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Kershaw Foundation Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Kershaw Foundation Charitable Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$163k
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0187% 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$181kYouth Development$170kEnvironment$74kHealth$64kRecreation & Sports$50kHuman Services$43kEducation$24kSocial Science$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $47k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $116k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$12k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAIL BOSTON$45,000
ESPLANADE ASSOCIATION INC$25,000
TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS$16,000
NOURISH NANTUCKET$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA$10,000
OLD NORTH ILLUMINATED$7,500
NANTUCKET COTTAGE HOSPITAL$7,000
BEACON HILL VILLAGE$5,355
USS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM$5,100
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL$5,000
BOSTON AREA CHURCH LEAGUE$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN INC$5,000
GREAT HARBOR YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION$1,200
SAIL TO PREVAIL$1,000
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 (FY17–25, $36k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%BOYS TOWN: $500 → 12%BOYS TOWN: $100 → 12%BEACON HILL VILLAGE: $10k → 16%BEACON HILL VILLAGE: $10k → 16%BEACON HILL VILLAGE: $10k → 16%BEACON HILL VILLAGE: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
NH
NY
MA
OR
IN
PA
RI
CA
NE
VA
MD
KS
NC
DC
TX
FL
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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$663k · 34 repeat orgs$206k to everyone else

34 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
44

Total granted

$663k
$161k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+30%

Still filing today

68%
66%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $45k 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 & CultureHealthRecreation & SportsEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementEducationOther
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

  • UC
    USS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM INC
    6× · 2017–2025 · $75k · revenue +28%
  • RB
    Ron Burton Training Village Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $52k · revenue +447%
  • ST
    SAVE THE HARBORSAVE THE BAY INC
    5× · 2017–2024 · $45k · revenue +75%

Funded once

  • HL
    HENRY LEE FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $75k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
  • MF
    MASCOTS FOR A CURE
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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 Architectural College

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

—
2
Historic Boston Incorporated
—
3
Managers of Boston Port and Seamen's Aid Society
—
4
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
5
Boston Society of Architects

The boston society of architects (bsa/aia) exists to improve the quality of life for boston-area residents by championing innovation in the built environment. as a membership association, we achieve this mission in partnership with the bsa…

—
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
7
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
8
Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc

The greater boston convention and visitors bureau, inc.'s mission is to elevate boston's vibrant neighborhoods and diverse people, amplifying their stories and sharing them locally and across the globe. we deliver exciting and inclusive…

—
9
New England Museum Association

New england museum association's mission is to connect a community engaged in learning, collaboration, and action to cultivate a better museum world.

—
10
Massachusetts Business Roundtable Inc

The mission of the roundtable is to make massachusetts the most desirable place to live, work and do business by engaging private sector executives and public leaders to ensure access to a robust, diverse and talented workforce that…

—
11
Brighton Marine Inc

Brighton marine, inc. provides military and veteran families with comprehensive campus-based quality health care, as well as affordable and supportive housing for at-risk veterans and their families.

Health
12
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Esplanade Association Inc; the most unlike its peers is Patton 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

62 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. 62 of the 89 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/62
Grantees still filing
46/62
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $78,473 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHENRY LEE FUND: $75,000 · OtherHENRY LEE FUNDRon Burton Training Village Inc: $51,554 · OtherRon Burton Training Village IncBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $34,350 · OtherBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICAIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientOUR SPACE OUR PLACE INC: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherHARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL: $20,000 · Other+48 more: $120,993 · Other+48 moreUSS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM INC: $75,100 · Arts & CultureUSS CONSTITUTION …LYNX EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureLYNX EDUCATIONAL …ESPLANADE ASSOCIATION INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureESPLANADE ASSOCIA…+7 more: $3,200 · Arts & CultureSAVE THE HARBORSAVE THE BAY INC: $45,000 · EnvironmentSAVE THE H…THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $17,100 · EnvironmentTHE TRUSTE…FRIENDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN INC: $13,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF…GREAT HARBOR YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $5,200 · EnvironmentGREAT HARB…+2 more: $3,100 · EnvironmentSAIL BOSTON INC: $57,500 · Recreation & SportsSAIL BOSTO…TENACITY INC: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsTENACITY I…+4 more: $2,600 · Recreation & SportsDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $45,000 · HealthTHE VINCENT CLUB INC: $2,500 · HealthNEW ENGLAND BAPTIST HOSPITAL: $2,000 · HealthSAIL TO PREVAIL: $2,000 · Health+3 more: $2,000 · HealthBOSTON AREA CHURCH LEAGUE INC: $41,700 · Youth DevelopmentLOUIS D BROWN PEACE INSTITUTE CORP: $2,500 · Youth DevelopmentBEACON HILL VILLAGE INC: $35,355 · Human Services+1 more: $600 · Human Services
Other$445,370Arts & Culture$133,300Environment$83,400Recreation & Sports$80,100Health$53,500Youth Development$44,200Human Services$35,955

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 budgetUSS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM INC: $75,100 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetSAIL BOSTON INC: $57,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetRon Burton Training Village Inc: $51,554 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetSAVE THE HARBORSAVE THE BAY INC: $45,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $45,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON AREA CHURCH LEAGUE INC: $41,700 over 8y, 20% of budgetBEACON HILL VILLAGE INC: $35,355 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetLYNX EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetOUR SPACE OUR PLACE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetTENACITY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $17,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN INC: $13,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBEACON HILL CIVIC ASSOCIATION INC: $10,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOLD NORTH ILLUMINATED INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNOURISH NANTUCKET INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGREAT HARBOR YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $5,200 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDSHIPWORKS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSWARTHMORE COLLEGE: $3,728 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetA BETTER CITY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE VINCENT CLUB INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBOSTON HARBOR NOW INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLOUIS D BROWN PEACE INSTITUTE CORP: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetJOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND BAPTIST HOSPITAL: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAIL TO PREVAIL: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNANTUCKET SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBoston Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROGERSON HOUSE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVENICE YACHT CLUB INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFund for Parks and Recreation - Boston: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS DOWN SYNDROME CONGRESS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Boston Police Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE AMERICAN IRELAND FUND (DBA THE IRELAND FUNDS AMERICA/THE IRELAND FUNDS): $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFather Flanagan's Boys' Home: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY BOATING INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDELTA UPSILON EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS EYE & EAR INFIRMARY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET CENTER FOR ELDER AFFAIRS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGENERAL PATTON MEMORIAL INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNANTUCKET PRESERVATION TRUST INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC: $500 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.

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…King Spruce CompanyErnst & Elfriede Fran…Highland Street Conne…Liberty Mutual Founda…Meyer & Jean Steinber…Combined Jewish Phila…Lovett-Woodsum Founda…Community Foundation …GivenGain Foundation …Barr Foundation
Boston Foundation IncMA34.6× affinity19 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 · King Spruce Company · Ernst & Elfriede Frank Foundation Inc · Highland Street Connection and Subsidiaries · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Meyer & Jean Steinberg Family Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Lovett-Woodsum Foundation Inc · Community Foundation for Nantucket Inc · GivenGain Foundation USA · Barr 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 Kershaw Foundation Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kershaw Foundation Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 210%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Old North Illuminated Inc: 94% of income from government
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Boston Harbor Now Inc: 45% of income from government
  • Louis D Brown Peace Institute Corp: 32% of income from government
  • Beacon Hill Village Inc: 28% of income from government
  • Uss Constitution Museum Inc: 17% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • New England Life Flight Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Rogerson House Inc: 3% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • New England Baptist Hospital: 1% of income from government
  • Friends of the Public Garden Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Nantucket Historical Association: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Emerald Necklace Conservancy Inc: 0% of income from government
  • National Braille Press Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
21get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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 Kershaw Foundation Charitable Trust?

Find your warmest path to Kershaw Foundation Charitable Trust 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 89 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 Kershaw’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