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Marshall & Jane Brown Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Marshall & Jane Brown Family Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$54k
Granted FY2020
14
Grants FY2020
8
States reached
$17k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

95% of Marshall & Jane Brown Family Foundation’s FY2021 grant dollars went to Boston Foundation Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 7 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year Marshall & Jane Brown Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 11 organizations, $54k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

3
’17
2
’18
3
’19
11
’20
7
’21

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Philanthropy$406kArts & Culture$29kEducation$22kFood & Nutrition$20kInternational$20kHealth$7kHuman Services$4kAnimals$3kOther$0
02FY2020 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k12 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $32k
$2,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SEATTLE OPERA$17,000
NORTHWEST HARVEST EMM$15,000
OXFAM AMERICA INC$5,000
UW FOUNDATION CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES$5,000
YALE COMMUNITY FUND FOR NEW HAVEN$4,000
UW FOUNDATION GERMANICS$2,500
BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL$2,000
SEATTLE CANCER CARE ALLIANCE$1,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE$500
SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION$500
PLANNED PARENTHOOD PUBLIC POLICY NETWORK OF THE NORTHWEST AND HAWAII$500
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA INC$500
AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND$250
UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC$250
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 (FY17–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 87% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $5k → 16%American Friends Service Committee: $500 → 22%Planned Parenthood Federation: $4k → 17%BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $2k → 10%United Negro College Fund: $250 → 14%YALE COMMUNITY FUND FOR NEW HAVEN: $4k → 12%AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $250 → 10%BIXBY SCHOOL: $500 → 12%PLANNED PARENTHOOD PUBLIC POLICY NETWORK OF THE NORTHWEST AND HAWAII: $1k → 9%Rutgers University: $500 → 8%THE BOSTON FOUNDATION: $406k → 16%AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE: $500 → 22%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA INC: $1k → 17%BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $500 → 10%UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $250 → 14%PLANNED PARENTHOOD PUBLIC POLICY NETWORK OF THE NORTHWEST AND HAWAII: $500 → 9%OXFAM AMERICA INC: $6k → 16%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA INC: $500 → 17%NORTHWEST HARVEST EMM: $15k → 9%Oxfam America: $5k → 16%University of Washington: $5k → 9%OXFAM AMERICA INC: $5k → 16%SEATTLE OPERA: $17k → 9%Oxfam America: $2k → 16%University of Washington: $5k → 9%SEATTLE OPERA: $8k → 9%UW FOUNDATION CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES: $5k → 9%Seattle Opera: $4k → 9%UW FOUNDATION GERMANICS: $3k → 9%SEATTLE CANCER CARE ALLIANCE: $1k → 9%SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $500 → 9%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

WA
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CT
CO
DC
TX
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.

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$64k · 8 repeat orgs$41k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +112% since the first grant, against +50% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2020, 1 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
3

Total granted

$64k
$8k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+112%
+50%

Still filing today

75%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21
HealthEducationInternationalArts & CultureOther
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

  • OXFAM-AMERICA INC
    4× · 2017–2021 · $18k · revenue +8%
  • BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL
    2× · 2020–2021 · $3k · revenue +128%
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD PUBLIC POLICY NETWORK OF THE NORTHWEST AND HAWAII
    2× · 2020–2021 · $2k · revenue +377%

Funded once

  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $4k · revenue +50%
  • YU
    Yale University
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
  • RU
    Rutgers University
    one grant, 2017 · $500
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
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

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
Seattle Biomedical Research Institute

We conduct fundamental infectious disease research to generate critical new knowledge about pathogens and their interactions with see schedule o for continuationhumans to enable the discovery and development of novel interventions,…

—
5
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
6
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.

—
7
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors

Empowering financial professionals and consumers through world-class advocacy and education.

—
8
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
9
University of Maryland Physicians Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

—
10
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
11
Paypal Charitable Giving Fund

Our vision is to reimagine everyday giving to help charities. our mission is to enable the world's leading online platforms to create opportunities for everyday charitable giving. in doing so, we ensure our programs are trustworthy,…

Philanthropy
12
University of Maryland Oncology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Seattle Public Library Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. 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

14 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. 14 of the 21 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
11/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Boston Foundation Inc: $405,779 · PhilanthropyBoston Foundation IncNORTHWEST HARVEST EMM: $15,000 · OtherNORTHWEST …UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $10,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY…GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $5,175 · OtherGREATER BO…UW FOUNDATION CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES: $5,000 · OtherUW FOUNDAT…YALE COMMUNITY FUND FOR NEW HAVEN: $4,000 · OtherYALE COMMU…Yale University: $3,000 · OtherYale Unive…BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $2,500 · OtherUW FOUNDATION GERMANICS: $2,500 · Other+3 more: $2,000 · OtherSEATTLE OPERA: $29,000 · Arts & CultureOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $18,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,500 · InternationalPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $4,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD PUBLIC POLICY NETWORK OF THE NORTHWEST AND HAWAII: $1,500 · HealthFred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $1,000 · HealthUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $500 · EducationSEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $500 · EducationAMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $250 · Education
Philanthropy$405,779Other$49,175Arts & Culture$29,000International$19,500Health$6,500Education$1,250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBoston Foundation Inc: $405,779 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSEATTLE OPERA: $29,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $18,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWEST HARVEST EMM: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $5,175 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD PUBLIC POLICY NETWORK OF THE NORTHWEST AND HAWAII: $1,500 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $250 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Marshall & Jane Brown Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Marshall & Jane Brown Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 21 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 2020, released 2020. 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