The funding gap across NYC Nonprofit organizations

While New York City is known for its vast wealth and generosity, a deeper analysis of nonprofit grant distributions uncover a stark imbalance in how resources are allocated across its boroughs.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• An analysis of the top 100 nonprofits in each borough reveals a staggering funding gap: Manhattan receives $18,868 per-capita, while Staten Island receives just $1,484.

• This disparity matters because underfunded boroughs often face greater social and economic challenges yet receive fewer resources to address them.

• Our next step is to use these insights to highlight inequities, inform decision-making, and advocate for more equitable funding across boroughs.

The ISSUE

New York City is often described as a city of opportunity, but opportunity is not evenly distributed across its five boroughs. Stark differences in income and wealth point to deeper structural inequities, ones that may also influence how grants and charitable donations are distributed. This data project examines whether communities with greater need are receiving proportional financial support, and highlights where gaps in funding may be reinforcing existing disparities.

INSIGHTS

Unsurprisingly, Manhattan dominated the donation intake, with its top 100 organizations raking a total of 31.3 billion dollars, and Staten Island took in the least with a total of 0.7 billion dollars as it is mainly a residential borough. Queens obtained 6.3 billion, Brooklyn earned 4.2 billion, and The Bronx ended the year with 2.8 billion dollars. This disparity was reflected in the grants distributed per capita as well. However, upon first glance, the chart seems as though the per-capita grants for the boroughs aside from Manhattan are relatively equal. Unfortunately, due to the extreme difference between Manhattan and the other boroughs, the graph doesn’t properly reflect the disparity between the 2^nd most funded and least funded borough. The per-capita amount for Queens is $2,704, nearly double Staten Island’s $1,484.

The poorest borough, The Bronx, was compared against the richest borough, Manhattan, on a deeper level. Form 990 categorizes organizations by type, breaking them down into 10 major categories: Arts & Humanities, Education, Environment & Animals, Health, Human Services, International/Foreign Affairs, Public/Societal Benefit, Religion, Membership Benefit, and Unclassified.

Compared to Manhattan, The Bronx showcases a heavily concentrated donor base, focusing on Human Services and Education. The concentration suggests that philanthropic efforts in The Bronx are channeled primarily into these two major groups, indicating their perceived or actual importance in the local landscape compared to the more diverse funding streams seen in Manhattan. If this data is of interest, please check our upcoming terminal to see the categorical breakdown of Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island as well!

THE DATA

The data was sourced from publicly available data on the registered NPOs in NYC, located on the IRS website.

• 2024 NYC Form 990

  • This is the tax returns form for nonprofit organizations in NYC

  • It contains a specific section to report total grants and donations received that year

  • Specifically, the year 2024 was used, as it was the most recent and up-to-date year

• Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract

  • This is a database containing detailed information about each NPO that could not be obtained from Form 990.

  • This was used to crossmatch the EIN from the Form 990 to find the locations of each NPO

Next steps

To expand on these findings, future analysis should incorporate Form 990 data from prior years as well as 2025 filings to conduct a multi-year trend analysis. Examining how funding patterns evolve over time would help determine whether disparities are widening, narrowing, or remaining stagnant across boroughs.

The broader goal of this project is not only to visualize funding distribution, but to spark awareness about the structural imbalance between wealthier and lower-income boroughs. By making these disparities more transparent, this analysis aims to inform donors, policymakers, and stakeholders so they can make more intentional, equity-driven funding decisions. Ideally, increased visibility will encourage investors to consider where their contributions can have the greatest marginal impact, particularly in historically underfunded communities.