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Johnson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Johnson Family Foundation

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.

$1.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$100k
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.

Youth Development$1.4MHuman Services$918kEducation$845kFood & Nutrition$550kHealth$455kCivil Rights$250kScience & Tech$240kReligion$140kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k13 grants · $343k
  • $50k–250k15 grants · $879k
$50,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEADERSHIP BRAINERY$100,000
PARTNERS FOR YOUTH WITH DISABIITIES$100,000
MIT OFFICE OF ENGINEERING OUTREACH -$60,000
SPOONFULS INC$60,000
BREAK THROUGH CINCINNATI$55,000
CAMP STARFISH INC$53,500
NEXT ONE UP FOUNDATION$50,000
INNOVATORS FOR PURPOSE$50,000
UNCORNERED INC$50,000
MAY WE HELP$50,000
BOSTON AREA GLEANERS$50,000
FAMILIES 1ST PARENTING PROGRAMS INC$50,000
MORE THAN WORDS INC$50,000
THE WELCOME PROJECT$50,000
MISSIONSAFE A NEW BEGINNING$50,000
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 (FY21–25, $708k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 82% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%COLLEGE BOUND DORCHESTER: $50k → 16%BE CONCERNED INC: $22k → 11%COLLEGE BOUND DORCHESTER: $50k → 16%BE CONCERNED INC: $22k → 11%COLLEGE BOUND DORCHESTER: $50k → 16%BE CONCERNED INC: $20k → 11%COLLEGE BOUND DORCHESTER: $50k → 16%BE CONCERNED INC: $17k → 11%BE CONCERNED INC: $17k → 11%INNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: $25k → 16%INNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: $25k → 16%INNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: $20k → 16%HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $25k → 8%INNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: $20k → 16%HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $25k → 8%INNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: $20k → 16%HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $25k → 8%NEW LIFE FURNITURE INC: $25k → 16%NEW LIFE FURNITURE INC: $25k → 16%HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $25k → 8%NEW LIFE FURNITURE INC: $25k → 16%HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $25k → 8%NEW LIFE FURNITURE INC: $25k → 16%NEW LIFE FURNITURE INC: $25k → 16%UNCORNERED INC: $50k → 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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.3M · 31 repeat orgs$55k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
2

Total granted

$5.3M
$55k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
0%

Still filing today

84%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
Youth DevelopmentHuman ServicesEducationFood & NutritionPhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • S
    SPOONFULS
    5× · 2021–2025 · $300k · revenue +31%
  • BC
    Breakthrough Cincinnati Inc
    5× · 2021–2025 · $265k · revenue +197%
  • CS
    CAMP STARFISH INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $253k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • EA
    ENVISIONING ACCESS INC
    one grant, 2025 · $30k · revenue 0%
  • AF
    ARTS FOR LEARNING MASSACHUSETTS INC
    one grant, 2025 · $25k · revenue 0%
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
Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Michigan Inc

Goodwill provides exceptional opportunities for people facing employment barriers.

—
2
Center for Living & Working Inc

We work to ensure that individuals with disabilities can live independently as equal members of society.

Human Services
3
Youthbuild Global Inc

With love and respect, we partner with opportunity youth to build the skillsets and mindsets that lead to lifelong learning, livelihood, and leadership. youthbuild strives to create a world where all young people are seen for their…

Employment
4
Breakthrough Greater Boston Inc

To inspire excitement for learning, create paths to and through college, and promote careers in education.

Education
5
Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association Inc

The mission of the volunteer lawyers project of the boston bar association is to increase access to justice by delivering high quality pro bono civil legal services to eligible clients in the greater boston area.

Crime & Legal
6
Massachusetts Education & Career Opportunities Inc

Massachusetts education and career opportunities, inc. (massedco, inc.) is a statewide network of service sites that provides education and career advising to over 12,000 low-income, first generation individuals each year. massedco…

Education
7
Digital Ready Inc

Digital Ready activates the creative potential of young adults, especially low-income residents, to build tangible pathways to economic opportunities in Boston's innovation economy.

Education
8
Alternatives Inc

Alternatives, inc.'s mission is to facilitate personal development,strengthen family relationships and enhance the community's well being. serving over 3,000 youth and families annually, the organization offers a range of counseling and…

Health
9
United Way of Greater New Bedford Inc

Our mission is to mobilize people, partnerships and resources to catalyze change that strengthens the communities served.

—
10
Homeward Bound Inc

Providing innovative and life-enriching services for children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities.

Human Services
11
The Center for Teen Empowerment Inc

To employ, train, and empower youth to, in collaboration with adults, create peace, equity, and justice.

—
12
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance Inc

Maha breaks down barriers facing first-time and first-generation home buyers and owners through education, counseling, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is More Than Words Inc; the most unlike its peers is Inner City Youth Opportunities. 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

28 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. 28 of the 33 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/28
Grantees still filing
20/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MORE THAN WORDS INC: $250,000 · OtherMORE THAN WORDS INCTHE WELCOME PROJECT INC: $250,000 · OtherTHE WELCOME PROJECT INCFAMILIES 1ST PARENTING PROGRAMS INC: $250,000 · OtherFAMILIES 1ST PARENTING PROGRAMS INCMIT OFFICE OF ENGINEERING OUTREACH -: $240,000 · OtherMIT OFFICE OF ENGINEERING OUTREACH -PARTNERS FOR YOUTH WITH DISABIITIES: $150,000 · OtherPARTNERS FOR YOUTH WITH DISABIITIESHELPING HANDS: $120,000 · OtherHELPING HANDSYOUNG AUDIENCES OF MASSACHUSETTES: $100,000 · OtherPARTNERS FOR YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES INC: $70,000 · OtherMAY WE HELP INC: $150,000 · OtherMAY WE HELP INCHAMILTON LIVING WATER MINISTRY INC: $139,600 · OtherHAMILTON LIVING WATER MINISTRY INCHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES: $120,000 · OtherHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATESTHE LOOP LAB INC: $105,000 · OtherNEW BEGINNINGS REENTRY SERVICES INC: $100,000 · Other+2 more: $55,000 · OtherCAMP STARFISH INC: $252,500 · Youth DevelopmentCAMP STARFISH INCMISSIONSAFE A NEW BEGINNING INC: $250,000 · Youth DevelopmentMISSIONSAFE A NEW BEG…NEXT ONE UP FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · Youth DevelopmentNEXT ONE UP FOUNDATIO…Critical Exposure Inc: $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentCritical Exposure IncInnovators for Purpose Inc: $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentInnovators for Purpos…UNCORNERED INC: $250,000 · Human ServicesUNCORNERED INCHOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $125,000 · Human ServicesHOUSEHOLD GOODS…NEW LIFE FURNITURE BANK: $125,000 · Human ServicesNEW LIFE FURNIT…INNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: $110,000 · Human ServicesINNER CITY YOUT…BE CONCERNED INC: $98,050 · Human ServicesBE CONCERNED IN…SPOONFULS: $300,000 · Food & NutritionSPOONFULSBOSTON AREA GLEANERS INC: $250,000 · Food & NutritionBOSTON AREA…Leadership Brainery Inc: $175,000 · EducationLeadershi…EL EDUCATION INC: $155,000 · EducationEL EDUCAT…A WIDER CIRCLE INC: $125,000 · EducationA WIDER C…Breakthrough Cincinnati Inc: $265,000 · Community ImprovementCRAYONS AND BEYOND INC: $125,000 · PhilanthropyTHE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION: $125,000 · Philanthropy
Other$2,099,600Youth Development$1,002,500Human Services$708,050Food & Nutrition$550,000Education$455,000Community Improvement$265,000Philanthropy$250,000

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 budgetSPOONFULS: $300,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetBreakthrough Cincinnati Inc: $265,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetCAMP STARFISH INC: $252,500 over 5y, 4.6% of budgetMISSIONSAFE A NEW BEGINNING INC: $250,000 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetMORE THAN WORDS INC: $250,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetTHE WELCOME PROJECT INC: $250,000 over 5y, 9.4% of budgetBOSTON AREA GLEANERS INC: $250,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetUNCORNERED INC: $250,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetNEXT ONE UP FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetLeadership Brainery Inc: $175,000 over 3y, 7.7% of budgetEL EDUCATION INC: $155,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCritical Exposure Inc: $150,000 over 5y, 3.8% of budgetMAY WE HELP INC: $150,000 over 5y, 5.1% of budgetInnovators for Purpose Inc: $150,000 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetHAMILTON LIVING WATER MINISTRY INC: $139,600 over 5y, 18% of budgetCRAYONS AND BEYOND INC: $125,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetHOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $125,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetNEW LIFE FURNITURE BANK: $125,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetA WIDER CIRCLE INC: $125,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES: $120,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetINNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: $110,000 over 5y, 8.5% of budgetTHE LOOP LAB INC: $105,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetNEW BEGINNINGS REENTRY SERVICES INC: $100,000 over 2y, 9.0% of budgetBE CONCERNED INC: $98,050 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetPARTNERS FOR YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES INC: $70,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetENVISIONING ACCESS INC: $30,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetARTS FOR LEARNING MASSACHUSETTS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.5% 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 SPOONFULS ↗
  • Who funds Breakthrough Cincinnati Inc ↗
  • Who funds CAMP STARFISH INC ↗
  • Who funds MISSIONSAFE A NEW BEGINNING INC ↗
  • Who funds MORE THAN WORDS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE WELCOME PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON AREA GLEANERS INC ↗
  • Who funds UNCORNERED INC ↗
  • Who funds NEXT ONE UP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Leadership Brainery Inc ↗
  • Who funds EL EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Critical Exposure Inc ↗
  • Who funds MAY WE HELP INC ↗
  • Who funds Innovators for Purpose Inc ↗
  • Who funds HAMILTON LIVING WATER MINISTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds CRAYONS AND BEYOND INC ↗
  • Who funds HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW LIFE FURNITURE BANK ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds A WIDER CIRCLE INC ↗
  • Who funds HALEY HOUSE INC & AFFILIATES ↗
  • Who funds INNER CITY YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES ↗
  • Who funds THE LOOP LAB INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW BEGINNINGS REENTRY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds BE CONCERNED INC ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERS FOR YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds ENVISIONING ACCESS INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTS FOR LEARNING MASSACHUSETTS INC ↗

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 IncCummings Foundation G…Liberty Mutual Founda…Eastern Bank Foundati…Priscilla Alden UwoEdelweiss FoundationAndrew Jergens Founda…The Cabot Family Char…Elsa M Heisel Sule Ch…Bushrod H Campbell & …Nellie Mae Education …Combined Jewish Phila…
Boston Foundation IncMA26.1× affinity12 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Priscilla Alden Uwo · Edelweiss Foundation · Andrew Jergens Foundation · The Cabot Family Charitable Trust · Elsa M Heisel Sule Charitable Trust 2005 · Bushrod H Campbell & Adah F Hall Charity Fund · Nellie Mae Education Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc

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 Johnson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Johnson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 20%
  • New Beginnings Reentry Services Inc: 42% of income from government
  • Missionsafe a New Beginning Inc: 38% of income from government
  • More Than Words Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Uncornered Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Boston Area Gleaners Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Camp Starfish Inc: 18% of income from government
  • A Wider Circle Inc: 6% of income from government
  • The Welcome Project Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Arts for Learning Massachusetts Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
6report 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 33 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 Johnson Family’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