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The Marks Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Marks Family 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.

$179k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$123kFood & Nutrition$114kPhilanthropy$101kYouth Development$94kCommunity Improvement$90kEducation$76kArts & Culture$76kHealth$37kOther$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k22 grants · $78k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $100k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WESTMINSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE$40,000
FEEDMORE FOUNDATION OF WNY$20,250
UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY$20,000
CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF ERIE COUNTY$10,000
HOMESPACE CORPORATION$10,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE NORTHTOWNS$8,375
BUFFALO PREP$8,222
FAMILY PROMISE OF WNY$8,000
BUFFALO STRING WORKS$7,500
BUFFALO ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER INC$7,500
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF ERIE COUNTY$7,500
DISMAS OF VERMONT INC$5,200
SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE INC$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
SALVATION ARMY$5,000
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 (FY21–25, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%LAMOILLE FAMILY CENTER: $150 → 9%LAMOILLE FAMILY CENTER: $150 → 9%LAMOILLE FAMILY CENTER: $150 → 9%CANOPY OF NEIGHBORS: $6k → 13%CANOPY OF NEIGHBORS: $5k → 13%WNY WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $269 → 13%BUFFALO CITY MISSION: $7k → 13%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
NY
MA
CT
VA
DC
TX
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$650k · 56 repeat orgs$146k to everyone else

56 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2025, 34 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

56
39

Total granted

$650k
$118k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+30%

Still filing today

66%
72%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $28k 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
Arts & CulturePhilanthropyEducationFood & NutritionHousing & ShelterHuman ServicesOther
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

  • WE
    WESTMINSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE INC
    4× · 2020–2025 · $90k · revenue +3%
  • HC
    HOMESPACE CORPORATION
    5× · 2020–2025 · $70k · revenue +15%
  • BUFFALO STRING WORKS INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $38k · revenue +131%

Funded once

  • TB
    THE BISON CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue -28%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $12k
  • JB
    JUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER INC
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +6%
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 Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
2
Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation

Brooklyn bridge park corporation's mission, d/b/a brooklyn bridge park ("bbp") mission is to provide an exceptional public space that connects people, nature, and the waterfront, through inclusive, innovative, and sustainable management…

Recreation & Sports
3
The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo

The legal aid bureau of buffalo, inc., a not-for-profit organization, provides legal representation to financially needy men, women and children in western new york. through its skilled staff, the legal aid bureau seeks equal justice for…

Crime & Legal
4
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp

To manage the brooklyn navy yard for the city of new york, specifically to expand job opportunities for new yorkers by fostering the development of small businesses.

Community Improvement
7
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy

The buffalo fine arts academy was incorporated in 1862 to promote, cultivate and generally foster art in all its branches. it is the parent organization of the buffalo akg art museum one of the country's most prominent art museums, as well…

Arts & Culture
8
New York City Center Inc

The mission of new york city center is to be new york city's leading center for dance and musical theater. dedicated to making the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience, city center seeks to create a welcoming environment and…

Arts & Culture
9
Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences

Inspire joyful exploration of science and nature through engaging experiences, unique resources, and exceptional staff.

Arts & Culture
10
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
11
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
12
Food Bank of Central New York

Food bank of central new york is a not-for-profit organization: our mission is to lead the effort to eliminate hunger in our region, through partnerships with others in our community, through education, advocacy, and distribution of…

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Buffalo and Erie County; the most unlike its peers is American Museum of Natural History. 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

71 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. 71 of the 101 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
70/71
Grantees still filing
53/71
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FEEDMORE FOUNDATION OF WNY: $87,250 · OtherFEEDMORE FOUNDATION OF WNYBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF ERIE COUNTY: $42,500 · OtherBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF ERIE COUNTYBUFFALO PREP INC: $30,472 · OtherBUFFALO PREP INCFAMILY PROMISE OF WNY: $27,900 · OtherFAMILY PROMISE OF WNYTHE SALVATION ARMY: $25,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMYMENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES OF WNY: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherDismas of Vermont Inc: $13,100 · Other+60 more: $116,619 · Other+60 moreUNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY: $100,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF BUFF…THE BISON CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTHE BISON CHILDREN…+6 more: $2,651 · PhilanthropyWESTMINSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE INC: $90,000 · Community ImprovementWESTMINSTER E…+1 more: $1,850 · Community ImprovementHOMESPACE CORPORATION: $70,000 · Housing & ShelterHOMESPACE C…SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE INC: $5,000 · Housing & ShelterSLEEP IN HE…THE LORD'S PLACE INC: $3,269 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $400 · Housing & ShelterBUFFALO STRING WORKS INC: $37,500 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO ST…JUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureJUST BUFFA…BUFFALO ARTS STUDIO: $10,000 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO AR…ASSEMBLY HOUSE 150 INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureASSEMBLY H…EXPLORE & MORE A CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $5,000 · Arts & CultureEXPLORE & …PROTOCINEMA INC: $5,000 · Arts & CulturePROTOCINEM…+8 more: $1,682 · Arts & CultureThe Boys & Girls Club Of The Northtowns Inc: $23,375 · Youth DevelopmentCanopy of Neighbors Inc: $10,850 · Human ServicesCITY MISSION SOCIETY INC: $7,000 · Human Services+2 more: $719 · Human Services
Other$382,841Philanthropy$127,651Community Improvement$91,850Housing & Shelter$78,669Arts & Culture$74,182Youth Development$23,375Human Services$18,569

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 budgetUNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY: $100,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetWESTMINSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE INC: $90,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetHOMESPACE CORPORATION: $70,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBUFFALO STRING WORKS INC: $37,500 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetBUFFALO PREP INC: $30,472 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetTHE BISON CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Boys & Girls Club Of The Northtowns Inc: $23,375 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetDismas of Vermont Inc: $13,100 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCanopy of Neighbors Inc: $10,850 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetCHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF ERIE COUNTY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBUFFALO ARTS STUDIO: $10,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF BUFFALO FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBUFFALO NIAGARA WATERKEEPER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBUFFALO ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCITY MISSION SOCIETY INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBUFFALO COLLEGIATE CHARTER SCHOOL: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPROSPECT PARK ALLIANCE INC: $5,070 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetASSEMBLY HOUSE 150 INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetEXPLORE & MORE A CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE NATIONAL FEDERATION FOR JUST COMMUNITIES OF WNY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetHOPECAM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPROTOCINEMA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $3,414 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LORD'S PLACE INC: $3,269 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMeals on Wheels of Lamoille County Inc: $1,850 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BUFFALO INC: $1,550 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLAMOILLE COMMUNITY FOOD SHARE INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetClarina Howard Nichols Center Inc: $900 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSalvation Farms Inc: $800 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPalm Beach Fellowship of Christians and Jews Inc: $750 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetADIRONDACK FOUNDATION: $650 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $550 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBRONX RIVER ALLIANCE INC: $550 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLamoille Area Cancer Network Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSaturn Club Historic Preservation Foundation: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetVERMONT FOODBANK: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROSWELL PARK ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF WILLIAM ALEXANDER MIDDLE SCHOOL 51 INC: $451 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN CLUB INC: $450 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLET THERE BE LIGHT INTERNATIONAL LTBLI at dig: $450 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLAMOILLE FAMILY CENTER INC: $450 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICE FOUNDATION OF WNY INC: $400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPS 172 PTA INC: $400 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE DOE FUND INC: $400 over 2y, 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.

Community Foundation …The John R Oishei Fou…Children's Foundation…The Baird FoundationThe Western New York …Foundation for Jewish…James H Cummings Foun…The Cameron and Jane …Buffalo Sabres Founda…Cullen FoundationBuffalo Bills Foundat…The Peter and Elizabe…
Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo IncNY52.5× affinity25 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Inc · The John R Oishei Foundation · Children's Foundation of Erie County Inc · The Baird Foundation · The Western New York Foundation · Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies Inc · James H Cummings Foundation Inc · The Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation · Buffalo Sabres Foundation · Cullen Foundation · Buffalo Bills Foundation Inc · The Peter and Elizabeth C Tower 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 Marks Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Marks Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 36%
  • Clarina Howard Nichols Center Inc: 51% of income from government
  • Dismas of Vermont Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Lamoille Family Center Inc: 36% of income from government
  • Salvation Farms Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Vermont Foodbank: 13% of income from government
  • The Lord's Place Inc: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
28report 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 101 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 Marks 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