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The James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc

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.

$8.5M
Granted FY2020
11
Grants FY2020
2
States reached
$6.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

99% of The James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Jewish Communal Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 7 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year The James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $8M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

9
’20
5
’21
8
’22
7
’23
7
’24
7
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Philanthropy$84MHealth$13MEducation$2.8MArts & Culture$575kInternational$561kPublic Benefit$297kReligion$225kRecreation & Sports$40kOther$0
02FY2020 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k2 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $65k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $200k
  • $250k+4 grants · $8.2M
$100,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER$6,000,000
MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE$1,000,000
JEWISH COMMUNAL FUND$945,000
STRONG FUTURE MARYLAND$250,000
HATZOLOH INC$100,000
92ND STREET Y$100,000
DECODA INC$30,000
TIKVAH FUND$25,000
AMERICAN SKIN ASSOCIATION$10,000
REGIONAL FOOD BANK OF NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK INC$5,000
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART$2,000
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 (FY24–24, $25k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR STUTTERING: $25k → 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.
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.
$17M · 9 repeat orgs$812k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2020, 5 since wound down; 21 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
21

Total granted

$17M
$812k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+1%

Still filing today

89%
90%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationInternationalHealthArts & CulturePhilanthropyReligionOther
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

  • ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
    2× · 2020–2021 · $6.7M · revenue +39%
  • TN
    The New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations
    5× · 2021–2025 · $2.7M · revenue +72%
  • MM
    METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
    6× · 2020–2025 · $507k · revenue +119%

Funded once

  • SF
    Strong Future Maryland Inc
    one grant, 2020 · $250k · revenue -100%
  • TY
    THE YOUNG MEN'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +11%
  • HI
    HATZOLOH INC
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
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 Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
3
Long Island Jewish Medical Center

Long island jewish medical center is part of the northwell health ("northwell"), which strives to improve the health of the communities it serves and is committed to providing the highest quality clinical care; educating the current and…

Health
4
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Committed to exceptional healthcare quality for all and actively engaged with our community, einstein drives scientific discovery and educates compassionate leaders in health and science.

Education
5
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
6
Weizmann Institute of Science

The weizmann institute of science, located in rehovot, israel, is one of the worlds top-ranking, multidisciplinary research institutions. at any one time, several thousand scientists, staff and students are involved in hundreds of research…

Science & Tech
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
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
9
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
10
Neurology Associates of Stony Brook University Faculty Practice Corp

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
11
Lenox Hill Hospital

Lenox hill hospital is part of northwell health ("northwell"), which strives to improve the health of the communities it serves and is committed to providing the highest quality clinical care; educating the current and future generations…

Health
12
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Inc

The Knight First Amendment Institute defends the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, public advocacy and public education. Our aim is to promote a system of free expression that is…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Queens Library Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Tikvah Fund. 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

28 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. 28 of the 31 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/28
Grantees still filing
16/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEWISH COMMUNAL FUND: $83,374,125 · PhilanthropyJEWISH COMMUNAL FUND+2 more: $50,000 · PhilanthropyICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $6,694,000 · EducationICAHN SCHO…The New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations: $2,720,000 · EducationThe New Yo…+5 more: $95,000 · EducationTHE MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $6,050,000 · Health+2 more: $30,000 · HealthStrong Future Maryland Inc: $250,000 · OtherALFRED E SMITH MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $150,000 · OtherHATZOLOH INC: $100,000 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO MUSUEM OF ART: $38,000 · OtherTHE QUEENS LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · OtherTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · OtherCITIZENS BUDGET COMMISSION INC: $47,000 · OtherTHE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR STUTTERING TREATMENT AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: $25,000 · Other+3 more: $13,000 · OtherInternational Rescue Committee INC: $500,000 · InternationalWASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: $35,000 · InternationalResearch Institute for Contemporary Iran: $20,000 · International+1 more: $5,500 · InternationalMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $507,000 · Arts & CultureDecoda Inc: $30,000 · Arts & CultureTHE YOUNG MEN'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION: $100,000 · Religion
Philanthropy$83,424,125Education$9,509,000Health$6,080,000Other$698,000International$560,500Arts & Culture$537,000Religion$100,000

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 budgetJEWISH COMMUNAL FUND: $83,374,125 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $6,694,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $6,050,000 over 2y, 41% of budgetThe New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations: $2,720,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $507,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $500,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG MEN'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCITIZENS BUDGET COMMISSION INC: $47,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetPECONIC HOCKEY FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetWASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: $35,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDecoda Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetTHE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR STUTTERING TREATMENT AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: $25,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetTHE QUEENS LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE TIKVAH FUND: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN SKIN ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNYOH COMMUNITY CANCER FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetLiteracy Partners Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEW YORK CITY POLICE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREGIONAL FOOD BANK OF NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCenter for Educational Innovation Inc: $2,500 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.

Jewish Communal FundMorgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Jewish Communal FundNY17.1× affinity7 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The James & Merryl Tisch Foundation Inc 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 31 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on James & Merryl Tisch’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