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· Private foundation

Lawson Valentine Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$861k
Granted FY2025still arriving
50
Grants FY2025still arriving
15
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$860kFood & Nutrition$727kCommunity Improvement$515kCivil Rights$468kHuman Services$301kArts & Culture$241kInternational$217kHealth$193kOther$0
02FY2025 · 50 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k32 grants · $113k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $223k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $525k
$5,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TSNE MISSIONWORKS$150,000
WINDWARD FUND - THE HIVE FUND$100,000
MATTAPAN FOOD AND FITNESS COALITION$65,000
NUESTRAS RAICES$60,000
MIGRANT JUSTICE$50,000
FOOD CHAIN WORKERS ALLIANCE$50,000
MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT$50,000
ORGANIZATION FOR REFUGEE SUCCESS (ORIS)$40,000
THOUSAND CURRENTS$30,000
NORTH STAR FUND$25,000
NEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENTAL FUND$20,000
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION$20,000
GRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL$20,000
ALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITY & ENVIRONMENT$20,000
NEW ALTERNATIVES$14,000
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, $294k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PIONEER VALLEY WORKERS CENTER: $1k → 12%LA COLABORATIVA: $4k → 16%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $50k → 13%ULSTER IMMIGRANT DEFENSE NETWORK: $10k → 16%WHEELOCK MOUNTAIN FARM: $18k → 14%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $25k → 13%SISTERSONG: $6k → 13%WHEELOCK MOUNTAIN FARM: $18k → 14%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $22k → 13%SISTERSONG: $6k → 13%HOUR CHILDREN: $1k → 13%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $20k → 13%SISTERSONG: $4k → 13%ALASKA INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $6k → 10%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $20k → 13%ULSTER IMMIGRANT DEFENSE NETWORK: $5k → 16%SISTERSONG: $3k → 13%ALASKA INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $4k → 10%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $16k → 13%ALASKA INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $4k → 10%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $14k → 13%BURMESE ROHINGYA COMMUNITY OF GEORGIA: $5k → 14%ALASKA INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $3k → 10%MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PROJECT: $11k → 13%BURMESE ROHINGYA COMMUNITY OF GEORGIA: $2k → 14%TIDES CENTER: $4k → 10%ARAB AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NY: $3k → 20%ARM IN ARM: $1k → 11%AFRICAN COMMUNITIES TOGETHER: $3k → 17%AFRICAN COMMUNITIES TOGETHER: $3k → 17%AFRICAN COMMUNITIES TOGETHER: $2k → 17%LAUNDRY WORKERS CENTER: $1k → 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

AK
VT
NH
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
IN
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
NC
DC
LA
MS
AL
GA
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.4M · 98 repeat orgs$552k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

98 repeat relationships: 38 still active in FY2025, 60 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

98
96

Total granted

$4.4M
$424k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+18%

Still filing today

67%
66%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $128k 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
EnvironmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEducationCrime & LegalOther
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

  • THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $588k · revenue +44%
  • FC
    FOOD CHAIN WORKERS ALLIANCE
    8× · 2017–2025 · $228k · revenue +20%
  • NR
    NUESTRAS RAICES INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $200k · revenue +118%

Funded once

  • TC
    TIDES CENTER (CORPWATCH)
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • COMMUNITY INITIATIVESgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +254%
  • AC
    ART COUNCIL OF GREATER NEW HAVEN INC
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +11%
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
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
2
One Earth Philanthropy

One Earth connects thinkers, doers, activists, and knowledge holders from around the world to solve humanity's greatest ecological challenges--together. Our belief is simple: The solutions to the climate crisis already exist. By connecting…

Environment
3
New Roots Institute

New Roots Institute is a nonprofit empowering the next generation with knowledge and training to end factory farming.

Food & Nutrition
4
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
5
Nature for Justice

To empower frontline communities to lead nature-based solutions that advance climate justice, ecosystem restoration, and resilient livelihoods through connecting locally-led initiatives to funding, markets, and technical support.

Environment
6
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
7
Corporate Accountability Lab

The Organization unleashes the creative potential of the law to protect people and the planet from corporate abuse.

International
8
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
9
Rural Advancement Foundation Internation

Rafi challenges the root causes of unjust food systems, supporting and advocating for economically, racially and ecologically just farm communities.

International
10
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
11
International Center for Research On Women

The international center for research for women (icrw) is a global research institute, with a mission to advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and structurally excluded populations with actionable evidence and solutions.

International
12
Groundswell International Inc

Groundswell International strenghtens communities to build healthy farming and food systems from the ground up.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Grassroots International Inc; the most unlike its peers is Indigenous Women Rising Indigeous Women Rising. 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

154 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 154 of the 213 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
45
Early backer (in before they grew)
146/154
Grantees still filing
92/154
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TIDES CENTER (NESAWG): $165,000 · OtherTIDES CENTER (NESAWG)ARISE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: $140,000 · OtherARISE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICEORGANIZATION FOR REFUGEE SUCCESS (ORIS): $137,100 · OtherORGANIZATION FOR REFUGEE SUCCESS (ORIS)NEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENTAL FUND: $135,000 · OtherNEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDWINDWARD FUND - THE HIVE FUND: $100,000 · OtherMATTAPAN FOOD AND FITNESS COALITION: $85,000 · Other+134 more: $1,639,146 · Other+134 moreTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $588,113 · Community ImprovementTHIRD SECTOR NEW E…ALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT INC: $195,000 · Community ImprovementALTERNATIVES FOR C…+5 more: $42,500 · Community ImprovementNUESTRAS RAICES INC: $200,000 · Food & NutritionNUESTRAS RAICES…CITY SEED INC: $165,000 · Food & NutritionCITY SEED INCMIGRANT JUSTICE INC: $148,000 · Food & NutritionMIGRANT JUSTICE…HARTFORD FOOD SYSTEM INC: $125,440 · Food & NutritionHARTFORD FOOD S…SOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 · Food & Nutrition+6 more: $26,000 · Food & NutritionGLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND: $105,000 · EnvironmentGLOBAL GR…TOXICS ACTION CENTER INC: $80,000 · EnvironmentTOXICS AC…CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVAT…NEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENT FUND INC: $60,000 · EnvironmentNEW ENGLA…D&R GREENWAY LAND TRUST INC: $32,500 · EnvironmentD&R GREEN…CONNECTICUT CITIZEN RESEARCH GROUP INC: $28,667 · EnvironmentCONNECTIC…NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND: $15,000 · Environment+11 more: $37,088 · Environment+11 moreMassachusetts Avenue Project Inc: $178,359 · Human ServicesWHEELOCK MOUNTAIN FARM INC: $36,000 · Human ServicesSISTERSONG INC: $19,000 · Human ServicesAlaska Institute For Justice: $17,000 · Human ServicesULSTER IMMIGRANT DEFENSE NETWORK: $15,000 · Human Services+9 more: $28,500 · Human ServicesGRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $190,800 · InternationalTHOUSAND CURRENTS: $40,000 · International1for3org Inc: $15,000 · International+5 more: $24,000 · InternationalFOOD CHAIN WORKERS ALLIANCE: $228,000 · Employment+1 more: $3,500 · Employment
Other$2,401,246Community Improvement$825,613Food & Nutrition$694,440Environment$433,255Human Services$293,859International$269,800Employment$231,500

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $588,113 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetFOOD CHAIN WORKERS ALLIANCE: $228,000 over 8y, 4.2% of budgetNUESTRAS RAICES INC: $200,000 over 8y, 9.7% of budgetALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT INC: $195,000 over 9y, 5.1% of budgetGRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $190,800 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetMassachusetts Avenue Project Inc: $178,359 over 8y, 3.2% of budgetCITY SEED INC: $165,000 over 7y, 8.1% of budgetMIGRANT JUSTICE INC: $148,000 over 5y, 6.2% of budgetHARTFORD FOOD SYSTEM INC: $125,440 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetGLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND: $105,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetTOXICS ACTION CENTER INC: $80,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT SOUTH INC: $66,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetNew Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth Inc: $64,500 over 8y, 3.1% of budgetNEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENT FUND INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetPrinceton Symphony Orchestra Inc: $47,500 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetRISING HOPE INC: $46,500 over 9y, 7.3% of budgetCenter of Theological Inquiry: $41,500 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetTHOUSAND CURRENTS: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT NURSES FOUNDATION: $35,333 over 7y, 46% of budgetNORTH STAR FUND INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMAGNOLIA TREE EARTH CENTER OF BEDFORD STUYVESANT: $33,500 over 4y, 4.9% of budgetD&R GREENWAY LAND TRUST INC: $32,500 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSouth River Watershed Alliance: $29,000 over 4y, 4.8% of budgetCONNECTICUT CITIZEN RESEARCH GROUP INC: $28,667 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $28,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIVE MOVEMENT: $25,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetART COUNCIL OF GREATER NEW HAVEN INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetHartbeat Ensemble Inc: $19,500 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetSISTERSONG INC: $19,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMARY MITCHELL FAMILY AND YOUTH CENTER INC: $17,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetDr Shalon Maternal Action Project Inc: $17,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetAlaska Institute For Justice: $17,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetULSTER IMMIGRANT DEFENSE NETWORK: $15,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND: $15,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNational Save The Family Farm Coalition: $15,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetRed Tomato Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetWE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS: $15,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budget1for3org Inc: $15,000 over 3y, 20% of budgetSTATE DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $14,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY ALLIANCE WITH FAMILY FARMERS: $14,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetEVERYDAY DEMOCRACY INC: $13,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPROGEORGIA STATE TABLE INC: $12,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ABORTION FEDERATION: $11,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ART EFFECT OF THE HUDSON VALLEY INC: $10,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetEASTERN WOODLAND LACROSS: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% 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 THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD CHAIN WORKERS ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds NUESTRAS RAICES INC ↗
  • Who funds ALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds GRASSROOTS INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Massachusetts Avenue Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds CITY SEED INC ↗
  • Who funds MIGRANT JUSTICE INC ↗
  • Who funds HARTFORD FOOD SYSTEM INC ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND ↗
  • Who funds TOXICS ACTION CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT SOUTH INC ↗
  • Who funds New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth Inc ↗
  • Who funds NEW ENGLAND GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENT FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds Princeton Symphony Orchestra Inc ↗
  • Who funds RISING HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds Center of Theological Inquiry ↗
  • Who funds THOUSAND CURRENTS ↗
  • Who funds WHEELOCK MOUNTAIN FARM INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT NURSES FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NORTH STAR FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds MAGNOLIA TREE EARTH CENTER OF BEDFORD STUYVESANT ↗
  • Who funds D&R GREENWAY LAND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds SOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds South River Watershed Alliance ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT CITIZEN RESEARCH GROUP 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.

Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC44× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Tides Foundation · The Scherman Foundation Inc · Farm Aid Inc · New York Foundation · North Star Fund Inc · WK Kellogg Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · New York Women's Foundation Inc · Clif Family Foundation · Movement Strategy Center

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 190%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • City Seed Inc: 87% of income from government
  • Pioneer Valley Workers Center Inc: 53% of income from government
  • Art Council of Greater New Haven Inc: 14% of income from government
  • D&r Greenway Land Trust Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation: 7% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Regional Environmental Council Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Princeton Symphony Orchestra Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Connecticut Nurses Foundation: 4% of income from government
  • Arm in Arm Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Third Sector New England Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Resist Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Nuestras Raices Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Connecticut Citizen Research Group Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Migrant Justice Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Oregon State University Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Infact Dba Corporate Accountability: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
19get no government money at all
32report 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 Lawson Valentine Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Lawson Valentine Foundation 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 213 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

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