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The Rothenberg Ludden Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

The Rothenberg Ludden Trust

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.

$100k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$1.0MAnimals$181kRecreation & Sports$30kCommunity Improvement$15kScience & Tech$10kHealth$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $45k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$907k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY$50,000
THE GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER$25,000
BRONX IS BLOOMING$10,000
UNTERMYER GARDEN CONSERVANCY$10,000
STERN CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINES$5,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 53% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 14%THE GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER: $95k → 9%NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE: $5k → 17%350ORG: $5k → 20%BRONX IS BLOOMING: $10k → 28%SAVE THE SOUND: $5k → 12%FORESTRY SCHOLARSHIP COUNCIL: $10k → 9%RAINFOREST TRUST: $10k → 6%THE GREENBURG NATURE CENTER: $73k → 9%NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE: $5k → 17%350ORG: $5k → 20%NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $10k → 28%RAINFOREST TRUST: $5k → 6%THE GREENBURG NATURE CENTER: $72k → 9%NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE: $5k → 17%NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $10k → 28%THE GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER: $70k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $90k → 17%NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $10k → 28%THE GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER: $60k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $52k → 17%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $50k → 28%THE GREENBURG NATURE CENTER: $50k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $51k → 17%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $50k → 28%THE GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER: $25k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $50k → 17%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $25k → 28%THE GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER: $25k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $50k → 17%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $25k → 28%WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST: $8k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $50k → 17%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $25k → 28%WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST: $5k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $40k → 17%WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST: $5k → 9%RAINFOREST ALLIANCE: $10k → 17%TEATOWN: $10k → 9%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10k → 17%RIVERKEEPER: $10k → 9%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5k → 17%RIVERKEEPER: $5k → 9%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5k → 17%TEATOWN: $5k → 9%STERN CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINES: $5k → 17%RIVERKEEPER: $5k → 9%UNTERMYER GARDEN CONSERVANCY: $20k → 9%UNTERMYER GARDEN CONSERVANCY: $10k → 9%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
NY
CT
VA
AZ
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 13 repeat orgs$59k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
8

Total granted

$1.2M
$44k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+26%

Still filing today

69%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentAnimalsInternationalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • RA
    RAINFOREST ALLIANCE INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $393k · revenue +157%
  • NL
    NUNATAKS LTD D/B/A GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER
    5× · 2021–2025 · $275k · revenue +17%
  • WC
    Wildlife Conservation Society
    5× · 2020–2025 · $175k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • CF
    CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIV
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • FS
    FORESTRY SCHOLARSHIP COUNCIL
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATEDgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue +48%
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
New Jersey Conservation Foundation

Recognizing that a healthy environment is critical to the well-being and survival of all living things, new jersey conservation foundation is devoted to preserving land and protecting natural resources throughout new jersey's (continued on…

Environment
3
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
4
Environment Now
—
5
Rainforest Alliance Holding Inc

RA works at the intersection of business, agriculture & forests to improve lives & protect nature by transforming how land is used, production of goods & consumer choices.

Environment
6
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
7
Endangered Species International

Endangered Species International is strongly committed to reversing the trend of human-induced species extinction, saving endangered animals, and preserving wild places.

Animals
8
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc

We safeguard the earth: its people, its plants and animals, and (see schedule o) the natural systems on which all life depends. we work to restore the integrity of the elements that sustain life - air, land, and water - to defend…

Environment
9
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
10
Wildlife Alliance Inc

Wildlife alliance is the leader in direct protection of forests and wildlife in tropical asia. our mission is to combat deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change, and poverty by partnering with local communities and governments.…

Animals
11
Wild Landscapes Inc

Wild landscapes, inc. (wli) is dedicated to conserving large and connected landscapes globally significant to wildlife and crucial to local communities. our environmental conservation strategy is to empower communities, conservationists,…

Animals
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rainforest Trust; the most unlike its peers is Untermyer Gardens Conservancy 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 24 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
14/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE INC: $392,500 · OtherRAINFOREST ALLIANCE INCTHE GREENBURG NATURE CENTER: $194,366 · OtherTHE GREENBURG NATURE CENTER+9 more: $87,500 · Other+9 moreNUNATAKS LTD D/B/A GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER: $275,000 · EnvironmentNUNATAKS LTD D/B/A GREENBURGH NAT…NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $30,000 · EnvironmentNEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDENRIVERKEEPER INC: $20,000 · EnvironmentRIVERKEEPER INCWestchester Land Trust Inc: $18,000 · Environment+4 more: $30,000 · Environment+4 moreWildlife Conservation Society: $175,000 · AnimalsWildlife Conserv…+2 more: $6,000 · AnimalsUNTERMYER GARDENS CONSERVANCY INC: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsRAINFOREST TRUST: $17,000 · International
Other$674,366Environment$373,000Animals$181,000Recreation & Sports$30,000International$17,000

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 budgetRAINFOREST ALLIANCE INC: $392,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetNUNATAKS LTD D/B/A GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER: $275,000 over 5y, 5.5% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $175,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNTERMYER GARDENS CONSERVANCY INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetNEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRIVERKEEPER INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWestchester Land Trust Inc: $18,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetRAINFOREST TRUST: $17,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budget350ORG: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAVE THE SOUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAVE THE CHIMPS 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Rothenberg Ludden Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Rothenberg Ludden Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 37%
  • Save the Sound: 37% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
3report 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.

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 24 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