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The Brook J Lenfest Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Brook J Lenfest Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
42
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$126k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$20MArts & Culture$1.1MYouth Development$663kPublic Benefit$425kEmployment$253kPhilanthropy$225kCommunity Improvement$210kHuman Services$145kOther$0
02FY2025 · 42 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k30 grants · $636k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $526k
$25,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY$125,832
UNITED WAY OF PENNSYLVANIA$100,000
BIG PICTURE PHILADELPHIA$50,000
THE COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY$50,000
WISSAHICKON FOUNDATION$50,000
PHILADELPHIA SHIP PRESERVATION GUILD$50,000
NEW LEASH ON LIFE USA$50,000
HEIGHTS PHILADELPHIA$50,000
WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$46,812
Individual grant recipient$35,000
THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF DREXEL UNIVERSITY$35,000
MERCY CAREER & TECH$30,000
BEAT THE STREETS PHILADELPHIA$25,000
AVENUE OF THE ARTS$25,000
PHILADELPHIA FILM SOCIETY$25,000
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 (FY17–25, $180k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 71% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CRADLE OF HOPE INC: $10k → 7%CATHEDRAL SOUP KITCHEN INC: $8k → 12%CRADLE OF HOPE: $10k → 7%Wings for Success: $13k → 6%Wings for Success: $10k → 6%Wings for Success: $10k → 6%CASA OF PHILADELPHIA COUNTY: $15k → 22%North Light Community Center: $15k → 22%THE WELCOMING CENTER: $15k → 22%NEW LEASH ON LIFE USA: $50k → 22%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $25k → 22%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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$22M · 33 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

33 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 29 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

33
28

Total granted

$22M
$723k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+28%

Still filing today

76%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 29% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $842k 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 ServicesArts & CultureRecreation & SportsYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TU
    Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
    7× · 2017–2023 · $4.4M · revenue +5%
  • KC
    KIMMEL CENTER INC
    5× · 2017–2024 · $741k · revenue +75%
  • TC
    THE COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC POLICY ALTERNATIVES
    3× · 2019–2021 · $325k · revenue +111%

Funded once

  • CF
    COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $175k
  • P
    PennCAN
    one grant, 2018 · $100k
  • TI
    TECH IMPACTgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $40k · revenue +43%
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 Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
2
Philadelphia Works Inc

Philadelphia works, inc. develops and manages smart workforce solutions that respond to business needs and increases economic opportunity for all philadelphia residents.

Employment
3
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

Pidc plans and implements economic development initiatives (see schedule o) which enhance the competitive environment, generate jobs and produce higher tax ratables throughout philadelphia.

Community Improvement
4
Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders Inc

We develop, engage, and retain principals and system leaders who transform schools, dramatically improve student outcomes, and drive systemic change to prepare all philadelphia students for college, career, and life.

Education
5
Drexel University

Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…

Education
6
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
7
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
8
Philadelphia Youth Network Inc

Philadelphia youth network (pyn) equips young people to build lifelong skills, pursue meaningful careers, and embrace change with confidence - so they can thrive in the workforce, experience economic mobility, and strengthen their…

Youth Development
9
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United way's mission is to end intergenerational poverty in our region by harnessing, leveraging and strategically investing the collective power of donors, advocates and volunteers, to help individuals and families break the cycle of…

Philanthropy
10
Philadelphia Performing Arts a String Theory Charter School

Charter school providing students a content rich, adademically rigerous core knowledge education with a well-defined, sequential curriculum in a safe, orderly disiplined and caring environment.

Education
11
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
12
Foundations Inc

Foundations is dedicated to improving the quality of education for our nation's most vulnerable children by strengthening the skills of educators through professional learning. foundations, inc. is a not-for-profit educational service…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Philadelphia Education Fund; the most unlike its peers is NORTH10 Philadelphia. 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

61 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. 61 of the 91 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/61
Grantees still filing
33/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MASTERY CHARTER SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $6,700,000 · EducationMASTERY CHARTER SCHOOLS FOUNDATIONTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education: $4,378,911 · EducationTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Educa…Elevate 215: $550,000 · Education+16 more: $1,116,812 · Education+16 morePENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $6,063,468 · OtherPENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITYPENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY: $399,289 · Other+48 more: $2,131,837 · Other+48 moreKIMMEL CENTER INC: $740,696 · Arts & CultureAVENUE OF THE ARTS INC: $55,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $95,000 · Arts & CultureTHE COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC POLICY ALTERNATIVES: $325,000 · Public BenefitED SNIDER YOUTH HOCKEY & EDUCATION: $225,000 · Recreation & SportsBEAT THE STREETS WRESTLING PROGRAM PHILADELPHIA: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsVARIETY THE CHILDREN'S CHARITY OF THE DELAWARE VALLEY: $15,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsWISSAHICKON FOUNDATION: $160,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $100,000 · PhilanthropyNEW LEASH ON LIFE USA: $50,000 · Human ServicesWings for Success Inc: $32,500 · Human ServicesEpiscopal Community Services of The Diocese of Pennsylvania: $25,000 · Human ServicesCradle of Hope Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesWELCOMING CENTER FOR NEW PENNSYLVANIANS: $15,000 · Human ServicesNORTH LIGHT BOYS' CLUB INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesCASA OF PHILADELPHIA COUNTY: $15,000 · Human ServicesTHE CATHEDRAL SOUP KITCHEN INC: $7,500 · Human Services
Education$12,745,723Other$8,594,594Arts & Culture$890,696Public Benefit$325,000Recreation & Sports$270,000Philanthropy$260,000Human Services$180,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMASTERY CHARTER SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $6,700,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education: $4,378,911 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetKIMMEL CENTER INC: $740,696 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetElevate 215: $550,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetTHE COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC POLICY ALTERNATIVES: $325,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetED SNIDER YOUTH HOCKEY & EDUCATION: $225,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA: $175,000 over 7y, 7.3% of budgetWISSAHICKON FOUNDATION: $160,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetCHILDREN'S LITERACY INITIATIVE: $155,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $130,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $100,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS: $100,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCHESTER COUNTY FUTURES INC: $95,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetPhilabundance: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCLARKE PENNSYLVANIA INC: $70,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetSTEPPINGSTONE SCHOLARS INC: $70,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS: $65,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAVENUE OF THE ARTS INC: $55,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetADOPTION CENTER OF DELAWARE VALLEY: $50,000 over 4y, 6.9% of budgetTHE WISTAR INSTITUTE OF ANATOMY AND BIOLOGY: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEIGHTS PHILADELPHIA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBIG PICTURE PHILADELPHIA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $46,812 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION: $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTECH IMPACT: $40,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBAKER INDUSTRIES INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetWings for Success Inc: $32,500 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetWISSAHICKON CHARTER SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSETTLEMENT MUSIC SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEpiscopal Community Services of The Diocese of Pennsylvania: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION FUND: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetVariety the Childrens Charity: $25,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetBEAT THE STREETS WRESTLING PROGRAM PHILADELPHIA: $25,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetROCK TO THE FUTURE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetPARENTCHILD INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOPPORTUNITIES INDUSTRIALIZATION CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHOPEWORKS 'N CAMDEN INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPHILADELPHIA FILM SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNORTH10 PHILADELPHIA: $22,645 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetIHMCENTER FOR LITERACY & GEDPROGRAMS: $20,000 over 2y, 7.9% of budgetCradle of Hope Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetWELCOMING CENTER FOR NEW PENNSYLVANIANS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetACHIEVEABILITY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVARIETY THE CHILDREN'S CHARITY OF THE DELAWARE VALLEY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARAGE COMMUNITY & YOUTH CENTER: $15,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 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.

The Philadelphia Foun…Connelly FoundationThe William Penn Foun…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…Lindback Cr & Mf Foun…United Way of Greater…The Gordon Charter Fo…The Patricia Kind Fam…Beatty Helen D Groome…Wsfs Cares FoundationHamilton Family Chari…Td Charitable Foundat…
The Philadelphia FoundationPA65.8× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · Connelly Foundation · The William Penn Foundation · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · Lindback Cr & Mf Foundation Tw Main · United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey · The Gordon Charter Foundation · The Patricia Kind Family Foundation · Beatty Helen D Groome Uw · Wsfs Cares Foundation · Hamilton Family Charitable Trust · Td Charitable 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 Brook J Lenfest Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Brook J Lenfest Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    16report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Brook J Lenfest Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Brook J Lenfest Foundation Inc 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 91 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 Brook J Lenfest’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
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    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