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Whalesback Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Whalesback 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.

$514k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$438k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Philanthropy$1.3MEnvironment$845kArts & Culture$358kInternational$300kEducation$79kAnimals$44kPublic Benefit$21kRecreation & Sports$11kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $50k–250k1 grant · $77k
  • $250k+1 grant · $438k
$437,625
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SCHWAB CHARITABLE DONOR ADVISED FUND$437,625
SCHWAB CHARITABLE DONOR ADVISED FUND$76,625
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 13%. 66% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER: $50k → 8%BIODIVERSITY WORKS: $12k → 8%STANFORD GSB: $10k → 8%KORN FERRY: $34k → 14%NATIONAL PARK CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $10k → 17%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10k → 20%PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: $20k → 11%CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS: $50k → 7%WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER: $45k → 8%CLIMATE REALITLES: $25k → 14%CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS: $50k → 7%WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER: $41k → 8%GLOBAL CENTER ON ENERGY POLICY: $20k → 17%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $28k → 20%CLIMATE REALITLES: $25k → 14%CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS: $50k → 7%WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER: $35k → 8%GLOBAL CENTER ON ENERGY POLICY: $20k → 17%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 20%CLIMATE REALITLES: $25k → 14%CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS: $35k → 7%WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER: $35k → 8%GLOBAL CENTER ON ENERGY POLICY: $20k → 17%ST ANN S SCHOOL: $11k → 20%CLIMATE REALITIES: $25k → 14%CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS: $25k → 7%WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER: $25k → 8%CENTER ON GLOBAL ENERGY POLICY: $15k → 17%CLIMATE REALITIES: $25k → 14%WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER: $25k → 8%CLIMATE REALITLES: $25k → 14%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $42k → 14%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $30k → 14%COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: $50k → 17%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $25k → 14%COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: $50k → 17%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $25k → 14%COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: $50k → 17%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $25k → 14%COUNCIL OF FOREIGN RELATIONS: $50k → 17%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $15k → 14%COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: $50k → 17%COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: $50k → 17%AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $125k → 17%AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $70k → 17%AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $50k → 17%AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $50k → 17%AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $25k → 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

ME
MT
ND
NY
MA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
DC
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.0M · 29 repeat orgs$134k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +27% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 28 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
23

Total granted

$3.0M
$134k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+15%

Still filing today

69%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EnvironmentEducationArts & CultureAnimalsScience & TechInternationalOther
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

  • CO
    COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC
    6× · 2017–2022 · $300k · revenue +18%
  • Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $256k · revenue +123%
  • CF
    CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC
    6× · 2017–2022 · $215k · revenue +330%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $34k
  • CO
    CENTER ON GLOBAL ENERGY POLICY
    one grant, 2022 · $15k
  • NAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +24%
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
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
3
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
4
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
5
Conservation International Foundation

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

Environment
6
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
7
The Wildlife Society

The wildlife society's mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.

Animals
8
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
9
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Inc

We harness the power of plants for humankind and share the joy and beauty of tropical gardening with everyone. fairchild tropical botanic garden is a museum of tropical plants within a world famous, 83-acre designed landscape. it was…

Environment
10
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
11
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

The mission is "to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it." the academy implements its mission through understanding the diversity of life; developing and applying science to protect the environment; and informing…

Science & Tech
12
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Lemur Conservation 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

34 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. 34 of the 55 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/34
Grantees still filing
27/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SCHWAB CHARITABLE DONOR ADVISED FUND: $1,237,298 · OtherSCHWAB CHARITABLE DONOR ADVISED FUNDIndividual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientGLOBAL CENTER ON ENERGY POLICY: $70,000 · Other+27 more: $293,800 · Other+27 moreCENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC: $215,000 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR CLIMAT…THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $162,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SO…SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EnvironmentSHERIFF'S MEADOW …BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATION: $18,500 · Environment+7 more: $40,500 · Environment+7 moreAmerican Museum of Natural History: $330,000 · Arts & CultureAmerican Mus…+3 more: $13,500 · Arts & CultureCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $300,000 · InternationalCOUNCIL ON…Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: $256,000 · Science & TechWoodwell …+1 more: $6,500 · Science & TechBROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $72,500 · PhilanthropyThe Trustees of Princeton University: $26,000 · EducationTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationINSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR INC: $5,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $2,500 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $2,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · Education
Other$1,701,098Environment$486,000Arts & Culture$343,500International$300,000Science & Tech$262,500Philanthropy$72,500Education$46,500

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 budgetAmerican Museum of Natural History: $330,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $300,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWoodwell Climate Research Center Inc: $256,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetCENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC: $215,000 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $162,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $72,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $27,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $26,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATION: $18,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBIODIVERSITYWORKS INC: $15,500 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK CORPORATION: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MONTANA LAND RELIANCE: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLemur Conservation Foundation Inc: $6,500 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetBrooklyn Heights Association Inc: $5,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY: $5,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAtlantic Salmon Federation (US) Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetECOAMERICA: $4,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBIODIVERSITY WORKS: $4,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetISLAND PRESS: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SECOND STAGE THEATRE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCERES INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLIMATE MUSEUM: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY: $1,000 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 American Museum of Natural History ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds BROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Wildlife Conservation Society ↗
  • Who funds The Trustees of Princeton University ↗
  • Who funds BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds BIODIVERSITYWORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds NAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds THE MONTANA LAND RELIANCE ↗
  • Who funds Lemur Conservation Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds Brooklyn Heights Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB ↗
  • Who funds Atlantic Salmon Federation (US) Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS ↗
  • Who funds ECOAMERICA ↗
  • Who funds BIODIVERSITY WORKS ↗
  • Who funds ISLAND PRESS ↗

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.

Jewish Communal FundGs Donor Advised Phil…The Chicago Community…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Jewish Communal FundNY12.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Whalesback Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Whalesback Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: 11% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Sheriff's Meadow Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Biodiversityworks Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get 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
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 Whalesback Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Whalesback Foundation 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 55 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 Whalesback’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