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The Simons Foundation Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Simons Foundation Inc

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.

$272M
Granted FY2024still arriving
1,727
Grants FY2024still arriving
50
States reached
$20M
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 2024.

Education$573MScience & Tech$477MHealth$345MEnvironment$29MPhilanthropy$26MArts & Culture$26MRecreation & Sports$11MSocial Science$3.7MOther$0
02FY2024 · 1727 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k636 grants · $5.1M
  • $10k–50k154 grants · $3.4M
  • $50k–250k705 grants · $100M
  • $250k+232 grants · $163M
$72,000
Median grant
50
States reached
$4.5B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW YORK GENOME CENTER$20,000,000
STONY BROOK FOUNDATION$6,666,667
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH$5,146,400
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY$4,434,919
CLINICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES$4,227,515
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$4,125,000
UC BERKELEY$3,750,000
STONY BROOK FOUNDATION$3,498,868
COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY$3,380,302
STONY BROOK FOUNDATION$3,072,666
UCSF$2,865,975
Individual grant recipient$2,187,500
COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY$2,015,343
CORNELL UNIVERSITY$1,544,180
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$1,500,000
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, $220k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FRIENDS OF WHEELS INC: $220k → 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

ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 8% of The Simons Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Simons Foundation Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 7.7% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
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.
$1.2B · 511 repeat orgs$150M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

511 repeat relationships: 294 still active in FY2024, 217 since wound down; 129 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

511
325

Total granted

$1.2B
$110M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+28%

Still filing today

38%
26%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHealthScience & TechPhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementOther
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 GENOME CENTER INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $105M · revenue +36% · 38% of their budget
  • SB
    STONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2018–2024 · $97M · revenue +214% · 33% of their budget
  • The Trustees of Princeton University
    6× · 2018–2024 · $37M · revenue +8%

Funded once

  • US
    UC SAN DIEGO
    one grant, 2023 · $20M
  • RO
    REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO
    one grant, 2020 · $12M
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO
    one grant, 2022 · $5.4M
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
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

We educate the next generation of leaders to improve the health of our society.

Education
2
The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research

The graduate school of the stowers institute for medical research ("gssimr") exempt purpose is to provide graduate education that will prepare scholars for scientific research in the biological sciences.

Education
3
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
4
The Graduate Center Foundation Inc

The graduate center foundation is committed to promoting and safe-guarding the success of the graduate center by raising funds and managing and investing donations for use by the graduate center. the board of trustees of the foundation…

—
5
Manhattanville University

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

Education
6
Boston Architectural College

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

—
7
National Science and Technology Medals Foundation Inc

The nstmf's mission is to build inclusive stem communities across the united states. fundamental to these communities are the significant, inspirational connections we foster between the individuals who have received national recognition…

—
8
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
9
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
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
The Translational Genomics Research Institute

Please see schedule o

Health
12
Stony Brook Urology University Faculty Practice Corporation

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 Exploratorium; the most unlike its peers is Poster House Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

327 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. 327 of the 981 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.

38
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
51
Early backer (in before they grew)
323/327
Grantees still filing
249/327
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $48,427,542 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGOMIT: $47,803,314 · OtherMITUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $31,647,570 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTONUNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH: $28,433,058 · OtherUC SAN DIEGO: $20,403,594 · Other+132 more: $415,320,250 · Other+132 moreSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC: $96,776,288 · EducationSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INCMATH FOR AMERICA: $65,700,000 · EducationMATH FOR AMERICATHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $43,213,782 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN T…The Trustees of Princeton University: $36,891,465 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton UniversityTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $33,616,341 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STAN…New York University: $33,266,544 · EducationNew York UniversityPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $28,201,546 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard CollegeCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $21,619,586 · Education+22 more: $125,764,493 · Education+22 moreNEW YORK GENOME CENTER INC: $104,549,822 · HealthNEW YORK GEN…Children's Hospital Corporation: $8,022,640 · HealthChildren's H…GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION: $6,053,980 · HealthThe Broad Institute Inc: $5,239,815 · HealthNORTHWELL HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5,000,000 · Health+9 more: $17,119,991 · Health+9 moreCOLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY: $34,068,744 · Science & TechINSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY - LOUIS BAMBERGER & MRS FELIX FULD FOUNDATION: $15,518,092 · Science & TechWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $12,399,835 · Science & TechSIMONS LAUFER MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE: $6,420,100 · Science & TechWORLD SCIENCE FOUNDATION: $5,500,000 · Science & TechMARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY: $3,463,075 · Science & Tech+6 more: $9,210,041 · Science & TechNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MATHEMATICS: $8,619,790 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE: $4,155,559 · Arts & CulturePIONEER WORKS ART FOUNDATION: $2,101,779 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $1,079,991 · Arts & CultureNorthwestern University: $12,076,149 · Recreation & SportsBROWN UNIVERSITY: $5,662,485 · Community ImprovementFISCAL SPONSORSHIP ALLIES INC: $903,628 · Community Improvement
Other$592,035,328Education$485,050,045Health$145,986,248Science & Tech$86,579,887Arts & Culture$15,957,119Recreation & Sports$12,076,149Community Improvement$6,566,113

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetNEW YORK GENOME CENTER INC: $104,549,822 over 5y, 38% of budgetSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC: $96,776,288 over 6y, 33% of budgetMATH FOR AMERICA: $65,700,000 over 3y, 95% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $43,213,782 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $36,891,465 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCOLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY: $34,068,744 over 6y, 4.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $33,616,341 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNew York University: $33,266,544 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $28,201,546 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $21,619,586 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY - LOUIS BAMBERGER & MRS FELIX FULD FOUNDATION: $15,518,092 over 5y, 10% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $13,848,082 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $13,660,053 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $13,290,742 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $12,399,835 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $12,076,149 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $11,823,722 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $10,955,370 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetCLINICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES LLC: $10,541,515 over 3y, 100% of budgetCornell University: $10,344,030 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MATHEMATICS: $8,619,790 over 5y, 62% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $8,022,640 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetEmory University: $7,549,182 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $7,086,532 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSIMONS LAUFER MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE: $6,420,100 over 4y, 29% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $6,354,491 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetGEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION: $6,053,980 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $5,662,485 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD SCIENCE FOUNDATION: $5,500,000 over 2y, 66% of budgetThe Broad Institute Inc: $5,239,815 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ESTHER A & JOSEPH KLINGENSTEIN FUND INC: $5,200,000 over 4y, 77% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $5,026,964 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWELL HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5,000,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetBaylor College of Medicine: $4,890,755 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE SCIENCES RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $4,720,247 over 6y, 28% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $4,624,321 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $4,417,427 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetNEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE: $4,155,559 over 5y, 16% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $4,077,273 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $3,729,841 over 4y, 55% of budgetMARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY: $3,463,075 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetGEISINGER CLINIC: $3,335,283 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetResearch Foundation of the City University of New York: $2,971,449 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $2,735,839 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY: $2,683,750 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $2,567,948 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $2,500,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetHoward Hughes Medical Institute: $2,434,215 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 GENOME CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds STONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MATH FOR AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds The Trustees of Princeton University ↗
  • Who funds COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds New York University ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY - LOUIS BAMBERGER & MRS FELIX FULD FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Massachusetts Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds CLINICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES LLC ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MATHEMATICS ↗
  • Who funds Children's Hospital Corporation ↗
  • Who funds Emory University ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SIMONS LAUFER MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗

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.

Alfred P Sloan Founda…Gordon E and Betty I …The Trustees of Colum…The Kavli FoundationHoward Hughes Medical…The Hyde and Watson F…Johns Hopkins Univers…Silicon Valley Commun…Global GenesGates FoundationThe Andrew W Mellon F…The Heising-Simons Fo…
Alfred P Sloan FoundationNY44.2× affinity20 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Alfred P Sloan Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · The Kavli Foundation · Howard Hughes Medical Institute · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Johns Hopkins University · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Global Genes · Gates Foundation · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · The Heising-Simons 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 Simons Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Simons Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Hugo W Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Marine Biological Laboratory: 20% of income from government
  • The Broad Institute Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation: 7% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: 7% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc: 6% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • The American Society for Cell Biology: 4% of income from government
  • American Academy of Arts & Sciences: 3% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • Code for Science & Society Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Wesleyan University: 1% of income from government
  • Wellesley College: 1% of income from government
  • Museum of Science: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
21report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.

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 981 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 Simons’ 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