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Acorn Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Acorn Foundation

Its FY2017 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$3.6M
Granted FY2017
33
Grants FY2017
7
States reached
$3.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01FY2017 · 33 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k25 grants · $42k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $55k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $520k
  • $250k+1 grant · $3.0M
$1,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$8.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROLLINS COLLEGE$2,950,000
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS$200,000
PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF COLBY COLLEGE$150,000
NEW ENGLAND BAPTIST HOSPITAL$120,000
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS$50,000
COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS$25,000
HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND$20,000
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE$10,000
ROLLINS COLLEGE$6,000
HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND$6,000
PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF COLBY COLLEGE$5,000
FLYING KITES INC$5,000
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$4,360
HOLDERNESS SCHOOL$3,415
TRUSTEES OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY$1,980
02The need
02

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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–17) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FLYING KITES INC: $5k → 7%TRUSTEES OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY: $2k → 8%MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $200k → 16%ROLLINS COLLEGE: $3.0M → 13%THE WILLIAM BREMAN JEWISH HOME: $100 → 13%LAKE REGION COMMUNITY SERVICES: $100 → 9%HOLDERNESS SCHOOL: $3k → 10%COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS: $25k → 9%BELGRADE LAKES ASSOCIATION: $500 → 12%MAINE PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $500 → 13%MAINE FARMLAND TRUST: $500 → 13%MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $50k → 16%ROLLINS COLLEGE: $6k → 13%MAINE LAKES RESOURCE CENTER: $500 → 12%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $4k → 16%FRIENDS OF BELGRADE PUBLIC LIBRARY: $500 → 12%MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $500 → 16%PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF COLBY COLLEGE: $150k → 12%MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $100 → 16%PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF COLBY COLLEGE: $5k → 12%MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $100 → 16%PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF COLBY COLLEGE: $1k → 12%BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND: $20k → 16%WBUR BOSTON PUBLIC RADIO: $500 → 16%HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND: $6k → 16%NEW ENGLAND BAPTIST HOSPITAL: $120k → 16%PIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $1k → 16%PIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $1k → 16%PIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $1k → 16%PIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $500 → 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 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
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
2
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
3
Maine Historical Society

Maine Historical Society, founded in 1822, is a private non-profit whose mission is to preserve and share Maine's story. Based in Portland, we work closely with communities and partners throughout the state, and serve a statewide and…

Arts & Culture
4
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
5
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
6
Maine Maritime Museum

To connect people to the past, present, and future of Maine's waterways and their global reach.

Arts & Culture
7
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
8
Bentley University

Organization's mission bentley university believes good business can impact more than the bottom line - it can change the world. bentley is a community of future business leaders who will deliver value in the marketplace and lasting…

Education
9
Reed Institute

The mission of Reed College is to provide education in the liberal arts and sciences.

Education
10
Roger Williams University

At Roger Williams University, students are prepared to be thinkers and doers ready to solve challenging problems with innovative solutions. RWU offers robust offerings of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across eight…

Education
11
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
12
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Society for the Preservation of New Engl; the most unlike its peers is Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

17 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. 17 of the 22 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)
16/17
Grantees still filing
15/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROLLINS COLLEGE: $2,956,000 · EducationROLLINS COLLEGEThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $156,000 · Education+2 more: $6,915 · EducationMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $250,700 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF…SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF NEW ENGL: $26,000 · Arts & CultureSOCIETY F…SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $5,860 · Arts & CultureNEW ENGLAND BAPTIST HOSPITAL: $120,000 · Health+1 more: $100 · HealthCoastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc: $25,000 · EnvironmentFLYING KITES INC: $5,000 · InternationalTRUSTEES OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY: $1,980 · OtherMAINE LAKES RESOURCE CENTER: $500 · OtherFRIENDS OF BELGRADE PUBLIC LIBRARY: $500 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITY: $500 · OtherWBUR BOSTON PUBLIC RADIO: $500 · OtherBELGRADE LAKES ASSOCIATION: $500 · Other+1 more: $100 · OtherMaine Farmland Trust: $500 · Food & Nutrition
Education$3,118,915Arts & Culture$292,560Health$120,100Environment$25,000International$5,000Other$4,580Food & Nutrition$500

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 budgetROLLINS COLLEGE: $2,956,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $250,700 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $156,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW ENGLAND BAPTIST HOSPITAL: $120,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF NEW ENGL: $26,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFLYING KITES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $4,360 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOLDERNESS SCHOOL: $3,415 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Farmland Trust: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAINE LAKES RESOURCE CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMaine Public Broadcasting Corporation: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBELGRADE LAKES ASSOCIATION: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe William Breman Jewish Home Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

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.

Boston Foundation IncCombined Jewish Phila…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…Gs Donor Advised Phil…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Boston Foundation IncMA16.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Acorn Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Acorn Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Society for the Preservation of New Engl: 2% of income from government
  • New England Baptist Hospital: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Rollins College: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Arts Academy Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
1report 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.
04Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Acorn Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Acorn 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 22 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 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Acorn’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