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Bangor Theological Seminary at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Bangor Theological Seminary

The BTS Center is a think tank that sponsors educational events, projects, and research inquiries in the fields of religion, practical theology, and ministry.

$11k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$80kReligion$58kCommunity Improvement$20kEducation$20kScience & Tech$20kEnvironment$1kCrime & Legal$400Civil Rights$100Other$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$22M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Cornerstone Fund Mission Giving- ME Conference UCC Maine School of Ministry$5,000
Cornerstone Fund Mission Giving - Maine Conference UCC Pilgrim Lodge$5,000
MountainTrue$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 33% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%The Society for Arts Religion and Contemporary Culture: $60k → 8%Boston University Center for Antiracist Research: $100 → 16%Tides Foundation: $100 → 10%Equal Justice Initiative: $100 → 18%MountainTrue: $1k → 12%Deborah Jian Lee LLC: $20k → 14%Franklin Alliance for Rural Ministries: $7k → 9%Maine Inside Out: $100 → 7%The Alcyon Center: $20k → 11%Cornerstone Fund Mission Giving- ME Conference UCC Maine School of Ministry: $5k → 12%Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition: $200 → 13%Bangor High School: $100 → 15%The Society for Arts Religion and Contemporary Culture: $20k → 8%Cornerstone Fund Mission Giving - Maine Conference UCC Pilgrim Lodge: $5k → 12%Maine-Wabanaki REACH: $200 → 15%Massachusetts Bible Society: $20k → 8%Worcester Fellowship: $500 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
IL
NY
MA
CA
NC
DC
AL
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
Restorative Justice Institute of Maine

To promote a widespread cultural and systemic shift to how people in maine approach wrongdoing by advancing the use of restorative justice in communities, schools and correctional settings.

Crime & Legal
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Bangor Theological Seminary
Religion
4
Center of Theological Inquiry

The Center of Theological Inquiry is an independent research institution with an international visiting scholar program which convenes researchers in an ideal setting for interdisciplinary inquiries where theology casts light on global…

Religion
5
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
6
Academy of International Business

We create, nurture, and empower a global community of scholars focused on creating, advancing, and disseminating knowledge in international business research, education, policy, and practice.

Education
7
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
8
Next River

Next River is an institute for practicing the future. We cultivate the research, narratives, practices, and connections that transform our cultural landscape toward collective liberation.

Social Science
9
Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust

To preserve and protect land surrounding the appalachian trail in maine for public benefit.

Environment
10
Maine Philanthropy Center

The Maine Philanthropy Center (MPC) is the state's leading resource that provides opportunity, leadership and support to advance the effectiveness of philanthropy in Maine and its ability to make a meaningful difference. It helps grant…

Education
11
Maine Afl-Cio

To promote and ensure workers' rights

—
12
Massachusetts Business Roundtable Inc

The mission of the roundtable is to make massachusetts the most desirable place to live, work and do business by engaging private sector executives and public leaders to ensure access to a robust, diverse and talented workforce that…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Faith in Public Life Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Alcyon Center 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

13 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. 13 of the 20 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/13
Grantees still filing
5/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOCIETY FOR THE ARTS RELIGION AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE INC: $79,998 · OtherSOCIETY FOR THE ARTS RELIGION AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE INCDeborah Jian Lee LLC: $20,426 · OtherDeborah Jian Lee LLCMASSACHUSETTS BIBLE SOCIETY: $20,000 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS BIBLE SOCIETYTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITYFRANKLIN ALLIANCE FOR RURAL MINISTRIES: $7,082 · Other+5 more: $10,700 · Other+5 moreThe Alcyon Center Inc: $19,986 · ReligionThe Alcyon …+1 more: $100 · ReligionBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · EducationBRANDEIS UN…MountainTrue: $1,000 · EnvironmentMAINE PRISONER ADVOCACY COALITION: $200 · Crime & LegalIMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT: $100 · Crime & LegalMAINE-WABANAKI REACH: $200 · Arts & CultureMAINE INSIDE OUT: $100 · Arts & CultureTIDES FOUNDATION: $100 · PhilanthropyEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $100 · Civil Rights
Other$158,206Religion$20,086Education$20,000Environment$1,000Crime & Legal$300Arts & Culture$300Philanthropy$100Civil Rights$100

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 budgetBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS BIBLE SOCIETY: $20,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Alcyon Center Inc: $19,986 over 1y, 12% of budgetMAINE PRISONER ADVOCACY COALITION: $200 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMAINE-WABANAKI REACH: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAINE INSIDE OUT: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $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.

Onion FoundationElmina B Sewall Found…Maine Community Found…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Onion FoundationME13.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Onion Foundation · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · Maine Community Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Bangor Theological Seminary funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bangor Theological Seminary. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
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.

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 20 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 Bangor Theological Seminary’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