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· Private foundation

Francis T & Louis T Nichols Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.6M
Granted FY2024still arriving
88
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$491k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0166% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY2020–2024.

Philanthropy$613kHuman Services$312kEducation$199kHealth$197kHousing & Shelter$114kCrime & Legal$75kArts & Culture$43kCommunity Improvement$39kFood & Nutrition$38kOther$989k
02FY2024 · 88 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k27 grants · $132k
  • $10k–50k48 grants · $1.1M
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $842k
  • $250k+1 grant · $491k
$18,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAINE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$491,000
VERMONT STUDENT ASSISTANCE CORP$100,000
GEORGE STEVENS ACADEMY$90,000
HANCOCK COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$85,000
GREEN MOUNTAIN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$85,000
MAINE CHILDREN'S HOME$80,000
LUND FAMILY CENTER$67,000
PARTNERS FOR PEACESPRUCE RUN$65,000
STEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE$60,000
NORTHERN LIGHT HOMECARE & HOSPICE$55,000
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS$55,000
VERMONT CHILDREN'S TRUST FOUNDATION$50,000
VERMONT COMMUNITY LOAN FUND$50,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD NEW ENGLAND$49,500
JOHN GRAHAM SHELTER$49,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY24–24, $167k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 6%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 6%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $35k → 7%YMCA OF VERMONT: $14k → 9%WOMENSAFE ATRIA COLLECTIVE: $15k → 9%HOMESHARE VERMONT: $35k → 10%PATHWAYS - VERMONT: $24k → 10%SPECIAL CHILDREN'S FRIENDS: $5k → 11%SPECTRUM YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $39k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Vermont Humanities Council

Using the humanities, we connect with people across vermont to create just, vibrant, and resilient communities, and to inspire a lifelong love of learning.

—
2
Vermont Public Co

Vermont public informs, educates, and entertains through public service journalism and enlightening content rooted in vermont. our storytelling enriches lives and fosters community connection and understanding.

Arts & Culture
3
Vermont Electric Cooperative Inc

Vermont electric cooperative is a member owned not-for-profit whose mission is to provide safe, affordable, and reliable energy services to its members.

—
4
Cooperation Vermont

The mission of cooperation vermont is to build thriving community economic and enviromental democracy.

Community Improvement
5
Dartmouth Health Home Care Inc

We are dedicated to delivering outstanding home health and hospice services that enrich the lives of the people we serve.

—
6
Vermont Medical Society

The vermont medical society is the leading voice of physicians and physician assistants in the state and is dedicated to advancing the practice of medicine by advocating on behalf of vermonts clinicians and the patients and communities…

—
7
Alliance for a Better Vermont

Conducts and coordinates research of critical issues affecting vermonters. also conducts public opinion research.

—
8
Southeastern Vermont Community Action Inc

To enable people to cope with, and reduce the hardships of poverty; create sustainable self-sufficiency; and reduce the causes and move toward the elimination of poverty.

Human Services
9
Vermont Council On World Affairs Inc

See schedule othe mission of the vermont council on world affairs is to promote awareness and understanding of the world and its people, places and cultures through education and engagement. the future of vermont depends upon the world…

—
10
Vermont Health Care Association

Education for the improvement of health care in the state of vermont.

—
11
Cooperation Vermont Community Land Trust

The mission of cooperation vermont community land trust is to reclaim the commons.

Community Improvement
12
The Vermont Children's Alliance

To provide support services to local communities and childrens advocacy centers, to serve as a resource and to facilitate a network dedicated to coordinated and comprehensive response to child abuse.

Crime & Legal

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Inc and the most unlike its peers is Brooklin Volunteer Fire Company. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadySupportive Housing for Vuln…Mount Desert Island Communi…Vermont Community ServicesMaine Community FoundationsPublic LibrariesFamily Philanthropic Founda…Rural Maine Community Devel…Community Recreation Centers
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 43 years old; the field is 21. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number17%0%<5yr12%0%5–10yr19%6%10–20yr20%23%20–35yr16%38%35–55yr17%34%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value17%0%<5yr12%0%5–10yr19%2%10–20yr20%13%20–35yr16%61%35–55yr17%24%55yr+

The field is 17% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 9% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/62
the rest of the field
9%
286/3,214

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

59 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 59 of the 85 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
59/59
Grantees still filing
20/59
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

VERMONT STUDENT ASSISTANCE CORP — $100,000 · OtherVERMONT STUDENT ASSISTANCE CORPHancock County Habitat For Humanity — $85,000 · OtherHancock County Habitat For HumanityGREEN MOUNTAIN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY — $85,000 · OtherGREEN MOUNTAIN HABITAT FOR HUMANITYMAINE CHILDREN'S HOME — $80,000 · OtherMAINE CHILDREN'S HOMEPARTNERS FOR PEACESPRUCE RUN — $65,000 · OtherPARTNERS FOR PEACESPRUCE RUNPLANNED PARENTHOOD NEW ENGLAND — $49,500 · OtherCOMMUNITY HEALTH & COUNSELING — $45,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient — $38,000 · OtherVERMONT FOODBANK — $38,000 · OtherBLUE HILL HERITAGE TRUST — $38,000 · Other+41 more — $485,200 · Other+41 moreMaine Community Foundation Inc — $491,000 · PhilanthropyMaine Community Foundation…Vermont Childrens Trust Foundation — $50,000 · PhilanthropyVermont Childrens Trust Fo…HEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY — $40,850 · PhilanthropyHEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY+2 more — $31,000 · PhilanthropyLund Family Center Inc — $67,000 · Human ServicesLund Family C…STEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC — $60,000 · Human ServicesSTEPS TO END …SPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC — $38,650 · Human ServicesSPECTRUM YOUT…American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $35,000 · Human ServicesAmerican Nati…HOMESHARE VERMONT INC — $35,000 · Human ServicesHOMESHARE VER…PATHWAYS VERMONT INC — $24,000 · Human ServicesPATHWAYS VERM…KING STREET CENTER INC — $18,800 · Human ServicesKING STREET C…ATRIA COLLECTIVE INC — $15,000 · Human ServicesYWCA OF VERMONT INC — $14,000 · Human Services+1 more — $5,000 · Human ServicesGeorge Stevens Academy — $90,000 · EducationHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC — $25,000 · EducationNAVY SEABEE FOUNDATION — $25,000 · EducationMENTOR Vermont Inc — $23,000 · EducationWilliams College — $22,000 · EducationBLUE HILL PUBLIC LIBRARY — $14,000 · EducationCOMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS OF BURLINGTON INC — $55,000 · HealthVNA Home Health & Hospice Northern Light Home Care & Hospice — $55,000 · HealthELLSWORTH FREE MEDICAL CLINIC — $25,000 · HealthVERMONTS CAMP TA-KUM-TA — $24,000 · HealthHOPE WORKS INC — $19,000 · HealthCommunity Health Services of Addison Cty Inc — $10,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF BURLINGTON VERMONT INC — $9,000 · HealthVERMONT COMMUNITY LOAN FUND — $50,000 · Housing & ShelterThe John W Graham Emergency Shelter and Service Inc — $49,000 · Housing & ShelterCOMMITTEE ON TEMPORARY SHELTER INC — $15,000 · Housing & ShelterHUNGER FREE VERMONT INC — $40,000 · Crime & LegalIMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT — $30,000 · Crime & LegalDismas of Vermont Inc — $5,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$1,108,700Philanthropy$612,850Human Services$312,450Education$199,000Health$197,000Housing & Shelter$114,000Crime & Legal$75,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetMaine Community Foundation Inc — $491,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGeorge Stevens Academy — $90,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetHancock County Habitat For Humanity — $85,000 over 1y, 55% of budgetGREEN MOUNTAIN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY — $85,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetLund Family Center Inc — $67,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSTEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC — $60,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS OF BURLINGTON INC — $55,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVNA Home Health & Hospice Northern Light Home Care & Hospice — $55,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVERMONT COMMUNITY LOAN FUND — $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetVermont Childrens Trust Foundation — $50,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetThe John W Graham Emergency Shelter and Service Inc — $49,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetHEART OF MAINE UNITED WAY — $40,850 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetHUNGER FREE VERMONT INC — $40,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetSPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC — $38,650 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVERMONT FOODBANK — $38,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLUE HILL HERITAGE TRUST — $38,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMESHARE VERMONT INC — $35,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetIMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT — $30,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPENINSULA AMBULANCE CORPS — $30,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetDowneast Family Young Mens Christian Association — $28,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMaine Maritime Museum — $26,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNAVY SEABEE FOUNDATION — $25,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetELLSWORTH FREE MEDICAL CLINIC — $25,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetPATHWAYS VERMONT INC — $24,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetVERMONTS CAMP TA-KUM-TA — $24,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMENTOR Vermont Inc — $23,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetWilliams College — $22,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOLARIS PROJECT — $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHAMPLAIN VALLEY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BURLINGTON INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPREVENT CHILD ABUSE VERMONT — $20,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetVERMONT WORKS FOR WOMEN INC — $19,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetHOPE WORKS INC — $19,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetKING STREET CENTER INC — $18,800 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $16,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBrooklin Volunteer Fire Company — $15,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetUNITED WAY OF ADDISON COUNTY INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMITTEE ON TEMPORARY SHELTER INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetATRIA COLLECTIVE INC — $15,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetYWCA OF VERMONT INC — $14,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetBLUE HILL PUBLIC LIBRARY — $14,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSARA M HOLBROOK COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHE DREAM PROGRAM INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCommunity Health Services of Addison Cty Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHOME INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBLUE HILL SOCIETY FOR AID TO CHILDREN INC — $9,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Vermont Community…Agnes M Lindsay TrustBen & Jerry's Foundat…National Life Group C…Fanny Allen Corporati…United Way of Northwe…Maine Community Found…Peoples United Commun…George W Mergens Foun…Mascoma Bank Foundati…The Kelsey TrustThe University of Ver…
The Vermont Community FoundationVT53.6× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Vermont Community Foundation · Agnes M Lindsay Trust · Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc · National Life Group Charitable Foundation Inc · Fanny Allen Corporation · United Way of Northwest Vermont Inc · Maine Community Foundation Inc · Peoples United Community Foundation · George W Mergens Foundation · Mascoma Bank Foundation · The Kelsey Trust · The University of Vermont Medical Center

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Francis T & Louis T Nichols Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%4%15%34%60%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 32%
  • The Dream Program Inc — 100% of income from government
  • Atria Collective Inc — 96% of income from government
  • Vermont Adult Learning Inc — 78% of income from government
  • Steps to End Domestic Violence Inc — 71% of income from government
  • Pathways Vermont Inc — 65% of income from government
  • Prevent Child Abuse Vermont — 58% of income from government
  • Mentor Vermont Inc — 58% of income from government
  • Vermont Works for Women Inc — 52% of income from government
  • Committee On Temporary Shelter Inc — 52% of income from government
  • Hope Works Inc — 49% of income from government
  • King Street Center Inc — 43% of income from government
  • Dismas of Vermont Inc — 39% of income from government
  • Lund Family Center Inc — 34% of income from government
  • Homeshare Vermont Inc — 32% of income from government
  • Hunger Free Vermont Inc — 24% of income from government
  • Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Inc — 23% of income from government
  • Community Health Centers of Burlington Inc — 17% of income from government
  • Boys and Girls Club of Burlington Inc — 16% of income from government
  • Vermont Community Loan Fund — 14% of income from government
  • Vermont Foodbank — 13% of income from government
  • United Way of Addison County Inc — 12% of income from government
  • Vermont Childrens Trust Foundation — 8% of income from government
  • Mystic Seaport Museum Inc — 5% of income from government
  • Lake Champlain Maritime Museum at Basin Harbor Inc — 2% of income from government
  • Ywca of Vermont Inc — 0% of income from government
  • The Vermont Community Foundation — 0% of income from government
  • Williams College — 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
9rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

04Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Francis T & Louis T Nichols Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Francis T & Louis T Nichols 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 85 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines