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Boston Women's Fund Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Boston Women's Fund Inc

To support community-based organizations & grassroots initiatives run by women and girls in order to create a society based on racial, economic and social justice.

$554k
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$70k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its 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.

Philanthropy$1.0MCivil Rights$398kEducation$365kYouth Development$245kCommunity Improvement$241kHealth$198kHuman Services$182kHousing & Shelter$115kOther$0
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 21 grants below total $432,279, the rows itemized in this filing. The $553,788 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $121,509 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $23k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $340k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $70k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$5.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
RESIST INC$70,000
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON$29,779
SOMALI PARENTS ADVOCACY CENTER FOR EDUCATION (SPACE)$25,000
SMALL HOUSE INC$20,000
MELANIN MASS MOMS$20,000
PROPA CITY COMMUNITY OUTREACH$20,000
GRIMES-KING FOUNDATION FOR THE ELDERLY INC$20,000
HEALTH CARE FOR ALL INC$20,000
ESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION$20,000
LOVE YOUR MAGIC$20,000
ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S POLITICAL INITIATIVE$20,000
ASSOCIATION OF HAITIAN WOMEN$20,000
SISTERS UNCHAINED INC$20,000
BAGLY INC$20,000
ABILITIES DANCE$20,000
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 (FY17–25, $98k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%WOMEN'S FUND OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS: $30k → 17%Chica Project: $10k → 16%THE CITY SCHOOL: $8k → 16%The City School: $7k → 16%THE CITY SCHOOL: $7k → 16%SOMALI PARENTS ADVOCACY CENTER FOR EDUCATION (SPACE): $25k → 16%MASS ASSOCIATION FOR ASIAN AMERICAN EDUCATORS: $7k → 16%BRAZILIAN WOMEN'S GROUP INC: $6k → 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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 29 repeat orgs$279k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
15

Total granted

$1.7M
$174k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+14%

Still filing today

90%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $105k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Community ImprovementYouth DevelopmentEducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsHousing & 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

  • WE
    WOMEN ENCOURAGING EMPOWERMENT INC
    7× · 2017–2025 · $118k · revenue +131%
  • AO
    ASSOCIATION OF HAITIAN WOMEN INC
    7× · 2017–2025 · $116k · revenue ×11
  • BAGLY INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $105k · revenue +84%

Funded once

  • WF
    WOMEN'S FUND OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $30k · revenue +66%
  • NC
    Northeast Center for Tradeswomen
    2× · 2020–2021 · $25k
  • LY
    Love Your Menses Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue -71%
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
Womens Fund Southcoast Inc

The womens fund southcoast advances gender, racial and economic justice through research, grantmaking and advocacy.

—
2
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance Inc

Maha breaks down barriers facing first-time and first-generation home buyers and owners through education, counseling, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

Housing & Shelter
3
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
4
Boston Women's Fund Inc

To support community-based organizations & grassroots initiatives run by women and girls in order to create a society based on racial, economic and social justice. we strive for a world free of racism, poverty, and sexism.

Philanthropy
5
Massachusetts Education & Career Opportunities Inc

Massachusetts education and career opportunities, inc. (massedco, inc.) is a statewide network of service sites that provides education and career advising to over 12,000 low-income, first generation individuals each year. massedco…

Education
6
Massachusetts Nonprofit Network

The mission of the massachusetts nonprofit network is to unite and strengthen the nonprofit sector in the commonwealth through public policy, public awareness, and capacity building services.

Education
7
Women's Foundation of Massachusetts Inc

The women's foundation of massachusetts, inc. economically empowers women and girls in greater boston and across the commonwealth through creating and funding high impact leadership and economic programs in partnership with women's and…

Philanthropy
8
Women's Money Matters Inc

Women's money matters, inc. empowers low-income women through financial literacy. the organization's comprehensive programming combines one-to-one coaching with a series of workshops that develop core money management skills and…

Human Services
9
Urban Guild Inc

The corporation is organized to improve the quality of life in bostons urban communities by building capacity, environmental health, and providing economic opportunity in a manner that responds directly to community needs, interests, and…

Community Improvement
10
Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus Leadership Development Educationa

The massachusetts women's political caucus is a multipartisan organization founded in 1971 to maximize the participation of women of all ages in the political process and to increase the number of women appointed and elected to public…

—
11
Urban Impact Initiative Massachusetts

Urban Impact is dedicated to prioritizing the reduction of the impact of poverty for families in the Commonwealth. The organization offers a plethora of small business corporate and community opportunities. These opportunities include…

Youth Development
12
Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition Inc

Eradication of racial inequities among with women of color

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Families for Justice As Healing Inc; the most unlike its peers is Grimes - King Foundation for the Elderly. 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

43 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 43 of the 51 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/43
Grantees still filing
29/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,043,108 · PhilanthropyCAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONRESIST INC: $107,500 · OtherRESIST INCBAGLY INC: $105,000 · OtherBAGLY INCGRIMES - KING FOUNDATION FOR THE ELDERLY: $75,000 · OtherGRIMES - KING FOUNDATION FOR THE ELD…MELANIN MASS MOMS: $65,000 · OtherMELANIN MASS MOMSPROPA CITY COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $65,000 · OtherPROPA CITY COMMUNITY OUTREACHBIRTH EQUITY & JUSTICE MASSACHUSETTS (BEJMA): $45,000 · OtherSMALL HOUSE INC: $55,000 · OtherSMALL HOUSE INCJustice For Housing Inc: $55,000 · OtherJustice For Housing IncASIAN WOMEN FOR HEALTH INC: $85,000 · OtherASIAN WOMEN FOR HEALTH INC+18 more: $313,000 · Other+18 moreWOMEN ENCOURAGING EMPOWERMENT INC: $118,000 · EducationWOMEN ENCO…ASSOCIATION OF HAITIAN WOMEN INC: $115,750 · EducationASSOCIATIO…UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS FOUNDATION INC: $29,779 · EducationUNIVERSITY…THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S PROJECT INC: $11,500 · Education+1 more: $6,500 · EducationSISTERS UNCHAINED INC: $85,000 · Youth DevelopmentLOVE YOUR MAGIC INC: $62,500 · Youth DevelopmentBUILDING AUDACITY: $38,000 · Youth DevelopmentFRIENDS OF ST STEPHEN'S YOUTH PROGRAMS INC: $13,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE HURRICANE ISLAND FOUNDATION: $12,400 · Youth DevelopmentTRINITY BOSTON CONNECTS INC: $11,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $76,500 · Community ImprovementESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: $50,000 · Community ImprovementNIPMUC INDIAN DEVELOPMENT CORP: $40,000 · Community ImprovementMASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIES ACTION NETWORK INC: $35,000 · Community ImprovementSPONTANEOUS CELEBRATIONS INC: $7,500 · Community Improvement+1 more: $6,500 · Community ImprovementASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S POLITICAL INITIATIVE INC: $80,000 · Civil RightsCOMMUNITY LABOR UNITED INC: $60,000 · Civil RightsNEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR MASSACHUSETTS EDUCATION FUND INC: $7,500 · Civil RightsMASSACHUSETTS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN INC: $6,500 · Civil RightsABILITIES DANCE INC: $85,000 · Arts & CultureWHYHUNGER INC: $40,000 · Arts & Culture
Philanthropy$1,043,108Other$970,500Education$281,529Youth Development$221,900Community Improvement$215,500Civil Rights$154,000Arts & Culture$125,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,043,108 over 1y, 10% of budgetWOMEN ENCOURAGING EMPOWERMENT INC: $118,000 over 7y, 5.3% of budgetASSOCIATION OF HAITIAN WOMEN INC: $115,750 over 7y, 11% of budgetRESIST INC: $107,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBAGLY INC: $105,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetSISTERS UNCHAINED INC: $85,000 over 4y, 6.4% of budgetABILITIES DANCE INC: $85,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetASIAN WOMEN FOR HEALTH INC: $85,000 over 5y, 4.4% of budgetASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S POLITICAL INITIATIVE INC: $80,000 over 4y, 5.1% of budgetTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $76,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGRIMES - KING FOUNDATION FOR THE ELDERLY: $75,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetLOVE YOUR MAGIC INC: $62,500 over 3y, 20% of budgetCOMMUNITY LABOR UNITED INC: $60,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetSMALL HOUSE INC: $55,000 over 4y, 23% of budgetJustice For Housing Inc: $55,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: $50,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetNIPMUC INDIAN DEVELOPMENT CORP: $40,000 over 2y, 8.9% of budgetWHYHUNGER INC: $40,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetBUILDING AUDACITY: $38,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIES ACTION NETWORK INC: $35,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetThe City School Inc: $31,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetWOMEN'S FUND OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INC: $30,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetWOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL CENTER INC CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S CENTER: $30,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVICE CARE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS FOUNDATION INC: $29,779 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEALTH CARE FOR ALL INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLove Your Menses Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetTHE BOSTON EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $18,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF ST STEPHEN'S YOUTH PROGRAMS INC: $13,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetCENTER FOR HOPE & HEALING INC: $12,750 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE HURRICANE ISLAND FOUNDATION: $12,400 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE YOUNG PEOPLE'S PROJECT INC: $11,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTRINITY BOSTON CONNECTS INC: $11,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFAMILIES FOR JUSTICE AS HEALING INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSPONTANEOUS CELEBRATIONS INC: $7,500 over 1y, 3.5% of budget826 BOSTON INC: $6,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN INC: $6,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS ASIAN AMERICAN COMMISSION: $6,500 over 1y, 26% of budgetDUDLEY STREET NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE INC: $6,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBOSTON TENANT COALITION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% 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 IncEastern Bank Foundati…Haymarket People's Fu…United Way Of Massach…The Hyams Foundation …Children's Hospital C…Health Resources in A…The Lenny Zakim FundCummings Foundation G…Foley Hoag FoundationNellie Mae Education …Cambridge Community F…
Boston Foundation IncMA49.9× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Haymarket People's Fund Inc · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · The Hyams Foundation Inc · Children's Hospital Corporation · Health Resources in Action Inc · The Lenny Zakim Fund · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Foley Hoag Foundation · Nellie Mae Education Foundation Inc · Cambridge Community 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 Boston Women's Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Boston Women's Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 15%
  • Center for Hope & Healing Inc: 73% of income from government
  • Association of Haitian Women Inc: 51% of income from government
  • Bagly Inc: 39% of income from government
  • The Young People's Project Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Health Care for All Inc: 29% of income from government
  • Nipmuc Indian Development Corp: 24% of income from government
  • Building Audacity: 24% of income from government
  • Justice for Housing Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Essex County Community Organization: 15% of income from government
  • Community Service Care Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Spontaneous Celebrations Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Third Sector New England Inc: 3% of income from government
  • 826 Boston Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Resist Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Abilities Dance Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Brazilian Women's Group Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Asian Women for Health Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Community Labor United Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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.

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 51 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 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