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Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

To improve the business, social and civic environment of the greater boston area and to become the leading representative in the boston area in the consideration of local, state and national issues.

$112k
Granted FY2019
9
Grants FY2019
1
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

89% of Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Boston Foundation Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 2 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $85k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

12
’17
8
’18
9
’19
2
’20
1
’21
2
’22
2
’23
2
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$278kArts & Culture$130kEmployment$100kRecreation & Sports$75kHealth$40kCommunity Improvement$40kYouth Development$25kEducation$25kOther$0
02FY2019 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 9 grants below total $85,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $111,748 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $26,748 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2019

  • Under $10k7 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SCHOLAR ATHLETES$25,000
THE BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL$25,000
THE DIMOCK CENTER$5,000
HEALTH CARE FOR ALL INC$5,000
COMMUNITY SERVINGS$5,000
ABEKAM INC$5,000
NAACP (NEW ENGLAND CIVIL RIGHTS FUND)$5,000
THE LATINA CIRCLE INC$5,000
BLACK ECONOMIC COUNCIL OF MASSACHUSETTS$5,000
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 (FY17–19, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%Community Servings: $5k → 16%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $5k → 16%Community Servings: $5k → 16%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.

40%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$210k · 5 repeat orgs$312k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +127% since the first grant, against +32% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2019, 1 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call). Read against FY2019, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
14

Total granted

$210k
$205k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+127%
+32%

Still filing today

40%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $33k 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
PhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentHealthEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureOther
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

  • BW
    BOSTON WHILE BLACK
    4× · 2020–2023 · $100k
  • SA
    SCHOLAR ATHLETES INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $75k · revenue -91%
  • COMMUNITY SERVINGS INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $15k · revenue +127%

Funded once

  • MR
    MBTA Recruitment and Retention Fund
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • JF
    JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY LIBRARY FOUNDATION INCORPORATED
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue -43%
  • CH
    CAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue +229%
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
Boston Impact Initiative Fund

Form 990 - organization's mission or most significant activitiesboston impact initiative (bii) is a nonprofit impact investment fund and certified community development financial institution (cdfi). bii provides small businesses,…

Community Improvement
2
Browning the Green Space Inc

We seek to facilitate a just energy transition by putting black and brown communities first, and enabling systems change at the intersection of social, environmental, and economic justice. we are powering a just energy transition in the…

Environment
3
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
4
New England Community Project Inc

Necp believes that social change happens when those most impacted by issues of systemic injustice, organize at the block level to address issues within their neighborhoods. through their involvement at a community level, residents engage…

Community Improvement
5
Massachusetts Competitive Partnership Inc

Macp's stated mission is to promote job stabilization and growth across the full spectrum of business, and within all geographic regions of the commonwealth through working in partnership with business and government. macp's main priority…

Human Services
6
Mass General Brigham Incorporated

Patient care, teaching, research and serving the community.

Health
7
Greater Boston Council On Alcoholism Inc
Philanthropy
8
Boston Foundation
Philanthropy
9
Business Executives for National Security

Bens applies industry experience and best business practices to help address our nation's pressing national security challenges.

International
10
Chile Massachusetts Alliance Inc

Chilemass connects institutions across chile and massachusetts to advance education, innovation, and economic development. through stategic partnerships, programs, and convenings, the organization designs and implements initiatives that…

International
11
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
12
Massachusetts E-Health Collaborative
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Health Care for All Inc; the most unlike its peers is Freedom for All Massachusetts 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

24 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. 24 of the 31 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/24
Grantees still filing
14/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MBTA Recruitment and Retention Fund: $100,000 · OtherMBTA Recruitment and Retention FundBOSTON WHILE BLACK: $100,000 · OtherBOSTON WHILE BLACKSCHOLAR ATHLETES INC: $75,000 · OtherSCHOLAR ATHLETES INCMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $25,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATEDTHE COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS FOR K-12 STUDENTS: $25,000 · OtherTHE COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS FOR K-12 STUD…THE AMERICAN IRELAND FUND (DBA THE IRELAND FUNDS AMERICA/THE IRELAND FUNDS): $15,000 · Other+14 more: $89,900 · Other+14 moreBoston Foundation Inc: $250,000 · PhilanthropyBoston Foundation IncDIMOCK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyUnited Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc: $10,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $7,500 · PhilanthropyJOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY LIBRARY FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $25,000 · EducationCAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentBLK CHIP INC: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesTHE PARTNERSHIP INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMARCH OF DIMES INC: $5,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $5,000 · Health
Other$429,900Philanthropy$277,500Education$25,000Youth Development$20,000Human Services$15,000Arts & Culture$10,000Health$10,000

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 Foundation Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSCHOLAR ATHLETES INC: $75,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetJOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY LIBRARY FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AMERICAN IRELAND FUND (DBA THE IRELAND FUNDS AMERICA/THE IRELAND FUNDS): $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDIMOCK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUnited Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND CIVIL RIGHTS FUND INC: $10,000 over 2y, 8.2% of budgetCOMPASS WORKING CAPITAL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CORPORATE DIRECTORS NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFREEDOM FOR ALL MASSACHUSETTS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINITIATIVE FOR A COMPETITIVE INNER CITY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRon Burton Training Village Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHEALTH CARE FOR ALL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLK CHIP INC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S TRUST INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWE ARE ALX INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetBIG SISTER ASSOCIATION OF GREATER BOSTON INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…Cummings Foundation G…Mass General Brigham …Nellie Mae Education …Combined Jewish Phila…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Boston Foundation IncMA23.3× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return · Nellie Mae Education Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Health Care for All Inc: 29% of income from government
  • United Way of Massachusetts Bay Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Community Servings Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Children's Trust Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Camp Harbor View Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Compass Working Capital Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 31 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s filings →

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