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The Viola Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Viola Fund

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.

$2.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$5.1MEducation$2.0MArts & Culture$583kHealth$239kFood & Nutrition$78kRecreation & Sports$41kCivil Rights$39kInternational$35kOther$0
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $155k
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.0M
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$20M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$2,000,000
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART$25,000
METROPOLITAN OPERA$25,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
CORNELL-WEILL HOSPITAL$20,000
OPEN STAGE PROJECT$15,000
MAGAZZINO ITALIAN ART FOUNDATION$10,000
HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY FUND INC$10,000
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY$10,000
THE FEMINIST INSTITUTE TGI DIGITAL$10,000
WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE$10,000
DIEU DONNE PAPERMILL$6,000
RISING TREETOPS AT OAKHURST$5,000
Individual grant recipient$1,500
ARTOLUTION INC$1,500
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 (FY22–22, $11k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 9% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SUNFLOWER OF PEACE: $10k → 8%DOROT INC: $1k → 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

MN
IL
NY
MA
NJ
CT
CA
DC
LA
AL
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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.9M · 20 repeat orgs$2.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +101% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
40

Total granted

$5.9M
$2.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+101%
+17%

Still filing today

65%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $23k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthEnvironmentEducationInternationalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    6× · 2017–2024 · $5.1M · revenue +202%
  • WM
    WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
    4× · 2020–2024 · $141k · revenue +69%
  • Feeding America
    3× · 2020–2023 · $63k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • YU
    YALE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $1.0M
  • YU
    YALE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2020 · $1.0M
  • IO
    Institute of Fine arts
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
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
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
2
City Report Inc

CITY REPORT, INC. serves the people of New York through independent journalism that answers their information needs and holds the powerful to account.

Arts & Culture
3
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
4
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
5
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
6
Ie New York College

(see schedule o)

Education
7
New York Restoration Project

New york restoration project ("nyrp") believes that nature is a fundamental right of every new yorker. nyrp works collaboratively with residents in communities across the five boroughs to renovate gardens, restore parks, plant trees,…

Environment
8
Berggruen Institute
Education
9
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

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
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
12
Apex Art Curatorial Program Inc

Apex Art Curatorial Program is a resolutely noncommercial visual art exhibition space which provides curators and artists with a venue dedicated to ideas that are often too provocative or too small in scope for display elsewhere. Apex Art…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City Inc; the most unlike its peers is Magazzino Italian Art Foundation. 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

38 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. 38 of the 66 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/38
Grantees still filing
26/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $5,110,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED+3 more: $18,500 · EnvironmentYALE UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITYYALE UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITYMetropolitan Opera: $211,667 · OtherMetropolitan OperaInstitute of Fine arts (NYU): $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $95,000 · Other+36 more: $386,484 · Other+36 moreWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $141,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BROOKLYN RAIL INC: $26,000 · Arts & CultureDIEU DONNE PAPER MILL INC: $26,000 · Arts & CultureMAGAZZINO ITALIAN ART FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $3,000 · Arts & CultureOPEN STAGE PROJECT INC: $57,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $20,000 · EducationTHE HUNTER COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationFREE ALAS: $5,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationFeeding America: $63,000 · Food & NutritionCITY HARVEST INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionPLAN A HEALTH INC: $31,000 · HealthThe Hospital for Special Surgery Fund Inc: $10,000 · HealthPUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS: $10,000 · HealthMAIMONIDES MEDICAL CENTER: $2,500 · Health+1 more: $50 · HealthHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $25,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $10,500 · International
Environment$5,128,500Other$2,793,151Arts & Culture$206,000Education$88,000Food & Nutrition$78,000Health$53,550International$35,500

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 budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $5,110,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $141,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFeeding America: $63,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN STAGE PROJECT INC: $57,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetPLAN A HEALTH INC: $31,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN RAIL INC: $26,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetDIEU DONNE PAPER MILL INC: $26,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRISING TREETOPS AT OAKHURST: $25,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWest Harlem Environmental Action Inc: $11,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $10,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAGAZZINO ITALIAN ART FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Hospital for Special Surgery Fund Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE REGENERATION PROJECT: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSUNFLOWER OF PEACE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS OF NEW YORK HARBOR CONSERVANCY DBA FEDERAL HALL CONSERVANCY: $8,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetTFI DIGITAL ARCHIVE: $7,500 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUNTER COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREE ALAS: $5,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES NY INC: $4,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSE OF TULIP: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMAIMONIDES MEDICAL CENTER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOUISIANA ABORTION FUND: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetARTOLUTION INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDOROT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF CHINESE IN AMERICA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHAPEL & YORK US FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAULT LINE THEATRE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCaringBridge: $50 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.

Amalgamated Charitabl…Jewish Communal FundFoundation for Louisi…The Greater New Orlea…The New York Communit…New Venture FundThe Ford FoundationRockefeller Philanthr…ImpactassetsincTides FoundationJpmorgan Chase Founda…The Chicago Community…
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC14.3× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · Foundation for Louisiana · The Greater New Orleans Foundation · The New York Community Trust · New Venture Fund · The Ford Foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · Impactassetsinc · Tides Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase 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 Viola Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Viola Fund. 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%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 Viola Fund?

    Find your warmest path to The Viola Fund 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 66 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 Viola’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