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The Joel & Lisa Benenson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Joel & Lisa Benenson Foundation

Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$8k
Granted FY2023
1
Grants FY2023
1
States reached
$8k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2023.

Education$40kHealth$34kArts & Culture$15kYouth Development$11kInternational$10kCommunity Improvement$5kRecreation & Sports$3kEnvironment$2kOther$0
02FY2023 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$8,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY$8,000
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 (FY18–20, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Wounded Warrior Project: $250 → 14%URBAN LEAGUE OF HUDSON COUNTY: $5k → 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

MT
IL
NY
NJ
CA
UT
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

64%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$74k · 9 repeat orgs$41k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +58% since the first grant, against +32% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2023, 8 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
15

Total granted

$74k
$41k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
+32%

Still filing today

67%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsCommunity ImprovementYouth 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

  • CU
    Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy
    2× · 2017–2018 · $30k · revenue +21%
  • CP
    CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC
    2× · 2017–2022 · $3k · revenue +76%
  • MM
    METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
    2× · 2018–2019 · $2k · revenue +58%

Funded once

  • KB
    Kips Bay Boys & Girls Clubgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $11k · revenue +92%
  • PP
    POLARIS PROJECT
    one grant, 2018 · $10k · revenue -11%
  • TP
    The Public Theatre
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
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
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
2
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
3
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
4
New York Historical Society

The founding mission of the new-york historical society ("the new york historical "tnyh") is to collect, preserve, and interpret, for the broadest possible public, material relevant to the history of the united states in general and of new…

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
7
The Paley Center for Media

Description of organization mission: the paley center for media is the premier institution dedicated to advancing the understanding of media-it's artistic value, social impact and historical importance-for the public and media…

Arts & Culture
8
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
9
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
10
Lowell Observatory

The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…

Science & Tech
11
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
12
New York Hall of Science

Nysci's mission is to nurture generations of passionate learners, critical thinkers, and active citizens through design make play - an approach to learning and engagement that is deeply rooted in research on stem learning and guides the…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Central Park Conservancy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Ruby Valley Healthcare Foundation. 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

16 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. 16 of the 25 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
12/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

University of Montana: $18,000 · OtherUniversity of MontanaMONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY: $14,000 · OtherMONTANA STATE UNIVERSITYThe Public Theatre: $7,500 · OtherThe Public TheatreUTAH STATE UNIVERSITY: $2,000 · OtherCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $3,000 · OtherCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC+7 more: $3,950 · Other+7 moreCitizens United for Research in Epilepsy: $30,000 · HealthCitizens United for Research in…RUBY VALLEY HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $3,100 · HealthRUBY VALLEY HEALTHCARE FOUNDATI…Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club: $11,000 · Youth DevelopmentKips Bay B…POLARIS PROJECT: $10,000 · InternationalPOLARIS P…METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $2,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $1,620 · Arts & CultureDANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $850 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $500 · Arts & CultureAmerican Museum of Natural History: $450 · Arts & CultureTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $6,000 · EducationUrban League of Hudson County Inc: $5,350 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $250 · Human Services
Other$48,450Health$33,100Youth Development$11,000International$10,000Arts & Culture$6,420Education$6,000Human Services$5,600

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 budgetCitizens United for Research in Epilepsy: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetKips Bay Boys & Girls Club: $11,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUrban League of Hudson County Inc: $5,350 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRUBY VALLEY HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $3,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $1,620 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $850 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Museum of Natural History: $450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $250 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Joel & Lisa Benenson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Joel & Lisa Benenson 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 71%
  • Urban League of Hudson County Inc: 71% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.

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 25 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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