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New York · Private foundation

The Seed Fund Grants Inc

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.

$464k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
28
Grants FY2025
22
Organizations funded FY2024
32%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$20,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$50,000
Organizations funded a year
18 to 29
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
6
Total assets, FY2025
$9.2M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 32% of the organizations The Seed Fund Grants Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 35% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $141k 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
EnvironmentCommunity ImprovementEducationAnimalsPublic BenefitYouth DevelopmentOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving21$464k33%
FY202422$403k32%
FY202329$325k52%
FY202219$296k16%
FY202126$351k50%
FY202021$335k43%
FY201928$417k57%
FY201818$195k39%
93% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$1.4MCommunity Improvement$447kRecreation & Sports$180kScience & Tech$140kPublic Benefit$140kCivil Rights$125kPhilanthropy$85kFood & Nutrition$75kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
PA
CA
CO
VA
DC

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Island Press$170,00091%
Climate Ride Inc$132,95182%
The Trust for Public Land$120,00060%
Transportation Alternatives Inc$110,50041%
Regional Plan Association Inc$110,00031%
The Exploratorium$110,00070%
Spur - San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association$110,00060%
American Forests$91,00060%
California Bicycle Coalition$80,00044%
Riders Alliance Fund Inc$75,00022%
Show all 71 grantees
All grantees of The Seed Fund Grants Inc by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Island Press$170,00091%
Climate Ride Inc$132,95182%
The Trust for Public Land$120,00060%
Transportation Alternatives Inc$110,50041%
Regional Plan Association Inc$110,00031%
The Exploratorium$110,00070%
Spur - San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association$110,00060%
American Forests$91,00060%
California Bicycle Coalition$80,00044%
Riders Alliance Fund Inc$75,00022%
Bronx River Alliance Inc$75,00021%
San Francisco Estuary Institute$65,00040%
Openplans Inc$61,00031%
Marin County Bicycle Coalition$56,10052%
Walk San Francisco Foundation$55,00042%
Literacy for Environmental Justice$55,00033%
Transformca dba Transform$50,00031%
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition$50,00042%
Natural Areas Conservancy Inc$50,00031%
Baykeeper$45,00031%
Point Reyes Bird Observatory$45,00030%
New York Botanical Garden$40,00020%
El Puente de Williamsburg Inc$40,00020%
Marin Agricultural Land Trust$35,00011%
Spring Street Climate Fund Inc$35,00022%
Pie Ranch$30,00041%
Seamless Bay Area Alliance formerly Seamless Bay Area$30,00029%
Mycelium Youth Network$30,00025%
Proctor Academy$30,00030%
Gowanus Canal Conservancy Inc$25,00022%
Earth Island Institute Inc$25,00020%
The Greenlining Institute$20,00010%
Greenbelt Alliancepeople for Open Space$20,00011%
Urban Sustainability Directors Network$20,00020%
Street Lab Inc$20,00012%
Outdoors Empowered Network$20,00025%
Carbon Cycle Institute$20,0001n/a
Sterne School$20,00020%
Intersection for the Arts$20,00030%
Friends of the Urban Forest$20,00020%
Global Philanthropy Partnership$20,00020%
Studio Rev$15,000110%
San Francisco Transit Riders$15,00016%
Canopy$15,00012%
California Wildlife Foundation$15,00011%
Brooklyn Greenway Initiative$15,00014%
New York League of Conservation Voters$15,0001n/a
Aspen Global Change Institute Inc$15,00010%
Smart Growth America$15,00010%
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation$13,00020%
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin$10,10023%
Independent Arts & Media$10,00021%
Our Streets$10,00011%
Agrarian Land Trust$10,00011%
Dredge Research Collaborative Inc$10,000150%
Manzanita Works Inc$10,0001n/a
Community Initiatives$10,00010%
34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition$10,0001n/a
Turtle Island Restoration Network$10,00010%
California Academy of Sciences$10,00010%
Wildlife Conservation Society$10,00010%
Earth Law Center$10,00015%
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation$10,00010%
Cycles of Change$10,00011%
Save The Bay$10,00010%
Heyday$8,00010%
Southern California Streets Initiative$8,0001n/a
World Wildlife Fund Inc$5,00010%
Boston Harbor Now Inc$1,00020%
The Cambridge Historical Society$50010%
Dharmawheels Foundation$2001n/a

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 30 recipients with no EIN on record ($552k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

The Seed Fund Grants Inc supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 65 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetIsland Press: $170,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetClimate Ride Inc: $132,951 over 8y, 1.7% of budgetThe Trust for Public Land: $120,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTransportation Alternatives Inc: $110,500 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetRegional Plan Association Inc: $110,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetThe Exploratorium: $110,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSpur - San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association: $110,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetAmerican Forests: $91,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCalifornia Bicycle Coalition: $80,000 over 4y, 4.1% of budgetRiders Alliance Fund Inc: $75,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetBronx River Alliance Inc: $75,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetSan Francisco Estuary Institute: $65,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetOpenplans Inc: $61,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMarin County Bicycle Coalition: $56,100 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetWalk San Francisco Foundation: $55,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetLiteracy for Environmental Justice: $55,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetTransformca dba Transform: $50,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSan Francisco Bicycle Coalition: $50,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetNatural Areas Conservancy Inc: $50,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetBaykeeper: $45,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetPoint Reyes Bird Observatory: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNew York Botanical Garden: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEl Puente de Williamsburg Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMarin Agricultural Land Trust: $35,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSpring Street Climate Fund Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetPie Ranch: $30,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetSeamless Bay Area Alliance formerly Seamless Bay Area: $30,000 over 2y, 9.1% of budgetMycelium Youth Network: $30,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetProctor Academy: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGowanus Canal Conservancy Inc: $25,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Greenlining Institute: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGreenbelt Alliancepeople for Open Space: $20,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetUrban Sustainability Directors Network: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetStreet Lab Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetOutdoors Empowered Network: $20,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetSterne School: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetIntersection for the Arts: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFriends of the Urban Forest: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGlobal Philanthropy Partnership: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetStudio Rev: $15,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetSan Francisco Transit Riders: $15,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetCanopy: $15,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCalifornia Wildlife Foundation: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBrooklyn Greenway Initiative: $15,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetAspen Global Change Institute Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSmart Growth America: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBrooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation: $13,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 65.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

PatagoniaorgTransitcenter IncThe San Francisco Fou…Lily Auchincloss Foun…Clif Family FoundationThe New York Communit…Resources Legacy FundImpactassetsincThe Summit Charitable…Mary a Crocker TrustGordon E and Betty I …Freedom Together Foun…
PatagoniaorgCA32.9× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Patagoniaorg · Transitcenter Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Lily Auchincloss Foundation Inc · Clif Family Foundation · The New York Community Trust · Resources Legacy Fund · Impactassetsinc · The Summit Charitable Foundation Inc · Mary a Crocker Trust · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Freedom Together 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.

Compare The Seed Fund Grants Inc with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Seed Fund Grants Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Seed Fund Grants Inc 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.

About The Seed Fund Grants Inc

How much does The Seed Fund Grants Inc give?
The Seed Fund Grants Inc reported 28 grants totaling $464,076 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 18 and 29 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does The Seed Fund Grants Inc fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (43%), Community Improvement (14%), Recreation & Sports (6%).
Who are The Seed Fund Grants Inc's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Island Press ($170k), Climate Ride Inc ($133k), The Trust for Public Land ($120k).
Does The Seed Fund Grants Inc fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 32% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Seed Fund Grants Inc accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Seed Fund Grants Inc?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Patagoniaorg, Transitcenter Inc, The San Francisco Foundation.
Where is The Seed Fund Grants Inc based?
The Seed Fund Grants Inc is based in NY.

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 103 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

Play a game based on Seed Fund Grants’ 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