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The Sharon A Fordham Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Sharon A Fordham Foundation 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.

$387k
Granted FY2025still arriving
46
Grants FY2025still arriving
18
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Health$32kEducation$27kCommunity Improvement$12kPublic Benefit$11kInternational$11kReligion$9kArts & Culture$8kPublic Safety & Disaster$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 46 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k28 grants · $137k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $250k
$5,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LIGHTHOUSE GUILD INTERNATIONAL INC$20,000
ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC$20,000
AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH$15,000
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$15,000
STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$15,000
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS CHARITABLE SERVICE TRUS$15,000
ALZHEIMERS DISEASE AND RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATI$15,000
CORNELL UNIVERSITY$15,000
SPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION$15,000
SAINT PETERS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL$15,000
SAMARITANS PURSE$15,000
THE RWJ UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC$15,000
THE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION$10,000
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH$10,000
OPERATION SMILE INC$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:

Its human-services grants (FY19–22, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%EOD WARRIOR FOUNDATION INC: $250 → 8%EOD WARRIOR FOUNDATION INC: $250 → 8%EOD WARRIOR FOUNDATION INC: $250 → 8%EOD WARRIOR FOUNDATION INC: $250 → 8%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

ME
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CA
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
GA
TX
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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$378k · 51 repeat orgs$129k to everyone else

51 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

51
14

Total granted

$378k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+85%

Still filing today

71%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $124k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’25
HealthEducationPublic BenefitPhilanthropyArts & CultureInternationalOther
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

  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    6× · 2018–2025 · $21k · revenue +125%
  • LIGHTHOUSE GUILD INTERNATIONAL INC
    2× · 2020–2025 · $20k · revenue +164%
  • SP
    SAMARITAN'S PURSE
    6× · 2017–2025 · $20k · revenue +134%

Funded once

  • SM
    ST MATTHIAS CATHOLIC CHURCH
    one grant, 2022 · $1k
  • Mercy Ships Internationalgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $500 · revenue +87%
  • MM
    MICHAELS MIRACLES NJ NON-PROFITgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $500 · revenue +113%
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
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
2
Shield of Faith Missions

Sof is called to empower warriors to find purpose, be resilient, and live well. we develop and provide customized treatment plans for veterans through our national network of partners.

Religion
3
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
4
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
5
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
6
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
7
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
9
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
10
American Foreign Service Association

American foreign service association (afsa) is both the principal advocate for the long-term institutional wellbeing of the professional career foreign service and responsible for safeguarding the interest of afsa members. (continued on…

—
11
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
12
Neurology Associates of Stony Brook University Faculty Practice Corp

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

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Food Bank Network of Somerset County 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

63 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. 63 of the 84 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
61/63
Grantees still filing
42/63
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE WHARTON SCHOOL: $25,000 · OtherTHE WHARTON SCHOOLAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $17,750 · OtherAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETYCATHOLIC CHARITIES USA: $15,500 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES USAMACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH: $12,000 · OtherMACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCHMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $10,000 · OtherSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $20,000 · OtherSAMARITAN'S PURSEWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $10,000 · Other+34 more: $83,400 · Other+34 moreST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $21,250 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH …AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH: $17,750 · HealthAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCE…ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $16,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATE…SAINT PETER'S UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: $15,000 · HealthSAINT PETER'S UNIVERSITY HOS…THE RWJ UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · HealthTHE RWJ UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL …THE INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER AND BLOOD DISORDERS INC: $10,000 · HealthTHE INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN W…LEUKEMIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $9,000 · HealthLEUKEMIA RESEARCH FOUNDATIONHELP HOSPITALIZED VETERANS INC: $6,500 · HealthTHE NEW YORK GLAUCOMA RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $5,700 · HealthARTHRITIS RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF AMERICA INC: $5,000 · HealthBRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION: $4,500 · Health+2 more: $3,375 · HealthSPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $16,250 · EducationSPECIAL OPERATIO…STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $16,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER T…Cornell University: $15,000 · EducationCornell Universi…HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $8,500 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEG…FOLDS OF HONOR NEW YORK INC: $5,500 · EducationFOLDS OF HONOR N…TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $5,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE …Associate Alumnae of Douglass College: $5,000 · EducationAssociate Alumna…CHILDREN OF FALLEN SOLDIERS RELIEF FUND INC: $5,000 · EducationCHILDREN OF FALL…+2 more: $750 · EducationDisabled American Veterans (DAV) Charitable Service Trust: $16,500 · Public BenefitDisabled …JUDICIAL WATCH INC: $9,500 · Public BenefitJUDICIAL …UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC: $6,250 · Public BenefitUNITED SE…VIETNAM VETERANS LEGACY FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Public BenefitVIETNAM V…THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $3,250 · Public BenefitTHE HERIT…Leadership Institute: $2,000 · Public BenefitWreaths Across America: $1,750 · Public Benefit+1 more: $1,000 · Public BenefitLIGHTHOUSE GUILD INTERNATIONAL INC: $20,100 · PhilanthropyOUR MILITARY KIDS INC: $5,750 · PhilanthropyGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $5,250 · PhilanthropyADOPT A PLATOON SOLDIER SUPPORT EFFORT INC: $1,250 · Philanthropy+1 more: $1,000 · PhilanthropyTHE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION: $11,000 · Arts & CultureYOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS INC: $6,250 · Arts & CultureVietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Inc: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $250 · Arts & CultureOPERATION SMILE INC: $10,500 · InternationalFriends for Health in Haiti Inc: $10,000 · International+1 more: $500 · International
Other$193,650Health$129,075Education$77,000Public Benefit$45,250Philanthropy$33,350Arts & Culture$22,500International$21,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $21,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE GUILD INTERNATIONAL INC: $20,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $20,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH: $17,750 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetDisabled American Veterans (DAV) Charitable Service Trust: $16,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $16,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATION: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION SMILE INC: $10,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFriends for Health in Haiti Inc: $10,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER AND BLOOD DISORDERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $9,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLEUKEMIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $8,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHELP HOSPITALIZED VETERANS INC: $6,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS INC: $6,250 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC: $6,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetOUR MILITARY KIDS INC: $5,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEW YORK GLAUCOMA RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $5,700 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS FOUNDATION: $5,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS INC: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR NEW YORK INC: $5,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $5,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAssociate Alumnae of Douglass College: $5,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSAVE A FRIEND TO HOMELESS ANIMALS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN OF FALLEN SOLDIERS RELIEF FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetBRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT VERITAS: $3,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF NEW JERSEY INC: $3,275 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $3,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHRISTIAN ADVOCATES SERVING EVANGELISM INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Institute: $2,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWreaths Across America: $1,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHEASTERN LEGAL FOUNDATION INC: $1,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTURNING POINT INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOODFINDERINC: $1,250 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetADOPT A PLATOON SOLDIER SUPPORT EFFORT INC: $1,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEOD WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity Food Bank Of New Jersey Inc: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEROBOX INC: $1,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Ships International: $500 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.

Shell USA Company Fou…Aetna Foundation IncThe Pfizer Foundation…Mutual of America Fou…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Chubb Charitable Foun…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Ayco Charitable F…Charities Aid Foundat…The Bank of America C…Network for GoodNational Philanthropi…
Shell USA Company FoundationTX13.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Shell USA Company Foundation · Aetna Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Mutual of America Foundation · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Chubb Charitable Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust

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 Sharon A Fordham Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Sharon A Fordham Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Turning Point Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get 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 · 0–20%
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 84 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 Sharon A Fordham’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