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The Fox Aarons Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Fox Aarons 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.

$484k
Granted FY2025still arriving
17
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$97k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Arts & Culture$5.4MEducation$446kCommunity Improvement$75kHousing & Shelter$5kHealth$5k
02FY2025 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $150k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $319k
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$120k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART$96,500
PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC$72,500
BROWN UNIVERSITY$50,000
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC$50,000
LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM$50,000
BROWN UNIVERSITY$40,000
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC$22,500
PRINTED MATTER INC$22,500
NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART$15,000
DIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC$10,000
LESLIE LOHMAN MUSEUM OF GAY AND LESBIAN ART$10,000
DIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC$10,000
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART$10,000
BROWN UNIVERSITY$10,000
SITE SANTA FE$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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $200k → 13%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $150k → 17%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $50k → 14%PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $125k → 13%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $125k → 17%BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $125k → 20%BROWN UNIVERSITY OF PROVIDENCE: $50k → 14%PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $123k → 13%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $120k → 17%BROOKLYN MUSEUM: $125k → 20%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $50k → 14%PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $100k → 13%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $100k → 17%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $50k → 14%PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $100k → 13%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $100k → 17%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $73k → 13%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $75k → 17%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $50k → 17%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $50k → 17%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $50k → 17%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $50k → 17%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $47k → 17%FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $40k → 17%CREATIVE TIME INC: $100k → 17%SWISS INSTITUTE: $75k → 17%CREATIVE TIME INC: $55k → 17%CREATIVE TIME INC: $50k → 17%UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $50k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $500k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $250k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $250k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $250k → 17%LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $150k → 17%LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $100k → 17%LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $100k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $97k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $97k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $97k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $55k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $55k → 17%NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $50k → 17%LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $50k → 17%LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $50k → 17%LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $50k → 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.
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 6% of The Fox Aarons Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Fox Aarons 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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.4M · 13 repeat orgs$56k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +38% since the first grant, against +34% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
5

Total granted

$5.4M
$31k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+34%

Still filing today

92%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k 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 & CultureEducationHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • NM
    New Museum of Contemporary Art
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.9M · revenue +6%
  • P1
    PS 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $794k · revenue +16%
  • LE
    LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM
    7× · 2018–2025 · $550k · revenue +66%

Funded once

  • AA
    ASPEN ART MUSEUM
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue -68%
  • IS
    INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BROOKLYN
    one grant, 2024 · $6k · revenue +7%
  • FF
    FUND FOR PUBLIC HOUSING INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue ×12
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
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
2
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
3
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…

Arts & Culture
4
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
5
Amigos Del Museo Del Barrio Inc El Museo Del Barrio

El museo's mission is to preserve, interpret, and promote the artistic heritage of puerto ricans and all latin americans in the united states by means of exhibitions, public programs, publications, and educational activities.

Arts & Culture
6
Kadist Collection Manager Inc
Arts & Culture
7
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
8
Berggruen Institute
Education
9
Philadelphia Museum of Art

The philadelphia museum of art - in partnership with the city, the region, and art museums around the globe - seeks to preserve, enhance, interpret, and extend the reach of its great collection in particular, and the visual arts in…

Arts & Culture
10
Clyfford Still Museum

Home to the art and legacy of the american painter clyfford still, we invite all to explore the potential of individual creative endeavor.

Arts & Culture
11
Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation

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

Arts & Culture
12
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute

Munson-williams-proctor arts institute (mwpai) is a fine arts center dedicated to serving diverse audiences by advancing the appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts. the art institute aims to promote interest and…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ps 1 Contemporary Art Center Inc; the most unlike its peers is Primary Information Inc. 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

22 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. 22 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
17/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

New Museum of Contemporary Art: $1,915,240 · Arts & CultureNew Museum of Contemporary ArtFRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $1,029,800 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INCPS 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $794,000 · Arts & CulturePS 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INCLOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $550,000 · Arts & CultureLOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUMCREATIVE TIME INC: $330,000 · Arts & CultureCREATIVE TIME INCTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $300,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCESPRINTED MATTER INC: $187,500 · Arts & Culture+11 more: $302,500 · Arts & Culture+11 moreBROWN UNIVERSITY: $435,000 · Community ImprovementUNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $75,000 · OtherINTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BROOKLYN: $5,500 · EducationPRATT INSTITUTE: $5,000 · EducationFUND FOR PUBLIC HOUSING INC: $5,000 · Housing & Shelter
Arts & Culture$5,409,040Community Improvement$435,000Other$75,000Education$10,500Housing & Shelter$5,000

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 budgetNew Museum of Contemporary Art: $1,915,240 over 9y, 2.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $1,029,800 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetPS 1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER INC: $794,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetLOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $550,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $435,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCREATIVE TIME INC: $330,000 over 5y, 5.1% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $300,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetPRINTED MATTER INC: $187,500 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetSWISS INSTITUTE: $107,500 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetDIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $55,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPRIMARY INFORMATION INC: $25,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetASPEN ART MUSEUM: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BROOKLYN: $5,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetPRATT INSTITUTE: $5,000 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 Andy Warhol Found…The Ford FoundationArison Arts FoundationHelen Frankenthaler F…The Cowles Charitable…The Andrew W Mellon F…Brownstone Family Fou…Teiger FoundationVia Art Fund IncRobert Rauschenberg F…Terra Foundation for …National Philanthropi…
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts IncNY19.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc · The Ford Foundation · Arison Arts Foundation · Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Inc · The Cowles Charitable Trust · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · Brownstone Family Foundation · Teiger Foundation · Via Art Fund Inc · Robert Rauschenberg Foundation · Terra Foundation for American Art · National Philanthropic 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 Fox Aarons Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Fox Aarons Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%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
    0get no government money at all
    8report 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 Fox Aarons Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Fox Aarons 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Fox Aarons’ 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