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Cain Brothers Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Cain Brothers Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$162k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Education$2.1MArts & Culture$195kEnvironment$112kCommunity Improvement$41kHuman Services$10kFood & Nutrition$5kRecreation & Sports$3kHealth$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $8k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $155k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE$45,000
NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDENS$42,500
ARTIS-NAPLES$25,000
NAPLES WOMENS CLUB$12,000
SALISBURY SCHOOL$10,000
WARNER THEATRE$10,000
SHARON PLAYHOUSE$10,000
DUCKS UNLIMITED INC$6,220
CORNWALL PUBLIC LIBRARY$1,000
CORNWALL CHILD CENTER$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL: $300k → 12%CORNWALL PUBLIC LIBRARY: $1k → 14%ARTIS-NAPLES: $25k → 10%SHARON PLAYHOUSE: $10k → 9%BUTTERFIELD COUUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP PRGOGRAM: $1k → 7%WALK TO END ALZHEIMERS: $2k → 14%WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL: $300k → 12%CORNWALL PUBLIC LIBRARY: $1k → 14%ARTIS-NAPLES: $10k → 10%SHARON PLAYHOUSE: $10k → 9%WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL: $300k → 12%DUCKS UNLIMITED INC: $10k → 14%ARTIS-NAPLES: $10k → 10%SHARON PLAYHOUSE: $10k → 9%WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL: $300k → 12%DUCKS UNLIMITED INC: $6k → 14%ARTIS-MAPLES: $5k → 10%SHARON PLAYHOUSE: $5k → 9%WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL: $300k → 12%DUCKS UNLIMITED INC: $1k → 14%ARTIS-MAPLES: $3k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $250k → 9%WARNER THEATRE: $10k → 14%ARTIS-MAPLES: $3k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $111k → 9%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF COLLIER COUNTY: $1k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $110k → 9%PARK SHORE TOWERS OWNERS ASSOCIATION: $10k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $50k → 9%PARKS SHORE ASSOCIATION: $3k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $35k → 9%NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDENS: $43k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $10k → 9%NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDENS: $30k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $10k → 9%NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDENS: $15k → 10%SALISBURY SCHOOL: $5k → 9%NAPLES BOANICAL GARDENS: $5k → 10%NAPLES BOANICAL GARDENS: $2k → 10%GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE: $50k → 10%GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE: $45k → 10%NAPLES WOMENS CLUB: $12k → 10%CORNWALL FOOD & FUEL FUND: $5k → 9%NAPLES WOMENS CLUB: $10k → 10%CORNWALL CHILD CENTER: $3k → 9%NAPLES WOMENS CLUB: $9k → 10%CORNWALL CHILD CENTER: $3k → 9%THE CORNWALL LIBRARY: $3k → 9%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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 11 repeat orgs$35k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
21

Total granted

$2.4M
$25k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+57%

Still filing today

73%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
EducationEnvironmentPhilanthropyArts & CultureInternationalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • TW
    THE WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL
    5× · 2018–2022 · $1.5M · revenue +30%
  • SS
    SALISBURY SCHOOL INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $581k · revenue +60%
  • GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $95k · revenue +15%

Funded once

  • PS
    PARK SHORE TOWERS OWNERS ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • CF
    CORNWALL FOOD & FUEL FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • PS
    PARK SHORE ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue +85%
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
Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc

The nantucket conservation foundation owns, protects, and stewards over 9,000 acres of land and coastal shoreline, conserves nantucket's rare and significant natural resources, and engages in impactful ecological research to inform…

Environment
2
Dutchess Land Conservancy Inc

Dutchess land conservancy (dlc) is dedicated to preserving the scenic, agricultural and environmental resources of dutchess county, new york, and the surrounding area. dlc, as a private non-profit land conservation organization, carries…

Environment
3
Connecticut Farmland Trust Inc

Protect Connecticuts farmland for agricultural use by purchasing and accepting donations of agricultural conservation easements

Food & Nutrition
4
Colebrook Land Conservancy Inc

Conservation of land

Environment
5
Wilton Land Conservation Trust

Protecting, enhancing and conserving open spaces encompassing meadows, woodlands, wetlands, and waterways in the town of wilton ct.

Environment
6
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
7
Presumpscot Regional Land Trust

We engage with communities to conserve, steward, and provide access to local lands and clean water for current and future generations to enjoy.

—
8
Lake Champlain Land Trust Inc

The mission of the lake champlain land trust is to save the scenic beauty, natural communities, and recreational amenities of lake champlain by permanently preserving significant islands, shoreline areas, and natural communities in the…

Environment
9
The North Shore Community Land Trust

Natural resource conservation & protection

Environment
10
Brewster Conservation Trust

Land conservation

Environment
11
The Great Pond Foundation Inc

Our mission is to cultivate the resilience of our coastal pond ecosystems through science, collaboration, and education.

Environment
12
Great Peninsula Conservancy

Preserve in perpetuity the natural habitats, rural landscapes, and open spaces of the great peninsula of washington's puget sound.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Naples Botanical Garden Inc; the most unlike its peers is Great Mountain Forest Corporation. 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

17 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. 17 of the 34 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
13/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL: $1,500,000 · EducationTHE WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOLSALISBURY SCHOOL INC: $581,000 · EducationSALISBURY SCHOOL INC+1 more: $1,000 · EducationGULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC: $95,000 · Arts & CultureARTIS-NAPLES INC: $55,000 · Arts & CultureNAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $94,500 · EnvironmentDucks Unlimited Inc: $17,220 · Environment+1 more: $100 · EnvironmentSHARON PLAYHOUSE: $35,000 · OtherCORNWALL CHILD CENTER INC: $10,100 · OtherPARK SHORE TOWERS OWNERS ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · OtherWARNER THEATRE: $10,000 · OtherCORNWALL FOOD & FUEL FUND: $5,000 · OtherTHE CORNWALL LIBRARY: $3,100 · OtherPARK SHORE ASSOCIATION: $3,000 · Other+15 more: $8,450 · OtherGFWC NAPLES WOMAN'S CLUB INC: $31,000 · Community ImprovementEFFORTZ FOUNDATION INC: $600 · InternationalThe Cornwall Foundation Inc: $250 · PhilanthropyGreat Mountain Forest Corporation: $50 · Philanthropy
Education$2,082,000Arts & Culture$150,000Environment$111,820Other$84,650Community Improvement$31,000International$600Philanthropy$300

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 budgetTHE WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL: $1,500,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetSALISBURY SCHOOL INC: $581,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetGULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC: $95,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $94,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetARTIS-NAPLES INC: $55,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGFWC NAPLES WOMAN'S CLUB INC: $31,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $17,220 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCORNWALL CHILD CENTER INC: $10,100 over 8y, 1.6% of budgetPARK SHORE ASSOCIATION: $3,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUTTERFIELD COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM C/O WILLIAM CAPRARO JR: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF N WEST CT: $300 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGOSHEN LAND TRUST INC: $250 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNorthwest Conservation District Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGreat Mountain Forest Corporation: $50 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 THE WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds SALISBURY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTIS-NAPLES INC ↗
  • Who funds GFWC NAPLES WOMAN'S CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds Ducks Unlimited Inc ↗
  • Who funds CORNWALL CHILD CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds PARK SHORE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds COLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BUTTERFIELD COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM C/O WILLIAM CAPRARO JR ↗
  • Who funds EFFORTZ FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF N WEST CT ↗
  • Who funds The Cornwall Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds GOSHEN LAND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds Northwest Conservation District Inc ↗
  • Who funds Great Mountain Forest Corporation ↗

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.

Joseph and Barbara El…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Joseph and Barbara Ellis FoundationNJ13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Joseph and Barbara Ellis Foundation · 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 Cain Brothers Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cain Brothers Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Northwest Conservation District Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Naples Botanical Garden Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Gulfshore Playhouse Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 34 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 Cain Brothers’ 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