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Blair Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Blair Family 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.

$251k
Granted FY2024still arriving
32
Grants FY2024still arriving
15
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$637kReligion$628kHuman Services$500kHousing & Shelter$350kInternational$208kEducation$207kEmployment$80kAnimals$15kOther$0
02FY2024 · 32 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $43k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $158k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL$50,000
HINGHAM CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH$40,250
CARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS$17,500
WELL SPRING MULTI SERVICE CENTER$15,275
ROSIE'S PLACE$15,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
YEAR UP$10,000
HOME START INC$10,000
FATHER BILL'S MAINSPRING$10,000
DOVER VII ASSOCIATES LP DISTRIBUTION$10,000
CURE SMA$10,000
SAM ELIMU CHARITY$10,000
US FOUNDATION FOR THE CHILDREN OF HAITI$5,000
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FOUNDATION$5,000
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 (FY17–24, $387k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 2% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%Pine Street Inn: $1k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%Pine Street Inn: $1k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE: $500 → 8%WELLSPRING MULTI SERVICE CENTER: $310k → 8%WELL SPRING MULTI SERVICE CENTER: $21k → 8%WELL SPRING MULTI SERVICE CENTER: $18k → 8%WELL SPRING MULTI SERVICE CENTER: $15k → 8%Wellspring Multi Service Center: $5k → 8%Wellspring Multi Service Center: $5k → 8%WELLSPRING MULTI SERVICE CENTER: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
NH
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
DC
OK
GA
FL
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 35 repeat orgs$165k to everyone else

35 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
17

Total granted

$2.5M
$89k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+85%

Still filing today

74%
24%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $76k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthHousing & ShelterInternationalArts & CultureOther
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

  • CARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $480k · revenue +40%
  • WI
    WELLSPRING INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $379k · revenue +68%
  • HI
    HomeStart Inc
    8× · 2017–2024 · $157k · revenue +91%

Funded once

  • HC
    Hingham Congregational Church Believe Capital Campaign
    one grant, 2017 · $50k
  • FB
    FATHER BILL'S & MAINSPRING INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +150%
  • LS
    Lewa Save A Mind
    one grant, 2018 · $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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
3
Boston Architectural College

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

—
4
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

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

—
5
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
6
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
7
Fordham University

Fordham university, the jesuit university of new york, is committed to the discovery of wisdom and the transmission of learning, through research and through education of the highest quality. for more information, see schedule o.

Education
8
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
9
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
10
University of Massachusetts Global

The mission of umass global is to provide students with an accessible inclusive, and transformative education based on excellence and flexibility, creating lasting value and relevance for a dynamic world.

Education
11
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wellspring Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Pku Alliance 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

33 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. 33 of the 61 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/33
Grantees still filing
25/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS INC: $480,000 · OtherCARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS INCFATHER BILL'S MAINSPRING: $285,000 · OtherFATHER BILL'S MAINSPRINGHINGHAM CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH: $274,750 · OtherHINGHAM CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHANDOVER NEWTON THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL: $126,015 · OtherANDOVER NEWTON THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLDOVE INC: $113,550 · OtherDOVE INCHingham Congregational Church Believe Capital Campaign: $50,000 · Other+31 more: $144,116 · Other+31 moreWELLSPRING INC: $378,975 · Human ServicesWELLSPRING INC+3 more: $10,525 · Human ServicesSAM ELIMU CHARITY: $160,000 · EducationSAM ELIMU CH…YEAR UP INC: $80,000 · EducationYEAR UP INCDENISON UNIVERSITY: $14,500 · Education+6 more: $34,573 · Education+6 moreHomeStart Inc: $157,000 · Community ImprovementFAMILIES OF SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY DBA CURE SMA: $80,000 · HealthNATIONAL PKU ALLIANCE INC: $24,500 · HealthNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $20,500 · HealthMULTIPLE SCLEROSIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC: $10,000 · HealthROSIE'S PLACE INC: $125,400 · Housing & ShelterFATHER BILL'S & MAINSPRING INC: $5,000 · Housing & ShelterCARITAS COMMUNITIES INC: $4,500 · Housing & ShelterHABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC: $50,000 · InternationalUS FDN FOR THE CHILDREN OF HAITI: $28,000 · InternationalSave The Children Federation Inc: $20,000 · International
Other$1,473,431Human Services$389,500Education$289,073Community Improvement$157,000Health$135,000Housing & Shelter$134,900International$98,000

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 budgetCARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS INC: $480,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetWELLSPRING INC: $378,975 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetSAM ELIMU CHARITY: $160,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetHomeStart Inc: $157,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetANDOVER NEWTON THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL: $126,015 over 7y, 68% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $125,400 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetDOVE INC: $113,550 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetFAMILIES OF SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY DBA CURE SMA: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetYEAR UP INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUS FDN FOR THE CHILDREN OF HAITI: $28,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetNATIONAL PKU ALLIANCE INC: $24,500 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $20,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $20,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetLewa Wildlife Conservancy USA: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetDENISON UNIVERSITY: $14,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMULTIPLE SCLEROSIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSCHOOL ON WHEELS OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $8,073 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT ACADEMY: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetPROCTOR ACADEMY: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCHAMPLAIN COLLEGE INCORPORATED: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHINGHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $5,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetFATHER BILL'S & MAINSPRING INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCARITAS COMMUNITIES INC: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,025 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWarriors Soar Inc: $1,734 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND VILLAGE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $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.

  • Who funds CARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds WELLSPRING INC ↗
  • Who funds SAM ELIMU CHARITY ↗
  • Who funds HomeStart Inc ↗
  • Who funds ANDOVER NEWTON THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds ROSIE'S PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds DOVE INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILIES OF SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY DBA CURE SMA ↗
  • Who funds YEAR UP INC ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds US FDN FOR THE CHILDREN OF HAITI ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PKU ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Save The Children Federation Inc ↗
  • Who funds Lewa Wildlife Conservancy USA ↗
  • Who funds DENISON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds SCHOOL ON WHEELS OF MASSACHUSETTS INC ↗
  • Who funds PINE STREET INN INC ↗
  • Who funds VERMONT ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds PROCTOR ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds HINGHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds FATHER BILL'S & MAINSPRING INC ↗
  • Who funds BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC ↗
  • Who funds CARITAS COMMUNITIES INC ↗

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…South Shore Bank Char…Boston Foundation IncMorgan Stanley Global…Rockland Trust Charit…Abington Bank Communi…Yawkey Foundation IIRockland Trust - Blue…The New England Patri…Arbella Insurance Fou…The US Charitable Gif…National Philanthropi…
Eastern Bank FoundationMA22.3× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · South Shore Bank Charitable Foundation Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Abington Bank Community Foundation Inc F/K/A Envision Bank Foundation Inc · Yawkey Foundation II · Rockland Trust - Blue Hills Charitable Foundation · The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation Inc · Arbella Insurance Foundation · The US Charitable Gift Trust · National Philanthropic Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • New England Village Inc: 68% of income from government
  • Dove Inc: 60% of income from government
  • Cardinal Cushing Centers Inc: 40% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Father Bill's & Mainspring Inc: 24% of income from government
  • HomeStart Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • School On Wheels of Massachusetts Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Wellspring Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Berklee College of Music Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Arts Academy Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Champlain College Incorporated: 0% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 61 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 Blair Family’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