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Larsson Danforth Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Larsson Danforth Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$41k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$54kEnvironment$42kHealth$30kEducation$21kReligion$18kScience & Tech$10kRecreation & Sports$9kCivil Rights$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$3,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$552k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MARION INSTITUTE$5,000
COMMON SENSE MEDIA$5,000
THE NEW BEDFORD LIGHT$5,000
MANHATTAN THEATER CLUB 1211$3,000
BUZZARDS BAY COALITION$3,000
ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATER$3,000
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY$3,000
MCC THEATRE$3,000
2ND STAGE THEATRE$3,000
BUZZARDS BAY COALITION$3,000
PUBLIC THEATRE THE$3,000
MONTANA LAND RELIANCE$2,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 74% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MARION INSTITUTE: $10k → 8%Cambridge Friends School: $5k → 8%NEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $5k → 11%HIGH SPIRIT COMMUNITY FARM: $1k → 12%VISIONS INC: $10k → 16%BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE: $5k → 16%CAPE ELUTHERA FOUNDATION: $10k → 22%COMMON SENSE MEDIA: $5k → 10%Waterkeeper Alliance: $5k → 17%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $3k → 14%YALE CHILD STUDIES CENTER: $1k → 12%CENTER FOR HUMANS AND NATURE: $1k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF MONTANA: $5k → 7%PHIIIPS EXETER ACADEMY: $5k → 5%MARION INSTITUTE: $5k → 8%National Multiple Sclerosis Society: $5k → 8%THE NEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $5k → 11%HIGH SPIRIT COMMUNITY FARM: $1k → 12%VISIONS INC: $5k → 16%The Blackfoot Challenge: $5k → 16%CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $5k → 17%THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $500 → 14%YALE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $10k → 12%MARION INSTITUTE: $5k → 8%NEW ENGLAND FORESTRY FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%THE NEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $5k → 11%VISIONS INC: $3k → 16%Blackfoot Pathway Sculpture: $3k → 16%CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $3k → 17%MARION INSTITUTE: $5k → 8%NEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $5k → 11%BUZZARDS BAY COALITION: $3k → 16%CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $500 → 17%BUZZARDS BAY COALITION: $5k → 11%BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE: $1k → 16%CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $500 → 17%BUZZARDS BAY COALITION: $3k → 11%BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE: $1k → 16%THE PUBLIC THEATRE: $5k → 17%BLACKFOOT PATHWAYS: $500 → 16%MCC THEATRE: $3k → 17%PUBLIC THEATRE THE: $3k → 17%MCC THEATRE: $2k → 17%2ND STAGE THEATRE: $5k → 17%ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATER: $3k → 17%2ND STAGE THEATRE: $3k → 17%MANHATTAN THEATER CLUB 1211: $3k → 17%ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATER: $2k → 17%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
MT
IL
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
VA
DC
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.

69%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$128k · 13 repeat orgs$58k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +99% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
12

Total granted

$128k
$47k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+99%
+37%

Still filing today

62%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentArts & CulturePhilanthropyRecreation & SportsEducationHousing & 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

  • NB
    NEW BEDFORD LIGHT
    3× · 2021–2024 · $20k · revenue +99%
  • BC
    BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC
    4× · 2019–2023 · $12k · revenue +162%
  • CP
    CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $9k · revenue +163%

Funded once

  • CAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +243%
  • WA
    WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -44%
  • PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMYgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +37%
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Wildlands Trust Inc

The wildlands trust works throughout southeastern massachusetts to conserve and permanently protect native habitats, farmland, and lands of high ecologic and scenic value that serve to keep our communities healthy and our residents…

Environment
3
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
4
Conservation Farms & Ranches

Preserving and enhancing the habitat of wildlife, such as sandhill cranes, waterfowl, raptors, which habitat expenses are supported by agricultural activities.

Housing & Shelter
5
The Wildlife Society

The wildlife society's mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.

Animals
6
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
7
Harvard Conservation Trust

To preserve the unique character and natural resources of harvard.

Environment
8
Cascadia Wildlands

Cascadia wildlands defends and restores cacasia's wild ecosystems in the forests,in the courts, and in the streets. we envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and…

Environment
9
Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc

To protect the nature of massachusetts for people and for wildlife through education, land conservation, advocacy, scientific research, and habitat stewardship/restoration.

Environment
10
Conservation Law Foundation Inc

Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. we use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources,…

Environment
11
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
12
Wetlands America Trust Inc

Wetlands america trust, inc. is a nonprofit organization formed in 1985 to expand ducks unlimited, inc's mission to provide leadership in the protection of the natural balance of wetlands ecosystems ensuring the future viability of…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New England Forestry Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Phillips Exeter Academy. 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 29 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
12/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VISIONS INC: $18,000 · OtherVISIONS INC2ND STAGE THEATRE: $8,000 · Other2ND STAGE THEATRETHE PUBLIC THEATRE: $8,000 · OtherTHE PUBLIC THEATREMCC THEATRE: $5,000 · OtherMCC THEATRETHE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF MONTANA: $5,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF MONTANACAMBRIDGE FRIENDS SCHOOL INC: $5,000 · OtherCAMBRIDGE FRIENDS SCHOOL INCNational Multiple Sclerosis Society: $5,000 · OtherNational Multiple Sclerosis SocietyENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATER: $4,500 · OtherENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATERIndividual grant recipient: $3,000 · OtherMANHATTAN THEATER CLUB 1211: $3,000 · OtherBUZZARDS BAY COALITION: $3,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $3,000 · Other+4 more: $4,500 · Other+4 moreBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC: $12,000 · EnvironmentBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE …BUZZARDS BAY COALITION: $8,000 · EnvironmentBUZZARDS BAY COALITI…WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentWATERKEEPER ALLIANCE…THE MONTANA LAND RELIANCE: $4,500 · EnvironmentTHE MONTANA LAND REL…THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $3,500 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SOCIE…NEW ENGLAND FORESTRY FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 · EnvironmentNEW ENGLAND FORESTRY…THE MARION INSTITUTE INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTHE MARION INS…NEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $20,000 · Arts & CultureNEW BEDFORD LI…COMMON SENSE MEDIA: $5,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMON SENSE M…Yale University: $10,000 · EducationPHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY: $5,000 · EducationCAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · InternationalCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $9,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$75,000Environment$36,000Philanthropy$25,000Arts & Culture$25,000Education$15,000International$10,000Recreation & Sports$9,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE MARION INSTITUTE INC: $25,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetNEW BEDFORD LIGHT: $20,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetBLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetYale University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $9,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBUZZARDS BAY COALITION: $8,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON SENSE MEDIA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MONTANA LAND RELIANCE: $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND FORESTRY FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHIGH SPIRIT COMMUNITY FARM INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% 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 THE MARION INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW BEDFORD LIGHT ↗
  • Who funds BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE INC ↗
  • Who funds Yale University ↗
  • Who funds CAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds BUZZARDS BAY COALITION ↗
  • Who funds WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds COMMON SENSE MEDIA ↗
  • Who funds THE MONTANA LAND RELIANCE ↗
  • Who funds THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds NEW ENGLAND FORESTRY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HIGH SPIRIT COMMUNITY FARM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR HUMANS AND NATURE ↗

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.

Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA8.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Larsson Danforth Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Larsson Danforth Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 37%
  • New England Forestry Foundation Inc: 88% of income from government
  • High Spirit Community Farm Inc: 54% of income from government
  • Buzzards Bay Coalition: 37% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • The Marion Institute Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
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.

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 29 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Larsson Danforth 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