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The Murphy and Ed Romano Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Murphy and Ed Romano 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.

$103k
Granted FY2020
13
Grants FY2020
5
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

92% of The Murphy and Ed Romano Family Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 4 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year The Murphy and Ed Romano Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 8 organizations, $103k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

6
’17
9
’19
8
’20
4
’21
2
’22
2
’23
4
’24
4
’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, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$270kHealth$242kReligion$139kYouth Development$9kCivil Rights$9kEnvironment$9kArts & Culture$7kPublic Benefit$5kOther$0
02FY2020 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k9 grants · $30k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $73k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$40k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$35,000
NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL$15,000
PROVIDENCE ST JOSEPH FOUNDATION$13,000
ST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY$10,000
ACCELERATE CHANGE$5,000
DIDI HIRSCH MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES$5,000
NATIONAL FOSTER YOUTH INSTITUTE$5,000
VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER (VPC)$5,000
NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL (NRDC)$5,000
CENTER THEATRE GROUP$2,500
PROVIDENCE HOLY CROSS FOUNDATION$1,000
ST JOHN'S PREPARATORY SCHOOL$1,000
GARRY MARSHALL THEATRE$750
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 (FY17–21, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $3k → 14%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $750 → 14%FAMILY SERVICE AGENCY OF BURBANK: $500 → 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.
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$655k · 12 repeat orgs$28k to everyone else

12 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2020, 2 since wound down; 4 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

12
6

Total granted

$655k
$7k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+76%

Still filing today

75%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Civil RightsHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesArts & 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

  • AH
    American Heart Association Inc
    4× · 2020–2025 · $205k · revenue +53%
  • SJ
    ST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK
    8× · 2017–2025 · $54k · revenue +12%
  • DH
    DIDI HIRSCH PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE
    2× · 2019–2020 · $10k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +116%
  • UG
    UPWARDLY GLOBALgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $1k · revenue +323%
  • CO
    CASA OF LOS ANGELESgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $1k · revenue +76%
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
Arcadia University

Arcadia university's pioneering, global, integrated, liberal arts, and professional learning experience cultivates leaders who are intellectually fearless and uniquely prepared for life and work. our highly regarded, values-based learning…

Education
2
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
3
Southern California University of Health Sciences

The mission of southern california university of health sciences (scu) is to educate students as competent, caring and successful practitioners of integrative healthcare. the university is committed to providing excellence in academics,…

Education
4
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
5
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

University of the sciences prepares students to become leaders, innovators, and skilled practitioners in the sciences, the health professions, and related disciplines. we deliver excellence in teaching, research, and service through a safe…

—
6
Aacsb International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

Aacsb international provides quality assurance of business school programs, the latest in business education intelligence, thought leadership, and learning and development services.

Education
7
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
8
Occidental College

See schedule othe mission of occidental college is to provide a gifted and diverse group of students with a total educational experience of the highest quality - one that prepares them for leadership in an increasingly complex,…

Education
9
Manhattanville University

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

Education
10
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
11
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
12
Stony Brook Surgical Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

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

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Friends of the Children; the most unlike its peers is Notre Dame High School. 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

19 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. 19 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
12/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC: $856,343 · PhilanthropyMORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INCNOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL: $206,250 · OtherNOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOLPROVIDENCE ST JOSEPH FOUNDATION: $139,068 · OtherPROVIDENCE ST JOSEPH FOUN…+8 more: $24,250 · Other+8 moreAmerican Heart Association Inc: $205,000 · HealthAmerican Heart Asso…PROVIDENCE HEALTH & SERVICES FOUNDATION SAN FERNANDO & SANTA CLARITA VALLEYS SA: $61,000 · HealthPROVIDENCE HEALTH &…AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 · HealthDIDI HIRSCH PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE: $10,000 · HealthST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK: $54,250 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $32,000 · EducationCOLUMBIA COLLEGE: $10,000 · EducationNATIONAL FOSTER YOUTH INSTITUTE: $7,500 · Youth DevelopmentJEWISH BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES: $1,000 · Youth DevelopmentACCELERATE CHANGE INC: $5,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $2,500 · Civil RightsCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $1,000 · Civil RightsCENTER THEATRE GROUP OF LOS ANGELES: $4,850 · Arts & CultureTHE GARRY MARSHALL THEATRE: $1,750 · Arts & Culture
Philanthropy$856,343Other$369,568Health$286,000Education$96,250Youth Development$8,500Civil Rights$8,500Arts & Culture$6,600

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL: $206,250 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $205,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPROVIDENCE HEALTH & SERVICES FOUNDATION SAN FERNANDO & SANTA CLARITA VALLEYS SA: $61,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK: $54,250 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $32,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLUMBIA COLLEGE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIDI HIRSCH PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL FOSTER YOUTH INSTITUTE: $7,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCENTER THEATRE GROUP OF LOS ANGELES: $4,850 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $3,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARRY MARSHALL THEATRE: $1,750 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetUPWARDLY GLOBAL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE AGENCY OF BURBANK: $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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO7.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Murphy and Ed Romano Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Murphy and Ed Romano Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get 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 · 0–40%
    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 Murphy and Ed Romano Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Murphy and Ed Romano Family 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 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Murphy and Ed Romano 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