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The Stephen M Sander Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Stephen M Sander 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.

$145k
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$43k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$152kPhilanthropy$123kArts & Culture$117kEnvironment$98kAnimals$81kHealth$74kRecreation & Sports$66kCommunity Improvement$38kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $31k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $114k
$5,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$384k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GIVING NETWORK$43,000
NXT ART FOUNDATION INC$26,000
GLO GOOD FOUNDATION INC$15,000
BUCKHORN PUBLIC ARTS$10,250
ASPEN INSTITUTE SOCIETY OF FELLOWS$10,000
CHILDRENS ONCOLOGY SUPPORT FUND$10,000
WILD BEAR NATURE CENTER$7,500
ACES$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
COALITION FOR FAIRNESS IN SOHONOHO$5,000
ASPEN HOPE CENTER$3,020
ASPEN ART MUSEUM$2,500
CARE WITH ME FOUNDATION$1,000
SUSAN G KOMEN FOR THE CURE$1,000
COLORADOGIVESORG$520
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 (FY18–25, $99k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 31% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHILDRENS ONCOLOGY SUPPORT FUND: $10k → 14%ARK CHARITIES: $15k → 16%LEGAL INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES TODAY: $400 → 20%THERE WITH CARE: $5k → 12%CARVER FOUNDATION: $40k → 9%CARVER FOUNDATION: $27k → 9%CARVER FOUNDATION: $3k → 9%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

WA
NY
MA
NV
IN
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
NE
AZ
NC
DC
LA
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.

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$466k · 19 repeat orgs$398k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
53

Total granted

$466k
$278k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+25%

Still filing today

68%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 17% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $120k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEducationAnimalsEnvironmentOther
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

  • TC
    THE CARVER INC
    3× · 2018–2020 · $69k · revenue +132%
  • WILD BEAR NATURE CENTER
    3× · 2022–2024 · $67k · revenue +36%
  • WC
    WOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $65k · revenue +29%

Funded once

  • TW
    TOGETHER WE RISE
    one grant, 2024 · $40k · revenue 0%
  • LF
    LAUNCH FLOYD BENNETT FIELD CAPITAL FUND
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • OO
    ONLY ONE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue +627%
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
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
3
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
4
New York City Center Inc

The mission of new york city center is to be new york city's leading center for dance and musical theater. dedicated to making the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience, city center seeks to create a welcoming environment and…

Arts & Culture
5
New Museum of Contemporary Art

A center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists since 1977, which continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.

Arts & Culture
6
New York Foundation for the Arts Inc

Established in 1971, the mission of the new york foundation for the arts (nyfa) is to empower artists in all disciplines, as well as cultural workers, to achieve success on their own terms by providing critical support, resources, and…

Arts & Culture
7
Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation

The samuel waxman cancer research foundation (the "foundation") funds innovative research to bring faster cures to patients. in addition to supporting ongoing collaborative research in specific cancers, our scientists are investigating the…

—
8
Climate Breakthrough Inc

To launch breakthrough climate mitigation efforts by identifying, supporting, and unleashing innovative leaders with transformative strategies.

Human Services
9
Work on Climate

Supporting industry transformation towards climate-positive and make green careers transitions and driving the adoption of green workforce development practices broadly.

Environment
10
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
11
Open New York Education Inc

Open new york education, inc. supports public education, awareness, and engagement around housing issues to help build a movement for a more abundant and inclusive new york.

Housing & Shelter
12
Creative Commons Corporation

Develops legal and technical infrastructure for digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Colorado; the most unlike its peers is Ark Charities 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

51 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. 51 of the 85 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/51
Grantees still filing
35/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GIVING NETWORK: $43,000 · OtherASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GIVING NETWORKLAUNCH FLOYD BENNETT FIELD CAPITAL FUND: $25,000 · OtherLAUNCH FLOYD BENNETT FIELD CAPITAL FUNDIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $19,600 · OtherPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $17,500 · OtherGLO GOOD FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $13,500 · OtherDEGREGORIO FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · OtherTOGETHER WE RISE: $40,000 · OtherTOGETHER WE RISECoalition for Fairness in SoHo and NoHo Inc: $30,000 · OtherCoalition for Fairness in SoHo and NoHo Inc+39 more: $137,140 · Other+39 moreWILD BEAR NATURE CENTER: $66,500 · EnvironmentWILD BEAR NAT…ONLY ONE INC: $20,000 · EnvironmentONLY ONE INCNEW YORK CITY OUTWARD BOUND CENTER INC DBA NYC OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOLS: $20,000 · EnvironmentNEW YORK CITY…BEDFORD 2030 INC: $4,020 · EnvironmentYOUNG MUSICIANS UNITE INC: $41,700 · Arts & CultureYOUNG MUSICIA…NXT ART FOUNDATION INC: $26,000 · Arts & CultureNXT ART FOUND…Buckhorn Public Arts Inc: $15,250 · Arts & CultureBuckhorn Publ…THE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC: $12,275 · Arts & CultureTHE DREAMYARD…METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $6,000 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN …+7 more: $9,050 · Arts & Culture+7 moreTHE CARVER INC: $68,825 · Human ServicesTHE CARVER I…ARK CHARITIES INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesARK CHARITIE…CHILDREN'S ONCOLOGY SUPPORT FUND: $10,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S O…THERE WITH CARE: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $400 · Human ServicesWOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INC: $65,000 · AnimalsWOLF CONS…The Watering Hole Foundation Inc: $10,000 · AnimalsThe Water…+3 more: $4,000 · AnimalsASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $68,200 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $3,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $2,551 · PhilanthropyADAM J LEWIS ACADEMY INC: $35,000 · EducationTrustees of Tufts College: $16,000 · EducationDALTON SCHOOLS INC: $10,000 · EducationUNC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Education+1 more: $200 · Education
Other$395,740Environment$110,520Arts & Culture$110,275Human Services$99,225Animals$79,000Philanthropy$73,751Education$66,200

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 budgetTHE CARVER INC: $68,825 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $68,200 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWILD BEAR NATURE CENTER: $66,500 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetWOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INC: $65,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetYOUNG MUSICIANS UNITE INC: $41,700 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetTOGETHER WE RISE: $40,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetADAM J LEWIS ACADEMY INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetCoalition for Fairness in SoHo and NoHo Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetNXT ART FOUNDATION INC: $26,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetNEW YORK CITY OUTWARD BOUND CENTER INC DBA NYC OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOLS: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetDEGREGORIO FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $17,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetARK CHARITIES INC: $15,000 over 1y, 75% of budgetTHE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC: $12,275 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDALTON SCHOOLS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Watering Hole Foundation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 39% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $8,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGREENWICH TOWN PARTY INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHERE WITH CARE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOPHIE'S NEIGHBORHOOD: $3,200 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL NATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JED FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASPEN ART MUSEUM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJAZZ AT ASPEN-SNOWMASS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLO GOOD FOUNDATION INC: $1,551 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetLegacy Global Programs: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetADULT & TEEN CHALLENGE NEW ENGLAND AND NEW JERSEY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF COLORADO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLONGMONT HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUSA WARRIOR STORIES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCOLORADO FILM SOCIETY FYE 531: $550 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMACCABI USA INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMOCA CT INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIDEAWEE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY LEGAL CARE INC: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYEAR UP INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDRALA MOUNTAIN CENTER Formerly Shambhala Mountain Center: $100 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.

Jewish Communal FundYoung Mens Christian …The Emily Hall Tremai…The Bessemer Giving F…Colorado Gives Founda…Fairfield County's Co…The New York Communit…National Philanthropi…ImpactassetsincMorgan Stanley Global…The Ayco Charitable F…The Chicago Community…
Jewish Communal FundNY16× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Young Mens Christian Association of Westport/Weston Ct Inc · The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation Inc · The Bessemer Giving Fund · Colorado Gives Foundation · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · The New York Community Trust · National Philanthropic Trust · Impactassetsinc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · The Chicago Community 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 Stephen M Sander Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Stephen M Sander Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • The Carver Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Young Musicians Unite Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 85 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 Stephen M Sander’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