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The Richard and Marlene Ferst Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Richard and Marlene Ferst 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.

$4k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$41kInternational$6kHealth$5kHuman Services$3kCivil Rights$2kArts & Culture$250Philanthropy$250Public Safety & Disaster$100Other$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$3,550
Median grant
2
States reached
$5k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE$3,550
CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 30% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PARKINSON FOUNDATION: $250 → 12%ASSOC FOR ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DIABILITIES: $1k → 7%LOWER MERION PLAYERS BOOSTER CLUB: $100 → 10%AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $2k → 22%AMERICAN UNIVERSITY HILLEL: $1k → 14%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $1k → 11%DIABETES RESEARCH: $500 → 13%LONGPORT VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE SQUAD: $100 → 11%PARKINSON FOUNDATION: $100 → 12%ASSOC FOR ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DIABILITIES: $500 → 7%SOCIETY HILL SYNAGOGUE: $10k → 22%CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: $500 → 14%KRAVIS CENTER: $250 → 11%ASSOC FOR ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DIABILITIES: $250 → 7%ABRAMSON SENIOR CARE: $3k → 7%JAFCO: $250 → 7%ABRAMSON CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE: $5k → 7%ABRAMSON CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE: $5k → 7%MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: $4k → 7%MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: $4k → 7%MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: $4k → 7%MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: $3k → 7%MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: $3k → 7%MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: $3k → 7%ABRAMSON CANCER CENTER- PHILLY FIGHTS CANCER: $1k → 7%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

MN
NY
PA
NJ
AZ
TN
DC
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.

66%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$38k · 5 repeat orgs$20k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
14

Total granted

$38k
$19k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-19%
+27%

Still filing today

40%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $500 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
HealthCivil RightsArts & CultureInternationalOther
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

  • ML
    MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE
    6× · 2020–2025 · $20k
  • AC
    ABRAMSON CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE
    2× · 2020–2021 · $10k
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM
    2× · 2023–2024 · $6k · revenue -51%

Funded once

  • SH
    SOCIETY HILL SYNAGOGUE
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • AS
    ABRAMSON SENIOR CARE
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE
    one grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue 0%
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
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
2
American Academy of Dermatology Association Inc

To represent the interests of dermatologists and their patients. to influence and be a credible resource for public and private entities related to all policies and regulations that have the potential to affect the delivery of dermatologic…

Health
3
Association of American Medical Colleges

Aamc leads & serves the academic medicine community to improve the health of people everywhere.

Education
4
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
5
American Academy of Dermatology Inc

To assure that dermatologists have access to the highest quality education, research and innovations in the field, and that patients and the public have access to the highest quality medical and surgical dermatologic care and to…

Health
6
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee ADC is a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage.

—
7
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

To advance and disseminate the science and practice of hepatology, and to promote liver health and quality patient care.

Health
8
Avodah the Jewish Service Corps Inc

Avodah develops lifelong social justice leaders whose work is informed by jewish values and who inspire the jewish community to work toward a more just and equitable world.

Community Improvement
9
American College of Rheumatology Inc

The american college of rheumatology is an organization of and for physicians, health professionals, and scientists that advances rheumatology through programs of education, research, advocacy and practice support that foster excellence in…

—
10
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Inc

Since 1914, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has acted on behalf of North America's Jewish communities and others to fulfill the principle that "kol Yisrael arevim zeh l'zeh" - all Jews are responsible for one…

International
11
Association of Legal Administrators

Ala is the catalyst for growth by providing: diverse educational experiences, engaged peer communities, strategic solutions, dynamic resources, and trusted networks.

—
12
American College of Radiology

The american college of radiology (acr) is organized to advance radiology science, practice and access, improve quality and safety, provide continuing education for radiology and allied professionals, and achieve better outcomes through…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Jewish Committee; the most unlike its peers is American Heart Association Inc. 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

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 20 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
4/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: $20,100 · OtherMAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLEABRAMSON CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE: $10,000 · OtherABRAMSON CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFESOCIETY HILL SYNAGOGUE: $10,000 · OtherSOCIETY HILL SYNAGOGUEABRAMSON SENIOR CARE: $2,500 · OtherASSOCIATION FOR ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES INC: $1,750 · Other+9 more: $3,950 · Other+9 moreAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $6,000 · InternationalAMERICAN FR…AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $1,750 · Civil RightsANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $500 · Civil RightsST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,000 · Health+1 more: $25 · HealthRAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $250 · Arts & Culture
Other$48,300International$6,000Civil Rights$2,250Health$1,025Arts & Culture$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 budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES INC: $1,750 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $1,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican University Hillel Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $25 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Richard and Marlene Ferst Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Richard and Marlene Ferst Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 20 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

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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