· Private foundation
The Pelson 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k10 grants · $28k
- $10k–50k4 grants · $41k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| the metropolitan musuem | $10,750 |
| FOUNDATION OF DEFENCE | $10,000 |
| URBAN ARTS | $10,000 |
| COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY | $10,000 |
| SOUND START FOUNDATION | $6,500 |
| congregation emanu-el of new york | $6,150 |
| Chamber Music Society | $6,000 |
| temple b'nai abraham | $5,622 |
| Morris Museum | $1,000 |
| JEWISH FEDERATION | $650 |
| THE SEEING EYE | $600 |
| ARNOLD P GOLD FOUNDATION | $500 |
| OPERA AT FLORHAM | $300 |
| Foundation for Morristown | $250 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
11 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $17k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- UAUrban Arts Partnership6× · 2020–2025 · $60k · revenue -30%
- MMMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART4× · 2022–2025 · $37k · revenue +39%
- COCOLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY5× · 2020–2025 · $35k
Funded once
- FFFOUNDATION FOR THE DEAFone grant, 2024 · $10k
- TCThe Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Incgraduatedone grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +135%
- MMMETRO MUSEUM OF ARTSone grant, 2020 · $6k
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.
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.
Manhattan school of music is deeply committed to excellence in education, performance, and creative activity; to the humanity of the school's environment; and to the cultural enrichment of the larger community. a premiere international…
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.
We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.
Munson-williams-proctor arts institute (mwpai) is a fine arts center dedicated to serving diverse audiences by advancing the appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts. the art institute aims to promote interest and…
The mission of the princeton symphony orchestra is to leverage the power of live music to uplift the human experience.
The philadelphia museum of art - in partnership with the city, the region, and art museums around the globe - seeks to preserve, enhance, interpret, and extend the reach of its great collection in particular, and the visual arts in…
The florence acadamy of art was founed in 1991 by daniel graves (see schedule o for details).
Committed to innovation, the solomon r. guggenheim foundation (the "foundation") collects, (continued on schedule o)
The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.
The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)
For more than a century, diller-quaile has offered an environment where music can flourish in all its aspects, enriching the lives of students of all ages and cultural backgrounds. the belief that music is a fundamental part of human life…
Founded in 1881 the Staten Island Museum engages visitors with interdisciplinary exhibitions, public programs, and educational activities for all ages. It is the mission of the Staten Island Museum to spark curiosity and generate…
How this is measured
9 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. 9 of the 19 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 Urban Arts Partnership ↗
- Who funds METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART ↗
- Who funds SOUND START FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc ↗
- Who funds Flint Hill School ↗
- Who funds THE MORRIS MUSEUM INC ↗
- Who funds THE SEEING EYE INC ↗
- Who funds THE ARNOLD GOLD FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds OPERA AT FLORHAM 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.
Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Pelson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Pelson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- The Morris Museum Inc: 7% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Pelson’s filings →