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High Meadows Fund Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

High Meadows Fund Inc

The high meadows fund promotes vibrant communities and a healthy, natural environment while encouraging long-term economic vitality in vermont.

$7.5M
Granted FY2021
43
Grants FY2021
4
States reached
$6.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Environment$8.6MFood & Nutrition$1.1MCommunity Improvement$653kHousing & Shelter$336kPublic Benefit$292kEducation$156kArts & Culture$94kAnimals$55kOther$0
02FY2021 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • $10k–50k35 grants · $677k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $453k
  • $250k+2 grants · $6.3M
$20,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VERMONT LAND TRUST$6,066,250
VERMONT SUSTAINABLE JOBS FUND$251,250
INTERVALE CENTER INC$126,000
FOOD CONNECTS$95,000
CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY (CAE)$77,000
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION$52,250
VERMONT NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL$52,000
CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES$51,000
ENERGY ACTION NETWORK$40,750
CONNECTICUT RIVER CONSERVANCY$40,500
VERMONT COVERTS WOODLANDS FOR WILDLIFE$40,500
NEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENT FUND$31,000
GREEN MOUNTAIN FARM-TO-SCHOOL INC$30,000
WATERSHEDS UNITED VERMONT$30,000
RURAL VERMONT INC$25,000
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 (FY18–21, $94k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%CAPSTONE COMMUNITY ACTION: $23k → 9%FORESTILLE FOUNDATION INC: $15k → 14%SOUTHEASTERN VERMONT COMMUNITY ACTION (SEVCA): $10k → 11%RESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE: $20k → 10%VERMONT RIVER CONSERVANCY INC: $26k → 9%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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$10M · 36 repeat orgs$953k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +69% since the first grant, against +67% for those funded once.

36 repeat relationships: 32 still active in FY2021, 4 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
33

Total granted

$10M
$813k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+69%
+67%

Still filing today

94%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $140k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21
EnvironmentEducationCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • VERMONT LAND TRUST INC
    5× · 2017–2021 · $6.4M · revenue +67% · 36% of their budget
  • VS
    VERMONT SUSTAINABLE JOBS FUND INC
    5× · 2017–2021 · $475k · revenue +79%
  • IC
    INTERVALE CENTER INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $324k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • EL
    EVERNORTH LOAN FUND INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $145k · revenue +85%
  • NF
    Northern Forest Center Incgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $90k · revenue +364%
  • CV
    CENTRAL VERMONT REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
    one grant, 2017 · $40k
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
Cooperation Vermont

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

Community Improvement
2
Alliance for Vermont Communities Inc

The mission of alliance for vermont communities, inc. is to protect working farms, forests and communities of central vermont and to promote responsible development that will sustain the rural heritage and values for present and future…

—
3
Cooperation Vermont Community Land Trust

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

Community Improvement
4
Vermont Riverlands Llc

To protect and enhance the natural resources of vermont in order to promote the well-being of present and future generations of vermonters and visitors; preserve and aid in the preservation of open land along rivers and lakes; protect and…

Environment
5
Vermont Trails & Greenways Council

To promote trails and greenways and to ensure that people will always have access to the landscape of vermont.

Environment
6
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility Research & Edu Fdn

To provide research and education on issues of importance to the natural, human, and economic environments of vermont citizens.

Education
7
350 Vermont Inc

350 vermont is building a people-powered and people-led climate justice movement in vermont for a just, thriving world. we are guided by the voices, experiences, and solutions of those most impacted by the global climate crisis.

Environment
8
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation

Veic is a sustainable energy company on a mission to generate the energy solutions the world needs (continues in schedule o). (continued), working to combat the climate crisis, boost community resilience, and lower energy costs. for nearly…

Environment
9
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire

NOFA-NH actively promotes organic, regenerative, ecologically sound farming, gardening, eating, and land care practices for healthy communities. NOFA-NH helps people build local, just, and sustainable food systems.

Food & Nutrition
10
Alliance for a Better Vermont

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

—
11
Vermont Business Roundtable Inc

To sustain a sound economy and preserve vermont's unique quality of life by studying and making recommendations on statewide public policy issues.

—
12
Northeast Kingdom Development Corporation

Fostering, encouraging and assisting the physical location of business enterprises within the States of Vermont and New Hampshire, and having its principal purpose be industrial and economic development of one or more political…

Employment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Vermont Natural Resources Council Inc; the most unlike its peers is Forestille Foundation 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

65 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. 65 of the 79 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
30
Early backer (in before they grew)
65/65
Grantees still filing
56/65
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VERMONT LAND TRUST INC: $6,371,500 · EnvironmentVERMONT LAND TRUST INC+21 more: $1,759,326 · Environment+21 moreVERMONT SUSTAINABLE JOBS FUND INC: $475,000 · EmploymentINTERVALE CENTER INC: $323,500 · EmploymentWINDHAM REGIONAL COMMISSION: $131,750 · OtherWINDHAM R…VERMONT HOUSING AND CONSERVATION BOARD: $123,820 · OtherVERMONT H…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $75,200 · OtherTHE NATUR…VERMONT ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATION DISTRICTS INC: $47,550 · OtherCENTRAL VERMONT REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION: $40,250 · OtherTWO RIVERS-OTTAUQUECHEE REGIONAL COMMISSION: $40,000 · OtherEVERNORTH LOAN FUND INC: $145,000 · OtherEVERNORTH…COVER HOME REPAIR INC: $40,000 · OtherVERMONT COVERTSWOODLANDS FOR WILDLIFE INC: $60,000 · OtherVERMONT C…+20 more: $293,403 · Other+20 moreFOOD CONNECTS: $265,250 · Food & NutritionVERMONT FARM-TO-SCHOOL INC: $80,000 · Food & NutritionMERCK FOREST FOUNDATION INC: $61,722 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $10,250 · Food & NutritionVERMONT COUNCIL ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT INC: $115,000 · Community ImprovementTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $75,000 · Community ImprovementVITAL COMMUNITIES INC: $74,000 · Community ImprovementCHAMPLAIN VALLEY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INC: $50,400 · Community ImprovementMILK WITH DIGNITY STANDARDS COUNCIL INC: $25,000 · Community Improvement+2 more: $20,500 · Community ImprovementRURAL EDUCATION ACTION PROJECT: $100,875 · EducationNorthern Forest Center Inc: $90,000 · EducationNORTHWOODS STEWARDSHIP CENTER: $47,750 · EducationNorwich University: $41,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $23,000 · EducationCOALITION FOR THE COMMON GOOD: $16,325 · EducationVERMONT ENERGY EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $15,000 · Education+1 more: $10,000 · EducationVERMONT JOURNALISM TRUST LTD: $87,500 · Arts & CultureNORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF VERMONT: $84,900 · Arts & CultureFAIRBANKS MUSEUM & PLANETARIUM: $35,000 · Arts & CultureLEAHY CENTER FOR LAKE CHAMPLAIN INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureAGRITECH INSTITUTE FOR SMALL FARMS INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureAHA Abenaki Helping Abenaki Inc: $14,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $5,000 · Arts & Culture
Environment$8,130,826Employment$798,500Other$996,973Food & Nutrition$417,222Community Improvement$359,900Education$343,950Arts & Culture$281,400

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 budgetVERMONT LAND TRUST INC: $6,371,500 over 5y, 36% of budgetVERMONT SUSTAINABLE JOBS FUND INC: $475,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetINTERVALE CENTER INC: $323,500 over 4y, 5.9% of budgetFOOD CONNECTS: $265,250 over 4y, 12% of budgetCENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC: $222,500 over 3y, 7.9% of budgetVERMONT NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL INC: $214,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $192,500 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetENERGY ACTION NETWORK INC: $180,750 over 4y, 8.2% of budgetEVERNORTH LOAN FUND INC: $145,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetCONNECTICUT RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL INC: $129,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $124,926 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT COUNCIL ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT INC: $115,000 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetWATERSHEDS UNITED VERMONT INC: $105,000 over 3y, 44% of budgetRURAL EDUCATION ACTION PROJECT: $100,875 over 4y, 18% of budgetNorthern Forest Center Inc: $90,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetVERMONT JOURNALISM TRUST LTD: $87,500 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetNORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF VERMONT: $84,900 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetVERMONT FARM-TO-SCHOOL INC: $80,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetMEMPHREMAGOG WATERSHED ASSOC INC: $76,250 over 3y, 14% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $75,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVITAL COMMUNITIES INC: $74,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetCENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES INC: $71,250 over 2y, 10% of budgetNEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENT FUND INC: $68,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MAD RIVER: $62,300 over 3y, 15% of budgetMERCK FOREST FOUNDATION INC: $61,722 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetVERMONT COVERTSWOODLANDS FOR WILDLIFE INC: $60,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetHEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM: $58,250 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWhite River Partnership Inc: $58,050 over 3y, 6.6% of budgetCOLD HOLLOW TO CANADA INCORPORATED: $55,500 over 2y, 16% of budgetCHAMPLAIN VALLEY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INC: $50,400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWOODS STEWARDSHIP CENTER: $47,750 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetVERMONT ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATION DISTRICTS INC: $47,550 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetNorwich University: $41,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOVER HOME REPAIR INC: $40,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WINOOSKI RIVER INC: $36,500 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetFAIRBANKS MUSEUM & PLANETARIUM: $35,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMISSISQUOI RIVER BASIN ASSN: $31,550 over 1y, 15% of budgetLEAHY CENTER FOR LAKE CHAMPLAIN INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CRYOSPHERE CLIMATE INITIATIVE: $28,900 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetMILK WITH DIGNITY STANDARDS COUNCIL INC: $25,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetAGRITECH INSTITUTE FOR SMALL FARMS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetCAPSTONE COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $23,028 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $23,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Rich Earth Institute Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetAMERICAN FOREST FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE HOUSING FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

The Vermont Community…Lintilhac Foundation …Ben & Jerry's Foundat…Harris & Frances Bloc…The Windham Foundatio…New Hampshire Charita…Vermont Low Income Tr…National Life Group C…Davis Conservation Fo…Watersheds United Ver…Henry P Kendall Found…George W Mergens Foun…
The Vermont Community FoundationVT97.7× affinity54 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Vermont Community Foundation · Lintilhac Foundation Inc · Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc · Harris & Frances Block Foundation Inc · The Windham Foundation Inc · New Hampshire Charitable Foundation · Vermont Low Income Trust for Electricity Inc · National Life Group Charitable Foundation Inc · Davis Conservation Foundation · Watersheds United Vermont Inc · Henry P Kendall Foundation · George W Mergens 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 High Meadows Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from High Meadows Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 17%
  • Watersheds United Vermont Inc: 95% of income from government
  • Capstone Community Action Inc: 84% of income from government
  • Southeastern Vermont Community Action Inc: 83% of income from government
  • Memphremagog Watershed Assoc Inc: 59% of income from government
  • Cold Hollow to Canada Incorporated: 56% of income from government
  • Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Inc: 51% of income from government
  • Agritech Institute for Small Farms Inc: 48% of income from government
  • Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Inc: 47% of income from government
  • Vermont Land Trust Inc: 42% of income from government
  • Missisquoi River Basin Assn: 42% of income from government
  • Northwoods Stewardship Center: 40% of income from government
  • Connecticut River Watershed Council Inc: 40% of income from government
  • Vermont Association of Conservation Districts Inc: 35% of income from government
  • Leahy Center for Lake Champlain Inc: 33% of income from government
  • Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont: 31% of income from government
  • Vermont Natural Resources Council Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Salvation Farms Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Retreat Farm Ltd: 25% of income from government
  • Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Vermont Woodlands Association: 21% of income from government
  • The Vermont River Conservancy Inc: 21% of income from government
  • Vermont Covertswoodlands for Wildlife Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Vermont Council On Rural Development Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Aha Abenaki Helping Abenaki Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Food Connects: 15% of income from government
  • Champlain Housing Trust: 15% of income from government
  • Chittenden Community Television: 14% of income from government
  • Intervale Center Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Center for an Agricultural Economy Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Friends of the Mad River: 12% of income from government
  • Composting Association of Vermont Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Vermont Farm-to-School Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Vermont Grass Farmers Association: 7% of income from government
  • Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium: 7% of income from government
  • Friends of the Winooski River Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Vital Communities Inc: 5% of income from government
  • White River Partnership Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Vermont Energy Education Program Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Norwich University: 4% of income from government
  • Evernorth Loan Fund Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Third Sector New England Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Cover Home Repair Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Resource a Nonprofit Community Enterprise Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Housing Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Vermont Journalism Trust Ltd: 0% of income from government
  • Energy Action Network Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
6rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to High Meadows Fund Inc?

Find your warmest path to High Meadows Fund Inc 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 79 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2022) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2021, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on High Meadows’ 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