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Cecile Higginson Murphy Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Cecile Higginson Murphy Charitable Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through 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, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$2.0MArts & Culture$1.6MHuman Services$1.3MHousing & Shelter$1.1MFood & Nutrition$825kEducation$684kEnvironment$260kInternational$155kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $140k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $1.5M
  • $250k+2 grants · $750k
$50,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$58M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Boston Symphony Orchestra$500,000
Women's Lunch Place$250,000
Cradles To Crayons Inc$225,000
Massachusetts General Hospital$200,000
TargetCancer$200,000
Vital CxNs$100,000
Fisher House of Boston$100,000
Gary Sinise Foundation$100,000
Community Harvest Project$75,000
Literations Corp$75,000
Read to a Child$75,000
PADI Aware Foundation$50,000
Project New Hope$50,000
Habitat For Humanity Greater Boston Inc$50,000
Project Place Gatehouse$50,000
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 (FY20–25, $818k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 1% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Cradles To Crayons Inc: $225k → 8%Cradles To Crayons Inc: $200k → 8%Cradles To Crayons Inc: $200k → 8%South Shore YMCA: $5k → 8%Cradles To Crayons Inc: $24k → 8%South Shore YMCA: $5k → 8%Cradles To Crayons Inc: $24k → 8%South Shore YMCA: $5k → 8%South Shore YMCA: $5k → 8%South Shore YMCA: $5k → 8%South Shore YMCA: $5k → 8%Elizabeth Peabody House Association: $50k → 8%Sunflower of Peace Foundation: $10k → 8%The Children's Room: $50k → 8%Cradles To Crayons Inc: $5k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
NY
MA
OH
CT
CA
VA
MD
TN
NC
DC
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.4M · 32 repeat orgs$661k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
21

Total granted

$7.4M
$501k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+4%

Still filing today

78%
95%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $160k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesFood & NutritionHealthInternationalArts & 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

  • BS
    BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +27%
  • CT
    CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $678k · revenue +81%
  • WL
    WOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $675k · revenue +64%

Funded once

  • GG
    GAINING GROUND INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +31%
  • CHARLES RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +41%
  • TC
    The Childrens Room Center for Grieving Children
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +7%
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
Boston Harbor Now Inc

Our mission is to ensure that the people of greater boston benefit from a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive waterfront, harbor, and islands; these spaces are equitable, accessible, and adapted to climate change; and to ensure our public,…

Environment
2
Greater Boston Food Bank Inc

Our costs consist of acquiring, sorting and distributing food to 617 member agencies, transportation and logistics, and community outreach to 69 direct distribution sites such as gbfb mobile markets, and federal distributions for low…

—
3
Boston Architectural College

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

—
4
Brighton Marine Inc

Brighton marine, inc. provides military and veteran families with comprehensive campus-based quality health care, as well as affordable and supportive housing for at-risk veterans and their families.

Health
5
The Bridgespan Group Inc

Bridgespan's mission is to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society's most important challenges and opportunities.

Community Improvement
6
Massachusetts Business Roundtable Inc

The mission of the roundtable is to make massachusetts the most desirable place to live, work and do business by engaging private sector executives and public leaders to ensure access to a robust, diverse and talented workforce that…

—
7
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
8
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
9
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
10
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
11
Earthenable Inc

Earthenable works to solve the housing crisis in africa by revolutionizing the rural housing industry through innovative, affordable, and sustainable home-building solutions. its mission is to create healthier, safer, and climate-resilient…

International
12
Wedontwaste Inc

We Dont Waste increases food access and protects the planet by rescuing and repurposing food, while educating and advocating to increase food security and decrease food waste.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is One Can Help Inc; the most unlike its peers is Kettering Children's Choir. 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

50 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. 50 of the 59 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/50
Grantees still filing
32/50
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TargetCancer: $700,000 · OtherTargetCancerWOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INC: $675,000 · OtherWOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INCMassachusetts General Hospital: $620,000 · OtherMassachusetts General HospitalPADI AWARE FOUNDATION: $150,000 · OtherREAD TO A CHILD INC: $125,000 · OtherTHE BOOK TRUCK INC: $120,000 · OtherGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $300,000 · OtherGARY SINISE FOUNDATIONPROJECT NEW HOPE INC: $150,000 · Other+27 more: $705,000 · Other+27 moreBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $1,570,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHEST…+3 more: $80,000 · Arts & CultureCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $678,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO …The Childrens Room Center for Grieving Children: $50,000 · Human ServicesThe Childre…ELIZABETH PEABODY HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $50,000 · Human ServicesELIZABETH P…South Shore Young Men's Christian Association: $30,000 · Human Services+1 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesSPOONFULS: $225,000 · Food & NutritionSPOONFULSFOOD LINK INC: $200,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD LINK …COMMUNITY HARVEST PROJECT INC: $175,000 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY …PROJECT BREAD-THE WALK FOR HUNGER INC: $100,000 · Food & NutritionPROJECT BR…MERRIMACK VALLEY FOOD BANK INC: $25,000 · Food & NutritionVITAL CXNS INC: $300,000 · HealthVITAL CXN…FISHER HOUSE OF BOSTON INC: $300,000 · HealthFISHER HO…SYRIAN AMERICAN MEDICAL SOCIETY: $25,000 · Health+2 more: $25,000 · HealthLITERATIONS CORP: $325,000 · Youth DevelopmentONE CAN HELP INC: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentHABITAT FOR HUMANITY GREATER BOSTON INC: $300,000 · Housing & ShelterROSIE'S PLACE INC: $30,000 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $10,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$3,545,000Arts & Culture$1,650,000Human Services$818,000Food & Nutrition$725,000Health$650,000Youth Development$375,000Housing & Shelter$340,000

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 budgetBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $1,570,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $678,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetWOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INC: $675,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetLITERATIONS CORP: $325,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY GREATER BOSTON INC: $300,000 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetVITAL CXNS INC: $300,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetFISHER HOUSE OF BOSTON INC: $300,000 over 3y, 4.7% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSPOONFULS: $225,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetFOOD LINK INC: $200,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetCOMMUNITY HARVEST PROJECT INC: $175,000 over 3y, 4.4% of budgetPADI AWARE FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetPROJECT NEW HOPE INC: $150,000 over 3y, 7.5% of budgetREAD TO A CHILD INC: $125,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetTHE BOOK TRUCK INC: $120,000 over 6y, 7.8% of budgetGAINING GROUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetPROJECT BREAD-THE WALK FOR HUNGER INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONE CAN HELP INC: $50,000 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetBREAKTIME UNITED INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPROJECT PLACE GATEHOUSE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 28% of budgetCHARLES RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetThe Childrens Room Center for Grieving Children: $50,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetELIZABETH PEABODY HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMV CENTER FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING (MV: $36,000 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetSouth Shore Young Men's Christian Association: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WALDEN WOODS PROJECT: $30,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREHEARSAL FOR LIFE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMERRIMACK VALLEY FOOD BANK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSYRIAN AMERICAN MEDICAL SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKettering Children's Choir: $20,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetThe Autism Reserach Foundation Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetREBUILDING TOGETHER BOSTON INC: $16,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THAYER ACADEMY INC: $12,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSUNFLOWER OF PEACE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUTHBUILD BOSTON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetOPERATION CALIFORNIA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD VISION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND WILDLIFE CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MEGAN HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNATURE'S CLASSROOM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Boston Foundation IncCummings Foundation G…Rockland Trust - Blue…American Tower Corpor…Analog Devices Founda…Liberty Mutual Founda…Eversource Energy Fou…The Cabot Family Char…Bushrod H Campbell & …Rockland Trust Charit…The Frederick E Weber…
Eastern Bank FoundationMA42.4× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Rockland Trust - Blue Hills Charitable Foundation · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · Analog Devices Foundation · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Eversource Energy Foundation Inc · The Cabot Family Charitable Trust · Bushrod H Campbell & Adah F Hall Charity Fund · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · The Frederick E Weber Charities Corp

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 Cecile Higginson Murphy Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cecile Higginson Murphy Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 130%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Community Harvest Project Inc: 18% of income from government
  • The Megan House Foundation Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Rehearsal for Life Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Food Link Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Youthbuild Boston Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Women's Lunch Place Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Charles River Watershed Association Inc: 8% of income from government
  • One Can Help Inc: 8% of income from government
  • The Walden Woods Project: 6% of income from government
  • Gaining Ground Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Project Learn Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Merrimack Valley Food Bank Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club: 1% of income from government
  • Breaktime United Inc: 1% of income from government
  • New England Wildlife Center Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
13get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Cecile Higginson Murphy Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Cecile Higginson Murphy Charitable 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 59 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 Cecile Higginson Murphy’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