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The Dr M Lee Pearce Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Dr M Lee Pearce Foundation Inc

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.

$5.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
13
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$999k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$4.3MHealth$4.1MPhilanthropy$1.3MRecreation & Sports$305kHuman Services$22kEducation$20kSocial Science$5kEnvironment$1kOther$0
02FY2024 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $128k
  • $250k+11 grants · $4.9M
$300,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$174M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL$999,350
MAYO CLINIC$600,000
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA ASSOCIATION$500,000
OPERA AMERICA$500,000
THE FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH$425,000
NEW WORLD SYMPHONY$400,000
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE$300,000
THE SPHINX ORGANIZATION$300,000
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA$300,000
THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA$300,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$300,000
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC$128,000
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - BASCOM PALMER EYE INSTITUTE$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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 79% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: $999k → 16%MAYO CLINIC: $600k → 9%THE FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH: $425k → 6%THE METROPOLITAN OPERA ASSOCIATION: $500k → 17%THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $300k → 14%NEW WORLD SYMPHONY: $400k → 15%THE SPHINX ORGANIZATION: $300k → 21%THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA: $300k → 17%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $300k → 14%HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: $300k → 16%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $158k → 9%FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH: $300k → 6%THE METROPOLITAN OPERA ASSOCIATION: $200k → 17%THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $300k → 14%NEW WORLD SYMPHONY: $100k → 15%THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA: $300k → 17%OAK BROOK CHAPTER OF THE INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: $100k → 16%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $150k → 9%FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH: $200k → 6%METROPOLITAN OPERA: $100k → 17%THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $150k → 14%NEW WORLD SYMPHONY: $50k → 15%THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA: $150k → 17%SHERRILL HOUSE INC: $3k → 16%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $8k → 9%OPERA AMERICA: $500k → 17%THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $100k → 14%NEW WORLD SYMPHONY: $50k → 15%THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA: $100k → 17%METROPOLITAN OPERA: $100k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $300k → 15%THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA: $100k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $100k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $100k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - BASCOM PALMER EYE INSTITUTE: $5k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $200k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $128k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $43k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $28k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $15k → 15%FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $3k → 15%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
DC
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 18% of The Dr M Lee Pearce Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 15% of the giving stays in FL; by stated purpose, 23%.

The Dr M Lee Pearce Foundation Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.3M · 11 repeat orgs$1.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
38

Total granted

$7.3M
$119k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+33%

Still filing today

55%
66%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.4M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHealthInternationalRecreation & SportsSocial ScienceOther
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

  • TM
    The Musical Arts Association
    5× · 2020–2024 · $950k · revenue +45%
  • TF
    THE FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH
    3× · 2022–2024 · $925k · revenue +19%
  • WN
    WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA
    5× · 2017–2024 · $860k · revenue ×23 · 67% of their budget

Funded once

  • TM
    The Miriinsky Foundation of America, Inc.
    one grant, 2017 · $13k
  • OB
    Oak Brook Infant Welfare
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • UW
    United Way of Miami-Dade re: Tocqueville Society
    one grant, 2017 · $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
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
2
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
3
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
4
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…

Arts & Culture
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
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
7
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
8
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
9
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
10
Smithsonian Institution

*increase and diffusion of knowledge* is the mission set forth by james smithson. the smithsonian endeavors to shape the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.

Arts & Culture
11
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
12
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Metropolitan Opera Association Inc; the most unlike its peers is American Museum of Natural History. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

34 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. 34 of the 53 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/34
Grantees still filing
29/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: $1,399,350 · OtherHARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOLMAYO CLINIC: $600,000 · OtherMAYO CLINICUNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $500,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MIAMI - MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICIN…UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $413,750 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FROST SCHOOL OF MUSICMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $316,000 · OtherMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATIONMETROPOLITAN OPERA: $300,000 · OtherMETROPOLITAN OPERA+17 more: $64,865 · OtherThe Musical Arts Association: $950,000 · Arts & CultureThe Musical Arts AssociationWASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $860,000 · Arts & CultureWASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERAMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $700,000 · Arts & CultureMetropolitan Opera Association IncOPERA AMERICA INC: $500,000 · Arts & CultureOPERA AMERICA INCSPHINX ORGANIZATION INC: $300,000 · Arts & CultureSPHINX ORGANIZATION INC+9 more: $25,000 · Arts & CultureTHE FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH: $925,000 · HealthTHE FEINSTEI…+5 more: $7,000 · HealthNEW WORLD SYMPHONY INC: $600,000 · Education+5 more: $18,500 · EducationNorthwestern University: $305,000 · Recreation & SportsAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $5,000 · Social ScienceAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $2,500 · InternationalPROJECT HOPE - THE PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · International
Other$3,593,965Arts & Culture$3,335,000Health$932,000Education$618,500Recreation & Sports$305,000Social Science$5,000International$3,500

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 budgetThe Musical Arts Association: $950,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE FEINSTEIN INSTITUTES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH: $925,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetWASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $860,000 over 5y, 67% of budgetMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $700,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNEW WORLD SYMPHONY INC: $600,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetOPERA AMERICA INC: $500,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetNorthwestern University: $305,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSPHINX ORGANIZATION INC: $300,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARINE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH FLORIDA PBS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHERRILL HOUSE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIAMI DADE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MURRAY DRANOFF FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAmerican Museum of Natural History: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF NEW YORK INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetZOO MIAMI FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRICHARD WAGNER SOCIETY OF NEW YORK INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN FUND FOR WESTMINSTER ABBEY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL HISPANIC FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHighlands Cashiers Health Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT HOPE - THE PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOOD SHEPHERD SERVICES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BUONICONTI FUND TO CURE PARALYSIS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetColonial Williamsburg Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUSS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL 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.

The Ayco Charitable F…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Natl Christian Charit…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Ayco Charitable FoundationNY11.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ayco Charitable Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Dr M Lee Pearce Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Dr M Lee Pearce Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Sherrill House Inc: 31% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • New World Symphony Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 53 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 Dr M Lee Pearce’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