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The Shen Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Shen Family 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.

$1.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$350k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$9.8MEducation$1.5MHealth$641kEmployment$150kYouth Development$50kRecreation & Sports$25kEnvironment$17kScience & Tech$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $235k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $621k
  • $250k+1 grant · $350k
$20,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$9.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW YORK CITY BALLET$350,000
BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS$186,250
PRINCETON BALLET SOCIETY$100,000
BALLET SOCIETY INC$100,000
BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC$70,000
MASTERS SCHOOL$65,000
TRANSPORT GROUP$50,000
MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING$50,000
GREEN-WOOD HISTORIC FUND$35,000
ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL$25,000
PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE$25,000
YALE UNIVERSITY$25,000
PROSPECT THEATER COMPANY$25,000
MASTERVOICES$20,000
OUT OF THE BOX THEATRICS$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%WILLIAMSON THEATRE: $75k → 11%JFK CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS: $100k → 14%PRINCETON BALLET SOCIETY: $100k → 11%THE WASHINGTON BALLET: $100k → 14%PRINCETON BALLET SOCIETY: $75k → 11%BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART: $168k → 20%THE WASHINGTON BALLET: $88k → 14%BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART: $165k → 20%THE WASHINGTON BALLET: $88k → 14%BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART: $161k → 20%ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY: $125k → 17%BROOKLYN MUSEUM: $160k → 20%ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY: $100k → 17%BROOKLYN MUSEUM: $157k → 20%BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART: $141k → 20%BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART: $140k → 20%AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: $290k → 17%AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: $285k → 17%AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: $278k → 17%AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: $270k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $350k → 17%AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE FDN: $260k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $250k → 17%AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE FDN: $260k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $250k → 17%AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: $200k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $250k → 17%SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK: $174k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $243k → 17%SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK: $170k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $225k → 17%CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY: $75k → 17%BALLET SOCIETY INC: $100k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $225k → 17%NEW YORK CITY BALLET: $200k → 17%BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $186k → 20%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER: $100k → 17%TRANSPORT GROUPLARK THEATRE CO: $488k → 17%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER: $100k → 17%THE NEW YORK CITY CENTER: $125k → 17%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER: $100k → 17%TRANSPORT GROUPLARK THEATRE CO: $115k → 17%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER: $100k → 17%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER: $100k → 17%SIGNATURE THEATRE: $199k → 17%SIGNATURE THEATRE INC: $110k → 17%SIGNATURE THEATRE: $105k → 17%SIGNATURE THEATRE: $100k → 17%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

MN
NY
MA
NJ
CT
CA
VA
MD
DC
AL
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 40 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

40 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 21 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

40
24

Total granted

$11M
$891k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+32%

Still filing today

70%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $451k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationEmploymentRecreation & SportsEnvironmentHealthOther
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

  • NY
    NEW YORK CITY BALLET INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.0M · revenue +21%
  • TW
    THE WASHINGTON BALLET
    4× · 2017–2021 · $325k · revenue +46%
  • PC
    PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $320k · revenue +42%

Funded once

  • YU
    YALE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2018 · $210k
  • JC
    JFK CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • WT
    WILLIAMSON THEATRE
    one grant, 2018 · $75k
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
Women's Project & Productions Inc

Wp theater is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of women+ at every stage of their careers. for over four decades we have served as leaders of a global movement…

Arts & Culture
2
New York Shakespeare Festival

As the nation's foremost producer of shakespeare and new work, the public theater is dedicated to achieving artistic excellence while developing an american theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of…

Arts & Culture
3
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Inc
—
4
Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Please see schedule o for the complete mission statement.berkeley repertory theatre creates ambitious theatre that entertains and challenges its audiences, provokes civic engagement, and inspires people to experience the world in new and…

Arts & Culture
5
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
6
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
7
The New Group Inc

The new group is an artist-driven company with a commitment to developing and producing powerful, contemporary theater. while constantly evolving, we maintain an ensemble approach to all our work and an articulated style of emotional…

Arts & Culture
8
Bow Street Theatre Trust
—
9
Manhattan Theatre Club Inc

Mtc's work includes producing and developing new work on and off-broadway, nurturing artists throughout their careers, and positively impacting the lives of many through innovative education programs. we are committed to equity, diversity…

Arts & Culture
10
Titan Productions Incorporated

Titan theatre company is committed to breathing new life and clarity into classical works of theatre, exploring new and contemporary language plays, and delivering adventurous and visceral theatrical experiences for our audiences and…

Arts & Culture
11
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
12
Bang On a Can

Presenting, commissioning, performing, recording and teaching contemporary music. bang on a can believes in exposing exciting new music as broadly and accessibly as possible. through it's summer institute, bang on a can hopes to bring this…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is York Theatre Company Inc; the most unlike its peers is Penumbra Foundation. 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

52 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 52 of the 75 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
52/52
Grantees still filing
32/52
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NEW YORK CITY BALLET INC: $1,992,500 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK CITY BALLET INCBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC: $1,912,500 · Arts & CultureBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INCTHE WASHINGTON BALLET: $325,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $316,550 · Arts & CulturePRINCETON BALLET SOCIETY: $302,500 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK CITY CENTER INC: $285,000 · Arts & CultureROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INC: $225,000 · Arts & Culture+28 more: $922,112 · Arts & Culture+28 moreBROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART: $774,500 · OtherBROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ARTYALE UNIVERSITY: $738,020 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITYTRANSPORT GROUPLARK THEATRE CO: $674,623 · OtherTRANSPORT GROUPLARK THEATRE COSIGNATURE THEATRE: $588,565 · OtherSIGNATURE THEATREMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER: $500,000 · OtherMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCERSHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK: $370,364 · OtherSHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKYALE UNIVERSITY: $210,000 · OtherBROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $186,250 · Other+23 more: $1,321,800 · Other+23 morePACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE: $320,000 · EducationThe New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations: $55,000 · EducationBARD COLLEGE: $25,000 · Education+1 more: $10,000 · EducationTHE HOPE PROGRAM INC: $150,000 · EmploymentCity Squash Inc: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsBROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATION: $17,000 · EnvironmentBROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $7,500 · PhilanthropyFSHD SOCIETY: $1,000 · Health
Arts & Culture$6,281,162Other$5,364,122Education$410,000Employment$150,000Recreation & Sports$50,000Environment$17,000Philanthropy$7,500Health$1,000

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 budgetNEW YORK CITY BALLET INC: $1,992,500 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC: $1,912,500 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetTHE WASHINGTON BALLET: $325,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetPACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE: $320,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $316,550 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPRINCETON BALLET SOCIETY: $302,500 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetNEW YORK CITY CENTER INC: $285,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INC: $225,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE GREEN-WOOD HISTORIC FUND INC: $182,500 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetTHE HOPE PROGRAM INC: $150,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetCSC REPERTORY LTD D/B/A CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY: $140,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetMASTERS SCHOOL: $80,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPREMIERA INC: $67,500 over 3y, 17% of budgetOLD GLOBE THEATRE: $60,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations: $55,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCity Squash Inc: $50,000 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetFRANKLIN FURNACE ARCHIVE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetEVERYMAN THEATRE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTHE PHILHARMONIC SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NY INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRANSPORT GROUP INC DBA TRANSPORT GROUP THEATRE COMPANY: $50,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetTHE CHASE BROCK EXPERIENCE INC: $45,000 over 3y, 34% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $43,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNEW YORK STAGE AND FILM INC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetTHE PERFORMANCE ZONE INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetRED BULL THEATER INC: $27,535 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetBAY STREET THEATRE FESTIVAL INC: $26,085 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFIASCO THEATER LTD: $25,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetBETH MORRISON PROJECTS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPROSPECT THEATER COMPANY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetBARD COLLEGE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEUGENE O'NEILL MEMORIAL THEATER CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHEATER LATTE DA: $21,792 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPETER FOLEY MUSIC PROJECT INC: $20,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetOUT OF THE BOX THEATRICS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMASTERVOICES INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetBRIC ARTS MEDIA BKLYN INC: $19,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATION: $17,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC ART FUND INC: $15,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetYork Theatre Company Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE MOVEMENT THEATRE COMPANY INC: $13,200 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetBERKSHIRE THEATRE GROUP INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetW EUGENE SMITH MEMORIAL FUND INC: $10,000 over 4y, 5.4% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SYMPHONY SPACE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNEW AMSTERDAM PRESENTS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetTHE ALDRICH CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% 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.

  • Who funds NEW YORK CITY BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE WASHINGTON BALLET ↗
  • Who funds PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ↗
  • Who funds PRINCETON BALLET SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds NEW YORK CITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GREEN-WOOD HISTORIC FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HOPE PROGRAM INC ↗
  • Who funds CSC REPERTORY LTD D/B/A CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds MASTERS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds PREMIERA INC ↗
  • Who funds OLD GLOBE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds URBANARIAS INC ↗
  • Who funds The New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations ↗
  • Who funds City Squash Inc ↗
  • Who funds FRANKLIN FURNACE ARCHIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds EVERYMAN THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILHARMONIC SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NY INC ↗
  • Who funds TRANSPORT GROUP INC DBA TRANSPORT GROUP THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds THE CHASE BROCK EXPERIENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds FRACTURED ATLAS INC ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds NEW YORK STAGE AND FILM INC ↗

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 Shubert Foundatio…The Howard Gilman Fou…Jewish Communal FundThe Lucille Lortel Fo…The Hyde and Watson F…Jerome Robbins Founda…Axe-Houghton Foundati…Ibm International Fou…Michael Tuch Foundati…The Macmillan Family …Cornelia T Bailey Cha…The Ford Foundation
The Shubert Foundation IncNY37.4× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Shubert Foundation Inc · The Howard Gilman Foundation Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · The Lucille Lortel Foundation Inc · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Jerome Robbins Foundation · Axe-Houghton Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Michael Tuch Foundation Inc · The Macmillan Family Foundation Inc · Cornelia T Bailey Charitable Trust · The Ford 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 Shen Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Shen Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Everyman Theatre Inc: 15% of income from government
  • The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum Inc: 9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Berkshire Theatre Group Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Eugene O'neill Memorial Theater Center Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 75 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 Shen Family’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