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Lawrence & Lillian Solomon Foundation Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Lawrence & Lillian Solomon Foundation Inc

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.

$522k
Granted FY2024still arriving
46
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$309k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$713kRecreation & Sports$421kPhilanthropy$322kCommunity Improvement$206kPublic Benefit$178kArts & Culture$99kHousing & Shelter$91kPublic Safety & Disaster$75kOther$0
02FY2024 · 46 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k38 grants · $58k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $105k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+1 grant · $309k
$1,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$6.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BARR FOUNDATION$308,958
ESPLANDE ASSOCIATION$50,000
MASS PARKS FOR ALL$25,000
MASS PARKS FOR ALL$25,000
MYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION$25,000
HENRY LEE FUND FOR BOSTON PARKS$10,000
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NC$10,000
CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY$10,000
ESPLANDE ASSOCIATION$6,400
CHARLES RIVER BOAT CLEAN UP$5,000
FRIENDS OF HERTER PARK$5,000
EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY$5,000
EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY$3,500
MASS PARKS FOR ALL$2,000
COGDESIGN$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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–20, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE PRICE CENTER: $10k → 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

NY
MA
IN
PA
RI
CA
VA
KS
TN
NC
DC
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.

70%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 46 repeat orgs$683k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +55% since the first grant, against +40% for those funded once.

46 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2024, 24 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

46
66

Total granted

$1.6M
$347k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+55%
+40%

Still filing today

67%
24%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 34% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $336k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureRecreation & SportsPublic Safety & DisasterHealthOther
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

  • MYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $368k · revenue +130%
  • BT
    Bike to the Sea Inc
    4× · 2020–2023 · $154k · revenue +95% · 81% of their budget
  • SB
    SOUTHWEST BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND AFFILIATES
    4× · 2020–2023 · $135k · revenue +222%

Funded once

  • CO
    CITY OF FRAMINGHAM
    one grant, 2022 · $55k
  • CO
    CITY OF MALDEN
    one grant, 2023 · $38k
  • TO
    TOWN OF SWAMPSCOTT
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
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
Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation Inc Attn Susan Sacco
—
2
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Inc

See attached schedule othe conservancy has sole responsibility for managing all aspects of the rose kennedy greenway, including horticulture, programming, public art, maintenance, and capital improvements. we envision a vibrant, inclusive,…

Recreation & Sports
3
Cohasset Conservation Trust Inc
—
4
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
5
Kestrel Land Trust

Kestrel land trust conserves and cares for forests, farms, and riverways in the connecticut river valley of western massachusetts while nurturing an enduring love of the land

Environment
6
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
7
Manchester Essex Conservation Trust

Manchester essex conservation trust preserves in perpetuity the natural beauty, wildlife habitat, and open space resources in our two towns and adjacent communities. we protect this land through acquisitions, conservation restrictions,…

Environment
8
Massachusetts Land Conservation Trust

Conservation and preservation of land.

Environment
9
Great Barrington Land Conservancy Inc

The great barrington land conservancy, inc. is dedicated to conservation and stewardship of the community's natural resources and special places, by working to protect and preserve important natural places, agricultural land and wildlife…

Environment
10
Friends of the Public Garden Inc

To work with boston's department of parks and recreation to preserve, protect and enhance boston's first public parks: the common, the public garden and the commonwealth avenue mall.

Environment
11
Squannacook Greenways

Squannacook Greenways' goal is to build, maintain, and promote the Squannacook River Rail Trail (SRRT) as a source of recreation and safe non-motorized transportation. The Squannacook River Rail Trail is a proposed conversion of…

Recreation & Sports
12
Chinatown Community Land Trust Inc

The chinatown community land trust (chinatown clt) works to stabilize the future of chinatown as a neighborhood for working class families and a regional hub for the chinese community. we work for community control of the land, development…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Charles River Conservancy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Barr Foundation. 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

59 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. 59 of the 131 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
59/59
Grantees still filing
45/59
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC: $368,070 · EnvironmentMYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATIO…MASS PARKS FOR ALL INC: $77,000 · EnvironmentMASS PARKS FOR ALL INCNeponset River Watershed Association: $60,500 · EnvironmentNeponset River Watershed Associat…Mass Central Rail Trail Alliance Inc: $39,000 · EnvironmentMass Central Rail Trail Alliance …BOSTON HARBOR NOW INC: $25,500 · Environment+16 more: $101,985 · Environment+16 moreWALKBOSTON INC: $55,798 · OtherWALKBOSTON INCCITY OF FRAMINGHAM: $55,000 · OtherCITY OF FRAMINGHAMBOSTON CONSERVATORY: $42,500 · OtherBOSTON CONSERVATORYCITY OF MALDEN: $37,600 · OtherCITY OF MALDENMASSBIKE: $33,300 · OtherMASSBIKEIndividual grant recipient: $28,000 · OtherTOWN OF SWAMPSCOTT: $20,000 · Other+75 more: $299,544 · Other+75 moreBARR FOUNDATION: $308,958 · PhilanthropyBARR FOUNDATION+2 more: $11,000 · PhilanthropyBike to the Sea Inc: $153,604 · Recreation & SportsBike to the…EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC: $76,600 · Recreation & SportsEMERALD NEC…+5 more: $6,000 · Recreation & SportsSOUTHWEST BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND AFFILIATES: $135,290 · Community ImprovementSOUTHWEST …FRIENDS OF HERTER PARK INC: $33,000 · Community ImprovementFRIENDS OF…THE DOWNTOWN AMHERST FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementBEYOND WALLS INC: $9,900 · Community Improvement+4 more: $12,500 · Community Improvement+4 moreLIVABLE STREETS TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE OF BOSTON INC: $77,100 · Public Safety & DisasterBOSTON CYCLISTS UNION INC: $75,000 · Public Safety & DisasterESPLANADE ASSOCIATION INC: $58,400 · Arts & CultureTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $40,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $3,638 · Arts & Culture
Environment$672,055Other$571,742Philanthropy$319,958Recreation & Sports$236,204Community Improvement$200,690Public Safety & Disaster$152,100Arts & Culture$102,038

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 budgetMYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC: $368,070 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetBARR FOUNDATION: $308,958 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBike to the Sea Inc: $153,604 over 4y, 81% of budgetSOUTHWEST BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND AFFILIATES: $135,290 over 4y, 14% of budgetLIVABLE STREETS TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE OF BOSTON INC: $77,100 over 4y, 4.9% of budgetMASS PARKS FOR ALL INC: $77,000 over 2y, 51% of budgetEMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC: $76,600 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetBOSTON CYCLISTS UNION INC: $75,000 over 4y, 6.9% of budgetNeponset River Watershed Association: $60,500 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetESPLANADE ASSOCIATION INC: $58,400 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWALKBOSTON INC: $55,798 over 4y, 6.4% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMass Central Rail Trail Alliance Inc: $39,000 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF HERTER PARK INC: $33,000 over 4y, 19% of budgetBOSTON HARBOR NOW INC: $25,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetEAST COAST GREENWAY ALLIANCE INC: $21,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetGREENROOTS INC: $16,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $15,225 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNEWTON CONSERVATORS INC: $14,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetFRANKLIN PARK COALITION: $13,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetCOALITION FOR A BETTER ACRE INC: $13,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHARLES RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC: $10,260 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetBARRY L PRICE REHABILITATION CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DOWNTOWN AMHERST FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBRISTOL COUNTY CHAMBER FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetBEYOND WALLS INC: $9,900 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATICK CENTER ASSOCIATES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDOWNTOWN FRAMINGHAM INC: $4,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLINE GREENSPACE ALLIANCE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAGAZINE BEACH PARTNERS INC: $2,000 over 3y, 9.5% of budgetGroundwork Lawrence Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGROW SMART RHODE ISLAND: $1,700 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWALTHAM LAND TR INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSUDBURY VALLEY TRUSTEES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY PARKS ALLIANCE INC: $1,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWACHUSETT GREENWAYS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWESTON FOREST AND TRAIL ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Barr FoundationEastern Bank Foundati…Boston Foundation IncCombined Jewish Phila…Conine Family Foundat…American Tower Corpor…Fidelity FoundationCummings Foundation G…Mystic River Watershe…Fields Pond Foundatio…Paul & Edith Babson F…Eastern Cambridge Fou…
Barr FoundationMA32.4× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Barr Foundation · Eastern Bank Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Conine Family Foundation · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · Fidelity Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Mystic River Watershed Association Inc · Fields Pond Foundation Inc · Paul & Edith Babson Foundation 106846-000 · Eastern Cambridge 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 Lawrence & Lillian Solomon Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lawrence & Lillian Solomon Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 190%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Wachusett Greenways Inc: 51% of income from government
  • Boston Harbor Now Inc: 45% of income from government
  • Friends of Herter Park Inc: 32% of income from government
  • Natick Center Associates Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Bike to the Sea Inc: 25% of income from government
  • Brookline Greenspace Alliance Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Mystic River Watershed Association Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Bristol County Chamber Foundation Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Sudbury Valley Trustees Inc: 11% of income from government
  • East Quabbin Land Trust Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Neponset River Watershed Association: 8% of income from government
  • Charles River Watershed Association Inc: 8% of income from government
  • The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Beyond Walls Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Third Sector New England Inc: 3% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Greenroots Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Downtown Amherst Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Emerald Necklace Conservancy Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
19get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 131 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 Lawrence & Lillian Solomon’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