Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

Cutler Stephens 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.

$6k
Granted FY2025still arriving
36
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$816
Largest
01What you fund
0189% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Arts & Culture$18kEnvironment$14kEducation$12kHealth$8kAnimals$3kYouth Development$2kInternational$1kReligion$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$100
Median grant
9
States reached
$49k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VINEYARD TRUST$816
SMITH COLLEGE$690
PIER 5 ASSOC$500
WWWSBSCHOOLORG$459
ENVIR BUSINESS COUNCIL OF NEW YORK$375
Individual grant recipient$355
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTY UNION$350
UNITED NATIONS GREATER BOSTON$350
Individual grant recipient$228
SPAULDING REHABILITATION$222
ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS$180
ENVIRONMENTAL LEAGUE$150
MARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM$150
MARTHA'S VINEYARD FILM CENTER$130
CONSERVATION LAW FDN$129
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY17–25, $889) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 81% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND: $30 → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $30 → 8%AmericAn RED CROSS: $30 → 8%CHALLENGE ASPEN: $40 → 6%CHALLENGE ASPEN: $40 → 6%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $290 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $125 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $105 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $79 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $75 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $45 → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
NE
VA
MD
TN
SC
DC
OK
AL
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$59k · 79 repeat orgs$13k to everyone else

79 repeat relationships — 19 still active in FY2025, 60 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

79
67

Total granted

$59k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+50%

Still filing today

57%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 51% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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
Arts & CultureEnvironmentInternationalHealthEducationRecreation & SportsOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • SM
    SAIL MARTHA'S VINEYARD INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $5k · revenue +89%
  • SM
    SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION
    8× · 2017–2024 · $3k · revenue +311%
  • MV
    MARTHA'S VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST INC
    4× · 2017–2024 · $2k · revenue +206%

Funded once

  • MS
    MGH SOCIETY
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
  • MP
    MV PRESERVATION TRUST
    one grant, 2019 · $1k
  • MG
    MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2019 · $1k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Boston Architectural College

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

2
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
3
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
4
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
5
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
6
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

7
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
8
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
9
The Quebec-Labrador Foundation Inc

The program mission of the quebec-labrador foundation u.s. is defined by a regional component (new england and eastern canada), and an international component, which ties our regional model to a global conservation network. qlf's program…

Philanthropy
10
Lowell Observatory

The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…

Science & Tech
11
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Inc

We harness the power of plants for humankind and share the joy and beauty of tropical gardening with everyone. fairchild tropical botanic garden is a museum of tropical plants within a world famous, 83-acre designed landscape. it was…

Environment
12
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Boston Harbor Now Inc and the most unlike its peers is Biochemical Research Foundation Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyEnvironmental Conservation …Faith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Independent K-12 SchoolsHealth Access Advocacy and …Local History MuseumsCommunity FoundationsYouth Sports Programs
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 43 years old; the field is 17. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number20%1%<5yr14%3%5–10yr20%14%10–20yr19%22%20–35yr14%21%35–55yr14%40%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value20%2%<5yr14%8%5–10yr20%11%10–20yr19%26%20–35yr14%22%35–55yr14%32%55yr+

The field is 20% startups (under 5 years old) — 1% of your grantees by number, and just 2% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 1% lost their exemption, against 11% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
1%1/83
the rest of the field
11%
4,714/42,275

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

78 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 78 of the 166 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
76/78
Grantees still filing
63/78
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

HARVARD-KENT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP — $3,350 · OtherHARVARD-KENT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIPIndividual grant recipient — $2,922 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE TRUSTEES OF THE RESERVATION — $2,534 · OtherTHE TRUSTEES OF THE RESERVATIONHARVARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN — $2,250 · OtherHARVARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGNMARTHAS VINEYARD FILM CENTER — $2,050 · OtherCOURAGEOUS SAILING CENTER FOR YOUTH INC — $2,006 · OtherIndividual grant recipient — $1,700 · Other+114 more — $24,295 · Other+114 moreSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION — $3,357 · EnvironmentSHERIFF'S MEADOW F…PIER 5 ASSOCIATION INC — $3,000 · EnvironmentPIER 5 ASSOCIATION…WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC — $1,550 · EnvironmentWATERKEEPER ALLIAN…VINEYARD CONSERVATION SOCIETY INC — $1,203 · EnvironmentVINEYARD CONSERVAT…ALLIANCE TO PROTECT NANTUCKET SOUND INC — $1,008 · EnvironmentALLIANCE TO PROTEC…ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $530 · Environment+7 more — $1,372 · Environment+7 moreSAIL MARTHA'S VINEYARD INC — $4,700 · Arts & CultureSAIL MARTHA'S VI…MARTHA'S VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST INC — $2,456 · Arts & CultureMARTHA'S VINEYAR…MARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM INC — $2,264 · Arts & CultureMARTHA'S VINEYAR…MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS — $370 · Arts & Culture+9 more — $894 · Arts & Culture+9 moreTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE — $2,340 · EducationGERMAN SCHOOL BROOKLYN — $1,050 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK — $1,000 · EducationSTONELEIGH-BURNHAM SCHOOL — $205 · Education+3 more — $227 · EducationNEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC — $800 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc — $500 · HealthAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION — $375 · HealthBIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC — $300 · HealthCHRIS KLUG FOUNDATION — $260 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC — $260 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $225 · Health+1 more — $25 · HealthAngels Helping Animals Worldwide Inc — $1,230 · Animals+1 more — $25 · AnimalsTHE ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS INC — $885 · PhilanthropyTHE RED SOX FOUNDATION INC — $103 · Philanthropy
Other$41,107Environment$12,020Arts & Culture$10,684Education$4,822Health$2,745Animals$1,255Philanthropy$988

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetSAIL MARTHA'S VINEYARD INC — $4,700 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION — $3,357 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetPIER 5 ASSOCIATION INC — $3,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST INC — $2,456 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE — $2,340 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM INC — $2,264 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOURAGEOUS SAILING CENTER FOR YOUTH INC — $2,006 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC — $1,550 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAngels Helping Animals Worldwide Inc — $1,230 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetVINEYARD CONSERVATION SOCIETY INC — $1,203 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGERMAN SCHOOL BROOKLYN — $1,050 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE TO PROTECT NANTUCKET SOUND INC — $1,008 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS INC — $885 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC — $800 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $779 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $530 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION — $500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc — $500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEdgartown Yacht Club Foundation Inc — $450 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC — $381 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION — $375 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS — $370 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON HARBOR NOW INC — $303 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC — $300 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMCKEE BOTANICAL GARDEN INC — $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC — $283 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC — $275 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCHRIS KLUG FOUNDATION — $260 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC — $260 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetIndian River County Habitat for Humanity Inc — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $225 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSTONELEIGH-BURNHAM SCHOOL — $205 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOLLY HILL ARBORETUM INC — $200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASPEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $190 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUnitarian Universalist Service Committee Inc — $180 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of the Charlestown Navy Yard Inc — $165 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetFILM VERO INC VERO BEACH FILM FESTIVAL — $157 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $155 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF SCIENCE — $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRANDMOTHER PROJECT INC — $150 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY — $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES — $125 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RED SOX FOUNDATION INC — $103 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBENJAMIN FRANKLIN CUMMINGS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY — $102 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetYMCA of Martha's Vineyard Inc — $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION — $100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMASSPOETRY INC — $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds SAIL MARTHA'S VINEYARD INC
  • Who funds SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION
  • Who funds PIER 5 ASSOCIATION INC
  • Who funds MARTHA'S VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST INC
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE
  • Who funds MARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM INC
  • Who funds COURAGEOUS SAILING CENTER FOR YOUTH INC
  • Who funds WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC
  • Who funds Angels Helping Animals Worldwide Inc
  • Who funds VINEYARD CONSERVATION SOCIETY INC
  • Who funds GERMAN SCHOOL BROOKLYN
  • Who funds ALLIANCE TO PROTECT NANTUCKET SOUND INC
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
  • Who funds THE ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS INC
  • Who funds NEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
  • Who funds WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION
  • Who funds Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc
  • Who funds Edgartown Yacht Club Foundation Inc
  • Who funds CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Hoerle Foundation IncNY24.2× affinity9 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hoerle Foundation Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · T Kimball Brooker Foundation · Martha's Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation Inc · Giordano Foundation Inc · Healey Family Foundation · Community Foundation of New Jersey · The Kohlberg Foundation Inc · Highland Street Connection and Subsidiaries · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Eastern Bank Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Cutler Stephens Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 170%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 7%
  • The West End Museum Incorporated65% of income from government
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution63% of income from government
  • Boston Harbor Now Inc45% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc30% of income from government
  • More Than Words Inc24% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc22% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University12% of income from government
  • Courageous Sailing Center for Youth Inc10% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc7% of income from government
  • New England Life Flight Inc5% of income from government
  • Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology5% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust Inc4% of income from government
  • Sheriff's Meadow Foundation2% of income from government
  • The Red Sox Foundation Inc2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of the Smith College1% of income from government
  • Sail Martha's Vineyard Inc1% of income from government
  • Museum of Science0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
17get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 166 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph