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The Zegar Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Zegar Family Foundation

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.

$27M
Granted FY2024still arriving
105
Grants FY2024still arriving
16
States reached
$3.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$24MEducation$15MPhilanthropy$14MInternational$12MArts & Culture$8.3MCivil Rights$7.4MCrime & Legal$3.6MPublic Benefit$2.9MOther$0
02FY2024 · 105 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k11 grants · $269k
  • $50k–250k69 grants · $7.9M
  • $250k+25 grants · $19M
$125,000
Median grant
16
States reached
$298M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
RF CATALYTIC CAPITAL INC$3,234,975
WINDWARD FUND$1,905,048
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$1,699,993
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST$1,664,502
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY$1,250,000
ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC$1,000,940
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY$833,761
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED$750,000
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA$686,215
CONGREGATION B'NAI B'RITH$510,000
STICHTING EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION$500,000
CLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION$500,000
AFRICAN WOMEN RISING$450,000
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL$400,000
THE SUNRISE PROJECT$400,000
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 (FY20–24, $2.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 85% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SHELTERBOX USA INC: $100k → 10%SHELTERBOX USA INC: $100k → 10%SHELTERBOX USA INC: $100k → 10%IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $75k → 10%IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $75k → 10%IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $40k → 10%IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $25k → 10%BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC: $100k → 17%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $450k → 14%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $170k → 14%ASYLUM SEEKER ADVOCACY PROJECT INC: $75k → 17%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $110k → 14%ASYLUM SEEKER ADVOCACY PROJECT INC: $75k → 17%ASYLUM SEEKER ADVOCACY PROJECT INC: $50k → 17%ASYLUM SEEKER ADVOCACY PROJECT INC: $50k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $100k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $75k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $75k → 17%INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ASSISTANCE PROJECT: $80k → 17%INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ASSISTANCE PROJECT: $80k → 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

WA
IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
CA
CO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
AR
NC
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 12% of The Zegar Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Zegar Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 6.1% 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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$69M · 109 repeat orgs$5.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against -11% for those funded once.

109 repeat relationships: 80 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

109
38

Total granted

$69M
$4.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
-11%

Still filing today

90%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.4M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Civil RightsArts & CultureEducationCrime & LegalEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther
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 University
    5× · 2020–2024 · $7.2M · revenue +45%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    4× · 2020–2024 · $1.9M · revenue +121%
  • LE
    LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +61%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA - ARTS & LECTURES
    one grant, 2020 · $465k
  • WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    one grant, 2020 · $400k · revenue +21%
  • CF
    CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $350k · revenue +39%
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
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
2
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
3
Indigenous Peoples Rights Inc

To lead and coordinate the global initiative to address and prevent criminalization, violence, and impunity against indigenous peoples towards strengthening their collectives, solidarity, and actions.

Human Services
4
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
5
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
6
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
7
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
8
Cdp North America Inc

Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…

Environment
9
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
10
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
11
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
12
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Immigration Law Center; the most unlike its peers is Las Cumbres Observatory Gtn 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

150 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. 150 of the 171 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
147/150
Grantees still filing
87/150
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5,807,801 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA: $3,185,965 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARASTICHTING EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION: $2,500,001 · OtherSTICHTING EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATIONCONGREGATION BNAI BRITH: $2,010,000 · OtherCONGREGATION BNAI BRITH+79 more: $22,002,665 · Other+79 moreRF CATALYTIC CAPITAL INC: $6,734,975 · PhilanthropyRF CATALYTIC CAPITAL IN…ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $5,600,940 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROP…NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $1,664,502 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC …UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children Inc: $1,100,000 · PhilanthropyUNICEF USA Impact Fund …ROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND INC: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $950,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC: $706,923 · Philanthropy+11 more: $2,457,500 · Philanthropy+11 moreWINDWARD FUND: $5,605,048 · EnvironmentWINDWARD FUNDCarbon Mapper Inc: $2,999,960 · EnvironmentCarbon Mapper In…ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,900,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DE…NEW VENTURE FUND: $1,250,000 · EnvironmentNEW VENTURE FUNDCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $855,000 · EnvironmentCOMMUNITY ENVIRO…EARTHJUSTICE: $600,000 · Environment+6 more: $957,232 · Environment+6 moreNew York University: $7,189,794 · EducationNew York Univ…THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,922,068 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES …WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $950,000 · EducationWILLIAM J BRE…LAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL: $500,000 · Education+10 more: $1,695,700 · Education+10 moreWORLD TRADE CENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $2,000,000 · Arts & CultureLOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $1,455,000 · Arts & CultureNEIGHBORHOOD TRUST FINANCIAL PARTNERS INC: $900,000 · Arts & CultureFERNANDO PULLUM COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER: $800,000 · Arts & CultureSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $450,000 · Arts & CultureSANTA BARBARA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $342,319 · Arts & CulturePRO PUBLICA INC: $300,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $300,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK CITY CENTER INC: $260,000 · Arts & Culture+8 more: $715,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $1,050,000 · Civil RightsNATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $725,000 · Civil RightsANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $500,000 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $500,000 · Civil RightsTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $360,000 · Civil RightsCIVIL RIGHTS CORPS: $325,000 · Civil RightsTransgender Law Center: $300,000 · Civil RightsLAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND INC: $250,000 · Civil RightsROCK THE VOTE: $250,000 · Civil RightsTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $225,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUSTICE USA INC: $195,000 · Civil Rights+7 more: $770,000 · Civil RightsDIRECT RELIEF: $1,100,000 · InternationalTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $900,000 · InternationalHIAS INC: $625,000 · InternationalHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $520,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $400,000 · InternationalCENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INC: $350,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $195,000 · InternationalTHE GEANCO FOUNDATION INC: $190,000 · International+1 more: $25,000 · International
Other$35,506,432Philanthropy$20,214,840Environment$14,167,240Education$12,257,562Arts & Culture$7,522,319Civil Rights$5,450,000International$4,305,000

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 University: $7,189,794 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetRF CATALYTIC CAPITAL INC: $6,734,975 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5,807,801 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetWINDWARD FUND: $5,605,048 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $5,600,940 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCarbon Mapper Inc: $2,999,960 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetWORLD TRADE CENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $2,000,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,922,068 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,900,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $1,664,502 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM: $1,455,000 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $1,250,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSAFE PASSAGE PROJECT CORPORATION: $1,180,000 over 4y, 7.6% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $1,150,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $1,100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children Inc: $1,100,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $1,050,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND INC: $1,000,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $950,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $950,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $900,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD TRUST FINANCIAL PARTNERS INC: $900,000 over 4y, 5.5% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $900,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $855,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetFERNANDO PULLUM COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER: $800,000 over 5y, 34% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $750,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetAFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $730,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetNATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $725,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC: $706,923 over 5y, 8.8% of budgetHIAS INC: $625,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetFeeding America: $600,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $600,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetIMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS INC: $585,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetVALUE REPORTING FOUNDATION: $550,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $525,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $520,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetLAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL: $500,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetSANSUM CLINIC: $500,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $500,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $500,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetVENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetMake the Road New York: $450,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $450,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $450,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetNEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION INC: $450,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetARBOR BROTHERS INC DBA ARBOR RISING: $440,000 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetCOMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND: $400,000 over 2y, 1.0% 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.

Santa Barbara Foundat…Hutton Foundation Dba…Ann Jackson Family Fo…The William & Flora H…The Ford FoundationTides FoundationCalifornia Community …John D and Catherine …Mosher FoundationGs Donor Advised Phil…Williams-Corbett Foun…Freedom Together Foun…
Santa Barbara FoundationCA42.3× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Santa Barbara Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Tides Foundation · California Community Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Mosher Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Freedom Together 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 Zegar Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Zegar Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Icivics Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
29report 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 171 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 Zegar Family’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