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The Shores Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Shores Foundation

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.

$923k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$575k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$3.0MSocial Science$425kPublic Benefit$333kEducation$305kCrime & Legal$100kCivil Rights$75kReligion$25kHuman Services$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $333k
  • $250k+1 grant · $575k
$183,104
Median grant
2
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CITY$575,000
TATE AMERICAS FOUNDATION$183,104
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE$150,000
MIT$15,000
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 (FY23–23, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HARBOR HOUSE: $3k → 10%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

IL
NY
MA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
VA
NC
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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 7 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
20

Total granted

$3.3M
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+48%

Still filing today

86%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationInternationalCivil RightsPublic BenefitHuman 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

  • The Rand Corporation
    2× · 2022–2023 · $425k · revenue +16%
  • WU
    WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2020–2022 · $135k · revenue +36%
  • NY
    NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
    2× · 2023–2024 · $20k · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $333k · revenue +49%
  • CI
    CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS
    one grant, 2020 · $125k · revenue +14%
  • VI
    VERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue -72%
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
Manhattanville University

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

Education
3
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
4
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
5
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
6
Fordham University

Fordham university, the jesuit university of new york, is committed to the discovery of wisdom and the transmission of learning, through research and through education of the highest quality. for more information, see schedule o.

Education
7
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Inc

The Knight First Amendment Institute defends the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, public advocacy and public education. Our aim is to promote a system of free expression that is…

Education
8
President and Fellows of Harvard College

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

Education
9
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
10
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
11
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
12
Manhattan University

Manhattan university is an independent catholic instituion of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. the mission of manhattan university is to provide a contemporary, person-centered…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Visions for Public Schools Inc; the most unlike its peers is Friends of Seva Mandir 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

20 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. 20 of the 29 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
14/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

City Report Inc: $1,462,000 · Arts & CultureCity Report IncTATE AMERICAS FOUNDATION: $349,104 · Arts & CultureTATE AMERICAS FOUNDATIONTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $333,334 · Arts & CultureTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATIONFRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $300,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INCCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS: $125,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $127,500 · Arts & CultureLACMA(LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $600,000 · OtherLACMA(LOS ANGELES COUNT…Individual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipi…CALARTS: $75,000 · OtherCALARTSWITS: $50,000 · OtherWITS+8 more: $107,500 · Other+8 moreThe Rand Corporation: $425,000 · Public BenefitThe Rand C…WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $135,000 · EducationNEW VISIONS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $50,000 · EducationTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $100,000 · Crime & LegalInjustice Watch NFP: $75,000 · Civil RightsBROWN UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$2,696,938Other$932,500Public Benefit$425,000Education$235,000Crime & Legal$100,000Civil Rights$75,000Community Improvement$50,000

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 budgetCity Report Inc: $1,462,000 over 6y, 11% of budgetThe Rand Corporation: $425,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTATE AMERICAS FOUNDATION: $349,104 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $333,334 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC: $300,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetWESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $135,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS: $125,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetInjustice Watch NFP: $75,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetTHE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: $75,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNEW VISIONS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPBS FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE 19TH NEWS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET HISPANICO OF NEW YORK INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF SEVA MANDIR INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetHARBOR HOUSE: $2,500 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.

Jewish Communal FundMorgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Jewish Communal FundNY12× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Shores Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Shores 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Wesleyan University: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
2report 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 Shores Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Shores 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 29 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 Shores’ 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