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The Robert L James and Anne K James Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert L James and Anne K James 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.

$1.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
17
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$1.6M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Science & Tech$1.6MHealth$670kEducation$483kAnimals$100kPublic Safety & Disaster$20kArts & Culture$5kCommunity Improvement$4kHousing & Shelter$1kOther$0
02FY2024 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k9 grants · $24k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $80k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $150k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.6M
$5,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$131k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution$1,600,000
Columbia University$100,000
The Animal Medical Center$50,000
Catholic Relief Services$20,000
St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital$20,000
Stanford University$20,000
Cleveland Clinic Foundation$10,000
Johns Hopkins University$10,000
Winifred Masterson Burke Rehabilitation Hospital$5,000
Goucher College$5,000
American Cancer Society Inc$5,000
American Heart Association Inc$2,000
New York Yacht Club Foundation$2,000
Gregorian University Foundation Inc$2,000
BrightFocus Foundation$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 98% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $10k → 8%Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr Univ: $10k → 8%WINIFRED MASTERSON BURKE REHABLITATION HOSPITAL: $1k → 9%COLUMBIA UNIVERISTY: $10k → 17%Smithsonian Institution: $5k → 14%ALSAC - ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL: $5k → 17%THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $5k → 19%THE SCHWARZMAN ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER: $50k → 17%THE GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $5k → 19%WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE: $10k → 17%GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%New York-Presbyterian Hospital Fund: $501k → 17%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $100k → 17%NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN FUND: $100k → 17%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $100k → 17%NEW YORK YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION: $2k → 17%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.

73%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 8 repeat orgs$696k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
8

Total granted

$1.9M
$646k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+3%

Still filing today

75%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’24
HealthScience & TechEducationAnimalsArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2017–2024 · $20k · revenue +64%
  • GC
    GOUCHER COLLEGE
    2× · 2021–2024 · $10k · revenue +26%
  • TW
    The Winifred Masterson Burke Rehabilitation Hospital
    2× · 2022–2024 · $6k · revenue +22%

Funded once

  • NY
    New York-Presbyterian Hospital Fund
    one grant, 2020 · $501k
  • NY
    NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue -34%
  • WC
    WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
2
The Johns Hopkins Hospital

For more than 125 years, the mission of the johns hopkins hospital has been to lead the world in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and to train tomorrow's great physicians, nurses and scientists. above all, we aim to provide the…

Health
3
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
4
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
5
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The mission of the institute has remained constant since its founding in 1953. as its restated articles of incorporation state the primary purpose and objective of the howard hughes medical institute shall be the promotion of human…

Health
6
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
7
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
8
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred hutch cancer center ("fred hutch") unites innovative research and compassionate care to prevent and eliminate cancer and infectious disease. continued on schedule o

Health
9
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
10
The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research

The graduate school of the stowers institute for medical research ("gssimr") exempt purpose is to provide graduate education that will prepare scholars for scientific research in the biological sciences.

Education
11
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
12
National Science and Technology Medals Foundation Inc

The nstmf's mission is to build inclusive stem communities across the united states. fundamental to these communities are the significant, inspirational connections we foster between the individuals who have received national recognition…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc; the most unlike its peers is Taskforce Fore Ending Homelessness 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

16 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. 16 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
12/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $1,610,000 · Science & TechWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION+1 more: $5,000 · Science & TechNew York-Presbyterian Hospital Fund: $501,430 · OtherNew York-Presbyterian Hosp…GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $103,000 · OtherGREGORIAN UNIVERSITY FOUND…+7 more: $76,000 · Other+7 moreTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $300,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES O…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $40,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF T…JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS …+1 more: $10,000 · EducationNEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC: $100,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $20,000 · HealthThe Winifred Masterson Burke Rehabilitation Hospital: $6,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $5,000 · Health+2 more: $3,000 · HealthTHE ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER: $100,000 · AnimalsSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $5,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION: $4,000 · Community ImprovementTASKFORCE FORE ENDING HOMELESSNESS INC: $1,000 · Human Services
Science & Tech$1,615,000Other$680,430Education$370,000Health$134,000Animals$100,000Arts & Culture$5,000Community Improvement$4,000Human Services$1,000

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 budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $1,610,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $300,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGOUCHER COLLEGE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Winifred Masterson Burke Rehabilitation Hospital: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTASKFORCE FORE ENDING HOMELESSNESS INC: $1,000 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.

Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust IncIN10.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · 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 Robert L James and Anne K James Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert L James and Anne K James Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 63%
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 L James and Anne K James Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Robert L James and Anne K James 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $400k of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Robert L James and Anne K James’ 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