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Alku Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Alku Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$864k
Granted FY2024still arriving
58
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$155k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Youth Development$819kEducation$135kHuman Services$132kHealth$117kCivil Rights$65kFood & Nutrition$56kEnvironment$20kRecreation & Sports$16kOther$0
02FY2024 · 58 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k36 grants · $154k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $325k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $386k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$10M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASS MENTORING PARTNERSHIP$155,000
SILVER LINING MENTORING$65,000
REPRODUCTIVE EQUITY NOW FOUNDATION$60,000
COACHING 4 CHANGE$55,000
SHINE INITIATIVE$50,500
A BETTER CHANCE OF ANDOVER$45,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BOSTON$40,000
GIRLS ON THE RUN GREATER BOSTON$40,000
THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND (FUTURE CHEFS)$35,000
GIRL START$30,000
BOSTON SCORES$20,000
YOUNG MAN WITH A PLAN$15,000
THE FOOD PROJECT$10,000
KIDS IN TECH$10,000
BAGLY$10,000
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 (FY23–24, $64k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 77% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%CITY SCHOOL: $10k → 16%PA'LANTE TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE: $3k → 17%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $1k → 8%EMPOWER: $10k → 7%EMPOWER: $5k → 7%Malden Warming Center: $515 → 8%CONNORS KINDNESS PROJECT: $3k → 10%COMMUNITY ART CENTER: $8k → 8%STRONG WOMEN STRONG GIRLS: $5k → 16%CATIES CLOSET: $10k → 8%CATIE'S CLOSET: $100 → 8%WALTHAM PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH: $5k → 8%WALTHAM PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH: $5k → 8%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.

70%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 25 repeat orgs$440k to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 35 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
24

Total granted

$1.0M
$72k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-12%
+31%

Still filing today

76%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 57% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $369k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’22’23’24
Youth DevelopmentHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsEducationFood & NutritionHealthOther
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

  • BAGLY INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $60k · revenue +22%
  • CF
    COACHING FOR CHANGE INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $60k · revenue +12%
  • EG
    EMPOWER GRIEVING CHILDREN INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $15k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • OT
    ONE TREE PLANTED INC
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue -5%
  • GI
    GIRLS INC LOWELL
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
  • DE
    DORCHESTER EAGLES POP WARNER
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
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 Center for Teen Empowerment Inc

To employ, train, and empower youth to, in collaboration with adults, create peace, equity, and justice.

—
2
Tenacity Inc

The organization's mission is youth development and life-skill development activities.

Recreation & Sports
3
Digital Ready Inc

Digital Ready activates the creative potential of young adults, especially low-income residents, to build tangible pathways to economic opportunities in Boston's innovation economy.

Education
4
Apprentice Learning Inc

Apprentice learning provides real-world work experiences for middle school students. we leverage career exploration to teach skills and to nuture dreams.

Youth Development
5
Breakthrough Greater Boston Inc

To inspire excitement for learning, create paths to and through college, and promote careers in education.

Education
6
Youthbuild Boston Inc

Youthbuild boston's mission is to provide educational and skill training for low income youth; develop opportunities for employment; stabilize neighborhoods by enfranchising youth through employment and training activities; divert high…

—
7
Boston Explorers Inc

Youth Development

Recreation & Sports
8
More Than Words Inc

Our mission is to empower youth who are in foster care, court involved, homeless or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.

—
9
Boston After School & Beyond Inc

Boston after school & beyond, inc. is a public private partnership that pursues a unified after-school and summer learning system that promotes stakeholder alignment, a focus on results, and access to learning opportunities, particularly…

Education
10
Railroad Street Youth Project Inc

To empower young people by creating youth inspired projects

Youth Development
11
Resilient Coders Inc

Training young adults from low income communities for high growth careers as software engineers, and connecting them with jobs.

Employment
12
Massachusetts Education & Career Opportunities Inc

Massachusetts education and career opportunities, inc. (massedco, inc.) is a statewide network of service sites that provides education and career advising to over 12,000 low-income, first generation individuals each year. massedco…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kids in Tech Inc; the most unlike its peers is Heart Warrior Foundation. 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

54 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. 54 of the 84 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/54
Grantees still filing
25/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DOVE INC: $70,258 · OtherDOVE INCBAGLY INC: $60,000 · OtherBAGLY INCA BETTER CHANCE OF ANDOVER: $60,000 · OtherA BETTER CHANCE OF ANDOVERIndividual grant recipient: $45,777 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND (FUTURE CHEFS): $35,000 · OtherTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND (FUTURE CHEFS)BOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION INC: $35,000 · OtherBOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION INCYOUTH ENRICHMENT SERVICES INC: $25,000 · OtherGIRLSTART: $35,000 · OtherGIRLSTARTONE TREE PLANTED INC: $20,000 · Other+42 more: $161,988 · Other+42 moreTHE MASS MENTORING PARTNERSHIP INC: $350,430 · Community ImprovementTHE MASS MENTORING PARTNERS…SILVER LINING MENTORING INC: $65,000 · Youth DevelopmentSILVER LINING MENTORIN…America Scores New England DBA Boston Scores: $46,300 · Youth DevelopmentAmerica Scores New Eng…BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF …GIRLS ON THE RUN GREATER BOSTON: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRLS ON THE RUN GREAT…MOSAIC INTERFAITH YOUTH ACTION INC: $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentMOSAIC INTERFAITH YOUT…YOUNG MAN WITH A PLAN INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentYOUNG MAN WITH A PLAN …LITERATIONS CORP: $10,000 · Youth Development+7 more: $27,914 · Youth Development+7 moreCOACHING FOR CHANGE INC: $60,000 · EducationKIDS IN TECH INC: $15,000 · EducationCOMMUNITY YOUTH EMPOWERMENT INC: $10,000 · EducationMASSACHUSETTS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR INC: $5,000 · EducationEMPOWER GRIEVING CHILDREN INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesCatie's Closet Inc: $10,100 · Human ServicesWALTHAM PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesThe City School Inc: $10,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY ART CENTER INC: $7,500 · Human ServicesGIRLS INC OF GREATER PITTSBURGH: $5,000 · Human ServicesCONNOR'S KINDNESS PROJECT INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesPALANTE TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE INC: $2,500 · Human Services+2 more: $1,553 · Human ServicesREPRODUCTIVE EQUITY NOW FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 · Civil RightsTHE SHINE INITIATIVE INC: $55,500 · Health+2 more: $500 · Health
Other$548,023Community Improvement$350,430Youth Development$289,214Education$90,000Human Services$64,153Civil Rights$60,000Health$56,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE MASS MENTORING PARTNERSHIP INC: $350,430 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetDOVE INC: $70,258 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetSILVER LINING MENTORING INC: $65,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE EQUITY NOW FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetBAGLY INC: $60,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCOACHING FOR CHANGE INC: $60,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetTHE SHINE INITIATIVE INC: $55,500 over 2y, 11% of budgetAmerica Scores New England DBA Boston Scores: $46,300 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN GREATER BOSTON: $40,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetGIRLSTART: $35,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetBOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION INC: $35,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetMOSAIC INTERFAITH YOUTH ACTION INC: $35,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetYOUNG MAN WITH A PLAN INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetYOUTH ENRICHMENT SERVICES INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetONE TREE PLANTED INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEMPOWER GRIEVING CHILDREN INC: $15,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetKIDS IN TECH INC: $15,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetThe Food Project Inc: $10,618 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCatie's Closet Inc: $10,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY YOUTH EMPOWERMENT INC: $10,000 over 2y, 25% of budgetLITERATIONS CORP: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWALTHAM PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetThe City School Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY ART CENTER INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRAW ART WORKS INC: $5,564 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGIRLS INC OF GREATER PITTSBURGH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS PROJECT 351 INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBUILDON INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMassachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGREENAGERS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetZUMIX INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHOOTING TOUCH INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER LOWELL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROOTS TEEN CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSISTERS UNCHAINED INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetSCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBEYOND SOCCER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetROOTS RISING INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCONNOR'S KINDNESS PROJECT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetPALANTE TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHEARTY ROOTS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMAZING GRACE OF CAPE COD INC: $2,500 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $1,038 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE EQUITY NOW INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MASSACHUSETTS INC: $547 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMALDEN WARMING CENTER: $515 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Cummings Foundation G…Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…Rockland Trust Charit…Liberty Mutual Founda…Amelia Peabody Founda…United Way Of Massach…Bushrod H Campbell & …The Cabot Family Char…Agnes M Lindsay TrustWilliam E Schrafft an…Philanthropy Massachu…
Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc)MA42.3× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Amelia Peabody Foundation · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · Bushrod H Campbell & Adah F Hall Charity Fund · The Cabot Family Charitable Trust · Agnes M Lindsay Trust · William E Schrafft and Bertha E Schrafft Charitable Trust · Philanthropy Massachusetts Inc

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 Alku Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alku Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 170%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Mass Mentoring Partnership Inc: 63% of income from government
  • Dove Inc: 60% of income from government
  • Palante Transformative Justice Inc: 52% of income from government
  • Bagly Inc: 39% of income from government
  • America Scores New England Dba Boston Scores: 30% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell Inc: 27% of income from government
  • Kids in Tech Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Community Art Center Inc: 14% of income from government
  • Silver Lining Mentoring Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Raw Art Works Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Greenagers Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Beyond Soccer Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Roots Rising Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Coaching for Change Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Zumix Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Girls On the Run Greater Boston: 4% of income from government
  • Catie's Closet Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Waltham Partnership for Youth Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Neighbors in Need Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Roots Teen Center Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Young Man With a Plan Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Amazing Grace of Cape Cod Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Special Olympics Massachusetts Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
17get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
3rely 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 Alku Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Alku Foundation Inc 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 84 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Alku’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