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A Hand Up Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

A Hand Up Charitable 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.

$51k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$146kHealth$140kHuman Services$107kHousing & Shelter$100kEducation$63kFood & Nutrition$55kPhilanthropy$45kRecreation & Sports$30kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$6k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Community Frist Project$25,000
THE SHINE INITIATIVE$15,000
THE ALZHEIMERS ASSOCIATION$5,000
CITY OF LEOMINSTER ITALIAN FESTIVAL$5,000
Blue star mothers Mass chapter 1$1,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–23, $121k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PINE STREET INN: $25k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $25k → 16%FRANKLIN FOOD PANTRY: $1k → 7%ROOM TO GROW: $5k → 16%ROOM TO GROW: $5k → 16%ROOM TO GROW: $1k → 16%MONTACHUSETT OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL: $10k → 11%MONTACHUSETT OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL: $10k → 11%MONTACHUSETT OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL: $10k → 11%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $8k → 16%FRANKLIN FOOD PANTRY: $1k → 11%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $5k → 16%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $5k → 16%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $5k → 16%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $5k → 16%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.
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.

68%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$569k · 21 repeat orgs$272k to everyone else

21 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
31

Total granted

$569k
$246k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+57%

Still filing today

57%
26%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 49% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k 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
HealthHuman ServicesEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyCivil RightsOther
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

  • TS
    THE SHINE INITIATIVE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $90k · revenue +31%
  • PINE STREET INN INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $50k · revenue +34%
  • MO
    MAKING OPPORTUNITY COUNT INC
    3× · 2018–2021 · $30k · revenue +389%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
  • RM
    REDEMPTORIS MATER SEMINARY
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • SC
    ST CECILIA'S CHURCH
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
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
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
2
Trinity Health of New England Corporation Inc

We, trinity health of new england and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities. trinity health of new england is a member of trinity health.

Health
3
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide access to and conduct activities in furtherance of higher education.

—
4
Emerson Health System Inc

Emerson health systems is the parent organization of four subsidiaries - emerson hospital, emerson occupational health services, emerson property development and emerson health care foundation. emerson health systems provides its…

Health
5
Brighton Marine Inc

Brighton marine, inc. provides military and veteran families with comprehensive campus-based quality health care, as well as affordable and supportive housing for at-risk veterans and their families.

Health
6
Aclu Foundation of Massachusetts Inc

Aclu foundation of ma was established to defend freedoms guaranteed in the constitution and bill of rights through public education and litigation.

Civil Rights
7
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
8
Institute for Protein Innovation Inc

The institute for protein innovation is advancing protein science to accelerate research and improve human health.

Health
9
Lifestream Inc

Lifestream, inc. (the organization") provides community-based services that support individuals in attaining greater independence, promising opportunities, and lives that are meaningful and fulfilling on their own terms.

Health
10
The Boston Foundation for Sight Inc

Our mission is to improve quality of life by transforming the understanding, treatment, and care of the ocular surface.

Human Services
11
Pine Street Inn Housing Ii Inc

Pine street inn housing ii, inc. is a massachusetts not-for-profit corporation, which was organized to provide ten elderly individuals with housing facilities and services at the inn's menino house at geneva avenue in boston,…

Housing & Shelter
12
Commonwealth Care Alliance Inc

Commonwealth care alliance, inc.'s mission is to improve the health and well-being of people with significant needs by innovating, coordinating and providing the highest quality, individualized care.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Home for Little Wanderers Inc; the most unlike its peers is Rollstone Charitable 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

21 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. 21 of the 54 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/21
Grantees still filing
15/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NET MINISTRIES: $50,000 · OtherNET MINISTRIESST CECILIA CHURCH: $50,000 · OtherST CECILIA CHURCHIndividual grant recipient: $50,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $50,000 · OtherGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INCOPPORTUNITIES FOR HOPE INC: $40,000 · OtherOPPORTUNITIES FOR HOPE INCRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF: $31,000 · OtherRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OFSCHOLAR ATHLETES INC: $30,000 · OtherSCHOLAR ATHLETES INCCommunity Frist Project: $25,000 · OtherREDEMPTORIS MATER SEMINARY: $25,000 · OtherST CECILIA'S CHURCH: $20,000 · Other+27 more: $146,000 · Other+27 morePINE STREET INN INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesPINE STREET INN …MAKING OPPORTUNITY COUNT INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesMAKING OPPORTUNI…THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $27,500 · Human ServicesTHE HOME FOR LIT…ROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $11,000 · Human ServicesROOM TO GROW NAT…+1 more: $2,000 · Human ServicesTHE SHINE INITIATIVE INC: $90,015 · HealthTHE SHINE INI…THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $5,000 · HealthFRIEDREICH'S ATAXIA RESEARCH ALLIANCE: $5,000 · Health+2 more: $3,300 · HealthLEOMINSTER EDUCATION FOUNDATIONINC: $28,000 · EducationParents Unite Inc: $15,000 · EducationPARK STREET SCHOOL INC: $5,000 · EducationROLLSTONE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · PhilanthropyNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 · Arts & CultureUSS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTREVOR PROJECT INC: $10,000 · Civil Rights
Other$517,000Human Services$120,500Health$103,315Education$48,000Philanthropy$30,000Arts & Culture$12,500Civil Rights$10,000

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 budgetTHE SHINE INITIATIVE INC: $90,015 over 9y, 5.3% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPPORTUNITIES FOR HOPE INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetROLLSTONE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetMAKING OPPORTUNITY COUNT INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSCHOLAR ATHLETES INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetLEOMINSTER EDUCATION FOUNDATIONINC: $28,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetTHE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $27,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetParents Unite Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUSS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIEDREICH'S ATAXIA RESEARCH ALLIANCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S ONCOLOGY SERVICES OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFranklin Food Pantry Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetANGEL FUND INC: $300 over 1y, 0.1% 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 THE SHINE INITIATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds PINE STREET INN INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds ROLLSTONE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MAKING OPPORTUNITY COUNT INC ↗
  • Who funds SCHOLAR ATHLETES INC ↗
  • Who funds LEOMINSTER EDUCATION FOUNDATIONINC ↗
  • Who funds THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC ↗
  • Who funds Parents Unite Inc ↗
  • Who funds ROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds TREVOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds NAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds PARK STREET SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds USS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds FRIEDREICH'S ATAXIA RESEARCH ALLIANCE ↗

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.

Community Foundation …Eastern Bank Foundati…Paypal Charitable Giv…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation of North Central MaMA13.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of North Central Ma · Eastern Bank Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 A Hand Up Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from A Hand Up Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 17%
  • The Home for Little Wanderers Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Making Opportunity Count Inc: 28% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Uss Constitution Museum Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Franklin Food Pantry Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 A Hand Up Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to A Hand Up Charitable 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 54 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 A Hand Up’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