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The Robert Berne Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert Berne 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.

$2k
Granted FY2019
1
Grants FY2019
1
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2019.

Education$947kArts & Culture$304kHealth$15kHousing & Shelter$15kRecreation & Sports$10kEnvironment$6kPhilanthropy$1kCrime & Legal$1kOther$0
02FY2019 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$22k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY$2,000
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 (FY17–17, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%LEAP: $1k → 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.

1%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8k · 3 repeat orgs$597k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2019, 2 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
30

Total granted

$8k
$597k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+49%

Still filing today

67%
93%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2019, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19
Arts & CultureHealthEnvironmentEducationRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BC
    BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC
    2× · 2017–2019 · $3k · revenue +4%
  • MT
    MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $3k · revenue +35%
  • TM
    THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
    2× · 2017–2018 · $2k

Funded once

  • NY
    New York Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $250k · revenue +76%
  • LC
    LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $250k · revenue +45%
  • NY
    NEW YORK CITY CENTER INC
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +16%
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
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
2
New York Public Radio

To make the mind more curious, the heart more open, and the spirit more joyful through excellent audio programming that is deeply rooted in new york.

Arts & Culture
3
Municipal Art Society of New York

The municipal art society of new york (mas) lifts up the voices of the people in the debates that shape new york's built environment and leads the way to a more livable city from sidewalk to skyline. mas envisions a future in which all new…

Arts & Culture
4
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
5
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
6
The Graduate Center Foundation Inc

The graduate center foundation is committed to promoting and safe-guarding the success of the graduate center by raising funds and managing and investing donations for use by the graduate center. the board of trustees of the foundation…

—
7
New York Historical Society

The founding mission of the new-york historical society ("the new york historical "tnyh") is to collect, preserve, and interpret, for the broadest possible public, material relevant to the history of the united states in general and of new…

Arts & Culture
8
New Museum of Contemporary Art

A center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists since 1977, which continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.

Arts & Culture
9
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
10
The Pierpont Morgan Library

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.

Education
11
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
12
National September 11 Memorial and Museum At the World Trade Center

The national september 11 memorial & museum at the world trade center bears solemn witness to the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, and february 26, 1993. located at a site made sacred through loss, the memorial & museum remembers…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Skyscraper Museum; the most unlike its peers is The Neue Galerie New York. 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

32 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. 32 of the 35 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/32
Grantees still filing
29/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $696,500 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORKNew York University: $250,000 · EducationNew York University+1 more: $500 · EducationLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $250,000 · Arts & CultureLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PER…NEW YORK CITY CENTER INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK CITY CENTER INC+10 more: $26,350 · Arts & Culture+10 moreCITIZENS HOUSING & PLANNING COUNCIL OF N: $15,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $250 · Community ImprovementTHE JED FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $3,000 · Health+1 more: $100 · HealthCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsSTREETSQUASH INC: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsLAKE WARAMAUG TASK FORCE INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentSTEEP ROCK ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 · Environment+1 more: $50 · EnvironmentTHE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MOMA): $1,570 · OtherSELFHELP COMMUNITY SERVICES FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · OtherMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $1,000 · OtherGUNN MEMORIAL LIBRARY INC: $500 · OtherROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $1,000 · OtherLEAP INC: $1,000 · OtherTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $1,000 · OtherNEW YORK CITY POLICE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · Other+2 more: $250 · Other
Education$947,000Arts & Culture$301,350Community Improvement$15,250Health$13,100Recreation & Sports$10,000Environment$6,050Other$8,320

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 budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $696,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW YORK CITY CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCITIZENS HOUSING & PLANNING COUNCIL OF N: $15,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTHE JED FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetATLANTIC THEATER COMPANY: $6,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTREETSQUASH INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLAKE WARAMAUG TASK FORCE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEUE GALERIE NEW YORK: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEW 42ND STREET INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SKYSCRAPER MUSEUM: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEEP ROCK ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEAP INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAlta Community Enrichment: $1,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK CITY POLICE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSELFHELP COMMUNITY SERVICES FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGUNN MEMORIAL LIBRARY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREARLEY SCHOOL: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLANDMARK WEST INC: $350 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWashington Volunteer Fire Dept Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON COMMUNITY FUND INC: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LAKE WARAMAUG ASSOCIATION INC: $50 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

The Kestrel FoundationThe Goldman Sachs Cha…The Jaffe Family Foun…The Block Grausman Fu…Murray & Susan Haber …The Perlman Family Fo…Dungannon Foundation …Coleman Family Charit…The Wenden FoundationThe Big Wood Foundati…The Connecticut Commu…Jewish Communal Fund
The Kestrel FoundationCT17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Kestrel Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The Jaffe Family Foundation · The Block Grausman Fund · Murray & Susan Haber Charitable Foundation · The Perlman Family Foundation Inc · Dungannon Foundation Inc · Coleman Family Charitable Foundation · The Wenden Foundation · The Big Wood Foundation · The Connecticut Community Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund

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 Robert Berne Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert Berne 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%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 19%
  • Steep Rock Association Inc: 19% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get 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 · 0–50%
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 Robert Berne Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Robert Berne 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 35 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2019, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Robert Berne’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