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The Sean Combs Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

The Sean Combs 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.

$20k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$20k
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, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$1.5MArts & Culture$250kCommunity Improvement$150kYouth Development$115kFood & Nutrition$100kHuman Services$100kEnvironment$100kHealth$55kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$94k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ACCESS BOOKS$20,000
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 (FY18–18, $25k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%THE CARVER FOUNDATION OF NORWALK: $25k → 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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 17% of The Sean Combs Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Sean Combs Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

45%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$955k · 7 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
13

Total granted

$955k
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+38%

Still filing today

43%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyHuman ServicesOther
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

  • CP
    CAPITAL PREPARATORY HARLEM CHARTER SCHOOL
    3× · 2018–2022 · $300k
  • AB
    ACCESS BOOKS
    4× · 2021–2024 · $225k · revenue 0%
  • BU
    BUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT
    3× · 2021–2023 · $150k · revenue -64%

Funded once

  • THE HOWARD UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $300k · revenue +38%
  • SC
    SHAWN CARTER SCHOLARSHIP FUNDgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $250k · revenue +38%
  • AT
    APOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue -8%
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
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
2
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
3
Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy Charter School

See schedule othe mission of harlem children's zone promise academy charter school is to ensure that children from under-served communities are academically, socially and emotionally ready to succeed in college and tomorrow's workplace.…

Education
4
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
5
Bronx Charter School for Excellence

Excellence community schools prepares young people in new york city and stamford to compete for admission to and succeed in top public, private and parochial high schools by cultivating their intellectual, artistic, social, emotional, and…

Education
6
Harlem Academy

Harlem academy drives equity of opportunity for promising children, guiding them to thrive at the highest academic levels and one day make a mark on the world.

Education
7
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
8
Uncommon New York City Charter Schools

Uncommon new york city charter schools operates outstanding urban public schools that close the opportunity gap and prepare students from low-income communities to graduate from college.

Education
9
Youthbuild Global Inc

With love and respect, we partner with opportunity youth to build the skillsets and mindsets that lead to lifelong learning, livelihood, and leadership. youthbuild strives to create a world where all young people are seen for their…

Employment
10
Lead Program in Business

The mission is to address higher education access and career preparation by optimizing cross-sector collaborations and global partnerships that focus on identifiying and nurturing high potential youth of diverse backgrounds by developing…

Community Improvement
11
The Archer School for Girls Inc

The archer school for girls is an educational community that supports and challenges young women to discover their passions and realize their true potential by a) providing a rigorous, integrated college preparatory curriculum that fosters…

Education
12
Spelman College

Spelman college, a historically black college and global leader in the education of women of african descent, is dedicated to the academic excellence of its students.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Dream Charter School; the most unlike its peers is Ladylike Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

19 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. 19 of the 21 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/19
Grantees still filing
10/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Jackson State University Development Foundation Inc: $333,333 · EducationJackson State University Development Foundation IncTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $300,000 · EducationTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITYSHAWN CARTER SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $250,000 · EducationSHAWN CARTER SCHOLARSHIP FUNDACCESS BOOKS: $224,500 · EducationACCESS BOOKS+1 more: $10,000 · EducationCAPITAL PREPARATORY HARLEM CHARTER SCHOOL: $300,000 · OtherCAPITAL PREPARATORY HARLEM CHA…TEENS EXERCISING EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS: $100,000 · OtherTEENS EXERCISING EXTRAORDINARY…MOUNT ST MICHAEL ACADEMY: $95,000 · OtherMOUNT ST MICHAEL ACADEMYMiami Rescue Mission Inc: $50,000 · OtherMiami Rescue Mission IncMISA HYLTON FASHION ACADEMY INC: $30,000 · OtherThe Future Project Inc: $25,000 · OtherTHE CARVER INC: $25,000 · Other+3 more: $30,000 · OtherAPOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $250,000 · Arts & CultureAPOLLO THEAT…THE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DREAMYAR…BUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT: $150,000 · Community ImprovementLADYLIKE FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Food & NutritionSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE) INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentHOLLYROD FOUNDATION: $55,000 · Recreation & Sports
Education$1,117,833Other$655,000Arts & Culture$280,000Community Improvement$150,000Food & Nutrition$100,000Environment$100,000Recreation & Sports$55,000

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 budgetJackson State University Development Foundation Inc: $333,333 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetCAPITAL PREPARATORY HARLEM CHARTER SCHOOL: $300,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $300,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHAWN CARTER SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $250,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetAPOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $250,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetACCESS BOOKS: $224,500 over 4y, 7.3% of budgetBUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT: $150,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetLADYLIKE FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE) INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOLLYROD FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 2y, 8.0% of budgetMiami Rescue Mission Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMISA HYLTON FASHION ACADEMY INC: $30,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetThe Future Project Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CARVER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF MOUNT VERNON INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF HOLLYWOOD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetDREAM CHARTER SCHOOL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUnity Unlimited Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 4.0% 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.

National Philanthropi…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Pfizer Foundation…The Bank of America C…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…Network for GoodDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA9.4× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Network for Good · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Sean Combs Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Sean Combs Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 16%
  • The Carver Inc: 16% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get 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
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 Sean Combs Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Sean Combs 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 21 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.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Sean Combs’ 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