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The Seymour H Knox Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Seymour H Knox Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$561k
Granted FY2020
8
Grants FY2020
1
States reached
$230k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of The Seymour H Knox Foundation’s FY2021 grant dollars went to Community Foundation For Greater Buffalo Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 11 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year The Seymour H Knox Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 5 organizations, $561k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

5
’20
11
’21

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2021.

Philanthropy$20MArts & Culture$234kEducation$139kHealth$91kRecreation & Sports$2kYouth Development$2kScience & Tech$1kOther$0
02FY2020 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $65k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $496k
$50,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BUFFALO FINE ARTS$230,000
MATCHING GRANTS$106,000
JACOBS INSTITUTE$60,000
ELMWOOD VILLAGE CHARTER SCHOOL$50,000
BUFFALO PREP$50,000
HAUPTMAN WOODWARD MED RESEARCH INSTITUTE$30,000
SAY YES TO EDUCATION$25,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
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 (FY20–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%BROOKS SCHOOL: $1k → 10%BUFFALO SHAMROCKS HOCKEY CLUB INC: $2k → 13%MJ RUBENSTEIN MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: $1k → 14%GEORGE EASTMAN MUSEUM: $1k → 14%ARTPARK & COMPANY INC: $1k → 14%LAKE FOREST COLLEGE: $1k → 8%UB FOUNDATION: $500 → 13%ELMWOOD VILLAGE CHARTER SCHOOL: $50k → 13%SAY YES TO EDUCATION: $25k → 13%NICHOLS SCHOOL: $1k → 13%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO INC: $19.6M → 13%JACOBS INSTITUTE: $60k → 13%HAUPTMAN WOODWARD MED RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $30k → 13%BUFFALO PREP: $50k → 13%CAZENOVIA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $1k → 13%CITY YEAR BUFFALO: $10k → 13%716 SQUASH INC: $2k → 13%MUSIC IS ART: $500 → 13%BUFFALO ARTS STUDIO: $1k → 13%SPORTSMENS AMERICAN MUSIC FOUNDATION: $500 → 13%BUFFALO FINE ARTS: $230k → 13%MATCHING GRANTS: $106k → 13%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 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
Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School

Buffalo academy of science is a tuition-free, college-preparatory charter school teaching students in a diverse community to be successful in a globally-oriented environment, using innovative and dynamic teaching methods with a small…

Education
2
The Park School of Buffalo

The school engages the student in a diverse and creative community that nurtures the joy and responsibility of active learning in all, from our youngest learners to our graduates, who leave with the skills essential to college success and…

Education
3
Buffalo Commons Charter School

Establish and operate a charter school to prepare our diverse community of students to succeed academically and professionally regardless of background and circumstance.

Education
4
Niagara University

Niagara university educates its students and enriches their lives through programs in the liberal arts and through career preparation, informed by the catholic and vincentian traditions.

Education
5
Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art

The Buffalo Institiute for Contemporary Art (Bica) is a art and educational project for Buffalo, NY. Through Innovative exhibitions, cross-discipplinary skills-based programming, and arts ecology development, bica mission is to break down…

Arts & Culture
6
Rochester Academy of Science Charter School

Rochester academy of science charter school (the school) is a not-for-profit education corporation that operates kindergarten through 12th grades and is dedicated to providing quality education to a diverse body of students in the…

Education
7
Buffalo Collegiate Charter School

With unrelenting determination and a commitment to excellence, buffalo collegiate charter school educated students in grades 4 through 12 to graduate from the college of their choice and serve as our next generation of leaders. the…

—
8
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
9
South Buffalo Charter School

South buffalo charter school provides elementary education to students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. we are a professional learning community. our focus on learning is driven by research, data and collaborative reflection to…

Education
10
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
11
Enterprise Charter School

Engage young minds through projects and partnerships.

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Buffalo Prep Inc; the most unlike its peers is Elmwood Village Charter School. 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

17 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. 17 of the 23 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)
16/17
Grantees still filing
13/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO INC: $19,644,400 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO INCBUFFALO FINE ARTS: $230,000 · OtherMATCHING GRANTS: $106,000 · OtherElmwood Village Charter School: $50,000 · OtherBUFFALO PREP INC: $50,000 · OtherSAY YES TO EDUCATION INC: $25,000 · Other+5 more: $13,500 · OtherTHE JACOBS INSTITUTE INC: $60,000 · HealthHAUPTMAN-WOODWARD MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 · HealthCAZENOVIA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $1,000 · EducationNICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: $1,000 · EducationBROOKS SCHOOL: $1,000 · EducationLake Forest College: $1,000 · EducationGEORGE EASTMAN MUSEUM: $1,000 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO ARTS STUDIO: $1,000 · Arts & CultureSPORTSMENS AMERICANA MUSIC FOUNDATION INC: $500 · Arts & CultureMUSIC IS ART: $500 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO SHAMROCKS HOCKEY CLUB INC: $2,000 · Recreation & Sports716 Squash Inc: $1,500 · Public Benefit
Philanthropy$19,644,400Other$474,500Health$90,000Education$4,000Arts & Culture$3,000Recreation & Sports$2,000Public Benefit$1,500

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 budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO INC: $19,644,400 over 1y, 14% of budgetTHE JACOBS INSTITUTE INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBUFFALO PREP INC: $50,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetHAUPTMAN-WOODWARD MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSAY YES TO EDUCATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBUFFALO SHAMROCKS HOCKEY CLUB INC: $2,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budget716 Squash Inc: $1,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCAZENOVIA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGEORGE EASTMAN MUSEUM: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKS SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLake Forest College: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARTPARK & COMPANY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUFFALO ARTS STUDIO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSPORTSMENS AMERICANA MUSIC FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetMUSIC IS ART: $500 over 1y, 0.3% 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 Osc Charitable Fo…Community Foundation …The Baird FoundationCullen FoundationFoundation for Jewish…Cullen Foundation of …James H Cummings Foun…Rich Family FoundationThe Richard W Rupp Fo…The Cameron and Jane …The Margaret L Wendt …First Niagara Foundat…
The Osc Charitable FoundationNY20× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Osc Charitable Foundation · Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Inc · The Baird Foundation · Cullen Foundation · Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies Inc · Cullen Foundation of Western New York Inc · James H Cummings Foundation Inc · Rich Family Foundation · The Richard W Rupp Foundation · The Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation · The Margaret L Wendt Foundation · First Niagara 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 Seymour H Knox Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Seymour H Knox Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 23 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Seymour H Knox’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