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Wender Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Wender 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.

$16k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$3k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$113kEducation$24kScience & Tech$1kPhilanthropy$1kEnvironment$490Other$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$750
Median grant
5
States reached
$301k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Bay Path University$3,000
Boston Lyric Opera$1,500
Celebrity Series of Boston$1,500
Opera America$1,500
Santa Fe Opera$1,000
Longy School of Music$1,000
MIT$1,000
Metropolitan Opera$950
Individual grant recipient$850
Boston Baroque$750
Emmanuel Music$600
Saint Anthony Educational Found$500
Houston Grand Opera$400
Boston Eary Music Festival$300
Museum of Fine Arts$300
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 75% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $5k → 16%BAY PATH COLLEGE: $6k → 17%OPERA PHILADELPHIA: $2k → 22%METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE: $2k → 17%SANTA FE OPERA: $3k → 12%OPERA THEATRE OF ST LOUIS: $2k → 11%MIT MUSIC LIBRARY: $3k → 8%BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: $2k → 16%BAY PATH COLLEGE: $4k → 17%METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE: $1k → 17%SANTA FE OPERA: $2k → 12%OPERA THEATRE OF ST LOUIS: $2k → 11%MIT MUSIC LIBRARY: $2k → 8%BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: $2k → 16%Bay Path University: $3k → 17%SANTA FE OPERA: $2k → 12%OPERA THEATRE OF ST LOUIS: $1k → 11%MIT: $1k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $2k → 16%BAY PATH COLLEGE: $3k → 17%OPERA AMERICA: $2k → 17%SANTA FE OPERA: $2k → 12%MIT MUSIC LIBRARY: $1k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $1k → 16%BAY PATH COLLEGE: $3k → 17%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $1k → 16%BAY PATH COLLEGE: $3k → 17%Opera America: $2k → 17%BAY PATH UNIVERSITY: $3k → 17%BAY PATH COLLEGE: $2k → 17%LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $3k → 8%LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $3k → 8%LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $2k → 8%LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $2k → 8%LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $2k → 8%LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $2k → 8%CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON: $3k → 16%CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON: $3k → 16%CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON: $2k → 16%Celebrity Series of Boston: $2k → 16%BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: $3k → 16%Boston Lyric Opera: $2k → 16%BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: $3k → 16%BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: $2k → 16%WGBH: $2k → 16%BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: $2k → 16%BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: $2k → 16%WGBH: $2k → 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

IL
MI
NY
MA
IN
PA
RI
CA
MO
NM
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$148k · 32 repeat orgs$8k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against -2% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 19 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
11

Total granted

$148k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
-2%

Still filing today

78%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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 & CultureEducationEnvironmentOther
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

  • BOSTON LYRIC OPERA COMPANY
    8× · 2017–2025 · $15k · revenue +94%
  • TS
    THE SANTA FE OPERA
    8× · 2017–2025 · $12k · revenue +84%
  • BS
    BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $12k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • BF
    BRIGHT FUNDS
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
  • Metropolitan Opera Association Inc
    one grant, 2017 · $850 · revenue -2%
  • PM
    PRIMA MUSIC FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $500
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
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
2
Foundation for Modern Opera
—
3
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
4
Grant Park Orchestral Association

(see schedule o)

Arts & Culture
5
Vanguard Concerts
—
6
Arizona Opera Company

Arizona opera elevates the transformative power of storytelling through music - cultivating community and strengthening a state and people as adventurous and diverse as the place they call home.

Arts & Culture
7
Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

To be a sustainable musical institution that brings the intimate experience of a world-class chamber orchestra performance to the greater philadelphia area,enriching the musical life of the city and region by the integrity and excellence…

Arts & Culture
8
Minnesota Orchestral Association

The minnesota orchestra mission is to enrich, inspire and serve our community as an enduring symphony orchestra internationally recognized for its artistic excellence.

Arts & Culture
9
New York City Opera

New york city opera was famously dubbed "the people's opera" by mayor fiorello laguardia at its founding in 1943. more than 80 years later, city opera continues its historic mission to inspire audiences with innovative and theatrically…

Arts & Culture
10
Music of the Baroque

Music of the baroque is a professional orchestra and chorus excelling in the performance of works from the 18th century and before. the organization also educates 2,900 chicago public school students each year through its 'strong voices'…

Arts & Culture
11
Washington Concert Opera

Washington concert opera presents less often performed operatic masterpieces in concert format that feature experienced and emerging artists, often in their role or local debuts.

Arts & Culture
12
Oratorio Society of Minnesota

Performance and Promotion of Choral Music

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Santa Fe Opera; the most unlike its peers is Terezin Music Foundation 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

32 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. 32 of the 51 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/32
Grantees still filing
23/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BAY PATH COLLEGE: $20,500 · OtherBAY PATH COLLEGETHE CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON INC: $13,981 · OtherTHE CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON INCLONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $13,500 · OtherLONGY SCHOOL OF MUSICMIT MUSIC LIBRARY: $7,215 · OtherMIT MUSIC LIBRARYMETROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE: $6,400 · OtherMETROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSEWGBH: $4,400 · OtherWGBH+16 more: $11,325 · Other+16 moreBOSTON LYRIC OPERA COMPANY: $15,100 · Arts & CultureBOSTON LYRIC OPERA COMPANYTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $12,175 · Arts & CultureTHE SANTA FE OPERABOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $11,830 · Arts & CultureBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCOpera Theatre of Saint Louis: $6,500 · Arts & CultureOpera Theatre of Saint LouisOPERA AMERICA INC: $4,185 · Arts & CultureOPERA AMERICA INCOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $3,300 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $2,550 · Arts & Culture+18 more: $15,771 · Arts & Culture+18 moreBay Path University: $5,500 · EducationMASSACHUSETTS MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART FOUNDATION INC: $500 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $482 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $630 · Environment
Other$77,321Arts & Culture$71,411Education$6,482Environment$630

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 budgetBOSTON LYRIC OPERA COMPANY: $15,100 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON INC: $13,981 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $12,175 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $11,830 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetOpera Theatre of Saint Louis: $6,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBay Path University: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPERA AMERICA INC: $4,185 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $3,300 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $2,550 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE CO INC: $2,053 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEMMANUEL MUSIC INC: $1,950 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON BAROQUE INC: $1,820 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $1,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $1,600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWHITE SNAKE PROJECTS INC: $1,200 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $1,125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST ANTHONY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONINC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC: $938 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSarasota Opera Association Inc: $850 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $850 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISCALCED INC: $800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $630 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTerezin Music Foundation Inc: $500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetBOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $482 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDETROIT OPERA: $410 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSIC WORCESTER INC: $125 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO OPERA THEATER: $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.

  • Who funds BOSTON LYRIC OPERA COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds THE CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds THE SANTA FE OPERA ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds Opera Theatre of Saint Louis ↗
  • Who funds Bay Path University ↗
  • Who funds OPERA AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds OPERA PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE CO INC ↗
  • Who funds EMMANUEL MUSIC INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON BAROQUE INC ↗
  • Who funds HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC ↗
  • Who funds ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds WHITE SNAKE PROJECTS INC ↗
  • Who funds Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds ST ANTHONY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONINC ↗
  • Who funds PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds Sarasota Opera Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds Metropolitan Opera Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds DISCALCED INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS ↗
  • Who funds Terezin Music Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GARDNER MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT OPERA ↗

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.

The Aaron Copland Fun…The Andrew W Mellon F…Boston Foundation IncThe Charles and Ceris…Opera America IncThe Amphion Foundatio…Ibm International Fou…Harris a Berman & Rut…Robert and Iris Fange…The Howard and Sarah …Mattina R Proctor Fou…New Music USA Inc
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLPNY21.9× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLP · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · The Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation · Opera America Inc · The Amphion Foundation Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLP · Ibm International Foundation · Harris a Berman & Ruth E Nemzoff Family Foundation C/O Mason Rich · Robert and Iris Fanger Family Foundation · The Howard and Sarah D Solomon Foundation · Mattina R Proctor Foundation · New Music USA Inc

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 Wender Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wender Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • White Snake Projects Inc: 8% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Emmanuel Music Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Huntington Theatre Co Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Boston Modern Orchestra Project Inc: 4% of income from government
  • The Celebrity Series of Boston Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Boston Lyric Opera Company: 3% of income from government
  • Peabody Essex Museum Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Bay Path University: 3% of income from government
  • Boston Baroque Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • American Repertory Theatre Co Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 51 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 Wender’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