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· Private foundation

Fernwood 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.

$800k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$625k
Largest
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$5.3MPublic Safety & Disaster$113kFood & Nutrition$83kHealth$76kEnvironment$54kCrime & Legal$50kPhilanthropy$38kRecreation & Sports$33kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k13 grants · $24k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $151k
  • $250k+1 grant · $625k
$2,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$4.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA$625,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$101,000
WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE$50,250
TOWN OF WESTON CONNECTICUT$8,200
MARTHA GRAHAM CENTER OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE$2,500
TOWN OF WESTON CONNECTICUT$2,500
Individual grant recipient$2,500
211 PALM BEACH AND TREASURE COAST$2,000
BE LOVED ASHEVILLE$1,000
BEST FRIENDS FOR LIFE ANIMAL RESCUE$1,000
BROTHER WOLF ANIMAL RESCUE$1,000
THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK$1,000
ASPETUCK LAND TRUST$1,000
FRIENDS OF LACHAT$500
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION$350
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 (FY17–22, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%HOSPICE OF ORANGE & SULLIVAN COUNTIES INC: $1k → 14%HOSPICE OF ORANGE & SULLIVAN COUNTIES INC: $1k → 14%HOSPICE OF ORANGE & SULLIVAN COUNTIES INC: $1k → 14%WORLD FOOD PROGRAM USA: $2k → 14%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

ME
IL
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CT
CA
NC
DC
AL
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.5M · 21 repeat orgs$326k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
36

Total granted

$5.5M
$219k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+10%

Still filing today

62%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $108k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureInternationalCrime & LegalFood & NutritionEnvironmentHealthOther
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

  • NH
    Norwalk Hospital Foundation
    2× · 2017–2020 · $27k · revenue +6%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF LACHAT INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $16k · revenue +218%
  • AL
    ASPETUCK LAND TRUST
    5× · 2017–2024 · $14k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • DH
    Danbury Hospital & New Milford Hospital Foundation Inc
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue -12%
  • BC
    BROADWAY CARESEQUITY FIGHTS AIDS INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +17%
  • CITY HARVEST INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +3%
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
Feeding Westchester Inc

Driven by the belief that access to healthy food is a basic right for all people, feeding westchester leads hunger action programs and mobilizes the resources needed to eradicate hunger in westchester county.

—
2
West Side Center for Community Life

To pursue anti-hunger initiatives through the west side campaign against hunger (wscah) program whose mission is to alleviate hunger by ensuring that all new yorkers have access with dignity to a choice of healthy food and supportive…

Youth Development
3
Food Bank Association of New York State

The mission of feeding new york state is to lead a unified effort for a hunger-free state of new york. the mission of food banking is to obtain food and deliver it to emergency food programs. feeding new york state works to end hunger by…

Food & Nutrition
4
Foodshare Inc

Foodshare is leading an informed, coordinated response to hunger as part of the overall community effort to alleviate poverty in hartford and tolland counties.

—
5
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
6
The Global FoodBanking Network

To nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.

International
7
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
8
Vermont Foodbank

To gather and share quality food and nurture partnerships so that no one in vermont will go hungry.

Food & Nutrition
9
Waste Not Inc

Waste Not cultivates sustainable food systems that help people and the planet flourish. We do this by eliminating food waste and hunger through innovative community partnerships.

Food & Nutrition
10
Island Harvest Ltd

The mission of island harvest is to end hunger and reduce food waste on long island.

Human Services
11
The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County Inc

The food bank's mission is to provide nutritious food to non-profit organizations that feed the hungry in darien, greenwich, new canaan, norwalk, stamford and wilton ct., while seeking to raise awareness of, and promote action to combat,…

Food & Nutrition
12
Food & Water Watch

Food & water watch conducts extensive research and public education to ensure the food and water we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. so we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of…

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Action Against Hunger - Usa; the most unlike its peers is Best Friends for Life Animal Rescue 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

52 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. 52 of the 64 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/52
Grantees still filing
35/52
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The American Classical Orchestra Inc: $5,165,750 · Arts & CultureThe American Classical Orchestra Inc+5 more: $138,670 · Arts & CultureTOWN OF WESTON CONNECTICUT: $36,700 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $23,000 · OtherBROADWAY CARESEQUITY FIGHTS AIDS INC: $10,320 · OtherCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $10,000 · OtherSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $10,000 · OtherDIG DEEP: $10,000 · OtherWESTON WARM-UP FUND INC: $9,000 · OtherNorwalk Hospital Foundation: $27,125 · OtherDanbury Hospital & New Milford Hospital Foundation Inc: $15,000 · OtherWESTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $12,000 · Other+24 more: $50,500 · OtherWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $101,000 · International+5 more: $11,000 · InternationalEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $10,000 · Crime & LegalTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $10,000 · Crime & LegalCONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC: $10,000 · Crime & LegalPRO BONO NET INC: $10,000 · Crime & LegalSANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $10,000 · Crime & LegalASPETUCK LAND TRUST: $14,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $10,000 · EnvironmentOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $10,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF LACHAT INC: $16,000 · Food & NutritionFeeding America: $12,500 · Food & NutritionCITY HARVEST INC: $10,000 · Food & NutritionPhilabundance: $10,000 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $250 · Food & NutritionWESTON COMMUNITY FUND INC: $38,113 · Community ImprovementFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $10,000 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$5,304,420Other$213,645International$112,000Crime & Legal$60,000Environment$54,000Food & Nutrition$48,750Community Improvement$48,113

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 budgetThe American Classical Orchestra Inc: $5,165,750 over 8y, 75% of budgetWESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE INC: $114,870 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $101,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorwalk Hospital Foundation: $27,125 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWeston Arts Inc: $16,800 over 3y, 58% of budgetFRIENDS OF LACHAT INC: $16,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetDanbury Hospital & New Milford Hospital Foundation Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASPETUCK LAND TRUST: $14,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetFeeding America: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWESTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $12,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetBROADWAY CARESEQUITY FIGHTS AIDS INC: $10,320 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTICUT FOODSHARE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPhilabundance: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDIG DEEP: $10,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRO BONO NET INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESTON WARM-UP FUND INC: $9,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetMUSIC ON THE HILL INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetThe Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program of Weston Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetHOSPICE OF ORANGE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $2,700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARTHA GRAHAM CENTER OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUnited States Association for UNHCR: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACTION AGAINST HUNGER - USA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBELOVED ASHEVILLE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBrother Wolf Animal Rescue Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCoalition Against Trafficking In Women: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHEATRICAL ARTS AT FORESTBURGH INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKIWANIS CLUB OF WESTON FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetWESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $700 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetThe Friends of Foundation Academy Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $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.

Mutual of America FoundationNY16.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mutual of America Foundation · Sherlock Family Foundation · The Daniel E Offutt III Charitable Trust · The Shack Sackler Foundation · Sherlock Charitable Foundation · Kurtz Family Foundation Trust · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · Morton and Helen Yulman Charitable Trust · Donna and Stuart Farber Family Foundation Inc · Howard & Katherine Aibel Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · The Ayco Charitable 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 Fernwood Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Fernwood Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Aspetuck Land Trust: 28% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Connecticut Legal Services Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Connecticut Foodshare Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Music On the Hill Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Westport Country Playhouse Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 64 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

Play a game based on Fernwood’s filings →

More from the funding graph