Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF
THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,323,426 to it, the largest being JOHN S AND JAMES L KNIGHT FOUNDATION ($6,718,500). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $26M
- Funders on record
- 76
- Grants received
- $31M
- Net assets
- $128M
What The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf does
Mission
The mission of the lenfest institute for journalism special asset fund of the philadelphia foundation (the institute) is to receive, manage, and distribute assets in support of the philadelphia foundation (tpf) by enabling quality local journalism that serves its communities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The lenfest institute for journalism, llc (llc):the llc is a disregarded entity of the institute that supports both the digital transformation of heritage news organizations and the entrepreneurial efforts of young, innovative companies. The institute believes that quality civic journalism requires new business models, powerful innovations and growing, diverse audiences to achieve sustainability in the digital age. It funds programs that produce high-impact journalism, innovative news technology, and that help local news organizations reach new audiences and develop sustainable digital business models.(continued on schedule o.)to accomplish the organization's exempt purpose, and create clarity of focus underneath the overarching program objectives, three core categories have been developed: national, philadelphia, and the inquirer. The following specific programmatic activities and accomplishments all serve the overarching programmatic objectives to support programs that produce high-impact journalism, innovate news technology, and lead to highly engaged, diverse and growing audiences.the philadelphia inquirer:the lenfest institute is the nonprofit, non-controlling owner of the…
$20,019,632 spentof which $15,091,490 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $20,019,632.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $61M to $101M (+64%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
83% of THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (80% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $1.2M → $4.8M.
18 of 76 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $3.6M from 9 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Philadelphia Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF raised.
From the IRS filings of THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 76 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
35% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 80% · 2019 55% · 2020 26% · 2021 31% · 2022 26% · 2023 70% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
32% of THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 49% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF draws 69% of its grant income from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 17 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF is better cushioned than half of the 828 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 828 philanthropy nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 30 states
Part of a family of 6 related entities
- The Lenfest Institute for Journalism LLC · disregarded
- The Philadelphia Foundation · exempt
- The Harry R Halloran Jr Charitable Trust · exempt
- The Visions Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation · exempt
- Tpf Special Property Fund · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF?
- THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,323,426 to it, the largest being JOHN S AND JAMES L KNIGHT FOUNDATION ($6,718,500). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF have?
- IRS filings report 76 organizations giving $31,323,426 in grants to THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF, 37 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF?
- JOHN S AND JAMES L KNIGHT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $6,718,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 76 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing