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The Ressler Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ressler 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.

$211k
Granted FY2021
8
Grants FY2021
3
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

77% of The Ressler Family Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Brown University, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 20 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year The Ressler Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 7 organizations, $211k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

24
’17
12
’18
42
’19
13
’20
7
’21
27
’22
18
’23
20
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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$39MHealth$2.5MCrime & Legal$611kHuman Services$557kCivil Rights$528kArts & Culture$497kPhilanthropy$395kInternational$273kOther$0
02FY2021 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k4 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $45k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $150k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$43M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INDIASPORA$150,000
UJA FEDERATION OF NEW YORK$25,000
SOUTHEAST VENTURA COUNTY YMCA$10,000
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MUSEUM MEMORIAL$10,000
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART$5,000
JUDGES AND LAWYERS BREAST CANCER ALERT$5,000
MINORITY HUMANITARIAN FOUNDATION$5,000
THE LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA SOCIETY$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, $325k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%DOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER: $45k → 14%SEVENTH GENERATION FUND: $25k → 18%GATEWAY TO CHANGE INC: $250 → 14%INDIASPORA: $150k → 10%UNITED WAY OF WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM: $5k → 9%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $20k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $20k → 14%ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF LOS ANGELES: $20k → 14%JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $5k → 17%AL OTRO LADO: $5k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $20k → 14%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $10k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
IN
CT
RI
CA
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
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.
$14M · 39 repeat orgs$3.1M to everyone else

39 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2021, 36 since wound down; 32 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, 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

39
60

Total granted

$14M
$1.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+39%

Still filing today

69%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $124k 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
Human ServicesInternationalHealthCrime & LegalArts & CultureEducationOther
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

  • HS
    HARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL
    7× · 2017–2024 · $2.4M · revenue +21%
  • PC
    PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2018 · $250k · revenue +57%
  • B
    BABY2BABY
    3× · 2022–2024 · $210k · revenue +100%

Funded once

  • TM
    THE MELANOMA RESEARCH ALLIANCE
    one grant, 2020 · $325k
  • MR
    MELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $322k · revenue +33%
  • HB
    HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
    one grant, 2018 · $251k
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
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
2
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
3
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
4
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
5
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
6
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
7
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…

—
8
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
9
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
10
Human Rights Watch Inc

Human rights watch ("hrw") defends the rights of people worldwide. we scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. human rights watch is an independent,…

International
11
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
12
California Dental Association Foundation

The foundation's mission is to improve the oral health of all californians by supporting the dental profession and its efforts to meet community needs.

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Immigration Law Center; the most unlike its peers is We the Women. 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

102 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. 102 of the 137 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
100/102
Grantees still filing
72/102
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BROWN UNIVERSITY: $28,058,076 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITY+1 more: $30,000 · Community ImprovementUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FOUNDATION: $4,392,647 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS …COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL: $3,015,020 · OtherCOLUMBIA LAW SCHOOLUCLA: $817,500 · OtherUCLA+85 more: $3,794,044 · Other+85 moreHARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL: $2,403,432 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $518,959 · Education+5 more: $48,600 · EducationMELANOMA RESEARCH ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $674,579 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $261,666 · HealthNORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF FREE AND CHARITABLE CLINICS INC: $66,667 · Health+6 more: $48,227 · HealthPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $250,000 · PhilanthropyLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $225,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropySTAND UP TO CANCER: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $20,000 · Philanthropy+3 more: $22,500 · PhilanthropyTHE BAIL PROJECT INC: $215,000 · Crime & LegalCasa Cornelia Legal Services: $125,000 · Crime & LegalImmigrant Defenders Law Center: $50,000 · Crime & LegalTHE ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION: $30,000 · Crime & LegalLegal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles: $20,000 · Crime & Legal+4 more: $30,000 · Crime & LegalINDIASPORA: $150,000 · Human ServicesDOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER: $45,000 · Human ServicesALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $40,000 · Human ServicesSEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesSAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF LOS ANGELES: $20,000 · Human Services+7 more: $28,250 · Human Services
Community Improvement$28,088,076Other$12,019,211Education$2,970,991Health$1,051,139Philanthropy$567,500Crime & Legal$470,000Human Services$353,250

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 budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $28,058,076 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetHARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL: $2,403,432 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetMELANOMA RESEARCH ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $674,579 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $518,959 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $321,724 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $261,666 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $225,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BAIL PROJECT INC: $215,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetBABY2BABY: $210,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR ART RESEARCH AND ALLIANCES INC: $200,000 over 4y, 77% of budgetINDIASPORA: $150,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetCasa Cornelia Legal Services: $125,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetWe the Women: $120,410 over 2y, 41% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $120,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $110,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $106,666 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $100,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDREAMORG: $100,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetWORTH RISES INC: $100,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF FREE AND CHARITABLE CLINICS INC: $66,667 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $53,333 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetImmigrant Defenders Law Center: $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetDOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER: $45,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRAINFOREST FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH ON SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DEPRESSION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW HEIGHTS YOUTH INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEVENTH GENERATION FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe End Fund Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WE DREAM NETWORK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSTAND UP TO CANCER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINNOVATIONS FOR POVERTY ACTION A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF LUBAVITCH: $25,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetFeeding America: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBAYVIEW FUTURES FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH WELLNESS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMENTAL HEALTH AMERICA INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLegal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTOURETTE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% 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.

Jewish Communal FundSilicon Valley Commun…Conrad N Hilton Found…The Goldman Sachs Cha…The California Wellne…Jewish Community Foun…Liberty Hill Foundati…Gs Donor Advised Phil…California Community …Weingart FoundationCalifornia Changelawy…The Karsh Family Foun…
Jewish Communal FundNY22.6× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Conrad N Hilton Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The California Wellness Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles · Liberty Hill Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · California Community Foundation · Weingart Foundation · California Changelawyers · The Karsh Family 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 Ressler Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ressler Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
34report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Ressler Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Ressler 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 137 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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