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Eastern Light Tr at a glance

· Private foundation

Eastern Light Tr

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.

$17k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Human Services$18kReligion$11kHousing & Shelter$4kFood & Nutrition$3kArts & Culture$2kAnimals$1kCrime & Legal$500Civil Rights$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$500
Median grant
1
States reached
$478k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Cambridge Council on Aging$10,000
St Mary Orthodox Church$4,000
Boston Health Care for the Homeless$1,000
Individual grant recipient$500
The Greater Boston Food Bank$500
City Stings United$500
Bridges Homeward Cambridge Family Childrens Service$500
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, $7k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 50% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%Boston Health Care for the Homeless: $1k → 16%Boston Health Care for the Homeless: $1k → 16%Boston Healthcare for the Homeless: $500 → 16%Boston Healthcare for the Homeless: $500 → 16%Boston Health Care for the Homeless: $500 → 16%Cambridge Family Children's Servic: $1k → 8%Bridges Homeward: $500 → 8%Bridges Homeward Cambridge Family Childrens Service: $500 → 8%Bridges Homeward: $500 → 8%Cambridge Family and Children Servi: $500 → 8%Bridges Homeward Cambridge Family Childrens Service: $500 → 8%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.

63%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26k · 10 repeat orgs$15k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +74% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
9

Total granted

$26k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+74%
+27%

Still filing today

80%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 41% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
Housing & ShelterHuman ServicesHealthArts & CultureCrime & LegalFood & NutritionOther
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

  • BOSTON HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $4k · revenue +54%
  • BH
    BRIDGES HOMEWARD INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $4k · revenue +10%
  • CS
    CITY STRINGS UNITED INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $2k · revenue +330%

Funded once

  • HF
    Habitat For Humanity
    one grant, 2021 · $1k
  • HH
    Helping Hands Monkey Helpers
    one grant, 2021 · $1k
  • SE
    SOMERVILLE-CAMBRIDGE ELDER SERVICES INCORPORATED
    one grant, 2021 · $700 · revenue +22%
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
Neighborhealth Corporation

Neighborhealth's mission is to promote and sustain healthy communities, families, and individuals by providing accessible, person-centered, and compassionate, high-quality health care services to all who live and work in our service area,…

Health
2
Boston Senior Home Care Inc

Boston senior home care is committed to ensuring that culturally diverse adults and individuals with disabilities, particularly those of limited means, can remain safely in their homes and community with dignity and independence.

—
3
Massachusetts Council of Human Services Providers Inc

To advance the interests of the human services sector and providers through advocacy, education, and engagement of diverse stakeholders for collective impact.

—
4
Home for Aged Women in Salem

The organization's mission is to encourage and support the facility's residents in maintaining family and life long relationships through the operation of a 36-bed residential care facility in salem, massachusetts. brookhouse home welcomes…

—
5
Boston Area Rape Crisis Center Inc

The boston area rape crisis center (barcc) works to end sexual violence through healing and social change. as the only rape crisis center in greater boston and one of the nation's oldest, barcc provides free, inclusive, empowerment-based…

Health
6
Commonwealth Care Alliance Inc

Commonwealth care alliance, inc.'s mission is to improve the health and well-being of people with significant needs by innovating, coordinating and providing the highest quality, individualized care.

Health
7
Pine Street Inn Housing Ii Inc

Pine street inn housing ii, inc. is a massachusetts not-for-profit corporation, which was organized to provide ten elderly individuals with housing facilities and services at the inn's menino house at geneva avenue in boston,…

Housing & Shelter
8
Caspar Inc

Caspar's mission is to provide community-based services to those affected by substance use disorders. caspar offers a comprehensive array of outreach, shelter, stabilization, residential aftercare, and prevention services to meet the needs…

Health
9
Aclu Foundation of Massachusetts Inc

Aclu foundation of ma was established to defend freedoms guaranteed in the constitution and bill of rights through public education and litigation.

Civil Rights
10
Brookview House Inc

Brookview's mission is to help homeless and at risk families learn the skills necessary to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty.

Human Services
11
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc D/B/a Metro Housing Boston

Metro housing boston mobilizes wide-ranging resources to provide innovative and personalized services that lead families and individuals to housing stability, economic security, and an improved quality of life.

Housing & Shelter
12
Central Boston Elder Services Inc

To provide home care services, referrals and advocacy to the elderly population located in the boston area.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is De Novo Center for Justice and Healing; the most unlike its peers is Kataluma 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

14 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. 14 of the 20 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
14/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Cambridge Council on Aging: $10,000 · OtherCambridge Council on AgingSt Mary Orthodox Church: $9,500 · OtherSt Mary Orthodox ChurchIndividual grant recipient: $1,250 · OtherGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $1,250 · OtherHabitat For Humanity: $1,000 · OtherHelping Hands Monkey Helpers: $1,000 · Other+4 more: $2,200 · Other+4 moreBOSTON HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC: $3,500 · Human ServicesBOSTON HEALTH CARE …BRIDGES HOMEWARD INC: $3,500 · Human ServicesBRIDGES HOMEWARD IN…KATALUMA INC: $1,500 · Housing & ShelterHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES: $1,300 · Housing & ShelterROSIE'S PLACE INC: $450 · Housing & ShelterCITY STRINGS UNITED INC: $1,550 · Arts & CultureAXIA WOMEN INC: $1,300 · ReligionFOOD FOR FREE COMMITTEE INC: $1,250 · Food & NutritionDE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING: $500 · HealthPARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC: $250 · Health
Other$26,200Human Services$7,000Housing & Shelter$3,250Arts & Culture$1,550Religion$1,300Food & Nutrition$1,250Health$750

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 HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC: $3,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGES HOMEWARD INC: $3,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCITY STRINGS UNITED INC: $1,550 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetKATALUMA INC: $1,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetAXIA WOMEN INC: $1,300 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES: $1,300 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $1,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD FOR FREE COMMITTEE INC: $1,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOMERVILLE-CAMBRIDGE ELDER SERVICES INCORPORATED: $700 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINT'L ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC: $250 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.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Network for GoodDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Eastern Bank FoundationMA13.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Network for Good · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Light Tr funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Eastern Light Tr. 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%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Bridges Homeward Inc: 77% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • De Novo Center for Justice and Healing: 9% of income from government
  • Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program Inc: 8% of income from government
  • City Strings United Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Int'l Orthodox Christian Charities Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Food for Free Committee Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 20 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