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Banyan Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Banyan Fund

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.

$22k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$28kCrime & Legal$27kHousing & Shelter$25kHuman Services$13kEducation$12kHealth$11kEnvironment$9kFood & Nutrition$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$591k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
New England School of the Arts$10,000
Communites for Restorative Justice$5,000
Pan Mass Challenge$5,000
Historical Society of Cheshire County$1,736
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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 66% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Pan Mass Challenge: $5k → 7%Red Gate Farm Education Center: $6k → 14%Rosie's Place: $5k → 16%East Central Regional Library: $2k → 7%Pine Center for Art: $10k → 12%Out Foundation: $1k → 17%Twin Pines Housing Trust: $12k → 9%Historical Society of Cheshire County: $11k → 9%New England School of the Arts: $10k → 10%Violence In Boston: $3k → 16%Exalt Youth: $13k → 17%Historical Society of Cheshire County: $5k → 9%Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance: $8k → 16%Exalt Youth: $6k → 17%Historical Society of Cheshire County: $2k → 9%Appalachian Mountain Club: $5k → 16%Appalachian Mountain Club: $4k → 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.

35%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$46k · 3 repeat orgs$85k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
10

Total granted

$46k
$65k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+61%

Still filing today

100%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 8% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Housing & ShelterYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureEnvironmentPublic BenefitHuman ServicesOther
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

  • EY
    EXALT YOUTH
    2× · 2023–2024 · $19k · revenue -27%
  • HS
    HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY
    3× · 2020–2025 · $18k · revenue +37%
  • Appalachian Mountain Club
    2× · 2020–2021 · $9k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • FR
    FAITH ROOTS REPRODUCTIVE ACTIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $13k · revenue +198%
  • TP
    TWIN PINES HOUSING TRUSTgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $12k · revenue +51%
  • PC
    Pine Center for Art
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
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
Arbor Research Collaborative for Health

Arbor research collaborative for health is committed to improving patient care through research that shapes medical policies and practice. in particular, arbor research conducts health outcomes research on chronic disease and end-stage…

Health
2
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
3
Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation

Mhic's mission is to be an innovative private financier of afforable housing and community development throughout new england, providing financing that would not otherwise be available, and extending the impact of that financing to ensure…

Housing & Shelter
4
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc D/B/a Metro Housing Boston

Metro housing boston mobilizes wide-ranging resources to provide innovative and personalized services that lead families and individuals to housing stability, economic security, and an improved quality of life.

Housing & Shelter
5
American Hiking Society

To empower all to enjoy, share, and preserve the hiking experience.

—
6
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

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

—
7
Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc

We create opportunities for the people of massachusetts to transform their lives and build a more equitable commonwealth through the humanities.

Arts & Culture
8
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
9
Massachusetts Council of Human Services Providers Inc

To advance the interests of the human services sector and providers through advocacy, education, and engagement of diverse stakeholders for collective impact.

—
10
Massachusetts Fair Housing Center Inc

Mfhc is committed to ending systemic housing discrimination and creating inclusive communities through education, outreach, advocacy, housing counseling and enforcement.

Housing & Shelter
11
Eastern National

Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.

Recreation & Sports
12
Abbe Museum

To illuminate and advance greater understanding of and support for Wabanaki Nations' heritage, living cultures, and homelands.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Faith Roots Reproductive Action; the most unlike its peers is Appalachian Mountain Club. 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

12 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. 12 of the 16 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)
12/12
Grantees still filing
10/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TWIN PINES HOUSING TRUST: $11,652 · OtherTWIN PINES HOUSING TRUSTPine Center for Art: $10,000 · OtherPine Center for ArtRed Gate Farm Education Center: $6,000 · OtherRed Gate Farm Education CenterNEW YORK ABORTION ACCESS FUND: $5,700 · OtherNEW YORK ABORTION ACCESS FUNDPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $5,000 · OtherPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INCViolence in Boston: $2,500 · OtherEAST CENTRAL REGIONAL LIBRARY: $2,000 · OtherCOMMUNITIES FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE INC: $5,000 · OtherCOMMUNITIES FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE INC+1 more: $1,000 · OtherEXALT YOUTH: $19,000 · Youth DevelopmentEXALT YOUTHHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY: $18,136 · Arts & CultureHISTORICAL SOCI…FAITH ROOTS REPRODUCTIVE ACTION: $13,300 · Human ServicesFAITH ROOTS…MASSACHUSETTS AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALLIANCE INC: $8,000 · Housing & ShelterMASSACHUSET…ROSIE'S PLACE INC: $5,000 · Housing & ShelterROSIE'S PLA…NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL OF THE ARTS: $10,000 · EducationAppalachian Mountain Club: $9,000 · Environment
Other$48,852Youth Development$19,000Arts & Culture$18,136Human Services$13,300Housing & Shelter$13,000Education$10,000Environment$9,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetEXALT YOUTH: $19,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY: $18,136 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetFAITH ROOTS REPRODUCTIVE ACTION: $13,300 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetTWIN PINES HOUSING TRUST: $11,652 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNEW ENGLAND SCHOOL OF THE ARTS: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALLIANCE INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNEW YORK ABORTION ACCESS FUND: $5,700 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE OUT FOUNDATION: $1,000 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.

Boston Foundation IncVanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Boston Foundation IncMA12.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving 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 Banyan Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Banyan Fund. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Twin Pines Housing Trust: 100% of income from government
  • Communities for Restorative Justice Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club: 1% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 Banyan Fund?

Find your warmest path to Banyan Fund 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 16 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

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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