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· Public charity

Children's Investment Fund Inc

The children's investment fund's (cif) primary purpose is to improve the quality of and expand access to early learning and school-age child care programs for low and moderate-income families.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$195k
Largest
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.

Human Services$1.6MEducation$393kHousing & Shelter$225kRecreation & Sports$201kHealth$165kYouth Development$40kCommunity Improvement$30k
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 8 grants below total $1,109,579, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,137,671 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $28,092 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 $10k1 grant · $6k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $1.1M
$195,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$6.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VIETAID$195,000
UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS$195,000
SPORTSMEN'S TENNIS & ENRICHMENT CENTER$195,000
NURTURY$195,000
THE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER INC$165,000
PAIGE ACADEMY$98,258
PAIGE ACADEMY$60,000
EAST BOSTON SOCIAL CENTERS$6,321
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, $1.7M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%ELIZABETH PEABODY HOUSE: $80k → 8%MONTACHUSETT OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL: $10k → 11%NORTHSTAR LEARNING CENTERS: $10k → 11%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $195k → 16%YWCA CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS: $20k → 11%NORTHSTAR LEARNING CENTERS: $10k → 11%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $10k → 16%CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $10k → 8%YMCA OF THE NORTH SHORE: $20k → 10%WORCESTER COMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL INC: $10k → 11%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $10k → 16%LYNN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INC: $9k → 10%BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER INC: $235k → 16%LITTLE VOICES EARLY CARE: $10k → 16%EAST BOSTON SOCIAL CENTERS: $159k → 16%EAST BOSTON SOCIAL CENTERS: $20k → 16%EAST BOSTON SOCIAL CENTERS: $6k → 16%THE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $235k → 16%THE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $165k → 16%LITTLE ELIZABETH STONE HOUSE ICES EARLY CARE: $10k → 16%BROOKVIEW HOUSE INC: $10k → 16%GREENWOOD SHALOM OUTREACH COMMUNITY INC: $8k → 16%GREENWOOD SHALOM OUTREACH COMMUNITY INC: $7k → 16%PAIGE ACADEMY: $200k → 16%PAIGE ACADEMY: $98k → 16%PAIGE ACADEMY: $60k → 16%PAIGE ACADEMY: $29k → 16%HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $20k → 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.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 9 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
20

Total granted

$1.5M
$828k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+68%

Still filing today

100%
95%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $390k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHousing & ShelterHealthCommunity ImprovementYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TC
    THE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $400k · revenue +10%
  • PA
    PAIGE ACADEMY INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $388k · revenue +9%
  • NI
    NURTURY INC
    2× · 2023–2025 · $217k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER INC
    one grant, 2024 · $235k · revenue +5%
  • JF
    JOHN F KENNEDY FAMILY SERVICE CENTER INC
    one grant, 2024 · $150k · revenue 0%
  • DC
    DIMOCK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $118k
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
The Open Center for Children Inc

Since 1972, the open center for children has worked in partnership with families to create a nurturing early education and care experience. the play-based curriculum inspires children to become motivated, self-directed learners, feel…

—
2
Edward Street Child Services Inc

Collaborates to improve the quality and impact of early education and care, enhancing the development of young children and strengthening families in central massachusetts.

Environment
3
Lexington Playcare Center Inc

LPC's mission is to help children become good friends, proficient problem solvers, creative risk takers, and self-governing, accepting classmates. We want them to be as self-sufficient and independent as they can be based on their age and…

Human Services
4
Concord Children's Center Inc

To cultivate an intimate, welcoming community where children develop respectful relationships and inquisitive minds, build confidence in their individual gifts, and are engaged, prepared and inspired to learn.

Human Services
5
Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester Inc

Our mission is to always welcome and connect young people and families to opportunities that embrace diversity, nurture growth, and inspire success.

Youth Development
6
Rochester Child Care Center Inc

The center strives to provide a range of services that support working parents while fostering the emotional, social, physical and intellectual growth of their children. special consideration is given to low income families and families…

Human Services
7
The Children's Center of Brookline and Greater Boston Inc

To provide quality daycare and early childhood education to families of brookline and greater boston.

Education
8
Infant Toddler Children's Center Inc

To be a learning community where children, from infants to school age, come together with experienced and responsive teachers to learn about themselves, each other, and the world.

Human Services
9
Woburn Council of Social Concern Inc

Woburn Council of Social Concern (D.B.A. Council of Social Concern) is a charitable, community-based agency, responding to the basic needs of people of all ages, providing early childhood education and care, helping individuals develop…

—
10
Merrimack Valley Day Care Service

Daycare services

—
11
Brookline Schools Staff Children's Cente

The organization's missions is to provide quality child care to children of teachers in the brookline, ma school system and others as per qualification procedures.

—
12
Bigelow Cooperative Day Care Center Inc

The bigelow cooperative day care center is a non-profit day care center committed to providing a positive, nurturing environment for children. the program is designed to nurture the cognitive, physical, social and emotional development of…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northstar Learning Centers Inc; the most unlike its peers is Masonic Education & Charity Trust. 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

30 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. 30 of the 31 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/30
Grantees still filing
23/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $400,000 · Human ServicesTHE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER INCPAIGE ACADEMY INC: $387,660 · Human ServicesPAIGE ACADEMY INCBOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER INC: $235,000 · Human ServicesBOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER INCUNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $215,000 · Human ServicesUNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTSEAST BOSTON SOCIAL CENTERS INC: $185,000 · Human ServicesEAST BOSTON SOCIAL CENTERS INCELIZABETH PEABODY HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $80,000 · Human Services+12 more: $163,529 · Human Services+12 moreNURTURY INC: $216,780 · OtherNURTURY INCTHE SPORTSMEN'S TENNIS & ENRICHMENT CENTER INC: $195,000 · OtherTHE SPORTSMEN'S TENNIS & ENRICH…JOHN F KENNEDY FAMILY SERVICE CENTER INC: $150,000 · OtherJOHN F KENNEDY FAMILY SERVICE C…DIMOCK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $117,841 · OtherDIMOCK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC+4 more: $74,355 · Other+4 moreVIETNAMESE AMERICAN INITIATIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT INC: $195,000 · Housing & ShelterGEORGE MARSTON WHITIN MEMORIAL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterDIMOCK COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER INC: $47,159 · HealthBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF STONEHAM INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentMASONIC EDUCATION & CHARITY TRUST: $10,000 · Community Improvement
Human Services$1,666,189Other$753,976Housing & Shelter$205,000Health$47,159Youth Development$20,000Community Improvement$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $400,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetPAIGE ACADEMY INC: $387,660 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetBOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER INC: $235,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetNURTURY INC: $216,780 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetUNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $215,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetTHE SPORTSMEN'S TENNIS & ENRICHMENT CENTER INC: $195,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetEAST BOSTON SOCIAL CENTERS INC: $185,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetJOHN F KENNEDY FAMILY SERVICE CENTER INC: $150,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetELIZABETH PEABODY HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $80,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetDIMOCK COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER INC: $47,159 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCape Cod Young Men's Christian Association Inc: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNORTHSTAR LEARNING CENTERS INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYWCA CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetYMCA OF THE NORTH SHORE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF STONEHAM INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetGREATER LAWRENCE COMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBERKSHIRE FAMILY YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION INC: $19,355 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGreenwood Shalom Outreach Community Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetLITTLE VOICES EARLY CARE & EDUCATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetMASONIC EDUCATION & CHARITY TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBELCHERTOWN DAY SCHOOL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetGEORGE MARSTON WHITIN MEMORIAL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMAKING OPPORTUNITY COUNT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORCESTER COMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROXBURY STONE HOUSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKVIEW HOUSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLEO INC: $8,529 over 1y, 0.1% 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 IncMA32.1× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Franklin Square House Foundation Inc · Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund Trust · Bushrod H Campbell & Adah F Hall Charity Fund · Health Resources in Action Inc · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Barr Foundation · Boston Charitable Trust Fund City of Boston Trust Office

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 Children's Investment Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Children's Investment Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 21%
  • Northstar Learning Centers Inc: 63% of income from government
  • East Boston Social Centers Inc: 50% of income from government
  • Nurtury Inc: 49% of income from government
  • Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Brookview House Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Roxbury Stone House Inc: 29% of income from government
  • Making Opportunity Count Inc: 28% of income from government
  • Horizons for Homeless Children: 21% of income from government
  • Greater Lawrence Community Action Council Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Cape Cod Young Men's Christian Association Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Boys and Girls Club of Stoneham Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Cambridge Community Center Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Worcester Community Action Council Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Ymca of the North Shore Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Belchertown Day School Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Masonic Education & Charity Trust: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
10report 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 31 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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