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The Karas Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Karas Family 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.

$20k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$97kHealth$18kFood & Nutrition$16kCrime & Legal$14kArts & Culture$12kInternational$12kEnvironment$11kYouth Development$8kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$51k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$3,500
WELD SEATTLE$2,052
Individual grant recipient$2,035
FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN BOSTON$2,000
NORTHWEST FILM FORUM$1,050
UNICEF$1,046
Individual grant recipient$1,021
NATIONAL MARINE LIFE CENTER$1,000
RAVE FOUNDATION$1,000
KARAS FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP FUND (RECPIENT KENNEDY DYLEWICZ)$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
ASPCA$1,000
SURFRIDER FOUNDATION$829
Individual grant recipient$500
Individual grant recipient$500
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 (FY17–24, $7k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 8% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $1k → 8%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN BOSTON: $2k → 11%WELLSPRINGS: $1k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 11%YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE: $250 → 9%NEADS: $515 → 11%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

ME
VT
WA
IL
NY
MA
NJ
CA
VA
TN
NC
DC
AL
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

60%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$133k · 31 repeat orgs$89k to everyone else

31 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 30 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
88

Total granted

$133k
$70k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+40%

Still filing today

52%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 4% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $19k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesInternationalHealthEnvironmentArts & CultureOther
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

  • DUKE UNIVERSITY
    7× · 2017–2023 · $26k · revenue +51%
  • FH
    FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER
    7× · 2017–2023 · $10k · revenue +27%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $9k · revenue +73%

Funded once

  • JH
    JOHN HAY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $6k
  • ESSEX COUNTY GREENBELT ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue +61%
  • BE
    BOSTON EDUCATION DEVELEPMENT FUND
    one grant, 2018 · $3k
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
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
2
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
3
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.

—
4
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
7
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
8
Ceres Inc

Ceres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just, and resilient world. through education and research, we make the business case for action on the most pressing sustainability…

Environment
9
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
10
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
11
Boston Harbor Now Inc

Our mission is to ensure that the people of greater boston benefit from a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive waterfront, harbor, and islands; these spaces are equitable, accessible, and adapted to climate change; and to ensure our public,…

Environment
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Seattle Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Rockhouse 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

58 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. 58 of the 138 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/58
Grantees still filing
43/58
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY PREP: $20,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY PREPFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $9,785 · OtherFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTERSOUND EXPERIENCE: $8,238 · OtherSOUND EXPERIENCESEATTLE ACADEMY: $5,950 · OtherJOHN HAY FOUNDATION: $5,650 · Other+109 more: $102,120 · Other+109 moreDUKE UNIVERSITY: $26,000 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $8,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT …DONORSCHOOSEORG: $6,325 · EducationDONORSCHOOSEORGPHILLIPS BROOKS HOUSE ASSOCIATION INC: $2,380 · Education+3 more: $1,450 · EducationESSEX COUNTY GREENBELT ASSOCIATION: $3,420 · EnvironmentCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $2,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,040 · EnvironmentHARVARD CONSERVATION TRUST: $270 · EnvironmentOCEANA INC: $250 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN - BOSTON INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesWELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES: $1,263 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $1,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesNEADS INC: $515 · Human ServicesPINE STREET INN INC: $500 · Human ServicesTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER SEATTLE (6871): $250 · Human ServicesWORCESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK INC: $5,020 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $50 · Food & NutritionSound Experience: $5,060 · Science & TechWELD SEATTLE: $3,000 · Crime & LegalTHE IF PROJECT: $2,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$151,743Education$44,655Environment$6,980Human Services$6,528Food & Nutrition$5,070Science & Tech$5,060Crime & Legal$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 budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $26,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $9,785 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $8,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $6,325 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSound Experience: $5,060 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWORCESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK INC: $5,020 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetESSEX COUNTY GREENBELT ASSOCIATION: $3,420 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWELD SEATTLE: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO LAKE INC: $2,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHILLIPS BROOKS HOUSE ASSOCIATION INC: $2,380 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWATER FIRST INTERNATIONAL: $2,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $2,018 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN - BOSTON INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSUMMER SEARCH: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES: $1,263 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $1,110 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOYOTE CENTRAL: $1,100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWEST FILM FORUM: $1,050 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC: $1,050 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,040 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $1,035 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUNTINGTON'S DISEASE SOCIETY OF AMERICA INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MARINE LIFE CENTER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEMERSON HOSPITAL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MASSACHUSETTS INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $760 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE FOUNDATION: $650 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLAY BALL FOUNDATION INC: $515 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEADS INC: $515 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $515 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE VIRGINIA THURSTON HEALING GARDEN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPEACE DIRECT INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUPOWER: $500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDHAVEN: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR GUN RESPONSIBILITY: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHEAST ANIMAL SHELTER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNETWORK FOR GOOD: $450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAGASSIZ VILLAGE FOUNDED BY MR & MRS HARRY E BURROUGHS: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARVARD CONSERVATION TRUST: $270 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.

  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds DONORSCHOOSEORG ↗
  • Who funds Sound Experience ↗
  • Who funds WORCESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds ESSEX COUNTY GREENBELT ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds WELD SEATTLE ↗
  • Who funds CAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO LAKE INC ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PHILLIPS BROOKS HOUSE ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds WATER FIRST INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds PAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC ↗
  • Who funds CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN - BOSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds THE IF PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds SUMMER SEARCH ↗
  • Who funds THE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC ↗

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.

Seattle FoundationBoston Foundation IncBarton Family Foundat…American Tower Corpor…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…The Blackbaud Giving …Charities Aid Foundat…
Seattle FoundationWA13.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Barton Family Foundation · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America

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 Karas Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Karas Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • End Mass Overdose Inc: 99% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • National Marine Life Center Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Essex County Greenbelt Association: 8% of income from government
  • Friends of the Children - Boston Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Emerson Hospital: 3% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Special Olympics Massachusetts Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Neads Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Worcester County Food Bank Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Harvard Conservation Trust: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
10report 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 138 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 Karas Family’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