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James Burns Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

James Burns Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$78k
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$14k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$211k
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k22 grants · $64k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $14k
$2,500
Median grant
7
States reached
$374k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT$13,500
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY$7,500
SOUTHERN CT STATE UNIVERSITY$5,500
UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD$5,000
SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT - HARTFORD CAM$4,000
TUNXIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE$3,000
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST$2,500
EASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY$2,500
SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY$2,500
IONA UNIVERSITY$2,500
ALLAN HANCOCK COLLEGE$2,500
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY$2,500
CORNELL UNIVERSITY$2,250
UNC CHARLOTTE$2,250
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 88% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%BENTLEY UNIVERSITY: $2k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST: $3k → 12%THE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL: $2k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON: $3k → 16%DELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY: $2k → 7%SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY: $3k → 8%ALLAN HANCOCK COLLEGE: $3k → 14%IONA UNIVERSITY: $3k → 9%NIAGARA UNIVERSITY: $2k → 14%CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $2k → 16%MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $6k → 7%SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY: $2k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD: $7k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $14k → 11%EASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT WATERBURY: $3k → 12%AHOP CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $3k → 9%UNC CHARLOTTE: $2k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND: $2k → 7%ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY: $2k → 7%REGIS COLLEGE: $2k → 10%FRANKLIN PIERCE COLLEGE: $3k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST: $3k → 12%SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE: $5k → 17%IONA UNIVERSITY: $3k → 9%CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $2k → 16%MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $3k → 7%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT - HARTFORD CAM: $4k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $13k → 11%QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $3k → 12%UNC CHARLOTTE: $2k → 10%FRANKLIN PIERCE COLLEGE: $3k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST: $3k → 12%SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE: $5k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD: $5k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $5k → 11%QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $3k → 12%SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE: $5k → 17%QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $3k → 12%AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: $2k → 17%TUNXIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $3k → 11%AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: $2k → 17%GATEWAY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $3k → 12%AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: $2k → 17%SOUTHERN CT STATE UNIVERSITY: $7k → 12%SOUTHERN CT STATE UNIVERSITY: $6k → 12%SOUTHERN CT STATE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 12%SOUTHERN CT STATE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 12%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

NH
NY
MA
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
NC
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$175k · 18 repeat orgs$35k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +8% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
10

Total granted

$175k
$22k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
+7%

Still filing today

44%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time
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

  • SC
    SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE
    3× · 2023–2025 · $15k · revenue +2%
  • UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD
    2× · 2024–2025 · $12k · revenue +6%
  • QU
    QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2023–2025 · $8k · revenue +22%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT WATERBURY
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • AC
    AHOP CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
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
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
2
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
3
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
4
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
5
Seton Hall University

Seton hall university is a catholic institution of higher education

—
6
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
7
Dean College

Dean college is a private, residential new england college grounded in a culture and tradition that all students deserve the opportunity to discover and exceed their greatest aspirations. a personal and transformative community since 1865,…

Education
8
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
9
Franklin University

Since 1902, Franklin University has been a pioneer in meeting the needs of adult students who have the ambition to continue their education in combination with other responsibilities, receiving its status as a tax exempt organization in…

—
10
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
11
Union Institute & University

Union Institute & University educates highly motivated adults who seek academic programs to engage, enlighten, and empower them to pursue professional goals and a lifetime of learning and service. Offering accredited bachelors, masters,…

—
12
Regis College

Regis college, through education in the arts, sciences, and professions empowers women and men to challenge themselves academically, to serve and to lead. a catholic college, regis is a diverse and welcoming community guided by the values…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Quinnipiac University; the most unlike its peers is Gateway Community College 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

15 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. 15 of the 35 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
11/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $33,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUTCENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: $22,500 · OtherCENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITYSOUTHERN CT STATE UNIVERSITY: $19,750 · OtherSOUTHERN CT STATE UNIVERSITYMIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $9,000 · OtherMIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGEUNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST: $7,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT - HARTFORD CAM: $6,000 · OtherFRANKLIN PIERCE COLLEGE: $5,000 · OtherEASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · Other+14 more: $37,500 · Other+14 moreSPRINGFIELD COLLEGE: $15,000 · EducationSPRINGFIELD COLLEGEUNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD: $11,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF HARTFORDQUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $7,500 · EducationQUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITYAmerican International College: $6,750 · EducationAmerican International CollegeIONA UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · EducationIONA UNIVERSITYCornell University: $4,500 · EducationCornell UniversityBENTLEY UNIVERSITY: $4,000 · EducationBENTLEY UNIVERSITYNIAGARA UNIVERSITY: $2,250 · EducationTHE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC: $2,250 · Education+3 more: $5,000 · Education+3 moreBROWN UNIVERSITY: $2,000 · Community Improvement
Other$145,250Education$63,750Community Improvement$2,000

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 budgetSPRINGFIELD COLLEGE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD: $11,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetQUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican International College: $6,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetIONA UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBENTLEY UNIVERSITY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGATEWAY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNIAGARA UNIVERSITY: $2,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC: $2,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSACRED HEART UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of New Haven: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD ↗
  • Who funds QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds American International College ↗
  • Who funds IONA UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds BENTLEY UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds GATEWAY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds BROWN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds University of New Haven ↗

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.

Ibm International Fou…Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Ibm International FoundationNY13.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ibm International Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 James Burns Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from James Burns Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • University of New Haven: 1% of income from government
  • University of Hartford: 1% of income from government
  • Sacred Heart University Incorporated: 0% of income from government
  • Quinnipiac University: 0% of income from government
  • Springfield College: 0% of income from government
  • American International College: 0% of income from government
  • Bentley University: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
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 35 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 James Burns’ 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