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New York · Private foundation

The Calamus 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.

$150k
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
11
Grants FY2024
17
Organizations funded FY2023
88%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2024
$15,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$20,000
Organizations funded a year
1 to 25
FY2019 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
6
Total assets, FY2024
$5.3M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 88% of the organizations The Calamus Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 92% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 8% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $230k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23
Human ServicesCivil RightsHousing & ShelterArts & CultureHealthEducationOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving11$150k55%
FY202317$250k88%
FY20221$10k100%
FY202125$253k84%
FY202019$248k68%
FY201918$219kn/a
93% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Philanthropy$506kCivil Rights$358kCrime & Legal$170kHuman Services$120kHealth$100kYouth Development$98kArts & Culture$43kInternational$40kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
IL
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
NE
DE
NM
AR
DC
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2019 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 43 grantees
All grantees of The Calamus Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
NEO Philanthropy Inc$66,00010%
Transgender Law Center$50,00010%
Lineage Project Inc$45,00039%
William Way Lgbt Community Center$35,00011%
Prep4all Inc$30,000259%
Drive Change Inc$27,50031%
America Diversa Inc$25,0002n/a
Women Make Movies Inc$25,00010%
Human Rights Watch Inc$20,00020%
Qplus Queer Youth Program of Connecticut$20,00026%
Swop Behind Bars Inc$20,0001n/a
Organizacion Latina Trans in Texas$15,00016%
Designing Justice Designing Spaces$15,00010%
Equality Foundation of Ga Inc$15,00011%
Equality New Mexico Foundation$15,000126%
Sadie Nash Leadership Project Inc$15,00021%
National Center for Civic Innovation In$15,00010%
Black and Pink Inc$15,00020%
Center for Transformative Action$15,00011%
House of Tulip$10,00011%
Drama Club Inc$10,00021%
New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth Inc$10,00012%
Sisterlove Incorporated$10,00010%
We Got US Now Inc$10,00011%
Women With A Vision$10,00010%
Maldef - Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund$10,00010%
Black LGBTQ Liberation Inc$10,00015%
South Africa Development Fund Inc$10,00011%
Trans Housing Atlanta Inc$10,00017%
Inter-Intra Community$10,0001n/a
Transgender Advocates Knowledgeable Empowering$10,0001n/a
The Afiya Center$10,0001n/a
Thrive Ss Inc$10,00011%
Montefiore Medical Center$7,50010%
Tag Treatment Action Group Inc$7,50010%
Intransitive TM Inc$5,0001n/a
Tarab NYC Inc$5,0001n/a
Community Connections for Youth Inc$5,00010%
Florida Harm Reduction Collective Inc$5,00019%
Miracle of Love Inc$5,00010%
Young New Yorkers Inc$5,0001n/a
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance Inc dba NQAPIA$5,00011%
Queer Art Inc$2,50010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 31 recipients with no EIN on record ($453k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

The Calamus Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 35 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $66,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTransgender Law Center: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLineage Project Inc: $45,000 over 3y, 8.9% of budgetWilliam Way Lgbt Community Center: $35,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPrep4all Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 59% of budgetDrive Change Inc: $27,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetWomen Make Movies Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHuman Rights Watch Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetQplus Queer Youth Program of Connecticut: $20,000 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetOrganizacion Latina Trans in Texas: $15,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetDesigning Justice Designing Spaces: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEquality Foundation of Ga Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetEquality New Mexico Foundation: $15,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetSadie Nash Leadership Project Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetNational Center for Civic Innovation In: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBlack and Pink Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCenter for Transformative Action: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHouse of Tulip: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetDrama Club Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetNew Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSisterlove Incorporated: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWe Got US Now Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetWomen With A Vision: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMaldef - Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBlack LGBTQ Liberation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetSouth Africa Development Fund Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTrans Housing Atlanta Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetThrive Ss Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMontefiore Medical Center: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTag Treatment Action Group Inc: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCommunity Connections for Youth Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFlorida Harm Reduction Collective Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetMiracle of Love Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNational Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance Inc dba NQAPIA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetQueer Art Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 35.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Tides FoundationCA32.9× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tides Foundation · Borealis Philanthropy · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · Proteus Fund Inc · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Groundswell Fund · Wellspring Philanthropic Fund Inc · Elton John AIDS Foundation Inc · AIDS United · Ms Foundation for Women Inc · The Astraea Foundation Inc · Stonewall Community 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.

Compare The Calamus Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Calamus Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Calamus 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.

About The Calamus Foundation

How much does The Calamus Foundation give?
The Calamus Foundation reported 11 grants totaling $150,000 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 1 and 25 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2023.
What does The Calamus Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2024, its largest causes are Philanthropy (31%), Civil Rights (22%), Crime & Legal (11%).
Who are The Calamus Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2019 to FY2024: NEO Philanthropy Inc ($66k), Transgender Law Center ($50k), Lineage Project Inc ($45k).
Does The Calamus Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 88% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Calamus Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Calamus Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Tides Foundation, Borealis Philanthropy, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc.
Where is The Calamus Foundation based?
The Calamus Foundation is based in NY.

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 77 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 Calamus’ filings →

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