Skip to content
Irving Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Irving Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$47k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$100kEducation$91kYouth Development$78kHealth$69kFood & Nutrition$45kHuman Services$29kScience & Tech$24kRecreation & Sports$23kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $37k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PALAVER STRINGS$10,000
Individual grant recipient$7,800
FRIENDS OF BAXTER STATE PARK$5,000
GIVE MUSIC$5,000
THE CONNECTICUT INVENTION CONVENTION INC$5,000
MAINE GEARSHARE$5,000
DREAMS FOR SCHOOLS$5,000
Individual grant recipient$2,500
SKOWHEGAN AREA YOUTH GROUP$1,400
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, $33k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 62% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FLETCHER FREE LIBRARY: $3k → 10%GALA COMMUNITY CENTER DBA MAKERSMILL: $2k → 9%THE JESTER & PHARLEY PHUND: $5k → 14%FEDERAL HILL HOUSE: $12k → 14%GRAHAMTASTIC CONNECTION: $4k → 9%NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSE INC: $3k → 15%YMCA OF GREATER NASHUA: $4k → 7%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
VT
NH
WA
MT
NY
MA
CT
RI
CA
VA
MD
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.

38%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$197k · 14 repeat orgs$321k to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
45

Total granted

$197k
$279k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+59%

Still filing today

100%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 11% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $42k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationEnvironmentFood & NutritionHealthOther
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

  • AC
    Angelica Center for Arts and Music
    3× · 2019–2021 · $23k · revenue +19%
  • OM
    OUT METROWEST INC
    2× · 2018–2019 · $20k · revenue +149%
  • 1R
    18 Reasons
    2× · 2019–2021 · $17k · revenue +241%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
  • AI
    AWARE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue +62%
  • TM
    THE MINGA FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $15k · revenue -82%
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
Maine Climate Action Now

MCAN catalyzes transformative education and action in response to the climate crisis. We seek to honor, unite and amplify the voices of youth, frontline communities, and others historically excluded from the climate conversation and…

Environment
2
Maine Arts Academy

The Academy is dedicated to academic excellence, commitment to the performing arts, leadership, integrity, and a virtuous code of conduct, all of which prepare students to meet the demands of a contemporary world through thoughtful…

Education
3
Children's Discovery Museum

The purpose of the children's discovery museum is to provide an array of exhibits and activities that promote developmental skills including social, cognitive, problem solving and peer interaction. our environment creates an interactive…

Arts & Culture
4
Out Maine
Philanthropy
5
Ecology Learning Center

The mission of the ecology learning center is to deeply root students in Maine's ecological & cultural landscapes, foster authentic real-world learning through mentorship & craft, and cultivate compassionate and resilient leaders prepared…

—
6
Maine Museum of Photographic Arts

The mission of the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts is to inspire, engage and educate through the exhibition, preservation and collection of photographic works. The Museums programs address contemporary, historical, cultural and…

Arts & Culture
7
Maine Media College

Maine Media Workshops & College educates and inspires visual artists and storytellers to achieve their creative potential. We provide lifelong learning opportunities for those pursuing the fine arts and media-related professions. We are…

—
8
Maine Discovery Museum

The maine discovery museum helps people of all ages to discover the world around them through creative exploration and science.

Arts & Culture
9
Teens to Trails

To connect Maine students to life-changing outdoor experiences.

Youth Development
10
Art Start

The mission of ArtStart, founded in 1988, has remained constant over its 36-year history: to foster artistic creativity and illuminate the connections among people, ideas, and the environment. Our artists engage children, families, and…

—
11
Maine Maritime Museum

To connect people to the past, present, and future of Maine's waterways and their global reach.

Arts & Culture
12
Island Readers & Writers an Initiative for Maine Children

Island readers & writers' mission is to inspire a passion for reading and learning. we do this by bringing children's books and the authors and illustrators who created them together with children and providing professional development…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Trekkers Inc; the most unlike its peers is Sanford-Springvale Mousam Way Land Trust. 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

50 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. 50 of the 67 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/50
Grantees still filing
34/50
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientAWARE INC: $15,000 · OtherAWARE INCIndividual grant recipient: $12,804 · OtherIndividual grant recipientGREENHORNS: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherTHE DERRYFIELD SCHOOL: $10,000 · OtherBRIDGE TO ENTER ADVANCED MATHEMATICS: $10,000 · OtherAARONS PRESENTS INC: $10,000 · OtherOUT METROWEST INC: $20,000 · OtherOUT METROWEST INCTHE MINGA FOUNDATION: $15,000 · OtherTHE MINGA FOUNDATIONMaine GearShare: $10,000 · OtherFoundation for Portland Public Schools: $10,000 · Other+18 more: $86,910 · Other+18 moreAngelica Center for Arts and Music: $23,000 · Arts & CultureAngelica Center for Arts…MAINE INSIDE OUT: $15,000 · Arts & CultureMAINE INSIDE OUTAbbe Museum: $15,000 · Arts & CultureAbbe MuseumTHE DISCOVERY MUSEUM INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DISCOVERY MUSEUM INCPALAVER STRINGS INC: $10,000 · Arts & CulturePALAVER STRINGS INCARTVAN: $7,000 · Arts & CultureARTVANIndigo Arts Alliance: $5,000 · Arts & Culture317 Main St Community Center Inc: $5,000 · Arts & CultureGIVE MUSIC INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureARTogether: $5,000 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: $5,000 · Arts & CultureDREAMS FOR SCHOOLS: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,500 · Arts & CultureSOLAR YOUTH INC: $25,000 · EducationSOLAR YOUTH …THE BOOK TRUCK INC: $12,500 · EducationTHE BOOK TRU…MIDCOAST LITERACY: $12,000 · EducationMIDCOAST LIT…NEW BEGINNINGS FAMILY ACADEMY INC: $5,000 · EducationNEW BEGINNIN…PROMYS INC: $3,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationFEDERAL HILL HOUSE ASSOCIATION INC: $12,200 · Human ServicesThe Jester & Pharley Phund: $5,000 · Human ServicesGrahamtastic Connection: $4,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Nashua: $4,000 · Human ServicesTHE NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSE INC: $3,291 · Human ServicesGENERATIONAL WELLBEING INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesFRIENDS OF THE FLETCHER FREE LIBRARY: $2,500 · Human ServicesGALA COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,000 · Human ServicesHOME RESOURCE INC: $6,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF BAXTER STATE PARK: $5,000 · Environment15 MINUTE FIELD TRIPS: $5,000 · EnvironmentOCEANSWIDE INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentSANFORD-SPRINGVALE MOUSAM WAY LAND TRUST: $3,309 · EnvironmentGATHER NEW HAVEN INC (FORMELY NEW HAVEN LAND TRUST INC): $2,500 · EnvironmentRobbie Foundation: $15,000 · HealthThe Yellow Tulip Project: $8,000 · Health18 Reasons: $17,000 · Food & NutritionLocker Project: $5,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$239,714Arts & Culture$111,500Education$58,500Human Services$35,491Environment$26,809Health$23,000Food & Nutrition$22,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSOLAR YOUTH INC: $25,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetAngelica Center for Arts and Music: $23,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetOUT METROWEST INC: $20,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budget18 Reasons: $17,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetMAINE INSIDE OUT: $15,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetAWARE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAbbe Museum: $15,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetRobbie Foundation: $15,000 over 2y, 6.4% of budgetTHE BOOK TRUCK INC: $12,500 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetFEDERAL HILL HOUSE ASSOCIATION INC: $12,200 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMIDCOAST LITERACY: $12,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetTHE DISCOVERY MUSEUM INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMaine GearShare: $10,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetFoundation for Portland Public Schools: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPALAVER STRINGS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE DERRYFIELD SCHOOL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Yellow Tulip Project: $8,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetMycelium Youth Network: $7,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetARTVAN: $7,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetHOME RESOURCE INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetIndigo Arts Alliance: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNEW BEGINNINGS FAMILY ACADEMY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget317 Main St Community Center Inc: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGIVE MUSIC INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetARTogether: $5,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetLocker Project: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Jester & Pharley Phund: $5,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF BAXTER STATE PARK: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCONNECTICUT CENTER FOR NONVIOLENCE: $5,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT INVENTION CONVENTION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMANCHESTER COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budget15 MINUTE FIELD TRIPS: $5,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetTREKKERS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDREAMS FOR SCHOOLS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGrahamtastic Connection: $4,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Nashua: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLONG BEACH CALL: $4,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHE NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSE INC: $3,291 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGENERATIONAL WELLBEING INC: $2,500 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetGATHER NEW HAVEN INC (FORMELY NEW HAVEN LAND TRUST INC): $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE FLETCHER FREE LIBRARY: $2,500 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetGALA COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNew Hampshire Telephone Museum: $1,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetRunnin For Rhett: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Maine Community Found…Onion FoundationSam L Cohen FoundationBangor Savings Bank F…Elmina B Sewall Found…Simmons Foundation - …Stephen & Tabitha Kin…Davis Family Foundati…Agnes M Lindsay TrustAndroscoggin Bank's M…Leonard C & Mildred F…Peoples United Commun…
Maine Community Foundation IncME34.5× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Onion Foundation · Sam L Cohen Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · Simmons Foundation - PerkinsThompson · Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation Inc · Davis Family Foundation · Agnes M Lindsay Trust · Androscoggin Bank's Mainstreet Fdn Portland Trust Company LLC · Leonard C & Mildred F Ferguson Foundation · Peoples United Community 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 Irving Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Irving Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 15%
  • Give Music Inc: 56% of income from government
  • Solar Youth Inc: 19% of income from government
  • The Discovery Museum Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Gather New Haven Inc (Formely New Haven Land Trust Inc): 11% of income from government
  • Out Metrowest Inc: 9% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Irving Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Irving 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 67 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Irving’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