· Private foundation
Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research
Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k35 grants · $190k
- $10k–50k6 grants · $127k
- $50k–250k4 grants · $476k
- $250k+1 grant · $333k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust | $333,333 |
| Northeast Wilderness Trust | $195,000 |
| Maine Coast Heritage Trust | $125,000 |
| University of Sydney | $105,644 |
| Maine Media Workshops College | $50,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $35,892 |
| Individual grant recipient | $26,100 |
| Fidelity Charitable | $24,291 |
| Oceanarium & Education Center | $20,902 |
| Individual grant recipient | $10,000 |
| Phillips Public Library | $10,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $9,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $9,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $9,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $9,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 75% of Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
29 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 26 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $308k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- RLRANGELEY LAKES HERITAGE TRUST INC4× · 2021–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +63%
- NMNEIGHBORHOOD MUSIC SCHOOL INC3× · 2021–2023 · $1.4M · revenue +38%
NORTHEAST WILDERNESS TRUST CORPORATION4× · 2021–2024 · $720k · revenue +136%
Funded once
- CFChewonki Foundation Incone grant, 2022 · $300k · revenue -17%
- CSCOLD SPRING SCHOOL INCone grant, 2022 · $200k · revenue -3%
- BCBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INCgraduatedone grant, 2022 · $150k · revenue +43%
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.
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.
The Land Conservancy of Ridgefield, Inc. ("the Land Conservancy"), founded in 1967, preserves and protects, for the general benefit of the public, Ridgefield, Connecticut's natural resources including land and water resources, the plant…
We conserve land permanently to benefit the natural and human communities of western the Penobscot Bay region.
We engage with communities to conserve, steward, and provide access to local lands and clean water for current and future generations to enjoy.
Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.
Natural History Institute is organized to provide leadership and resources for a revitalized practice of natural history that integrates art, science, and humanities to promote the health and well-being of humans and the rest of the…
The mission of Islesboro Islands Trust is to enhance the quality of residents' lives through the preservation of open space, educate all residents as to the value of the island's natural ecosystems, and act as an environmental advocate on…
Conservation and preservation of land.
The mission of Midcoast Conservancy is to protect vital lands and waters on a scale that matters and to inspire wonder and action on behalf of all species and the Earth.
Our mission is to permanently conserve and steward natural resources across our island and mainland communities for the benefit of current and future generations.
The royal river conservation trust (rrct) is a regional land trust working primarily in seven maine municipalities. the trust owns,cares for, and stewards land and conservation easements to protect land and water resources for the general…
Nature and culture international conserves biologically diverse landscapes in latin america, in concert with local cultures, for the well-being of the planet.
Frenchman Bay Conservancy protects and cares for our local lands and waters for the benefit of communities and nature.
How this is measured
23 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. 23 of the 142 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
- Who funds RANGELEY LAKES HERITAGE TRUST INC ↗
- Who funds NEIGHBORHOOD MUSIC SCHOOL INC ↗
- Who funds NORTHEAST WILDERNESS TRUST CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds Maine Coast Heritage Trust ↗
- Who funds Maine Mountain Collaborative ↗
- Who funds Chewonki Foundation Inc ↗
- Who funds Treasure Caretaker Training ↗
- Who funds COLD SPRING SCHOOL INC ↗
- Who funds Forest Society of Maine ↗
- Who funds BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC ↗
- Who funds KERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER ↗
- Who funds INTEGRATED REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SERVICES ↗
- Who funds PHILLIPS PUBLIC LIBRARY ↗
- Who funds OCEANARIUM AND EDUCATION CENTER ↗
- Who funds Borneo Research Council ↗
- Who funds Earth Island Institute Inc ↗
- Who funds GLOBAL EDUCATION BENCHMARK GROUP ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Ibm International Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research. Bigger dots raise more.
- Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages: 43% of income from government
- Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services: 37% of income from government
- Neighborhood Music School Inc: 4% of income from government
- Northeast Wilderness Trust Corporation: 2% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
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