEY HEALTH FOUNDATION (VHF): $1,250,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $1,022,925 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $1,016,415 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $1,006,600 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetGOLD HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetCalifornians Dedicated to Education Foundation: $1,000,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetASPEN VALLEY LAND TRUST: $913,029 over 4y, 33% of budgetRAPHAEL HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $790,765 over 8y, 14% of budgetTHE NEWDEAL FORUM: $769,676 over 2y, 38% of budgetSECURING AMERICA'S FUTURE ENERGY FOUNDATION: $762,663 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetTHIRD WAY INSTITUTE: $756,331 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetCarbonPlan: $672,976 over 2y, 9.7% of budgetThe E-liability Institute Inc dba The E-ledgers Institute: $666,000 over 2y, 99% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $622,848 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM: $600,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetFor Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST): $495,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $425,000 over 4y, 0.1% 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.

Silicon Valley Commun…The William & Flora H…Sergey Brin Family Fo…Gates FoundationThe Heising-Simons Fo…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Marin Community Found…Valhalla FoundationCombined Jewish Phila…The Bloomberg Family …New Venture FundGordon E and Betty I …
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA31× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Sergey Brin Family Foundation · Gates Foundation · The Heising-Simons Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Marin Community Foundation · Valhalla Foundation · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund · Gordon E and Betty I Moore 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 The Benificus Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Benificus Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 103 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 Benificus’ 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