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Eastern Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Eastern Charitable Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$131k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$49k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0184% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$170kHousing & Shelter$50kReligion$36kArts & Culture$8kHealth$4kHuman Services$4kAnimals$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$48,938
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PROSPECT HILL ACADEMY$48,938
Individual grant recipient$48,938
FIRST CHURCH OF CAMBRIDGE$32,625
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 (FY23–23, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%FRESHMAN FRESHSTART: $4k → 7%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.

47%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$162k · 4 repeat orgs$182k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
15

Total granted

$162k
$85k

Still filing today

0%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 25% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $98k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’25
Arts & CultureEducationCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesCivil RightsAnimalsOther
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

  • PH
    PROSPECT HILL ACADEMY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2022 · $100k
  • FC
    FIRST CHURCH OF CAMBRIDGE
    2× · 2023–2025 · $35k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    2× · 2022–2023 · $19k

Funded once

  • JC
    JUST-A-START CORPORATION
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue -24%
  • CC
    CAMBRIDGE CHARTER SCHOOL
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • NB
    NEW BEDFORD LIGHT
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue -1%
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
New England Lawboston

New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…

Education
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide access to and conduct activities in furtherance of higher education.

—
4
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
5
Dean College

Dean college is a private, residential new england college grounded in a culture and tradition that all students deserve the opportunity to discover and exceed their greatest aspirations. a personal and transformative community since 1865,…

Education
6
Saint Anselm College

Saint anselm is a catholic, benedictine college providing all of its students a distinctive liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career preparation. it does so in a learning community that encourages…

Education
7
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Bb&n, an all gender day school in cambridge, massachusetts, was established in 1974 by the merger of two independent schools, the buckingham school and the browne & nichols school, founded respectively in 1889 and 1883. located on multiple…

Education
8
Emmanuel College

Emmanuel college is a coed, residential catholic liberal arts and sciences college with 2,112 undergraduate and graduate students.

Education
9
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
10
The Newman School

Founded in 1945, the newman school, an independent day school in the catholic tradition, prepares young women and men from greater boston and around the world for success in university and college studies and life.with a school culture…

Education
11
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
12
President and Fellows of Harvard College

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

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Our Sisters School; the most unlike its peers is Freshman Fresh Start 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

10 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. 10 of the 21 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
6/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PROSPECT HILL ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherPROSPECT HILL ACADEMY FOUNDATIONPROSPECT HILL ACADEMY: $48,938 · OtherPROSPECT HILL ACADEMYIndividual grant recipient: $48,938 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFIRST CHURCH OF CAMBRIDGE: $35,125 · OtherFIRST CHURCH OF CAMBRIDGEIndividual grant recipient: $19,400 · OtherIndividual grant recipient+6 more: $18,500 · Other+6 moreJUST-A-START CORPORATION: $50,000 · Community ImprovementJUST-A-START COR…NEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $5,000 · Arts & CultureOld Dartmouth Historical Society: $2,000 · Arts & CultureThe Cambridge Historical Society: $1,000 · Arts & CultureBEACON ACADEMY INC: $5,000 · EducationOUR SISTERS SCHOOL: $2,000 · EducationTHE CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL INC: $1,000 · EducationFRESHMAN FRESH START INC: $3,500 · Human ServicesCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $2,000 · Civil RightsCOMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: $2,000 · Animals
Other$270,901Community Improvement$50,000Arts & Culture$8,000Education$8,000Human Services$3,500Civil Rights$2,000Animals$2,000

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 budgetJUST-A-START CORPORATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBEACON ACADEMY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRESHMAN FRESH START INC: $3,500 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetOld Dartmouth Historical Society: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOUR SISTERS SCHOOL: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Cambridge Historical Society: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 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.

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 Cabot Family Char…Cummings Foundation G…Eastern Bank Foundati…Boston Foundation IncVanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Cabot Family Charitable TrustMA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Cabot Family Charitable Trust · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Eastern Bank Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Just-a-Start Corporation: 16% of income from government
  • The Cambridge Historical Society: 11% of income from government
  • Commonwealth Zoological Corporation D/B/a Zoo New England: 2% of income from government
  • Old Dartmouth Historical Society: 2% of income from government
  • Beacon Academy Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Our Sisters School: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 21 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

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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