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Bear Foundation- Tr at a glance

· Private foundation

Bear Foundation- Tr

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.

$183k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$100k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Recreation & Sports$300kYouth Development$278kHuman Services$199kEducation$82kPhilanthropy$40kFood & Nutrition$25kHealth$17kHousing & Shelter$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $68k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$100,000
MEDIA POWER YOUTH$38,000
YMCA OF GREATER NASHUA$30,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF COLLIER COUNTY$5,000
LINCOLN NURSERY SCHOOL INC$5,000
CHASE HOME FOR CHILDREN$2,500
SEACOAST WOMEN'S GIVING CIRCLE$2,500
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 (FY19–25, $175k) land where the poverty rate runs at 6%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%HOPE AND COMFORT INC: $3k → 7%FOOD FOR OTHERS: $10k → 6%REDS GOOD VIBES INC: $50k → 5%REDS GOOD VIBES INC: $20k → 5%REDS GOOD VIBES INC: $15k → 5%YMCA OF GREATER NASHUA: $30k → 7%THE MICHAEL LISNOW REPITE CENTER: $500 → 8%YMCA OF GREATER NASHUA: $25k → 7%YMCA OF GREATER NASHUA: $10k → 7%YMCA OF GREATER NASHUA: $10k → 7%CHASE HOME: $1k → 5%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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$842k · 9 repeat orgs$96k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +62% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
14

Total granted

$842k
$91k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+62%
+30%

Still filing today

78%
79%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • Northwestern University
    2× · 2021–2025 · $300k · revenue +14%
  • MP
    MEDIA POWER YOUTH
    5× · 2018–2025 · $273k · revenue +66% · 53% of their budget
  • RG
    REDS GOOD VIBES INC
    3× · 2020–2024 · $85k · revenue +1% · 34% of their budget

Funded once

  • GC
    GREENLAND CENTRAL SCHOOL
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
  • GB
    GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue +1%
  • FF
    FOOD FOR OTHERS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +33%
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
Merrimack Valley Day Care Service

Daycare services

—
2
Northeast Business Group On Health Inc

Empowering our members to drive excellence and achieve the highest value in healthcare delivery and the consumer experience.

—
3
Child Care of the Berkshires Inc

The organization provides child care services to families through child care centers and a network of family child care homes. child care of the berkshires also strengthens families through support services and home visiting focused on…

—
4
Northshore Food Bank

Serving the northshore by providing access to basic needs.

—
5
Massachusetts Advocates for Children Inc

Massachusetts advocates for children, inc. ("mac") is a non-profit organization dedicated to removing barriers to educational and life opportunities for children and youth. we do so by advocating for and partnering with students and…

Civil Rights
6
Nurture and Nature Children's Center Inc

In partnership with families, we as an educational community, foster learning in a nurturing, supportive, child-centered environment immersed in nature. we teach, respect and celebrate diversity, individuality, and the whole child.

Human Services
7
Fostering Hope New England Inc

We empower churches and individuals to care for children and families impacted by foster care. we partner with churches to help them establish sustainable cultures of serice to the foster care community, with particular focus on raising

Human Services
8
North Shore Nursery School Inc

To provide developmental and educational instruction for children ages 2-5 years of age.

Education
9
Root Ns Inc

Root's mission is to help young adults create a pathway to independence through food service training and employment. by developing essential life and work readiness skills, youth leave root prepared for success in the workplace.

Food & Nutrition
10
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
11
Jeff's Place Children's Bereavement Center Inc

Jeff's Place offers hope and healing in a supportive community for grieving children, teens, families and individuals.

Human Services
12
Children's Law Center of New Hampshire

To provide legal representation and social services advocacy to new hampshire low-income and underserved children across multiple legal contexts.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Family Promise Metrowest Inc; the most unlike its peers is Chase Home for Children. 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 26 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
20/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Northwestern University: $300,000 · Recreation & SportsNorthwestern UniversityMEDIA POWER YOUTH: $273,000 · Youth DevelopmentMEDIA POWER YOUTH+1 more: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentREDS GOOD VIBES INC: $85,000 · Human ServicesREDS GOOD VIBES INCYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Nashua: $75,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christia…FOOD FOR OTHERS INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesFOOD FOR OTHERS INC+3 more: $4,500 · Human ServicesGREENLAND CENTRAL SCHOOL: $25,000 · OtherGREENLAND C…Chase Home for Children: $22,500 · OtherChase Home …GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $15,000 · OtherGREATER BOS…MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: $11,500 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH…THE WOMEN'S FUND OF: $7,500 · OtherTHE WOMEN'S…THE BROOKLINE CENTER CMTY MENTAL HEALTH: $5,000 · OtherTHE PARMENTER FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Other+2 more: $4,500 · OtherLINCOLN NURSERY SCHOOL INC: $49,600 · EducationNEW HAMPSHIRE WOMEN'S FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationNASHOBA LEARNING GROUP INC: $5,000 · EducationTHE CORNERSTONE SCHOOL: $5,000 · EducationLACES OF LOVE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $2,500 · EducationSEACOAST WOMENS GIVING CIRCLE: $17,500 · PhilanthropyBANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD: $10,000 · PhilanthropyFAMILY PROMISE METROWEST INC: $7,000 · Housing & Shelter
Recreation & Sports$300,000Youth Development$278,000Human Services$174,500Other$96,000Education$67,100Philanthropy$27,500Housing & Shelter$7,000

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 budgetNorthwestern University: $300,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDIA POWER YOUTH: $273,000 over 5y, 53% of budgetREDS GOOD VIBES INC: $85,000 over 3y, 34% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Nashua: $75,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetLINCOLN NURSERY SCHOOL INC: $49,600 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetChase Home for Children: $22,500 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetSEACOAST WOMENS GIVING CIRCLE: $17,500 over 5y, 5.9% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD FOR OTHERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE METROWEST INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNEW HAMPSHIRE WOMEN'S FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE PARMENTER FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF COLLIER COUNTY FLOR: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNASHOBA LEARNING GROUP INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD ANIMAL CONCERNS TRUST (FACT INC): $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHOPE AND COMFORT INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLACES OF LOVE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Chase Home: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL LISNOW RESPITE CENTER INC: $500 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.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Cummings Foundation G…Eversource Energy Fou…New Hampshire Charita…Fidelity FoundationBoston Foundation IncFoundation for Seacoa…DCU for KidsMiddlesex Savings Cha…Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Pfizer Foundation…Enterprise Holdings F…
Eastern Bank FoundationMA18.3× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Eversource Energy Foundation Inc · New Hampshire Charitable Foundation · Fidelity Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Foundation for Seacoast Health · DCU for Kids · Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Enterprise Holdings 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 Bear Foundation- Tr funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bear Foundation- Tr. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 14%
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Nashoba Learning Group Inc: 14% of income from government
  • Hope and Comfort Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 Bear Foundation- Tr?

Find your warmest path to Bear Foundation- Tr 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 26 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 Bear Foundation- Tr’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