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Black Mountain Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Black Mountain Foundation

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.

$32k
Granted FY2024still arriving
5
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through 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, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$284kArts & Culture$143kEnvironment$13kHealth$10kYouth Development$7kHuman Services$3kRecreation & Sports$1k
02FY2024 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $20k
$3,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$765k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COTTING SCHOOL$20,000
PUTNEY MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION$5,000
EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC$3,500
FRIENDS OF THE LOBKOWICZ COLLECTION$2,500
EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY$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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%FRIENDS OF THE LOBKOWICZ COLLECTION: $3k → 7%COTTING SCHOOL: $100k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $50k → 16%THE SALVATION ARMY: $3k → 9%NEXT STAGE ARTS PROJECT: $20k → 11%JESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $10k → 11%THE COTTING SCHOOL: $50k → 8%MASS GENERAL - HONORING BRITT NICHOLSON: $50k → 16%PUTNEY MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION: $5k → 11%COTTING SCHOOL: $20k → 8%FRIENDS OF THE MGH CANCER CENTER: $10k → 16%BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ARTS CENTER: $15k → 11%GROTON SCHOOL: $50k → 8%EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 16%BRATTLEBORO MUSIC CENTER: $5k → 11%EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $50k → 16%GREEN MOUNTAIN CAMP FOR GIRLS: $2k → 11%EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $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 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
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
2
Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation Inc Attn Susan Sacco
—
3
Fitchburg Art Museum

The mission of the fitchburg art museum is to inspire creativity and learning, and to contribute to the well-being of our diverse communities in fitchburg, north central massachusetts, and new england. to accomplish the mission, we…

Arts & Culture
4
Southern Vermont Arts Center Inc Po Box 617

As one of New Englands leading visual and performing arts institutions, SVAC's mission is to promote and nurture the arts.

Arts & Culture
5
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
6
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
7
Trustees of the Berkshire Museum

Bringing people together for experiences that spark creativity and innovative thinking by making inspiring educational connections among art, history, and natural science.

Arts & Culture
8
Baltimore Museum of Art

The baltimore museum of art connects art to baltimore and baltimore to the world, embodying a commitment to artistic excellence and social equity in every decision from art presentation, interpretation, and collecting, to the composition…

Arts & Culture
9
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute

Munson-williams-proctor arts institute (mwpai) is a fine arts center dedicated to serving diverse audiences by advancing the appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts. the art institute aims to promote interest and…

Arts & Culture
10
Boston Modern Orchestra Project Inc

To build a structurally sound and musically vital ensemble which seeks to explore and present music of the 20th century. all schools, movements and styles from the turn of the century to the present day will be offered. it is the practical…

Arts & Culture
11
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
12
Worcester Art Museum

To connect people, communities, and cultures through experience of art. collect the most significant works of art available in an effort to shape the quality/scope of the permanent collection while adhering to the institution's…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cotting School Inc; 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.
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 17 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
10/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COTTING SCHOOL INC: $170,000 · EducationCOTTING SCHOOL INCTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $53,500 · EducationTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INCGROTON SCHOOL: $50,000 · EducationGROTON SCHOOLJESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $10,000 · EducationBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHES…NEXT STAGE ARTS PROJECT INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureNEXT STAGE ARTS PROJEC…BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureBRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & A…FRIENDS OF THE BRATTLEBORO MUSIC CENTER INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THE BRATTLE…+1 more: $2,500 · Arts & CultureMASS GENERAL - HONORING BRITT NICHOLSON: $50,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL - HO…FRIENDS OF THE MGH CANCER CENTER: $10,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE MG…INTERACTION INC: $5,000 · OtherINTERACTION INCTHE SALVATION ARMY: $2,500 · Other+1 more: $1,600 · OtherGREEN MOUNTAIN CONSERVANCY INCORPORATED: $7,500 · EnvironmentPutney Mountain Association Incorporated: $5,000 · EnvironmentEMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC: $1,000 · Recreation & Sports
Education$283,500Arts & Culture$92,500Other$69,100Environment$12,500Recreation & Sports$1,000

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 budgetCOTTING SCHOOL INC: $170,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $53,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGROTON SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEXT STAGE ARTS PROJECT INC: $20,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetBRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetJESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetINTERACTION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPutney Mountain Association Incorporated: $5,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE LOBKOWICZ COLLECTIONS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC: $1,000 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.

The Windham Foundatio…Ben & Jerry's Foundat…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Windham Foundation IncVT13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Windham Foundation Inc · Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · 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 Black Mountain Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Black Mountain Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Interaction Inc: 70% of income from government
  • Green Mountain Conservancy Incorporated: 49% of income from government
  • Putney Mountain Association Incorporated: 44% of income from government
  • Brattleboro Museum & Art Centerinc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Emerald Necklace Conservancy Inc: 0% of income from government
  • The Epiphany School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Cotting School Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
1report 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.
04Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Black Mountain Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Black Mountain 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 17 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 Black Mountain’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