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The Starfish Group at a glance

· Private foundation

The Starfish Group

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.

$650k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$750kEducation$225kHuman Services$70kYouth Development$50kReligion$13kArts & Culture$13kInternational$5kFood & Nutrition$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $50k–250k1 grant · $150k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$500,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$173k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE$500,000
Yale University$150,000
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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%insight meditation society: $8k → 11%Joyce Theather Foundation Inc: $13k → 17%the arc: $25k → 14%Yale University: $150k → 12%First Nations Development: $25k → 12%SEATTLE STORM FOUNDATION: $25k → 9%Solar Sister Inc: $5k → 6%insight meditation society: $5k → 11%la escuelita: $10k → 17%the george Washington university: $13k → 14%Yale University: $50k → 12%First Nations Development: $25k → 12%SEATTLE STORM FOUNDATION: $25k → 9%la escuelita: $10k → 17%the george Washington university: $8k → 14%citymeals on wheels: $3k → 17%greater new york al-anon: $10k → 17%greater new york al-anon: $10k → 17%ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $500k → 17%The ideal School of Manhattan: $5k → 17%ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $250k → 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.
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 9 repeat orgs$50k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
5

Total granted

$1.2M
$50k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+26%

Still filing today

56%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’20’22’23’24’25
EducationYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesFood & NutritionArts & 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

  • SS
    Seattle Storm Foundation
    2× · 2020–2024 · $50k · revenue +40%
  • HI
    HELPUSADOPTORG INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $30k · revenue +321%
  • TG
    The George Washington University
    2× · 2022–2023 · $20k · revenue +18%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
  • JT
    JOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $13k · revenue +48%
  • SS
    SOLAR SISTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +26%
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
Ie New York College

(see schedule o)

Education
2
MRIGlobal

To improve the lives of people through innovative scientific and engineering research.

Science & Tech
3
Weizmann Institute of Science

The weizmann institute of science, located in rehovot, israel, is one of the worlds top-ranking, multidisciplinary research institutions. at any one time, several thousand scientists, staff and students are involved in hundreds of research…

Science & Tech
4
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Committed to exceptional healthcare quality for all and actively engaged with our community, einstein drives scientific discovery and educates compassionate leaders in health and science.

Education
5
The Mount Sinai Hospital

Mount sinai is committed to the advancement of the art and science of medicine through clinical excellence. the central mission consists of high-quality patient care and teaching conducted in an atmosphere of social concern and scholarly…

Health
6
Beth Israel Medical Center

Since its founding, over 120 years ago, as a medical dispensary to meet the needs of the impoverished and underserved jewish community of the lower east side, beth israel medical center has been committed to the care of persons of all…

Health
7
Rit Global Delivery Corporation

Provide administrative and other support services to academic programs sponsored by rochester institute of technology both in the united states and abroad.

Education
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
Metropolitan Jewish Health System Inc

Mjhs health system is a charitable not-for-profit established to support the activities of affiliated organizations. mjhs is built on the core values of compassion, dignity and respect, first established by the four brooklyn ladies in…

Health
10
Washington School for Girls

Washington school for girls ignites the joyful pursuit of learning and inspires lives of faith-filled purpose, leadership, and service by educating girls in underserved areas through an academically challenging education. an extended day…

Education
11
University of Washington Foundation

The university of washington foundation solicits and otherwise facilitates private contributions to or for the benefit of the university of washington.

Education
12
German International School New York

To provide pre-kindergarten through grade 12 college preparatory education, growing students into socially and environmentally aware global citizens in a multi-lingual, cross-cultural setting.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Icahn School of Medicine At Mount Sinai; the most unlike its peers is Solar Sister 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

9 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. 9 of the 14 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)
9/9
Grantees still filing
6/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $750,000 · EducationICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI+3 more: $45,000 · Education+3 moreYale University: $200,000 · OtherYale UniversityIndividual grant recipient: $50,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientgreater new york al-anon: $20,000 · Othergreater new york al-anonINSIGHT MEDITATION SOCIETY INC: $12,500 · OtherSeattle Storm Foundation: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentHELPUSADOPTORG INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesJOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 · Arts & CultureSOLAR SISTER INC: $5,000 · InternationalCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $2,500 · Food & Nutrition
Education$795,000Other$307,500Youth Development$50,000Human Services$30,000Arts & Culture$12,500International$5,000Food & Nutrition$2,500

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 budgetICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $750,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSeattle Storm Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetHELPUSADOPTORG INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetLA ESCUELITA INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetThe George Washington University: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOLAR SISTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Ideal School of Manhattan: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS: $2,500 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.

Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA10.2× affinity5 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Starfish Group funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Starfish Group. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Starfish Group?

    Find your warmest path to The Starfish Group 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 14 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

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    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