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The Joyce & Bernard Zimmerman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Joyce & Bernard Zimmerman 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.

$67k
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$11k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Health$62kReligion$40kRecreation & Sports$22kEducation$13kInternational$6kHuman Services$6kYouth Development$5kAnimals$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k28 grants · $57k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $11k
$1,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$872k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CT$10,500
NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS INC$8,000
NICE JEWISH RUNNERS INC$5,400
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY HILLEL$5,400
LADDIE LAWRENCE SCHLORSHIP FUND$5,000
STAY FOCUSED INC$5,000
MIB AGENTS$4,000
CIRCLE OF CARE$3,200
TEMPLE ISRAEL FOUNDATION$3,196
CAMP KESEM$3,000
PEQUOT RUNNING CLUB$2,500
DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE$1,500
WESTPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY$1,500
HOMES WITH HOPE INC$1,500
SUSAN FUND$1,000
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 (FY19–22, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 3% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%BOYS TOWN: $50 → 12%DANIEL TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 9%RUTH'S HOUSE: $100 → 17%DANIEL TRUST FOUNDATION: $2k → 9%DANIEL TRUST FOUNDATION: $500 → 9%DANIEL TRUST FOUNDATION: $300 → 9%DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRISIS CENTER: $50 → 9%DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRISIS CENTER: $50 → 9%BUILDER BEYOND BORDERS: $50 → 9%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

VT
MN
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
NE
VA
MD
AZ
TN
DC
GA
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.

69%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$111k · 24 repeat orgs$50k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
37

Total granted

$111k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+9%

Still filing today

63%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 40% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureReligionYouth 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

  • MA
    MIB AGENTS INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $31k · revenue +275%
  • TI
    TEMPLE ISRAEL FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $21k · revenue +164%
  • CO
    CIRCLE OF CARE FOR FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH CANCER INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $12k · revenue +140%

Funded once

  • CH
    CAROLINE HOUSE INC
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +21%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $1k
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM
    one grant, 2024 · $500 · revenue 0%
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
Connecticut Cancer Foundation Inc

To provide funds to benefit families affected by cancer and to support cancer research and education.

—
2
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
3
Dana-Farber Cancer Care Network Inc

The mission of Dana-Farber Cancer Care Network (DFCCN) is to promote and support, directly or indirectly, the interests and purposes of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI).

Health
4
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation Inc

The mission of the breast cancer research foundation, inc. is to prevent and cure breast cancer by advancing the world's most promising research.

Public Safety & Disaster
5
Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation

The samuel waxman cancer research foundation (the "foundation") funds innovative research to bring faster cures to patients. in addition to supporting ongoing collaborative research in specific cancers, our scientists are investigating the…

—
6
Northeast Medical Group Inc

To render medical treatment to patients without regard to ability to pay for such treatment, and to promote a high quality of medical care and other services for the benefit of all persons in the communities it serves.

—
7
North Shore University Hospital

North shore university 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…

Health
8
Asco Association

Asco association promotes the common business interests of its members by: (1) advocating for policies that improve the quality of cancer care; (2) maintaining the highest standards of oncology medical care through programs supporting…

Community Improvement
9
Israel Cancer Research Fund Inc

To support cancer research in israel, for the benefit of israel and all mankind.

—
10
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
11
South Shore University Hospital

South shore university 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…

Health
12
The Miriam Hospital

As a founding hospital in the Brown University Health system, TMH is committed to its mission: Delivering health with care.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is Nice Jewish Runners Inc. 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

46 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 46 of the 77 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
45/46
Grantees still filing
27/46
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MIB AGENTS INC: $30,500 · HealthMIB AGENTS INCCIRCLE OF CARE FOR FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH CANCER INC: $12,350 · HealthCIRCLE OF CARE FOR FAMILIES OF CHILDREN W…MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CONNECTICUT INC: $10,500 · HealthMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CONNECTICUT INC+10 more: $5,550 · Health+10 moreCAMP KESEM: $11,000 · OtherCAMP KESEMNEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS INC: $8,000 · OtherNEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS INCLEHIGH UNIVERSITY HILLEL: $6,400 · OtherLEHIGH UNIVERSITY HILLELCAROLINE HOUSE INC: $5,100 · OtherCAROLINE HOUSE INCCHABAD LUBAVITCH OF WESTPORT: $3,614 · OtherCHABAD LUBAVITCH OF WESTPORTTEMPLE ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $3,196 · OtherTEMPLE ISRAEL FOUNDATIONPequot Running Club Inc: $2,500 · OtherWESTPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY: $2,044 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1,900 · Other+36 more: $8,741 · Other+36 moreTEMPLE ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $20,543 · ReligionTEMPLE ISRAEL FOUN…NICE JEWISH RUNNERS INC: $5,400 · ReligionNICE JEWISH RUNNER…LADDIE LAWRENCE SCHOLARSHIP FND INC: $6,000 · EducationMERCY LEARNING CENTER OF BRIDGEPORT INC: $1,850 · EducationTHE SUSAN FUND INC: $1,000 · EducationTHE BARUCH COLLEGE FUND: $850 · EducationCMA EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $500 · Education+4 more: $575 · EducationTHE DANIEL TRUST FOUNDATION INC: $5,600 · Human Services+5 more: $312 · Human ServicesSTAY-FOCUSED INC: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentCONNECTICUT AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $2,000 · Environment
Health$58,900Other$52,495Religion$25,943Education$10,775Human Services$5,912Youth Development$5,000Environment$2,000

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 budgetMIB AGENTS INC: $30,500 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetTEMPLE ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $20,543 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetCIRCLE OF CARE FOR FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH CANCER INC: $12,350 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CONNECTICUT INC: $10,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLADDIE LAWRENCE SCHOLARSHIP FND INC: $6,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetTHE DANIEL TRUST FOUNDATION INC: $5,600 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetCAROLINE HOUSE INC: $5,100 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCONNECTICUT AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1,900 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMERCY LEARNING CENTER OF BRIDGEPORT INC: $1,850 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $1,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,200 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BARUCH COLLEGE FUND: $850 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCMA EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Norwalk Symphony Society Inc: $400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCALVARY HOSPITAL INC: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWESTON WARM-UP FUND INC: $250 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNORWALK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBETHEL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYALE NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH HOME FOR THE ELDERLY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWeston High School PTO: $200 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMONTGOMERY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAST CANCER ALLIANCE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRUTHS HOUSE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRISIS CENTER: $100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSARCOMA FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFather Flanagan's Boys' Home: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESTPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILDERS BEYOND BORDERS: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRVNAHEALTH INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE YS WOMEN INC BARBARA MORROW: $45 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIENA UNIVERSITY: $25 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAARP FOUNDATION: $12 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.

Fairfield County's Co…The James & Mary Elle…The Near and Far Asso…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Westport Rotary Club …Fox Family Charitable…The Shack Sackler Fou…The Inner-City Founda…Elizabeth Raymond Amb…Peoples United Commun…Newman's Own Foundati…Ibm International Fou…
Fairfield County's Community Foundation IncCT18.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · The James & Mary Ellen Marpe Family Foundation · The Near and Far Association Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Westport Rotary Club Foundation Inc · Fox Family Charitable Foundation Inc · The Shack Sackler Foundation · The Inner-City Foundation for Charity & Education Inc · Elizabeth Raymond Ambler Trust · Peoples United Community Foundation · Newman's Own Foundation · Ibm International 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 Joyce & Bernard Zimmerman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Joyce & Bernard Zimmerman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 150%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Homes With Hope: 28% of income from government
  • The Norwalk Symphony Society Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Domestic Violence Crisis Center: 10% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Mercy Learning Center of Bridgeport Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Rvnahealth Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Westport Historical Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Connecticut Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Yale New Haven Hospital: 0% of income from government
  • Jewish Home for the Elderly of Fairfield County Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
15get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Joyce & Bernard Zimmerman Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Joyce & Bernard Zimmerman 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 77 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 Joyce & Bernard Zimmerman’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