The Johnson Street Foundation
New York, NY · EIN 13-7579596. Reported 129 grants totalling $13.9M to 41 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". The Johnson Street Foundation checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations The Johnson Street Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 10 grants totalling $5,012,121 to them. That is 41% of the $12.3M of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program | federated giving programme | Pennsylvania | $3,273,471 | 2 | 1 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| Tides Foundation | grantmaking organization | California | $1,498,650 | 2 | 2 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
| Fund for the City of New York Inc | community foundation | New York | $240,000 | 6 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $75,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $50,000 and $100,000; the smallest was $10,000 and the largest $1,983,240.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Charitable Fund | Warwick, RI | $3,273,471 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Tides Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $1,498,650 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| El Paso Child Guidance Center Inc | El Paso, TX | $568,336 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Arab-American Family Support Center | Brooklyn, NY | $550,000 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Sunset Park Health Council Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $550,000 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| University Settlement Society of New York | New York, NY | $520,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Center for Victims of Torture | St Paul, MN | $500,000 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Youth Communication | New York, NY | $425,000 | 7 | 5 | 2025 |
| Justice Innovation Inc | New York, NY | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| The Child Center of Ny | Forest Hills, NY | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The International Rescue Committee Inc | New York, NY | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| The Brookdale Hospital Medical Center | Brooklyn, NY | $371,400 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights | Tucson, AZ | $325,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Montefiore Medical Center | Bronx, NY | $320,000 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| Safe Horizon | New York, NY | $300,000 | 4 | 3 | 2025 |
| Forestdale Inc | Forest Hills, NY | $265,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Sheltering Arms Services | New York, NY | $265,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Fund for the City of New York | New York, NY | $240,000 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Bronx Defenders | Bronx, NY | $225,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| New York University | New York, NY | $200,000 | 3 | 2 | 2025 |
| South Ward Alliance | Newark, NJ | $200,000 | 3 | 2 | 2025 |
| Mt Sinai-Morningside Parent-Infant Center | New York, NY | $184,000 | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| Teachers College Columbia University | New York, NY | $165,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The New School | New York, NY | $160,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Nyu Grossman School of Medicine | New York, NY | $158,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Center for New York City Affairs | New York, NY | $140,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Jewish Board | New York, NY | $140,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Freedom for Immigrants | Oakland, CA | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Bridge Project Inc | New York, NY | $125,000 | 2 | 1 | 2025 |
| Nyu Grossman School of Medicine | Boston, MA | $115,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Center for Court Innovation | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Nido De Esperanza Charitable Society | New York, NY | $100,000 | 2 | 1 | 2025 |
| Rising Ground Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The New York Foundling | New York, NY | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Ycs Foundation | Hackensack, NJ | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fund for the City of New York - Rise | New York, NY | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Asiyah Women's Center | Brooklyn, NY | $75,000 | 2 | 1 | 2025 |
| Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Refugee Services of Texas | Dallas, TX | $44,200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Nyu School of Medicine | New York, NY | $43,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fostering Media Connections | Los Angeles, CA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
30 of 41 (73%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 76%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
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.
- Vanguard Charitable Fund
CONTRIBUTION OF APPRECIATED STOCK TO VANGUARD CHARITABLE TO SUPPORT THE JOHNSON STREET FUND, A DONOR-ADVISED FUND ADMINISTERED BY VANGUARD CHARITABLE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF RECOMMENDING GRANTS TO QUALIFYING IRC 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATIONS IN FURTHERANCE OF THEIR CHARITABLE MISSIONS. VANGUARD CHARITABLE RETAINS EXCLUSIVE LEGAL CONTROL OVER THE CONTRIBUTED ASSETS. - The Tides Foundation
DONATION TO DEFEND THE VOTING RIGHTS FOR COMMUNITITES OF COLOR, YOUNG VOTERS, AND THE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED. - Sunset Park Health Council Inc
GRANT: HEALTHY STEPS SUNSET PAR - El Paso Child Guidance Center Inc
GRANT: EXPAND SERVICES EL PASO COMMUNITYGRANT: EXPAND SERVICES EL PASO COMMUNITY - Sheltering Arms Services
GRANT: RENEW SEE & HEARD PROGRAM FAR ROCKAWAY - Mt Sinai-Morningside Parent-Infant Center
GRANT: HOME & COMM. PARENT-INFANT CENTER PROJECT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 87 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 | 22 | $2,548,136 | $92,468 |
| 2022 | 22 | $2,033,050 | $62,500 |
| 2023 | 28 | $1,897,500 | $50,000 |
| 2024 | 26 | $5,239,871 | $82,500 |
| 2025 | 31 | $2,222,500 | $62,500 |
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
51% of its giving went to organizations in New York.
Get funders for your state and cause by email
We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.
Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.
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. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Johnson Street Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: Lubcher Ganis-126 E 56TH St 3 Fl, New York, NY, 10022. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 13-7579596 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.