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· Private foundation

Deborah and Robert First Family Foundation

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.

$269k
Granted FY2024still arriving
54
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$131k
Largest
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$386kArts & Culture$324kPhilanthropy$53kCommunity Improvement$35kReligion$20kHuman Services$11kEducation$9kInternational$7kOther$0
02FY2024 · 54 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k50 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $46k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $182k
$300
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DANA FARBER- JIMMY FUND$130,739
DANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE-BOSTON CHILDRENS HOSPITAL$51,750
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY$36,350
COMBINED JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES$10,000
HUNTINGTON THEATER COMPANY$6,250
PARADIGM FOR PARITY$5,000
PAN MASS CHALLENGE - THE JIMMY FUND$3,950
SHEAKESPEARE & COMPANY$3,000
TEMPLE BETH ELOHIM$2,825
BOSTON BALLET$2,500
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON FUND INC$1,000
LOOMIS CHAFFEE SCHOOL$1,000
BABSON COLLEGE$1,000
MIAMI CANCER INSTITUTE$1,000
RED SOX FOUNDATION$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 (FY20–24, $32k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 63% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%RUNWAY FOR RECOVERY: $1k → 10%PARADIGM FOR PARITY: $5k → 17%LUND FAMILY CENTER: $500 → 10%RUNWAY FOR RECOVERY: $350 → 10%PARADIGM FOR PARITY: $5k → 17%LUND FAMILY CENTER: $500 → 10%RUNWAY FOR RECOVERY: $300 → 10%PARADIGM FOR PARITY: $5k → 17%LUND FAMILY CENTER: $500 → 10%RUNWAY FOR RECOVERY: $300 → 10%PARADIGM FOR PARITY: $5k → 17%LUND FAMILY CENTER: $500 → 10%RUNWAY FOR RECOVERY: $300 → 10%LUND FAMILY CENTER: $500 → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $100 → 8%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $100 → 8%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $100 → 8%RESOURCE: $250 → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $100 → 8%NECK OF THE WOODS: $1k → 9%HANNAH'S HOUSE INC: $800 → 9%MAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE: $600 → 9%NECK OF THE WOODS: $500 → 9%NECK OF THE WOODS: $500 → 9%HANNAH'S HOUSE INC: $500 → 9%HANNAH'S HOUSE INC: $400 → 9%MAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE: $400 → 9%HANNAH'S HOUSE INC: $400 → 9%MAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE: $300 → 9%MAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE: $300 → 9%MAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE: $300 → 9%HANNAH'S HOUSE INC: $300 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
MT
IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
DC
GA
FL
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$775k · 64 repeat orgs$40k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +27% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

64 repeat relationships: 47 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

64
31

Total granted

$775k
$37k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+2%

Still filing today

66%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthEducationEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc
    4× · 2020–2024 · $293k · revenue +95%
  • HA
    HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY
    4× · 2020–2024 · $178k · revenue +3%
  • HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $108k · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • BA
    BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL - DR KATZ EDUCATION FUND
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • TC
    The Committee of 200graduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +48%
  • SF
    SUSAN F SMITH CENTER FOR WOMEN'S CANCER
    one grant, 2023 · $6k
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
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
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
4
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
5
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
6
Bentley University

Organization's mission bentley university believes good business can impact more than the bottom line - it can change the world. bentley is a community of future business leaders who will deliver value in the marketplace and lasting…

Education
7
Trustees of Boston College

Mission strengthened by more than a century and a half of dedication to academic excellence, boston college commits itself to the highest standards of teaching and research in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and to the…

Education
8
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
9
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
10
Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston

The Boston Public Library provides educational and cultural enrichment free to all by engaging the public through programming and active spaces, restoring and preserving our history, providing access to borrow from our vast collection of…

Education
11
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
12
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Trustees of Reservations; the most unlike its peers is The Andrew Goodman 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.
04the grantee network

64 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 64 of the 105 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)
63/64
Grantees still filing
46/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY: $177,950 · Arts & CultureHANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETYHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $107,900 · Arts & CultureHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INCSHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON BALLET INC: $12,750 · Arts & Culture+14 more: $7,992 · Arts & CultureDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $292,939 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc+5 more: $5,450 · HealthDANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE-BOSTON CHILDRENS HOSPITAL: $53,350 · OtherDANA FARBER CANCER …TEMPLE BETH ELOHIM: $18,147 · OtherTEMPLE BETH ELOHIMBRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL - DR KATZ EDUCATION FUND: $10,000 · OtherBRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S…The Committee of 200: $10,000 · OtherThe Committee of 20…PAN MASS CHALLENGE - THE JIMMY FUND: $8,450 · OtherPAN MASS CHALLENGE …SUSAN F SMITH CENTER FOR WOMEN'S CANCER: $6,100 · Other+54 more: $40,540 · Other+54 moreCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc: $50,000 · Philanthropy+4 more: $3,250 · PhilanthropyPARADIGM FOR PARITY: $20,000 · Human ServicesLund Family Center Inc: $2,500 · Human ServicesHannah's House Inc: $2,400 · Human ServicesRUNWAY FOR RECOVERY INC: $2,250 · Human ServicesNECK OF THE WOODS INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesMAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE INC: $1,900 · Human Services+2 more: $650 · Human ServicesBABSON COLLEGE: $5,000 · EducationLEAGUE SCHOOL FOR AUTISM INC: $2,500 · EducationTHE LOOMIS INSTITUTE D/B/A THE LOOMIS CHAFFEE SCHOOL: $1,000 · Education+2 more: $350 · EducationMEDSHARE INTERNATIONAL INC: $4,500 · InternationalWOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL: $1,250 · InternationalNEW ISRAEL FUND: $300 · International
Arts & Culture$321,592Health$298,389Other$146,587Philanthropy$53,250Human Services$31,700Education$8,850International$6,050

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $292,939 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY: $177,950 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $107,900 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPARADIGM FOR PARITY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC: $15,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON BALLET INC: $12,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Committee of 200: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBABSON COLLEGE: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMEDSHARE INTERNATIONAL INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SAMUEL HUNINGTON FUND INC: $3,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLEAGUE SCHOOL FOR AUTISM INC: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLund Family Center Inc: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHannah's House Inc: $2,400 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetRUNWAY FOR RECOVERY INC: $2,250 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetNECK OF THE WOODS INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE INC: $1,900 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHebrew Senior Life Inc: $1,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT FOODBANK: $1,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMAD RIVER VALLEY COMMUNITY FUND INC: $1,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetJewish Community of Greater Stowe: $1,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $1,350 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMITTEE ON TEMPORARY SHELTER INC: $1,255 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS INC: $1,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Food Project Inc: $1,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $1,150 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RED SOX FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LOOMIS INSTITUTE D/B/A THE LOOMIS CHAFFEE SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIAMI MUSIC PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANDREW GOODMAN FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC: $990 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTEDY'S TEAM INC: $750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMAD RIVER VALLEY ARTS INC: $650 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $615 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $600 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $560 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetVermont Public Radio: $530 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $520 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFINE ARTS WORK CENTER IN PROVINCETOWN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity Foundation for MetroWest Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT VAL-KILL PARTNERSHIP: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT LAND TRUST INC: $460 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC: $382 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 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc ↗
  • Who funds HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC ↗
  • Who funds Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc ↗
  • Who funds PARADIGM FOR PARITY ↗
  • Who funds SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds The Committee of 200 ↗
  • Who funds BABSON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds MEDSHARE INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE SAMUEL HUNINGTON FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds Children's Hospital Corporation ↗
  • Who funds LEAGUE SCHOOL FOR AUTISM INC ↗
  • Who funds Lund Family Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds Hannah's House Inc ↗
  • Who funds RUNWAY FOR RECOVERY INC ↗
  • Who funds NECK OF THE WOODS INC ↗
  • Who funds MAD RIVER VALLEY AMBULANCE SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds Hebrew Senior Life Inc ↗
  • Who funds VERMONT FOODBANK ↗
  • Who funds MAD RIVER VALLEY COMMUNITY FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds Jewish Community of Greater Stowe ↗
  • Who funds FACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMITTEE ON TEMPORARY SHELTER INC ↗
  • Who funds VERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS INC ↗
  • Who funds The Food Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds THE RED SOX FOUNDATION INC ↗

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 IncMA21.5× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · The Vermont Community Foundation · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Xenon Foundation · Oakland Foundation Inc · The Klarman Family Foundation · National Life Group Charitable Foundation Inc · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · Bny Mellon Charitable Gift Fund · Amica Companies Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Deborah and Robert First Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Deborah and Robert First Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 160%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Committee On Temporary Shelter Inc: 52% of income from government
  • Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Inc: 47% of income from government
  • Vermont Land Trust Inc: 42% of income from government
  • Lund Family Center Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown Inc: 27% of income from government
  • Neck of the Woods Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Vermont Foodbank: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Hannah's House Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Huntington Theatre Co Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Longwood Symphony Orchestra Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Community Foundation for MetroWest Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Peabody Essex Museum Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Babson College: 3% of income from government
  • Handel and Haydn Society: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • The Red Sox Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Miami Music Project Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Resource a Nonprofit Community Enterprise Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Institute of Contemporary Art Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Shakespeare & Company Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Ballet Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Hebrew Senior Life Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
  • Williams College: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
16get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Deborah and Robert First Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Deborah and Robert First Family 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 105 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

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