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Thomas Jaffe Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Thomas Jaffe Foundation

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.

$7k
Granted FY2018
15
Grants FY2018
7
States reached
$1k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

92% of Thomas Jaffe Foundation’s FY2022 grant dollars went to Yale University, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2022 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2018, the last year Thomas Jaffe Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $7k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

6
’17
9
’18
0
’19
0
’20
0
’22

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Education$13MArts & Culture$127kInternational$4kCivil Rights$2kEnvironment$1kHealth$1kRecreation & Sports$400Animals$200Other$0
02FY2018 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$400
Median grant
7
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$1,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$1,000
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION$1,000
SAVE THE CHILDREN$500
HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK$500
STUDIO IN A SCHOOL$500
NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL$400
SURFRIDER FOUNDATION$400
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$400
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY$200
SIERRA CLUB$200
Individual grant recipient$200
KINGS CROWN RADIOWKCR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY$200
NEWARK PUBLIC RADIOWBGO$200
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER$100
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 (FY17–18) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 83% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SIERRA CLUB: $200 → 10%HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK: $1k → 14%NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $400 → 17%WFUV RADIO: $400 → 28%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $100 → 18%SAVE THE CHILDREN: $1k → 9%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $400 → 14%NEWARK PUBLIC RADIOWBGO: $400 → 16%HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK: $500 → 14%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $200 → 17%WFUV RADIO - FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: $200 → 28%SAVE THE CHILDREN: $500 → 9%NEWARK PUBLIC RADIOWBGO: $200 → 16%KINGS CROWN RADIOWKCR: $200 → 17%KINGS CROWN RADIOWKCR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $200 → 17%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $2k → 17%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $1k → 17%STUDIO IN A SCHOOL: $500 → 17%STUDIO IN A SCHOOL: $400 → 17%AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION: $1k → 17%AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION: $500 → 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.

1%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9k · 6 repeat orgs$628k to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2018, 0 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call). Read against FY2018, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
2

Total granted

$9k
$600

Still filing today

100%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $500k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’22
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’22
InternationalEducationCivil RightsArts & CultureEnvironmentCrime & LegalOther
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

  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $3k · revenue +98%
  • Save The Children Federation Inc
    2× · 2017–2018 · $2k · revenue +21%
  • AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $2k · revenue +102%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $400
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $200
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
3
Climate Institute

The climate institute is organized for the purpose of educating the general public and policy makers as to the gravity of potential climate change, exploring the policy implications of the latest scientific findings on climate modelling…

Environment
4
The International Dark-Sky Association Inc

Darksky international restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation.

—
5
Third Way

To research and develop centrist policy ideas.

Civil Rights
6
International Snow Leopard Trust

The international snow leopard trust aims to ethically conserve snow leopards and their high mountain ecosystems through partnerships with indigenous peoples and local communities, and through research to improve the understanding of snow…

Animals
7
Washington Office On Latin America

To advance human rights and social justice in the americas.

International
8
Property and Environment Research Center

Perc is dedicated to advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.

Public Benefit
9
Conservation Law Foundation Inc

Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. we use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources,…

Environment
10
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Food & Nutrition
11
Earth & Space Research

Increase societal understanding of the earth system through scientific research and education.

Science & Tech
12
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Save the Children Federation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Newark Public Radio 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

11 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. 11 of the 20 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
8/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Yale University: $12,500,000 · EducationYale University+1 more: $1,500 · EducationYALE UNIVERSITY - DONNA TORRANCE ENDOWMENT: $500,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITY - INDO PACIFIC CURATORIAL FELLOWS (YUAG): $125,000 · Other+10 more: $4,100 · OtherMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,500 · InternationalSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,600 · InternationalAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 · Civil RightsNEWARK PUBLIC RADIO INC: $600 · Arts & CultureNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $400 · EnvironmentSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $100 · Crime & Legal
Education$12,501,500Other$629,100International$4,100Civil Rights$1,500Arts & Culture$600Environment$400Crime & Legal$100

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 budgetYale University: $12,500,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTUDIO IN A SCHOOL ASSOCIATION INC: $900 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEWARK PUBLIC RADIO INC: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Thomas Jaffe Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Thomas Jaffe Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Newark Public Radio Inc: 51% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1rely 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.

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 20 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2018, the most recent year this funder made grants.

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