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The Debs Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Debs 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.

$724k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Arts & Culture$2.0MEducation$1.4MInternational$576kHealth$557kPhilanthropy$115kPublic Benefit$94kCrime & Legal$49kHousing & Shelter$35kOther$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $150k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $555k
$10,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$795k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY$125,000
PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY$105,000
Individual grant recipient$100,000
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT$100,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$75,000
TAG$50,000
CARNEGIE HALL$30,000
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF TORT LAW$30,000
RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD$20,000
CROSSROADS RHODE ISLAND$20,000
DOCAS INTERNATIONAL OF RHODE ISLAND$10,000
FELDEN KRAIS FOUNDATION$10,000
CARTER CENTER$10,000
INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION$10,000
SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART$10,000
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, $59k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%CROSSROADS RHODE ISLAND: $20k → 14%CROSSROADS RHODE ISLAND: $10k → 14%NEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $2k → 17%NEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $1k → 17%NEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $1k → 17%NEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $1k → 17%NEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $1k → 17%NEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $1k → 17%SOHARLEM: $10k → 17%SOHARLEM: $4k → 17%SOHARLEM: $3k → 17%SOHARLEM: $3k → 17%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%SOHARLEM: $1k → 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
NJ
CT
RI
CA
MO
MD
AZ
KS
DC
GA
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.0M · 97 repeat orgs$85k to everyone else

97 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 72 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

97
30

Total granted

$5.0M
$75k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+41%

Still filing today

66%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
Arts & CultureInternationalEducationHealthPhilanthropyHuman ServicesOther
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

  • AU
    AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT
    9× · 2017–2025 · $650k · revenue +14%
  • TC
    THE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $370k · revenue +176%
  • PP
    PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY
    8× · 2017–2025 · $353k · revenue +76%

Funded once

  • TC
    The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Incgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $15k · revenue +130%
  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS INC
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue -71%
  • CU
    COLUMBIA UNIV MEDICAL (SEETRSTEES&DRS)
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
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
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
2
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
3
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
4
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
5
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
6
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
7
Cornell University

Education, research, medical services and other public services.

Education
8
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
9
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
10
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
11
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
12
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is International House; the most unlike its peers is Columbia University Press. 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

88 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 88 of the 130 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
88/88
Grantees still filing
55/88
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

New York Historical Society: $1,075,000 · Arts & CultureNew York Historical SocietyTHE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION: $370,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATIONTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $225,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENC…+19 more: $309,400 · Arts & Culture+19 moreVASSAR COLLEGE: $260,000 · OtherVASSAR COLLEGETREATMENT ACTION GROUP (TAG): $235,000 · OtherTREATMENT ACTION GROUP (TAG)Individual grant recipient: $200,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTAG: $100,000 · OtherTAGIndividual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY: $60,000 · Other+55 more: $463,305 · Other+55 moreAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT: $650,000 · EducationAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF B…PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY: $352,500 · EducationPROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRAR…THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $60,000 · Education+12 more: $99,000 · Education+12 moreINSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC: $285,000 · InternationalINSTITUTE O…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $97,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SA…BRETTON WOODS COMMITTEE: $55,000 · InternationalBRETTON WOO…CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS INC: $30,000 · InternationalCONSULTATIV…THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: $26,500 · International+12 more: $42,000 · International+12 moreFELDENKRAIS FOUNDATION INC: $95,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $18,000 · HealthOUTER CAPE HEALTH SERVICES INC: $8,000 · HealthNEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 · HealthBUTLER HOSPITAL: $7,000 · Health+3 more: $5,000 · HealthFEDERATION OF PROTESTANT WELFARE AGENCIES INC: $85,000 · PhilanthropyPENCIL INC: $4,000 · PhilanthropyAPPLESEED FOUNDATION INC: $3,500 · Philanthropy+1 more: $500 · PhilanthropyVOLCKER ALLIANCE INC: $65,000 · Public BenefitCENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW: $11,000 · Public BenefitPUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 · Public Benefit
Arts & Culture$1,979,400Other$1,418,305Education$1,161,500International$535,500Health$140,000Philanthropy$93,000Public Benefit$85,000

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 budgetNew York Historical Society: $1,075,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT: $650,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION: $370,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY: $352,500 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetINSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC: $285,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetVASSAR COLLEGE: $260,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $225,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $97,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetFELDENKRAIS FOUNDATION INC: $95,000 over 8y, 57% of budgetFEDERATION OF PROTESTANT WELFARE AGENCIES INC: $85,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetVOLCKER ALLIANCE INC: $65,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $60,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBARENBOIM-SAID FOUNDATION (USA): $57,000 over 5y, 18% of budgetSILK ROAD PROJECT INC: $55,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetBRETTON WOODS COMMITTEE: $55,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetAMERICAN MUSEUM TORT LAW INC: $49,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetCROSSROADS RHODE ISLAND: $31,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS INC: $30,250 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetORLEANS CONSERVATION TRUST: $28,500 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetTHE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY: $28,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSPHINX ORGANIZATION INC: $27,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: $26,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSoHarlem Inc: $21,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $18,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK LANDMARKS CONSERVANCY INC: $12,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPOLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $12,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCOLGATE UNIVERSITY: $12,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW: $11,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $11,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican Museum of Natural History: $10,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIETY OF THE THIRD STREET MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT: $9,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOUTER CAPE HEALTH SERVICES INC: $8,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS INC: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBUTLER HOSPITAL: $7,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK WOMEN'S FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetALVIN AILEY DANCE FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SYNERGOS INSTITUTE INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFinancial Services Volunteer Corps Inc: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHARLEM ACADEMY: $6,000 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds New York Historical Society ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT ↗
  • Who funds THE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds VASSAR COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds FELDENKRAIS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds FEDERATION OF PROTESTANT WELFARE AGENCIES INC ↗
  • Who funds VOLCKER ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds BARENBOIM-SAID FOUNDATION (USA) ↗
  • Who funds SILK ROAD PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds BRETTON WOODS COMMITTEE ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN MUSEUM TORT LAW INC ↗
  • Who funds CROSSROADS RHODE ISLAND ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS INC ↗
  • Who funds CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS INC ↗
  • Who funds ORLEANS CONSERVATION TRUST ↗
  • Who funds THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds SPHINX ORGANIZATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds SoHarlem Inc ↗
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc ↗

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 Ford FoundationThe Goldman Sachs Cha…Carnegie Corporation …The Rockefeller Found…The Hyde and Watson F…Charina Foundation In…Ag FoundationJewish Communal FundLily Auchincloss Foun…May and Samuel Rudin …Pinkerton FoundationThe New York Communit…
The Ford FoundationNY27.2× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ford Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Carnegie Corporation of New York · The Rockefeller Foundation · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Charina Foundation Inc Richard Menschel · Ag Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund · Lily Auchincloss Foundation Inc · May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation Inc · Pinkerton Foundation · The New York Community Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Mercy Corps: 47% of income from government
  • Outer Cape Health Services Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: 11% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Silk Road Project Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Orleans Conservation Trust: 2% of income from government
  • Wheaton College: 0% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 130 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 Debs’ 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