Skip to content
Mark and Cynthia Ross Family Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Mark and Cynthia Ross Family Charitable Trust

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$160k
Granted FY2026still arriving
34
Grants FY2026still arriving
9
States reached
$25k
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 2025.

Employment$167kEducation$93kYouth Development$62kPhilanthropy$39kArts & Culture$33kPublic Benefit$26kEnvironment$25kInternational$11kOther$0
02FY2026 · 34 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k28 grants · $75k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $85k
$2,500
Median grant
9
States reached
$2.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TUFTS UNIVERSITY$25,000
PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE$15,000
ROOT NS$15,000
THE JANE STERN DORADO COMMUNITY LIBRARY$10,000
YELLOWSTONE CLUB COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$10,000
CAPE ANN MUSEUM$10,000
ESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$7,500
PLENITUD PR$6,000
PINGREE SCHOOL$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
HOGAR MIS PRIMEROS PASOS INC$5,000
LEAP FOR EDUCATION$5,000
EMPOWER AFRICA INC$5,000
BROOKWOOD SCHOOL$5,000
THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT FOUNDATION$5,000
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 (FY19–26, $92k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%YMCA OF GREATER BOSTON: $3k → 16%WOMEN'S FUND OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS: $500 → 17%INSPIRE BY ACTION INC: $10k → 13%THE REGINALD & DIONNE SMITH FOUNDATION INC: $3k → 8%WOMEN'S FUND OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS: $500 → 17%NIDO DE ESPERANZA: $1k → 17%WELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $2k → 10%WELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $1k → 10%WELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $1k → 10%WELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $750 → 10%WELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $500 → 10%WELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $300 → 10%ACORD FOOD PANTRY: $250 → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $20k → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $20k → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $15k → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $6k → 10%LIFEBRIDGE NORTHSHORE: $3k → 10%LIFEBRIDGE NORTHSHORE: $2k → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $2k → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $1k → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $1k → 10%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $500 → 10%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

VT
NY
MA
CA
CO
MD
TN
DC
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$511k · 36 repeat orgs$134k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

36 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2026, 18 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
31

Total granted

$511k
$82k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
0%

Still filing today

61%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $52k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureFood & NutritionEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • ROOT NS INC
    9× · 2018–2026 · $177k · revenue +39%
  • PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE INC
    8× · 2019–2026 · $65k · revenue +111%
  • THE PINGREE SCHOOL INC
    8× · 2017–2026 · $65k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • NF
    NETWORK FOR CIVIC ACTION
    one grant, 2025 · $25k · revenue 0%
  • IB
    Inspire By Action Inc
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue 0%
  • 4I
    412 INC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
3
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
4
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
5
The Bridgespan Group Inc

Bridgespan's mission is to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society's most important challenges and opportunities.

Community Improvement
6
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
7
Women First Inc

Women first invests in grassroots initiatives driven by women in developing economies that sustainably advance their lives.

International
8
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
9
Rhode Island School of Design

The mission of rhode island school of design, through its college and museum,is to educate its students and the public in the creation and (see schedule o)appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to…

Education
10
Saint Anselm College

Saint anselm is a catholic, benedictine college providing all of its students a distinctive liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career preparation. it does so in a learning community that encourages…

Education
11
Massachusetts Business Roundtable Inc

The mission of the roundtable is to make massachusetts the most desirable place to live, work and do business by engaging private sector executives and public leaders to ensure access to a robust, diverse and talented workforce that…

—
12
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Food Project Inc; the most unlike its peers is Facebook Community Fund. 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

57 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. 57 of the 85 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/57
Grantees still filing
35/57
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROOT NS INC: $177,240 · Food & NutritionROOT NS INC+3 more: $1,950 · Food & NutritionTHE PINGREE SCHOOL INC: $64,771 · EducationTHE PINGREE SCHOOL INCTrustees of Tufts College: $25,000 · EducationTrustees of Tufts Colle…LEAP for Education Inc: $12,750 · EducationLEAP for Education IncTHE JANE STERN DORADO COMMUNITY LIBRARY INC: $10,000 · EducationTHE JANE STERN DORADO C…WORKING AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $6,250 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 · EducationBROOKWOOD SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $6,000 · EducationMontserrat College Of Art Inc: $5,040 · Education+2 more: $1,000 · EducationNETWORK FOR CIVIC ACTION: $25,000 · OtherNETWORK FOR CIVIC ACTIONTHE CABOT THEATRE: $10,975 · OtherTHE CABOT THEATREIndividual grant recipient: $10,750 · OtherIndividual grant recipient412 INC: $10,000 · Other412 INC100 FRIENDS PROJECT: $8,500 · OtherESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $13,750 · OtherESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUN…YELLOWSTONE CLUB COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherYELLOWSTONE CLUB COMMUNITY …LAND TOGETHER DBA INSIGHT GARDEN PROGRAM: $10,250 · OtherLAND TOGETHER DBA INSIGHT G…+38 more: $61,611 · Other+38 morePLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE INC: $65,250 · Human ServicesPLUMMER YOUTH PR…Inspire By Action Inc: $10,000 · Human ServicesInspire By Actio…WELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $5,050 · Human ServicesHOGAR MIS PRIMEROS PASOS INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesTHE SALEM MISSION INC: $4,000 · Human Services+5 more: $7,250 · Human Services+5 moreCAPE ANN MUSEUM INC: $29,620 · Arts & CultureNEWPORT FESTIVALS FOUNDATION INC: $3,298 · Arts & CulturePEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC: $1,800 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $3,190 · Arts & CulturePLENITUD INICIATIVAS ECO-EDUCATIVAS INC: $28,200 · EnvironmentTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $1,380 · Environment+2 more: $600 · EnvironmentEMPOWERS AFRICA INC: $15,450 · InternationalTHE RAIN AND ROSE CHARITABLE FUND LLC: $12,250 · InternationalBest Buddies International Inc: $1,000 · InternationalWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $1,000 · International
Food & Nutrition$179,190Education$136,811Other$160,836Human Services$96,550Arts & Culture$37,908Environment$30,180International$29,700

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 budgetROOT NS INC: $177,240 over 9y, 2.5% of budgetPLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE INC: $65,250 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetTHE PINGREE SCHOOL INC: $64,771 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCAPE ANN MUSEUM INC: $29,620 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetPLENITUD INICIATIVAS ECO-EDUCATIVAS INC: $28,200 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNETWORK FOR CIVIC ACTION: $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetEMPOWERS AFRICA INC: $15,450 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $13,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLEAP for Education Inc: $12,750 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE RAIN AND ROSE CHARITABLE FUND LLC: $12,250 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetLAND TOGETHER DBA INSIGHT GARDEN PROGRAM: $10,250 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetInspire By Action Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetWORKING AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $6,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKWOOD SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWELLSPRING HOUSE INC: $5,050 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMontserrat College Of Art Inc: $5,040 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SALEM MISSION INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBEVERLY BOOTSTRAPS COMMUNITY SERVICES I: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER WASHINGTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE REGINALD & DIONNE SMITH FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetACCELERATE CHANGE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC: $1,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $1,380 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGround Game Fund: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $1,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Food Project Inc: $1,050 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBest Buddies International Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN'S FUND OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNIDO DE ESPERANZA CHARITABLE SOCIETY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGINA GIBNEY DANCE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMANCHESTER COMMUNITY CENTER: $950 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetCUREPSP INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetON THIS SPOT NYC STORIES OF PIONEERING WOMEN ARTISTS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSilicon Valley Community Foundation: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBETH ISRAEL LAHEY HEALTH INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHREE SISTERS GARDEN PROJECT INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNANTUCKET CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT BREAD-THE WALK FOR HUNGER INC: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACORD INC: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetESSEX COUNTY GREENBELT ASSOCIATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Institution for Savin…Essex County Communit…Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…Cummings Foundation G…People's United Commu…Salem Five Charitable…Kenwood Foundation 75…Ia Lenoir Charitable …The Kneisel Foundatio…Rogers Family Foundat…Bertolon Family Found…
Institution for Savings in Newburyport & Its Vicinity Charitable Foundation IncMA30× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Institution for Savings in Newburyport & Its Vicinity Charitable Foundation Inc · Essex County Community Foundation Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · People's United Community Foundation of Eastern Massachusetts Inc · Salem Five Charitable Foundation Inc · Kenwood Foundation 7521-Xxxxxx21240 · Ia Lenoir Charitable Tr · The Kneisel Foundation Inc · Rogers Family Foundation · Bertolon Family 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 Mark and Cynthia Ross Family Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mark and Cynthia Ross Family Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Plummer Youth Promise Inc: 64% of income from government
  • Cape Ann Museum Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Root Ns Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Acord Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Leap for Education Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Wellspring House Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Essex County Greenbelt Association: 8% of income from government
  • Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Rockport Music Inc: 4% of income from government
  • The Salem Mission Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Montserrat College of Art Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Peabody Essex Museum Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Three Sisters Garden Project Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Essex County Community Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 85 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Mark and Cynthia Ross 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