Spunk Fund Inc
New York, NY · EIN 13-3116094. Reported 59 grants totalling $2,766,257 to 28 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Spunk Fund Inc did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $35,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $6,000 and $80,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $200,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Epidavros Project Inc | New York, NY | $427,950 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Minors Inc | St Paul, MN | $365,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Safe Space Pictures Foundation | Beverly Hills, CA | $285,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Tisch Ms Research Center of New York Inc | New York, NY | $285,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Jacob Burns Film Center Inc | Brussels | $280,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hospital for Special Surgery | New York, NY | $260,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ballet Tech Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $140,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Minnesota Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| John Hopkins | Baltimore, MD | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Peace Players International | Washington, DC | $64,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Angkor Dance Troupe Inc | Lowell, MA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Graham Windham | Brooklyn, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Liberty Science Center | Jersey City, NJ | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Miro Dance Theatre Dba Miller Rothlein | Miami, FL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| School of American Ballet Inc | New York, NY | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Apopo US Inc | Washington, DC | $39,657 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Documentary Educational Resources | Watertown, MA | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Theater Labrador Inc | New York, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Performing Arts Presenters of Hawaii | Honolulu, HI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of the South - Sewanee | Sewanee, TN | $24,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Rockefeller University | New York, NY | $18,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Council on Foundations | Washington, DC | $16,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Five Myles Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $16,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ugly Duckling Presse Ltd | Brooklyn, NY | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Philanthropy New York | New York, NY | $7,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Brain & Behavior Research Foundation | New York, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Candid | New York, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Grantmakers Concerned With Immigrants and Refugees | Sebastopol, CA | $1,250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
16 of 28 (57%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 71%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Safe Space Pictures Foundation
A CINEMATIC INITIATIVE FOR DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS FROM SOUTHWEST ASIA & NORTH AFRICA. TO SUPPORT THE PROGRAMS OF CLOSE-UP, AN INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION WHICH AIMS TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST, THE CAUCASUS & NORTH AFRICA. - The Epidavros Project Inc
SUPPORT THE INITIAL PHASE OF THE EDIT FOR "LIBERAL, KANSAS" LEADING TO THE FIRST FULL-LENGTH VERSION OF THE FILM AND SUPPORT CONVERTINT THE DOCUMENTARY "LIBERAL, KANSAS" FROM A FEATURE FILM INTO A MULTIPLE PART SERIES. - Jacob Burns Film Center Inc
SUPPORT THE PROGRAMS OF CLOSE-UP, A NEW INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION WHICH AIMS TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REGION. - Hospital for Special Surgery
RESEARCH ON LUPUS NEPHRITIS - Tisch Ms Research Center of New York Inc
DEDICATED PROGRAM TO FINDING THE CAUSE OF AND CURE FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS - Minors Inc
TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE RELOCATION OF "MINORS" WORKSPACE, TO CONTINUE THE BOOK AND PHOTO EXHIBIT PROJECTS BEYOND THE CURRENT PROJECT, AND TO CONTINUE CONDUCTING ONGOING VIETNAM PROGRAM OPERATIONS. TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE IN THE FORM OR MUCH-NEEDED BASIC HUMAN NECESSITIES SO CHILDREN CAN REMAIN IN SCHOOLS IN HA GIANG AND DIEN BIEN.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 36 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | $698,150 | $42,500 |
| 2022 | 14 | $631,900 | $42,500 |
| 2023 | 17 | $770,850 | $35,000 |
| 2024 | 14 | $665,357 | $34,500 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
52% of its giving went to organizations in New York. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $35,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Spunk Fund Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 780 Third Avenue 28TH Floor, New York, NY, 10017. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 13-3116094 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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