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Cardinal Brook Trust at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Cardinal Brook Trust

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.

$2.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$12MEnvironment$3.4MEducation$1.4MHealth$427kFood & Nutrition$401kReligion$311kArts & Culture$248kInternational$131kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $24k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $70k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $90k
  • $250k+3 grants · $2.1M
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$125M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JOHNSON FAMILY GIFT FUND - BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FUND$1,000,000
MT GRACE LAND TRUST$600,000
MASS GENERAL$500,000
MARTHA'S VINEYARD VISION FELLOWSHIP$90,000
HARVARD COLLEGE SCHOOLYARD PROJECT$40,000
THE VILLAGE SCHOOL ON THE COMMON$20,000
QUABBIN FOOD CONNECTOR$10,000
ISLAND HOUSING TRUST$8,379
STILLPOINT MARTHA'S VINEYARD INC$5,000
NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC RADIO$5,000
TRI-PARISH COMMUNITY CHURCH$5,000
MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES$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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $14k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 71% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GNU FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%GNU FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%GNU FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%GNU FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1k → 8%HOSPICE OF MARTHA'S VINEYARD: $1k → 8%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1k → 8%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1k → 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

ME
VT
NY
MA
NV
IN
PA
CT
CA
MD
DE
AR
DC
HI
GA
TX
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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.1M · 63 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +56% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.

63 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2024, 54 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

63
40

Total granted

$6.1M
$376k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+56%
+37%

Still filing today

51%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 34% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.5M 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
EnvironmentEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesCivil RightsFood & NutritionOther
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

  • EQ
    EAST QUABBIN LAND TRUST INC
    5× · 2017–2021 · $620k · revenue ×13 · 50% of their budget
  • MV
    MARTHA'S VINEYARD FISHERMEN'S PRESERVATION TRUST INC
    2× · 2017–2019 · $139k · revenue +11%
  • IH
    ISLAND HOUSING TRUST CORPORATION
    6× · 2017–2024 · $129k · revenue +248%

Funded once

  • IG
    ISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTDgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $115k · revenue +85%
  • EMERSON COLLEGE
    one grant, 2021 · $60k · revenue +23%
  • LF
    LISTENING FOR QUABBIN COMPOSTING
    one grant, 2018 · $30k
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
Bartlett Arboretum Association Inc

To cultivate and develop an expansive collection of trees, gardens, and plants for all to explore, enjoy and study; and to provide through education and stewardship, a greener, healthier, more beautiful environment.

Environment
2
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
3
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
4
Boston Architectural College

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

—
5
Wildlands Trust Inc

The wildlands trust works throughout southeastern massachusetts to conserve and permanently protect native habitats, farmland, and lands of high ecologic and scenic value that serve to keep our communities healthy and our residents…

Environment
6
Harvard Conservation Trust

To preserve the unique character and natural resources of harvard.

Environment
7
Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Inc

The martha's vineyard agricultural society supports a resilient and sustainable agricultural community on martha's vineyard. we do this by:- offering services, education, marketing, and technical support for farmers and farmworkers on the…

Recreation & Sports
8
Massachusetts Land Conservation Trust

Conservation and preservation of land.

Environment
9
Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation

To preserve the rural new england character of williamstown, ma and surrounding areas for future generations; enable working landscapes including farms and forests; promote land stewardship.

Environment
10
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
11
Franklin Land Trust Inc

The franklin land trust works to conserve farms, forests, wildlands, and other natural resources significant to the quality of the environment, economy, and rural character of western massachusetts.

Environment
12
Sudbury Valley Trustees Inc

Sudbury valley trustees, inc. ("the organization") works to protect natural areas and farmland for wildlife and people in the 36 communities that surround the sudbury, assabet, and concord rivers. the organization cares for some of the…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sheriff's Meadow Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Petersham Memorial Library. 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

61 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. 61 of the 112 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
58/61
Grantees still filing
44/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD: $10,955,450 · PhilanthropyBANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD+2 more: $7,000 · PhilanthropyMT GRACE LAND TRUST: $1,894,500 · OtherMT GRACE LAND TRUSTJOHNSON FAMILY GIFT FUND - BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $1,000,000 · OtherJOHNSON FAMILY GIFT FUND - BANK O…MASS GENERAL: $500,000 · OtherMASS GENERALVCS VINEYARD CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $350,000 · OtherVCS VINEYARD CONSERVATION SOCIETYTHE VILLAGE SCHOOL ON THE COMMON: $270,000 · Other+77 more: $1,617,850 · Other+77 moreEAST QUABBIN LAND TRUST INC: $620,200 · EnvironmentMARTHA'S VINEYARD FISHERMEN'S PRESERVATION TRUST INC: $139,100 · EnvironmentSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $115,000 · EnvironmentTERRACORPS INC: $100,000 · Environment+7 more: $102,000 · EnvironmentMARLBORO COLLEGE: $761,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $152,038 · EducationEMERSON COLLEGE: $60,000 · Education+6 more: $84,300 · EducationISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD: $115,000 · Food & NutritionQUABBIN FOOD CONNECTOR: $22,000 · Food & NutritionSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionISLAND HOUSING TRUST CORPORATION: $128,621 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $300 · Housing & ShelterHenry Heywood Memorial Hospital: $110,000 · HealthCALCUTTA KIDS INC: $11,000 · Health
Philanthropy$10,962,450Other$5,632,350Environment$1,076,300Education$1,057,338Food & Nutrition$152,000Housing & Shelter$128,921Health$121,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD: $10,955,450 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetMARLBORO COLLEGE: $761,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetEAST QUABBIN LAND TRUST INC: $620,200 over 5y, 50% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $152,038 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD FISHERMEN'S PRESERVATION TRUST INC: $139,100 over 2y, 17% of budgetISLAND HOUSING TRUST CORPORATION: $128,621 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $115,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD: $115,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetHenry Heywood Memorial Hospital: $110,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTERRACORPS INC: $100,000 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST INC: $75,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetFORWARD IN HEALTH INC: $70,000 over 3y, 38% of budgetThe Farm School Inc: $60,300 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetEMERSON COLLEGE: $60,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEIFER PROJECT INTERNATIONAL: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPETERSHAM MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $29,000 over 6y, 12% of budgetBIODIVERSITYWORKS INC: $26,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetFriends of Acadia: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHWEST GA PROJECT FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSWARTHMORE COLLEGE: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $24,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetQUABBIN FOOD CONNECTOR: $22,000 over 3y, 36% of budgetTHE JANE STERN DORADO COMMUNITY LIBRARY INC: $20,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBATTERY DANCE CORPORATIN DBA BATTERY D: $17,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD SHELLFISH GROUP INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCALCUTTA KIDS INC: $11,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetMILLERS RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL INC: $11,000 over 6y, 23% of budgetCOMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGNU FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetCAMP CLAIRE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetWAMC: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHUDSON LINK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN PRISON INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budget1794 MEETINGHOUSE INC: $6,500 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPOLLY HILL ARBORETUM INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBARRE CENTER FOR BUDDHIST STUDIES INC: $5,525 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINDIVISIBLE CIVICS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKELLER WILLIAMS REALTY CARES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTILLPOINT MARTHA'S VINEYARD INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $4,700 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPETERSHAM CRAFT CENTER INC: $4,000 over 3y, 5.1% of budgetPERMANENT ENDOWMENT FUND FOR MARTHA'S VINEYARD: $3,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS LAND TRUST COALITION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $3,000 over 3y, 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 BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE GIFT FD ↗
  • Who funds MARLBORO COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds EAST QUABBIN LAND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds MARTHA'S VINEYARD FISHERMEN'S PRESERVATION TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds ISLAND HOUSING TRUST CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD ↗
  • Who funds Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital ↗
  • Who funds TERRACORPS INC ↗
  • Who funds MARTHA'S VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds FORWARD IN HEALTH INC ↗
  • Who funds The Farm School Inc ↗
  • Who funds EMERSON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds HEIFER PROJECT INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds PETERSHAM MEMORIAL LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds BIODIVERSITYWORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds Friends of Acadia ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHWEST GA PROJECT FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SWARTHMORE COLLEGE ↗

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 Kohlberg Foundati…Boston Foundation IncSouth Mountain Compan…Tower Family Fund IncMartha's Vineyard Ban…Martha's Vineyard Com…Swartz Foundation Tru…ImpactassetsincStonehouse IncMv Vision Fellowship …Henry & Anne Garfinkl…Mazar Family Charitab…
The Kohlberg Foundation IncNY19.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Kohlberg Foundation Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · South Mountain Company Foundation · Tower Family Fund Inc · Martha's Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation Inc · Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Inc · Swartz Foundation Trust · Impactassetsinc · Stonehouse Inc · Mv Vision Fellowship Fund · Henry & Anne Garfinkle Foundation Inc · Mazar Family Charitable Foundation 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 Cardinal Brook Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cardinal Brook Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Cooperative Development Institute Inc: 58% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Petersham Craft Center Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • The Farm School Inc: 12% of income from government
  • East Quabbin Land Trust Inc: 9% of income from government
  • 1794 Meetinghouse Inc: 7% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Hospice of Martha's Vineyard Inc Dba Hospice and Palliative Care of Martha's: 5% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Community Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Sheriff's Meadow Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Island Housing Trust Corporation: 1% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Biodiversityworks Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Hartford Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Emerson College: 0% of income from government
  • Island Grown Initiative Ltd: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
8report 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.

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 112 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 Cardinal Brook’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