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The Theresa and Frank Caplan Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Theresa and Frank Caplan Foundation

THE ORGANIZATION'S MISSION IS TO PROVIDE GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE AND CREATIVE PROJECTS AND RESEARCH THAT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE AND ENHANCE THE DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH, SAFETY, EDUCATION OR QUALITY OF LIFE OF CHILDREN FROM INFANCY THROUGH SEVEN YEARS OF AGE.

$432k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$63k
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$2.1MHealth$691kScience & Tech$451kEnvironment$69kHuman Services$45k
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k5 grants · $204k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $230k
$49,998
Median grant
6
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Harvard University$63,000
Boston College$58,924
Virginia Tech$58,320
University of Texas Foundation$50,000
Boston University$49,998
University at Albany$45,302
Connecticut College$44,287
University of South Florida$34,671
University of Wisconsin Madison$29,589
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 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 74% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%NEMOUS FUND FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $50k → 10%Boston College: $59k → 7%MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $38k → 8%University of Massachusetts: $51k → 12%SOUTH END COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER: $50k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $46k → 11%Carnegie Mellon University: $83k → 11%Drexel University: $79k → 22%University of Southern California: $47k → 14%NEW YORK UNIVERSITY METROPOLITAN CENTER FOR RESEARCH: $100k → 17%University of North Texas: $72k → 8%University of Texas Foundation: $50k → 10%NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $50k → 14%University of S Florida Foundation: $50k → 13%HOPE COLLEGE: $65k → 10%Wayne State University: $50k → 21%The University of Alabama: $47k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS CENTER FOR RESEARCH: $36k → 15%Regents of the Univ of Wisconsin Sy: $44k → 10%Oregon State University: $50k → 18%Connecticut College: $44k → 9%YALE CHILD STUDY CENTER: $82k → 12%VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: $47k → 14%Utah State University: $52k → 12%Frazer Center: $45k → 14%Augusta University Reseach Institut: $50k → 18%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $56k → 19%Ohio University Foundation: $44k → 22%American Academy of Pediatrics: $66k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO: $50k → 14%RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $32k → 8%GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: $40k → 6%Virginia Tech: $58k → 21%Johns Hopkins University: $50k → 19%BOSTON COLLEGE: $33k → 7%HARVARD UNIVERSITY (THE PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE): $52k → 8%BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER: $40k → 16%Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh Fdn: $50k → 11%DREXEL UNIVERSITY: $53k → 22%NYU Steinhardt: $51k → 17%NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES: $50k → 14%University of Wisconsin-Madison: $40k → 10%Purdue for Life Foundation: $50k → 19%TUFTS UNIVERSITY: $65k → 16%Thomas Jeffereson University: $45k → 22%University of California Los Angeles: $53k → 14%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: $50k → 17%Mass General for Children: $120k → 16%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
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
MO
VA
MD
DE
KS
TN
DC
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 10% of The Theresa and Frank Caplan Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Theresa and Frank Caplan Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

16%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$480k · 5 repeat orgs$2.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +58% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
41

Total granted

$480k
$2.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
+33%

Still filing today

80%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 24% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $283k 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
EducationHealthScience & TechEnvironmentArts & CultureOther
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

  • DU
    DREXEL UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2017–2023 · $132k · revenue +10%
  • NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
    2× · 2017–2019 · $100k · revenue +15%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE
    2× · 2018–2024 · $91k · revenue +58%

Funded once

  • MG
    Mass General for Children
    one grant, 2022 · $120k
  • NY
    New York Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue +76%
  • CM
    Carnegie Mellon Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $83k · revenue +33%
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
Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

The trustees of the university of pennsylvania (the "university") sees itself as having a public service mission. in such regard, the university aims to provide a rich and diverse educational environment for its students; to pioneer…

Education
2
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
3
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
4
University of Miami

See Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.

Education
5
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
6
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
7
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
8
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
9
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
10
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

Stanford university is one of a select group of american universities that have achieved eminence in both undergraduate and graduate education and research - cont'd sch o.

Education
11
Cornell University

Education, research, medical services and other public services.

Education
12
Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is an independent, research-oriented university with broadly based strengths in health, including medicine, nursing and dentistry; in engineering; in the arts and sciences; and in law, management and social…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Trustees of Tufts College; the most unlike its peers is Massachusetts Audubon Society 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

33 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. 33 of the 56 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)
32/33
Grantees still filing
27/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Mass General for Children: $120,000 · OtherMass General for ChildrenCarnegie Mellon University: $82,901 · OtherUniversity of North Texas: $71,601 · OtherUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison: $69,440 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: $64,824 · OtherVirginia Tech: $58,320 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HEALTH CENTER: $57,500 · OtherTRUSTEES OF PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $56,240 · OtherUniversity of California Los Angeles: $52,753 · OtherUTAH STATE UNIVERSITY: $52,333 · Other+19 more: $883,433 · Other+19 morePresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $175,718 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard CollegeDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $132,353 · EducationDREXEL UNIVERSITYNew York University: $100,000 · EducationNew York UniversityTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $91,424 · EducationTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGEVanderbilt University: $86,993 · EducationVanderbilt UniversityYale University: $82,000 · EducationYale UniversityUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $77,150 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAHOPE COLLEGE: $65,000 · EducationTrustees of Tufts College: $64,865 · EducationFLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $50,000 · EducationPurdue Research Foundation: $49,896 · EducationAUGUSTA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $49,537 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $47,610 · EducationTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $45,000 · EducationThe Ohio University Foundation: $44,326 · EducationCONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $44,287 · Education+1 more: $32,000 · EducationAMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: $65,527 · HealthTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $50,003 · HealthCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $40,000 · HealthNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $99,965 · Science & TechUniversity of Kansas Center for Research Inc: $36,120 · Science & TechMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $37,500 · EnvironmentNORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCA: $31,500 · EnvironmentSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $40,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,569,345Education$1,288,159Health$205,530Science & Tech$136,085Environment$69,000Arts & Culture$40,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $175,718 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $132,353 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $99,965 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $91,424 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University: $86,993 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $82,901 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYale University: $82,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $77,150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: $65,527 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE COLLEGE: $65,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $64,865 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $50,003 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH END COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $49,998 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPurdue Research Foundation: $49,896 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAUGUSTA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $49,537 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $47,610 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FRAZER CENTER INC: $45,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $45,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Ohio University Foundation: $44,326 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $44,287 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $39,675 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $37,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Kansas Center for Research Inc: $36,120 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $32,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCA: $31,500 over 1y, 0.8% 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Fidelity Investments …
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Theresa and Frank Caplan Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Theresa and Frank Caplan Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Boston Medical Center Corporation: 23% 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
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Nemours Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Connecticut College: 0% of income from government
  • Rutgers University Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Portland State University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
1report 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.

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 56 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 Theresa and Frank Caplan’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