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The Hersh Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Hersh 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.

$961k
Granted FY2024still arriving
102
Grants FY2024still arriving
12
States reached
$275k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Public Benefit$3.2MArts & Culture$2.4MEducation$1.6MHealth$1.6MSocial Science$751kCivil Rights$296kCommunity Improvement$241kInternational$230kOther$0
02FY2024 · 102 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k83 grants · $226k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $310k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $150k
  • $250k+1 grant · $275k
$2,500
Median grant
12
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HORATIO ALGER ASSOCIATION$275,000
STANFORD HOOVER INSTITUTE$100,000
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH$50,000
Individual grant recipient$40,000
GREENLIGHT FUND$25,000
SKILL UP (ENTANGLED INSTITUTE)$25,000
GRACE BRIDGE CELINA (MASTER CARES FOUNDATION)$25,000
UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN DALLAS$25,000
GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM MEMORIAL FDTN$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF WACO$25,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
WOODALL ROGERS PARK (KLYDE WARREN PARK)$15,000
INSTITUTE FOR CITIZENS & SCHOLARS$10,000
TELLURIDE FOUNDATION$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 (FY20–24, $86k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%JUBILEE PARK: $15k → 14%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE: $5k → 14%WESLEY RANKIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 14%WESLEY RANKIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 14%WESLEY RANKIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 14%WESLEY RANKIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 14%WESLEY RANKIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $2k → 14%JONATHAN'S PLACE - KID NET FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%HOPE COTTAGE: $1k → 14%HOPE SUPPLY: $518 → 14%FAMILY PLACE: $5k → 14%FAMILY PLACE: $4k → 14%FAMILY PLACE: $2k → 14%BACHMAN LAKE TOGETHER: $5k → 14%HOPE SUPPLY: $3k → 14%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

IL
NY
MA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
MD
NM
KS
TN
NC
DC
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 17% of The Hersh Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Hersh 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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.0M · 81 repeat orgs$2.1M to everyone else

81 repeat relationships: 54 still active in FY2024, 27 since wound down; 43 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

81
62

Total granted

$9.0M
$1.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+22%

Still filing today

63%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $473k 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 & CultureEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyHealthYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • GW
    GREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $750k · revenue +30%
  • AE
    AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH
    5× · 2020–2024 · $250k · revenue +57%
  • TE
    THE EPISCOPAL SCHOOL OF DALLAS INC
    3× · 2017–2021 · $180k · revenue +20%

Funded once

  • SM
    SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $1.0M · revenue +163%
  • NM
    NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR MUSEUM FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +22%
  • MA
    MOMENTUM ADVISORY COLLECTIVEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +200%
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
Dallas International University

As a christian university, we provide education and research opportunities preparing global leaders to partner with local communities.

Education
2
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
3
Dallas College Foundation Inc

Dallas college foundation enhances the level of achievement and excellence of dallas college by providing scholarships, eliminating barriers that prevent students from attending and graduating, and supporting innovation.

Education
4
The University of TexasTexas a&M Investment Management Company

To generate superior long-term investment returns to support The University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems as they provide world-class teaching, push the boundaries of discovery, and achieve excellence in patient healthcare for…

Education
5
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
6
Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council

The mission of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council is to drive evidence-based improvement in patient care and health equity throughout the region.

—
7
Texas Trees Foundation

The mission of texas trees foundation is to improve the health of cities and people through the transformative power of trees.

—
8
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
9
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
10
Texas Association of Business

As the state chamber of commerce, tab is the most influential and dominant voice for public policy issues affecting business in texas. through proven results-oriented advocacy and member services, tab develops a climate in texas which…

—
11
Witte Museum

The witte museum inspires people to shape the future of texas through transformative and relevant experiences in nature, science and culture.

Arts & Culture
12
Texas Tribune Inc

The texas tribune promotes civic engagement and public education across the state by producing and sharing for free public data interactives, statewide events and intensive and daily reporting on texas public policy, politics and current…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Communities Foundation of Texas Inc; the most unlike its peers is Natural Gas Partners Foundation. 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

123 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. 123 of the 192 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
120/123
Grantees still filing
70/123
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATION: $3,175,500 · EducationTHE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATIONSOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · EducationSOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATIONHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC: $275,000 · Education+20 more: $848,526 · Education+20 moreSTANFORD HOOVER INSTITUTE: $500,000 · OtherSTANFORD HOOVER INSTITUTEIndividual grant recipient: $265,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientONE MIND: $250,000 · OtherONE MINDStanford Graduate School of Business: $200,000 · OtherStanford Graduate School of Busine…THE EPISCOPAL SCHOOL OF DALLAS INC: $180,000 · OtherWORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL: $132,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $120,000 · Other+121 more: $1,861,216 · Other+121 moreGREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC: $750,000 · Arts & CultureGREATER WASHINGTON E…DALLAS THEATER CENTER: $420,850 · Arts & CultureDALLAS THEATER CENTE…DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE INC: $301,000 · Arts & CultureDALLAS BLACK DANCE T…Dallas Museum of Art: $127,500 · Arts & CultureDallas Museum of ArtDallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: $80,800 · Arts & Culture+18 more: $360,643 · Arts & Culture+18 moreAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $250,000 · Social ScienceCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $53,199 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN DALLAS INC: $35,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF WACO & CENTRAL TX: $25,000 · PhilanthropyWHITE STAR EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropyASSET FUNDERS NETWORK: $5,000 · Philanthropy+6 more: $4,688 · PhilanthropyGLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $125,000 · Public Benefit+1 more: $2,500 · Public BenefitNURU INTERNATIONAL: $52,500 · InternationalCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $40,000 · InternationalCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $10,000 · International+1 more: $1,200 · International
Education$5,299,026Other$3,508,716Arts & Culture$2,040,793Social Science$250,000Philanthropy$137,887Public Benefit$127,500International$103,700

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 budgetTHE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATION: $3,175,500 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetSOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetGREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC: $750,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDALLAS THEATER CENTER: $420,850 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetDALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE INC: $301,000 over 4y, 3.1% of budgetHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC: $275,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $250,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE EPISCOPAL SCHOOL OF DALLAS INC: $180,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR URBAN DEBATE LEAGUES: $170,500 over 6y, 4.4% of budgetDallas Museum of Art: $127,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetGLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 5y, 11% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT HALLIBURTON FOUNDATION INC: $87,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetDallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: $80,800 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE KATY TRAIL INC: $76,500 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetST PHILIPS SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CENTER: $75,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $72,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH TEXAS PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $62,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDALLAS URBAN DEBATE ALLIANCE: $60,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetDALLAS CHILDRENS THEATER INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetNORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK: $57,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMomentous Institute: $55,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $53,199 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NASHER SCULPTURE CENTER: $52,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNURU INTERNATIONAL: $52,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetNATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMOMENTUM ADVISORY COLLECTIVE: $50,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetJAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEW MEXICO HABITAT CONSERVATION INITIATIVE: $50,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetBaylor Health Care System Foundation: $45,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWESLEY-RANKIN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $41,500 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetALCUIN SCHOOL: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS RANGERS BASEBALL FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $35,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN DALLAS INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE: $32,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST MARK'S SCHOOL OF TEXAS: $27,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTACA INC: $26,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetGREENLIGHT FUND INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF WACO & CENTRAL TX: $25,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR STUDENT COMMUNICATIONINC: $24,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetDALLAS CITIZENS COUNCIL: $23,750 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetAUSTIN STREET CENTER: $20,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNorthwestern University: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR PLAYERS GUILD: $20,000 over 3y, 0.8% 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 Dallas FoundationCommunities Foundatio…The Eugene McDermott …The Addy FoundationHoblitzelle FoundationTexas Instruments Fou…United Way of Metropo…Kline Family Foundati…George & Fay Young Fo…W P & Bulah Luse Foun…Hillcrest FoundationTexas Women's Foundat…
The Dallas FoundationTX64.8× affinity36 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Dallas Foundation · Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · The Eugene McDermott Foundation · The Addy Foundation · Hoblitzelle Foundation · Texas Instruments Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Inc · Kline Family Foundation · George & Fay Young Foundation Inc · W P & Bulah Luse Foundation · Hillcrest Foundation · Texas Women's 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 Hersh Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Hersh Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
33report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Hersh Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Hersh 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 192 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 Hersh’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