Skip to content
The Forman Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Forman Family 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.

$475k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% 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$25MEducation$3.0MRecreation & Sports$1.0MFood & Nutrition$569kReligion$518kPhilanthropy$405kYouth Development$401kHuman Services$345kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $45k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $125k
  • $250k+1 grant · $300k
$25,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$52M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY$300,000
RODEPH SHOLOM CONGREGATION$75,000
DREXEL UNIVERSITY$50,000
THE CAT COLLABORATIVE$25,000
OPERA PHILADELPHIA$10,000
WOMEN'S WAY$10,000
THE CLAY STUDIO$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:

Its human-services grants (FY18–24, $1.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 22%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PHILADELPHIA CONTEMPORARY: $60k → 22%WOMEN'S WAY: $50k → 22%WOMEN'S WAY: $50k → 22%WOMEN'S WAY: $10k → 22%WOMEN'S WAY: $5k → 22%Philadelphia Contemporary: $500k → 22%Philadelphia Contemporary: $435k → 22%Parent Infant Center: $5k → 22%THE PARENT-INFANT CENTER: $5k → 22%Parent Infant Center: $5k → 22%ABORTION LIBERATION FUND OF PA: $15k → 22%THE CAT COLLABORATIVE: $165k → 22%THE CAT COLLABORATIVE: $25k → 22%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
PA
NJ
CA
MO
VA
DE
TX
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 42% of The Forman Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 96% of the giving stays in PA; by stated purpose, 54%.

The Forman Family Foundationlessmore 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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$30M · 30 repeat orgs$1.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

30 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 25 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
39

Total granted

$30M
$1.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+23%

Still filing today

70%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthRecreation & SportsAnimalsOther
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

  • PM
    PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
    6× · 2017–2022 · $2.5M · revenue +14%
  • WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
    4× · 2021–2024 · $825k · revenue +21%
  • VF
    VETRI FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN
    6× · 2017–2022 · $544k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • TC
    THE COBBS CREEK RESTORATION AND COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $667k · revenue +62%
  • CC
    COBBS CREEK RESTR & COMM FNDN
    one grant, 2021 · $333k
  • AC
    ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL TEAMgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $55k · revenue +85%
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 Phillips Collection

The phillips collection is the oldest museum of modern and contemporary art in the u.s. in addition to presentation of works from the permanent collection and special exhibitions, the museum maintains active educational, academic,…

Arts & Culture
2
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

The mission is "to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it." the academy implements its mission through understanding the diversity of life; developing and applying science to protect the environment; and informing…

Science & Tech
3
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy

See schedule owe are an inclusive community on a mission to inspire unbounded curiosity and independent thought in every one of our students. in a unique educational environment that extends well beyond campus, we nurture students'…

Education
4
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
5
Whyy Inc

Whyy is the philadelphia region's leading public media provider, serving southeastern pennsylvania, southern new jersey, and all of delaware.

Arts & Culture
6
Balletx

Balletx expands the vocabulary of contemporary ballet for all audiences through innovative performances, world premiere choreography, dance education, and community programs.

Arts & Culture
7
The Asia Society

The society is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization which connects people and institutions in asia and the world to build understanding, address challenges and maximize opportunities.

International
8
Peabody Essex Museum Inc

Pem offers thought-provoking experiences of the arts, humanities, and sciences to activate understanding of our shared humanity and to empower imagination and learning through experimentation. we steward, build, and make our collections…

Arts & Culture
9
The Studio Museum in Harlem

The studio museum in harlem is a contemporary art museum that focuses on the work of artists of african descent - as well as work that has been inspired and influenced by african culture - past and present; through its exhibitions,…

Arts & Culture
10
Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation

Committed to innovation, the solomon r. guggenheim foundation (the "foundation") collects, (continued on schedule o)

Arts & Culture
11
Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau

The philadelphia convention & visitors bureau (phlcvb) is the official tourism promotion agency for the city of philadelphia globally, and the sales and marketing agency for the pennsylvania convention center (pcc). phlcvb markets…

—
12
Moore College of Art and Design

Moore is dedicated to excellence in art and design. Founded in 1848, Moore is the first and only visual arts college for women in the US. With its undergraduate BFA degree for women and coeducational graduate programs, Moore cultivates…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Philadelphia Contemporary; the most unlike its peers is The Cat Collaborative. 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

53 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. 53 of the 74 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/53
Grantees still filing
43/53
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FORMAN ARTS INITIATIVE INC: $20,877,500 · Arts & CultureFORMAN ARTS INITIATIVE INCPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $2,461,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART+15 more: $308,500 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS CENTRAL SCHOOL CORPORATION: $1,075,000 · OtherFRIENDS CE…RODEPH SHALOM CONGREGATION: $492,500 · OtherRODEPH SHA…COBBS CREEK RESTR & COMM FNDN: $333,333 · OtherCOBBS CREE…THE PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL: $240,000 · OtherTHE PHILAD…washington university of st louis: $115,000 · OtherTEACH FOR AMERICA GREATER PHILADELPHIA: $105,000 · OtherCENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $188,750 · OtherCENTER CIT…+25 more: $368,750 · Other+25 moreWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $825,000 · EducationDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $360,000 · EducationBIG PICTURE PHILADELPHIA: $250,000 · EducationREVOLUTION SCHOOL: $100,000 · EducationEducation Law Center - PA: $66,500 · Education+4 more: $75,500 · EducationPHILADELPHIA CONTEMPORARY: $995,000 · Human ServicesTHE CAT COLLABORATIVE: $190,000 · Human ServicesWOMENS WAY: $115,000 · Human Services+2 more: $30,000 · Human ServicesTHE COBBS CREEK RESTORATION AND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $666,667 · Recreation & SportsPHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL INC: $151,400 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsVETRI FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN: $543,925 · Health+3 more: $5,500 · HealthTHE PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $350,000 · PhilanthropyTHE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $58,788 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA: $25,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $2,500 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$23,647,000Other$2,918,333Education$1,677,000Human Services$1,330,000Recreation & Sports$823,067Health$549,425Philanthropy$436,288

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 budgetFORMAN ARTS INITIATIVE INC: $20,877,500 over 4y, 92% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $2,461,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetPHILADELPHIA CONTEMPORARY: $995,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $825,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COBBS CREEK RESTORATION AND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $666,667 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetVETRI FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN: $543,925 over 6y, 7.7% of budgetDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $360,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBIG PICTURE PHILADELPHIA: $250,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetTHE PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL: $240,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetTHE CAT COLLABORATIVE: $190,000 over 2y, 34% of budgetCENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $188,750 over 7y, 5.3% of budgetPHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL INC: $151,400 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetWOMENS WAY: $115,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetREVOLUTION SCHOOL: $100,000 over 4y, 6.6% of budgetDIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $70,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetEducation Law Center - PA: $66,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetTHE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $65,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $58,788 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL TEAM: $55,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCREATIVE TIME INC: $55,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTHE BARNES FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetINDEPENDENCE HISTORICAL TRUST: $25,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetKIPP PHILADELPHIA CHARTER SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $23,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetABORTION LIBERATION FUND OF PA: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE PARENT-INFANT CENTER: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEDGE AND CENTER INC THE CHURCH: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetIMPACTPHL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND & PLAYHOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CLAY STUDIO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTRAY CAT RELIEF FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTHE CHINATI FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetART START INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCUREPSP INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFORGOTTEN CATS INC: $1,750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 Philadelphia Foun…The William Penn Foun…Future Standard Found…The Barra Foundation …Independence Foundati…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…Connelly FoundationThe Cigna Group Found…United Way of Greater…The Neubauer Family F…The Thomas and Tracey…The Daniel B and Flor…
The Philadelphia FoundationPA40.7× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · The William Penn Foundation · Future Standard Foundation · The Barra Foundation Inc · Independence Foundation · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · Connelly Foundation · The Cigna Group Foundation · United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey · The Neubauer Family Foundation · The Thomas and Tracey Gravina Foundation · The Daniel B and Florence E Green 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 Forman Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Forman Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Forgotten Cats Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
7report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Forman Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Forman 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 74 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 Forman 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