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The Daniel and Karen Berman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Daniel and Karen Berman 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.

$52k
Granted FY2020
21
Grants FY2020
3
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

76% of The Daniel and Karen Berman Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 11 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year The Daniel and Karen Berman Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 8 organizations, $52k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

2
’17
10
’18
6
’19
8
’20
11
’21
10
’22
9
’23
10
’24
11
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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 2025.

Philanthropy$776kFood & Nutrition$65kHousing & Shelter$55kArts & Culture$55kEducation$45kReligion$28kYouth Development$20kHealth$8kOther$0
02FY2020 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k19 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$2,385
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC$10,000
FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC$10,000
DUKE UNIVERSITY$5,000
JUDEA REFORM CONGREGATION$2,500
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$2,500
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$2,500
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$2,500
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$2,500
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$2,500
EAST DURHAM CHILDRENS INITIATIVE$2,500
JUDEA REFORM CONGREGATION$2,385
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$1,000
DUKE UNIVERSITY$1,000
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$1,000
DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION$1,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SCHWAB CHARITABLE FUND: $152k → 10%NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS: $3k → 8%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $15k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 11%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: $10k → 12%SCHWAB CHARITABLE FUND: $90k → 10%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%PRO PUBLICA INC: $3k → 17%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $8k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $8k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $3k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $3k → 8%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 11%DURHAM CHILDRENS INITIATIVE: $10k → 11%EAST DURHAM CHILDRENS INITIATIVE: $3k → 11%EAST DURHAM CHILDRENS INITIATIVE: $3k → 11%EAST DURHAM CHILDRENS INITIATIVE: $3k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $10k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $10k → 11%CAROLINA THEATRE OF DURHAM INC: $10k → 11%CAROLINA THEATRE OF DURHAM INC: $10k → 11%CAROLINA THEATRE OF DURHAM INC: $10k → 11%CAROLINA THEATRE OF DURHAM INC: $10k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $8k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $8k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $8k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $8k → 11%CAROLINA THEATRE OF DURHAM INC: $5k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $3k → 11%URBAN MINISTRIES OF DURHAM INC: $3k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $152k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $110k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $5k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $5k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $5k → 11%JUDEA REFORM CONGREGATION: $5k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $5k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $5k → 11%DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $4k → 11%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

NY
OR
PA
NJ
CA
NE
NC
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$266k · 11 repeat orgs$13k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2020, 3 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
4

Total granted

$266k
$4k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+80%

Still filing today

91%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k 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
EducationArts & CultureHealthFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentInternationalOther
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

  • FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $65k · revenue +98%
  • Urban Ministries of Durham Inc
    8× · 2018–2025 · $55k · revenue +39%
  • Carolina Theatre of Durham Inc
    5× · 2021–2025 · $45k · revenue +351%

Funded once

  • IT
    ISRAEL TENNIS CENTERS FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $2k · revenue +80%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
  • DA
    DURHAM ACADEMY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $500 · revenue +52%
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
2
Unc Health Foundation Inc

At unc health foundation, we inspire philanthropic support for unc health and unc school of medicine that transforms healthcare and provides hope to the people of north carolina and communities around the world.

Education
3
Duke Student Publishing Company Inc

The organization's mission is to be the first and best source of independent news analysis about the duke community and to develop outstanding student leaders through journalism.

Education
4
The Durham Museum

Provide relevant educational and entertaining opportunities within the region that exceed customer expectations, while preserving our community's vibrant cultural history.

Arts & Culture
5
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
6
Community School of Davidson Inc

Community school of davidson believes that every student can and will succeed in ways that reflect his or her own aptitudes and interests. our mission is to use the principles of "the basis school" to provide an optimum environment for…

Education
7
Student U

Our mission is to empower and equip first-generation college students in durham public schools, their families, and educators to become the leaders that will transform our city.

Education
8
North Carolina Bar Association

The north carolina bar association is organized for the purposes of promoting and improving the administration of justice in north carolina; fostering and encouraging law reform when in the public interest; advancing the science of…

—
9
North Carolina Chamber

The organization is a proactive, nonpartisan business advocacy organization. the organization works in the legislative, regulatory and political arenas to proactively drive positive change to ensure that north carolina is a leading place…

—
10
University Associates in Obstetrics and Gynecology University Faculty Pract ice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
11
North Carolina Symphony Foundation

To receive and hold the endowment of the north carolina symphony society, inc. (the "society"), solicit additions to the endowment, safeguard assets, and expend funds for the exclusive use and benefit of the society.

Arts & Culture
12
The Uc Davis Foundation

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

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Greater Trenton Jewish Cemetery Proj. 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

18 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. 18 of the 23 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
16/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $435,800 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyDURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $329,900 · OtherDURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATIONUrban Ministries of Durham Inc: $55,000 · OtherUrban Ministries of Durham IncJUDEA REFORM CONGREGATION: $27,850 · OtherJUDEA REFORM CONGREGATION+7 more: $11,230 · OtherFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $65,000 · Food & NutritionCarolina Theatre of Durham Inc: $45,000 · Arts & CulturePRO PUBLICA INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureTHE GREATER TRENTON JEWISH CEMETERY PROJ: $2,000 · Arts & CultureDUKE UNIVERSITY: $33,500 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL: $5,000 · EducationRANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL INC: $4,500 · Education+1 more: $500 · EducationDURHAM CHILDREN'S INITIATIVE: $19,500 · Youth DevelopmentCHORDOMA FOUNDATION: $5,000 · HealthCAROLINA ABORTION FUND: $2,500 · Health
Philanthropy$445,800Other$423,980Food & Nutrition$65,000Arts & Culture$49,500Education$43,500Youth Development$19,500Health$7,500

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 budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $435,800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDURHAM-CHAPEL HILL JEWISH FEDERATION: $329,900 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $65,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Ministries of Durham Inc: $55,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetCarolina Theatre of Durham Inc: $45,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $33,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetDURHAM CHILDREN'S INITIATIVE: $19,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHORDOMA FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL: $5,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetRANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL INC: $4,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC TELEVISION FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAROLINA ABORTION FUND: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE GREATER TRENTON JEWISH CEMETERY PROJ: $2,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetISRAEL TENNIS CENTERS FOUNDATION INC: $1,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDURHAM ACADEMY INC: $500 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.

Triangle Community Fo…The Shepard Broad Fou…Duke University Healt…Fox Family Foundation…The Forest At Duke IncThe Leon Levine Found…The Winston-Salem Fou…Morgan Stanley Global…Fidelity FoundationArthur J Gallagher Fo…The Blackbaud Giving …Duke Energy Foundation
Triangle Community Foundation IncNC17.3× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Triangle Community Foundation Inc · The Shepard Broad Foundation Inc · Duke University Health System Inc · Fox Family Foundation Inc · The Forest At Duke Inc · The Leon Levine Foundation · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Fidelity Foundation · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Duke Energy 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 Daniel and Karen Berman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Daniel and Karen Berman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 Daniel and Karen Berman Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Daniel and Karen Berman 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 23 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Daniel and Karen Berman’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