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Ledgeways Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Ledgeways Charitable Trust

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.

$330k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$125k
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, FY2019 to 2025.

Philanthropy$977kFood & Nutrition$560kEducation$230kArts & Culture$105kHealth$65kEnvironment$55kCivil Rights$50kReligion$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k8 grants · $145k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $185k
$25,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK$125,000
WBUR$60,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA$35,000
THE HEARD MUSEUM$25,000
TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS$25,000
HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS INC$20,000
FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE$10,000
DISCOVERY MUSEUM$10,000
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE$10,000
BOSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS$10,000
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 (FY19–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 98% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE HEARD MUSEUM: $25k → 11%DISCOVERY MUSEUM: $10k → 8%HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS INC: $20k → 11%PETER A BANKS ENDOWED FELLOWSHIP FUND: $5k → 16%AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $50k → 17%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA: $35k → 14%FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $10k → 12%THE HEARD MUSEUM: $25k → 11%LEHRHAUS CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE AND LEARNING: $10k → 8%PETER A BANKS ENDOWED FELLOWSHIP FUND: $5k → 16%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA: $25k → 14%THE HEARD MUSEUM: $10k → 11%PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE: $10k → 8%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $125k → 16%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $100k → 16%GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $100k → 16%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $100k → 16%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $100k → 16%GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $35k → 16%BOSTON FOUNDATION INC: $250k → 16%WBUR: $60k → 16%WBUR: $50k → 16%WBUR: $40k → 16%WBUR: $30k → 16%BOSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS: $25k → 16%WBUR: $20k → 16%WBUR: $10k → 16%WBUR: $10k → 16%BOSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS: $10k → 16%COMBINED JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF GREATER BOSTON: $300k → 16%COMBINED JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF GREATER BOSTON: $59k → 16%TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $25k → 16%TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $25k → 16%TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $5k → 16%PETER A BANKS MD ENDOWED FELLOWSHIP FUND: $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.
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 7 repeat orgs$105k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
3

Total granted

$1.0M
$65k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+148%

Still filing today

86%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHealthCivil RightsReligionHousing & 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

  • GB
    GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC
    6× · 2019–2025 · $560k · revenue +67%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    7× · 2019–2025 · $220k · revenue +32%
  • TH
    THE HEARD MUSEUM
    3× · 2022–2025 · $60k · revenue +100%

Funded once

  • AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +65%
  • LC
    LEHRHAUS CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE AND LEARNING INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +148%
  • PA
    PETER A BANKS MD ENDOWED FELLOWSHIP FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
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 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
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
4
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide access to and conduct activities in furtherance of higher education.

—
5
Trustees of Boston College

Mission strengthened by more than a century and a half of dedication to academic excellence, boston college commits itself to the highest standards of teaching and research in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and to the…

Education
6
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
7
Mass General Brigham Health Plan Inc

Mass general brigham health plan's mission is to promote the health and wellness of our members, and to help ensure equitable, affordbale health care for the diverse communities we serve.

Health
8
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.

—
9
Harvard Conservation Trust

To preserve the unique character and natural resources of harvard.

Environment
10
University of Massachusetts Foundation Inc

The mission of the university of massachusetts foundation, inc. is to foster and promote the growth, progress and general welfare of the university of massachusetts as stated in the original 1950 articles of organization. the foundation…

Education
11
Fordham University

Fordham university, the jesuit university of new york, is committed to the discovery of wisdom and the transmission of learning, through research and through education of the highest quality. for more information, see schedule o.

Education
12
Trustees for Harvard University

To facilitate harvard university's scientific, literary, and educational activities in washington, dc.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Boston Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Lehrhaus Center for Jewish Life and Learning 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

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 17 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
9/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $560,000 · OtherGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INCTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $220,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY+6 more: $65,000 · Other+6 moreCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc: $359,000 · PhilanthropyCombined Jewish Philanthropies o…Boston Foundation Inc: $250,000 · PhilanthropyBoston Foundation IncFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $368,000 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENT…THE HEARD MUSEUM: $60,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $35,000 · Arts & CultureDISCOVERY MUSEUM INC: $10,000 · Arts & CulturePLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $60,000 · HealthTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $55,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · Civil Rights
Other$845,000Philanthropy$609,000Community Improvement$368,000Arts & Culture$105,000Health$60,000Environment$55,000Civil Rights$50,000

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 budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $560,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $368,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc: $359,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBoston Foundation Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $220,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HEARD MUSEUM: $60,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $60,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOMES FOR OUR TROOPS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISCOVERY MUSEUM INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLEHRHAUS CENTER FOR JEWISH LIFE AND LEARNING INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Ledgeways Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ledgeways Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 5% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Discovery Museum Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 17 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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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