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The Bridgewater Fund Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bridgewater Fund Inc

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.

$523k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$262k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$526kEducation$130kArts & Culture$64kFood & Nutrition$17kEnvironment$14kCivil Rights$13kHealth$9kAnimals$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$261,631
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FERN BROOK FUND$261,631
THE BRIDGEWATER FUND$261,631
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%HAVERFORD COLLEGE: $100 → 10%POMONA COLLEGE: $2k → 14%FERN BROOK FUND: $262k → 17%THE BRIDGEWATER FUND: $262k → 20%SEE SCHEDULE ATTACHED: $105k → 17%SEE SCHEDULE ATTACHED: $76k → 17%SEE SCHEDULE ATTACHED: $36k → 17%FRIENDS OF TERRA COTTA: $500 → 17%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.

21%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$163k · 23 repeat orgs$627k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +60% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
65

Total granted

$163k
$104k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+60%
+26%

Still filing today

48%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $523k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’21’22’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’21’22’24’25
EducationArts & CultureRecreation & SportsEnvironmentHealthCivil RightsOther
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

  • POMONA COLLEGE
    3× · 2017–2024 · $7k · revenue +90%
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER NEW YORK INC
    3× · 2017–2021 · $4k · revenue +74%
  • TF
    THE FAY SCHOOL INC
    2× · 2017–2019 · $2k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • C
    CITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -6%
  • AF
    ANNE FRANK CENTER USA INC
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue -50%
  • Metropolitan Opera Association Incgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +86%
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
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
2
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
3
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
4
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
5
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

The mission is "to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it." the academy implements its mission through understanding the diversity of life; developing and applying science to protect the environment; and informing…

Science & Tech
6
The Architectural League of New York

The architectural league of new york supports critically transformative work in the allied fields that shape the built environment. as a vital, independent forum, the league stimulates thinking, debate, and action on today's (continued on…

—
7
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
8
Lowell Observatory

The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…

Science & Tech
9
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…

Arts & Culture
10
New York Hall of Science

Nysci's mission is to nurture generations of passionate learners, critical thinkers, and active citizens through design make play - an approach to learning and engagement that is deeply rooted in research on stem learning and guides the…

Arts & Culture
11
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Inc

We harness the power of plants for humankind and share the joy and beauty of tropical gardening with everyone. fairchild tropical botanic garden is a museum of tropical plants within a world famous, 83-acre designed landscape. it was…

Environment
12
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations; the most unlike its peers is American Diabetes Association. 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

55 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. 55 of the 92 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
55/55
Grantees still filing
39/55
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FERN BROOK FUND: $261,631 · OtherFERN BROOK FUNDTHE BRIDGEWATER FUND: $261,631 · OtherTHE BRIDGEWATER FUNDMetropolitan Opera, The: $20,500 · Other+48 more: $71,160 · Other+48 moreANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $85,000 · EducationANTIOCH COLLEGE C…THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $25,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF C…POMONA COLLEGE: $7,000 · EducationPOMONA COLLEGE+11 more: $8,200 · Education+11 moreANNE FRANK CENTER USA INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $10,000 · Arts & CultureWNET: $7,650 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $2,640 · Arts & CultureAmerican Museum of Natural History: $1,750 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $2,650 · Arts & CultureCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $10,000 · Food & NutritionCITY HARVEST INC: $5,000 · Food & NutritionPEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $3,500 · Civil RightsANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $2,500 · Civil RightsPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER NEW YORK INC: $3,500 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $2,000 · HealthAmerican Heart Association Inc: $1,500 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $600 · Health+1 more: $250 · HealthSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $2,500 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE LAKE: $1,500 · EnvironmentRAINFOREST FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 · EnvironmentHOUSATONIC VALLEY ASSOCIATION INC: $500 · EnvironmentAMAZON CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $500 · Environment+1 more: $200 · Environment
Other$614,922Education$125,200Arts & Culture$34,690Food & Nutrition$15,000Civil Rights$11,000Health$7,850Environment$6,700

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 budgetANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $85,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANNE FRANK CENTER USA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWNET: $7,650 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOMONA COLLEGE: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER NEW YORK INC: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $2,640 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FAY SCHOOL INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Museum of Natural History: $1,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRAINFOREST ALLIANCE INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAINFOREST FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC: $1,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY: $1,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Bhutan Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBILLION OYSTER PROJECT INC: $850 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROSPECT PARK ALLIANCE INC: $800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAGAHOZO-SHALOM YOUTH VILLAGE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRESH AIR FUND: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSATONIC VALLEY ASSOCIATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROSPECT SCHOOLS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JEWISH MUSEUM: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMAZON CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Diabetes Association: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGEWATER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSTREETSQUASH INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LIBRARY OF AMERICAN LANDSCAPE HISTORY INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHESS-IN-THE-SCHOOLS INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREAD 718 INC: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $250 over 1y, 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.

The Hyde and Watson F…Open Society InstituteAmica Companies Found…The Ford FoundationIbm International Fou…National Philanthropi…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Jewish Communal FundThe Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Raymond James Charita…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…
The Hyde and Watson FoundationNJ13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Open Society Institute · Amica Companies Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Jpmorgan Chase 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 Bridgewater Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bridgewater Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    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 92 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 Bridgewater’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