Skip to content
The Buck Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Buck 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.

$142k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$574kEducation$10kCrime & Legal$10kPublic Safety & Disaster$8kHealth$5kPhilanthropy$1k
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $37k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$37,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OPERA PHILADELPHIA$100,000
ORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICASGLOBAL LEADERS INSTITUTE$37,000
WRITE TO HOPE$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 79% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC: $20k → 16%FREEWRITERSORG: $5k → 11%WRITE TO HOPE: $5k → 14%OPERA PHILADELPHIA: $100k → 22%THE TANK LTD: $60k → 17%ORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICASGLOBAL LEADERS INSTITUTE: $37k → 14%SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS: $5k → 8%SIEMER INSTITUTE: $1k → 15%PEOPLE'S MUSIC SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $65k → 14%BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC: $20k → 16%FREEWRITERSORG: $5k → 11%OPERA PHILADELPHIA: $50k → 22%THE TANK LTD: $45k → 17%SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS: $5k → 8%PEOPLE'S MUSIC SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $20k → 14%THE TANK LTD: $40k → 17%PEOPLE'S MUSIC SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $20k → 14%THE TANK LTD: $40k → 17%NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY: $5k → 17%NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $25k → 17%NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $20k → 17%LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $1k → 17%HARMONY PROGRAM: $6k → 17%VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA: $8k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OH
PA
DC
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.
$545k · 7 repeat orgs$63k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
5

Total granted

$545k
$21k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+62%
+63%

Still filing today

57%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $42k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CulturePhilanthropyEducationHealthOther
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

  • TT
    THE TANK LTD
    4× · 2021–2024 · $185k · revenue +115%
  • OPERA PHILADELPHIA
    2× · 2024–2025 · $150k · revenue +18%
  • BC
    BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $40k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • VO
    VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA
    one grant, 2021 · $8k
  • TH
    THE HARMONY PROGRAM INC
    one grant, 2022 · $6k · revenue -2%
  • NY
    NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +154%
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
Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan school of music is deeply committed to excellence in education, performance, and creative activity; to the humanity of the school's environment; and to the cultural enrichment of the larger community. a premiere international…

Arts & Culture
2
The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts Inc

To offer accessible, high-quality performing arts education that sparks personal growth and builds inclusive communities. its vision is to transform performing arts education in an inclusive community accessible to all.

—
3
Women's Project & Productions Inc

Wp theater is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of women+ at every stage of their careers. for over four decades we have served as leaders of a global movement…

Arts & Culture
4
Foundation for Modern Opera
—
5
Queens Opera Theatre

To educate the general public of new york on all aspects of opera through opera productions, lectures, classes, camps, social media, newsletters, etc. while emphasizing the need to make opera accessible and affordable to all people, no…

Arts & Culture
6
Bloomingdale School of Music

To provide access to high-quality music education for anyone who seeks it, regardless of economic status, ability level, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation.

Arts & Culture
7
Cantata Profana Inc

Cantata Profana, Inc. (www.cantataprofana.com) is a vocal and instrumental chamber ensemble that presents concerts of classical and chamber music ranging from the Baroque to modern eras with a unique narrative style. Our purpose is to…

Arts & Culture
8
The Diller-Quaile School of Music Inc

For more than a century, diller-quaile has offered an environment where music can flourish in all its aspects, enriching the lives of students of all ages and cultural backgrounds. the belief that music is a fundamental part of human life…

Arts & Culture
9
New York Shakespeare Festival

As the nation's foremost producer of shakespeare and new work, the public theater is dedicated to achieving artistic excellence while developing an american theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of…

Arts & Culture
10
Lyrica Baroque

The mission of lyrica baroque is to support a diverse community of students, teachers, artists, institutions and audiences of all ages through education, collaboration and performance. lyrica baroque seeks to promote the extraordinary…

Arts & Culture
11
New York City Ballet Inc

Perform, promote and sustain classical ballet.

Arts & Culture
12
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Inc; the most unlike its peers is Write to Hope. 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

9 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. 9 of the 14 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
7/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE TANK LTD: $185,000 · Arts & CultureTHE TANK LTDOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $150,000 · Arts & CultureOPERA PHILADELPHIA+4 more: $22,328 · Arts & Culture+4 morePEOPLE'S MUSIC SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $105,000 · OtherPEOPLE'S MUSIC SCHOOL OF CHICAGONEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $45,000 · OtherNEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRAORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICASGLOBAL LEADERS INSTITUTE: $37,000 · OtherORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICASGLOBAL LEADER…FREEWRITERSORG: $10,000 · OtherVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA: $8,000 · OtherBERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC: $40,000 · EducationWrite to Hope: $5,000 · HealthSIEMER INSTITUTE: $1,000 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$357,328Other$205,000Education$40,000Health$5,000Philanthropy$1,000

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 budgetTHE TANK LTD: $185,000 over 4y, 5.2% of budgetOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $150,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetBERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetTHE HARMONY PROGRAM INC: $6,328 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWrite to Hope: $5,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetNEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSIEMER INSTITUTE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $1,000 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.

National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …
National Philanthropic TrustPA9.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Buck Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Buck Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Berklee College of Music Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Buck Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Buck 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 14 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 Buck 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