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· Public charity

Lowell Sun Charities Inc

Raise funds for charitable causes as well as needy families in the greater lowell area.

$180k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Health$128kPhilanthropy$56kEducation$53kCommunity Improvement$25kArts & Culture$24kHuman Services$20kYouth Development$5k
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 3 grants below total $35,000 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $179,524 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $144,524 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $18k
$9,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$283k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LOWELL GENERAL HOSPITAL$18,000
GREATER LOWELL COMMUNITY FOUNDATON$9,500
LOWELL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA$7,500
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–20, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%CATIE'S CLOSET: $5k → 8%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$206k · 6 repeat orgs$40k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +58% since the first grant, against +14% for the ones you funded once.

6 repeat relationships — 2 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
6

Total granted

$206k
$40k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
+14%

Still filing today

83%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
HealthEducationCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • THE LOWELL GENERAL HOSPITAL
    8× · 2017–2025 · $106k · revenue +30%
  • MC
    MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION C/O JACKSON CHEGE
    4× · 2017–2023 · $26k · revenue +283%
  • PL
    PROJECT LEARN INC
    2× · 2019–2020 · $18k · revenue +155%

Funded once

  • SA
    SEE A NEW SUN FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • TL
    THE LOWELL FESTIVAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $8k · revenue -8%
  • TM
    THE MEGAN HOUSE FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2020 · $7k · revenue +22%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Lowell Community Health Center Inc

Lowell community health center's mission is to provide caring, quality, and culturally competent health services to the people of greater lowell, regardless of their financial status; to reduce health disparities and enhance the health of…

Health
2
Lowell Observatory Foundation

To sustain and enhance lowell observatory's mission of research and education by generating perpetual financial support.

Science & Tech
3
Lowell Telecommunications Corporation

Lowell telecommunication corporation's mission is to strengthen the city of lowell as a community media and education center that empowers, connects, and informs all residents, businesses, and organizations in the city. ltc provides…

Arts & Culture
4
Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce Inc

To provide a significant unified voice in shaping the future growth of the business communities which it serves and to provide a vehicle through which individuals can work to improve the area's business climate and quality of life. A…

5
Lowell Makes Inc

Lowell makes is a collection of open workshops and laboratories where members and students can collaborate to learn, share, and hone crafts of all kinds. the focus is on providing a space for education, entrepreneurship, and engagement…

Arts & Culture
6
Tufts Medicine Inc

Our mission, vision and values are our guiding light. together, we bring them to life with our care, our actions, our learning and our commitment to excellence.at tufts medicine, we know the power of community. it's that feeling of being…

Health
7
Greater Lowell Health Alliance Chna 10 Inc

To sustain a strategic alliance of community organizations that improves the overall health and wellness of those living in the greater lowell region. by raising awareness and providing resources for our communities, schools, civic and…

Health
8
Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust

To improve the quality of life for the people of lowell through education and through the creation, conservation, and preservation of parks, open spaces, and special places.

Environment
9
Lowell Sun Charities Inc

Raise funds for charitable causes as well as needy families in the greater lowell area.

Philanthropy
10
Greater Lowell Family Ymca

The greater lowell family ymca's mission is to strengthen our community by supporting youth development, healthy living and social responsibility for all through programs influenced by our core values of caring, honesty, respect and…

Human Services
11
The Lowell School

To create an inclusive community of life-long learners in which each individual is valued and respected. our charge, then, is to strengthen minds, ensure equity, and honor individuality.

12
Greater Lowell Workforce Dev Board Inc dba Masshire Greater Lowell Workforce

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Lowell Community Foundation Inc and the most unlike its peers is See a New Sun 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

12 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 12 of the 13 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/12
Grantees still filing
10/12
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE LOWELL GENERAL HOSPITAL — $106,350 · HealthTHE LOWELL GENERAL HOSPITALSEE A NEW SUN FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 · HealthSEE A NEW SUN FOUNDATION INCTHE MEGAN HOUSE FOUNDATION INC — $6,500 · HealthAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION — $5,000 · HealthGreater Lowell Community Foundation Inc — $65,025 · PhilanthropyGreater Lowell Communit…MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION C/O JACKSON CHEGE — $25,800 · EducationMIDDLESEX COMMU…PROJECT LEARN INC — $17,750 · EducationPROJECT LEARN I…THE LOWELL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA LTD — $24,000 · OtherTHE LOWELL PHI…D'YOUVILLE SENIOR CARE FOUNDATION INC — $15,250 · OtherD'YOUVILLE SEN…Lowell Plan Inc — $16,750 · Community ImprovementTHE LOWELL FESTIVAL FOUNDATION — $8,000 · Arts & CultureBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER LOWELL INC — $5,350 · Youth DevelopmentCatie's Closet Inc — $5,000 · Human Services
Health$127,850Philanthropy$65,025Education$43,550Other$39,250Community Improvement$16,750Arts & Culture$8,000Youth Development$5,350Human Services$5,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE LOWELL GENERAL HOSPITAL — $106,350 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGreater Lowell Community Foundation Inc — $65,025 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetMIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION C/O JACKSON CHEGE — $25,800 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetPROJECT LEARN INC — $17,750 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetLowell Plan Inc — $16,750 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetD'YOUVILLE SENIOR CARE FOUNDATION INC — $15,250 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetSEE A NEW SUN FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetTHE LOWELL FESTIVAL FOUNDATION — $8,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE MEGAN HOUSE FOUNDATION INC — $6,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER LOWELL INC — $5,350 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCatie's Closet Inc — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Richard K & Nancy L Donahue Charitable FoundationMA22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Richard K & Nancy L Donahue Charitable Foundation · Demoulas Foundation · Eastern Bank Foundation · Lowell Five Charitable Foundation Inc · Salem Five Charitable Foundation Inc · The Lowell General Hospital · Aubert J Fay Charitable Fund · We Share A Common Thread Foundation Inc · Greater Lowell Community Foundation Inc · Marty Meehan Educational Foundation Inc · Greater Lowell Health Alliance Chna 10 Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc)

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Lowell Sun Charities Inc funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 20%2%6%14%25%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 12%
  • Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell Inc27% of income from government
  • Greater Lowell Community Foundation Inc18% of income from government
  • The Megan House Foundation Inc15% of income from government
  • The Lowell Festival Foundation12% of income from government
  • The Lowell General Hospital5% of income from government
  • Project Learn Inc5% of income from government
  • Catie's Closet Inc4% of income from government
  • Lowell Plan Inc2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Lowell Sun Charities Inc?

Find your warmest path to Lowell Sun Charities Inc 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 13 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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