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Massachusetts · Public charity

Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc

We create opportunities for the people of massachusetts to transform their lives and build a more equitable commonwealth through the humanities.

$1.2M
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
52
Itemized grants FY2024
80
Organizations funded FY2023
76%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Itemized, FY2024
$963k
The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2024
$20,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$20,000
Organizations funded a year
25 to 80
FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
2
Total assets, FY2024
$6.9M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 76% of the organizations Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 78% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 22% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.7M went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’22’23
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementCivil RightsHousing & 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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving51$943k63%
FY202380$2.2M76%
FY202246$801k87%
FY202052$622k73%
FY201930$390k67%
FY201838$410k92%
FY201725$270kn/a
100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$4.1MEducation$580kCivil Rights$168kHuman Services$164kEnvironment$103kHealth$97kHousing & Shelter$66kInternational$60kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
CA
DC

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
African Cultural Services Inc$82,914512%
University of Massachusetts$82,7006n/a
Local Access$80,000446%
New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Inc$79,460416%
The Center for Independent Documentary Inc$68,75041%
Double Edge Theatre Productions Inc$65,00052%
Blues to Green Inc$60,00037%
20 Summers Inc$60,000212%
Bams Fest Inc$59,80033%
Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation Inc$57,025233%
Show all 235 grantees
All grantees of Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
African Cultural Services Inc$82,914512%
University of Massachusetts$82,7006n/a
Local Access$80,000446%
New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Inc$79,460416%
The Center for Independent Documentary Inc$68,75041%
Double Edge Theatre Productions Inc$65,00052%
Blues to Green Inc$60,00037%
20 Summers Inc$60,000212%
Bams Fest Inc$59,80033%
Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation Inc$57,025233%
Marblehead Museum & Historical Society Inc$53,85416%
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Inc$50,00030%
Wellfleet Historical Society Inc$50,000313%
The Cambridge Historical Society$47,50039%
Piti Theatre Company Inc$43,7303n/a
Casa Dos Acores Da Nova Inglaterra Inc$40,000182%
Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness Inc$40,000124%
Royall House Association$40,000222%
Everyday Boston Inc$40,00036%
League of Women for Community Service$40,000113%
Aquinnah Cultural Center Inc$40,00019%
Becket Athenaeum Inc$40,000113%
Old Colony Historical Society$40,00034%
Bread and Roses Heritage Committee Inc$40,000185%
Raising Multicultural Kids$40,000117%
Bristol Black Collective$40,000180%
Boston Dance Alliance Inc$40,00024%
Newton Historical Society Inc$40,00027%
Roxbury Cultural District Inc$40,000148%
Boston Comic Arts Foundation LTD$40,000129%
Berkshire Pride Inc$40,000137%
The Thoreau Society Inc$40,00026%
The Shirley-Eustis House Association$40,00029%
Creative Arts Network$40,0001n/a
Nueva Esperanza Inc$40,000211%
Northeastern University$39,94820%
Historical Natural History & Library Soc of Natick Inc$39,100125%
Merrimack Repertory Theatre Inc$38,08231%
The Gibson Society Inc$37,332215%
The Filmmakers Collaborative Inc$35,00020%
Guerilla Opera Inc$35,000211%
Save the Harborsave the Bay Inc$35,00021%
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester Inc$35,000310%
Worcester Historical Museum$35,00041%
LEAP for Education Inc$33,62521%
Freedom House Inc$33,57121%
Primary Source Inc$33,17831%
The Network for Social Justice Inc$33,02519%
Plimoth Patuxet Museums Inc$32,97540%
Immigrant City Archives$31,38337%
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association$30,60631%
Heathmere Center for Cultural Engagement Inc C/O Knudsen Burbridge PC$30,500128%
Emerson College$30,45020%
Museum of African American History Inc$30,40051%
Old Dartmouth Historical Society$30,00030%
The Groundtruth Project Inc$30,00021%
Actors' Shakespeare Project$30,00021%
Oneholyoke Community Development Corp$29,50021%
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center Inc$29,19530%
Andover Historical Society$28,67034%
826 Boston Inc$27,50031%
Worcester Art Museum$25,00030%
The Norman B Leventhal Map & Education Center Inc$22,56721%
Robbins House Inc$22,500226%
Dedham Historical Society$22,000213%
Cape Cod Community College$21,9882n/a
Trustees of Clark University$21,49820%
Community Art Center Inc$20,00011%
The New Dance Complex Inc$20,00012%
United Lynn Pride$20,000170%
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe$20,0001n/a
Massachusetts Historical Society$20,00011%
West Medford Community Center Inc$20,00018%
Polus Center for Social and Economic Development Inc$20,00011%
Michelle Falcn Fontnez Filmmaker$20,0001n/a
Company One Inc$20,00012%
The Jar$20,00022%
Martha's Vineyard Diversity Coalition Charitable Trust$20,000163%
Chinese American Heritage FoundationInc$20,000158%
Western Massachusetts Training Consortium Inc$20,00010%
Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell Inc$20,00011%
Society for the Preservation of New Engl$20,00010%
American Farmland Trust$20,00010%
Disability Policy Consortium Inc$20,00011%
Chuang Stage Inc$20,000116%
Ancestral Bridges Foundation Inc$20,000173%
Afrimerican Culture Initiative Inc$20,000111%
South Sudanese Enrichment for Families Inc$20,00016%
Bershire Resources for Integration of Diverse Groups & Education Inc Bridge$20,0001n/a
Uss Constitution Museum Inc$20,00021%
The Wellness Collaborative Inc$20,000114%
Central Square Theater Inc$20,00011%
Hola Cultura$20,000116%
Chinatown Community Land Trust Inc$20,00013%
Agencia Alpha Inc$20,0001n/a
Solidarity Arts & Education Decolonial Initiatives C/O Saedi Collective$20,0001n/a
Fractured Atlas Inc$20,00010%
History Project Inc$20,000210%
Cape Ann Museum Inc$20,00010%
PRX Inc$20,00010%
Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches$20,00011%
The Boston Home Inc$20,00010%
Multicultural AIDS Coalition Inc$20,00011%
Mount Calvary Baptist Church$20,0001n/a
Proprietors of the Boston Athenaeum$20,00010%
Concord Antiquarian Society D/B/A Concord Museum$20,00010%
Deafinitely Inc$20,000220%
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England Inc$20,00011%
Worcester County Poetry Association$20,000115%
Latino Leadership Coalition Inc$20,0001n/a
The Generations Project Inc$20,00017%
The Jewish Women's Archive Inc$20,00012%
Translate Gender Inc$20,000111%
Common Wealth Mural Collaborative$20,00015%
Sheffield Historical Society$20,000114%
Transhealth Inc$20,00010%
Love Art Collective Inc$20,0001n/a
Silk Road Project Inc$20,00011%
Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Ma$20,00011%
The Performance Project Inc$20,00027%
Migrant Communities Project$20,0001n/a
Lynn Museum and Historical Society Inc$20,00014%
Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust Inc$20,00012%
Angkor Dance Troupe Inc$19,99919%
Voices 21c Inc$19,9801n/a
Amherst College Trustees$19,93820%
Cape Cod Maritime Museuminc$19,80024%
Latinx Community Center For Empowerment LCCEInc$19,605132%
Old North Illuminated Inc$19,25011%
Concord Prison Outreach Inc$19,20015%
Kujali International$19,2001n/a
Partnership of the Historic Bostons Inc$19,2001n/a
The Flavor Continues Corporation$18,6001n/a
Salem State University Alumni Association and Foundation Inc$18,02010%
Wellspring House Inc$17,93011%
Hitchcock Center for the Environment Inc$17,79812%
Hull Lifesaving Museum Inc$17,50032%
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative Inc$17,40021%
Friends Group of Egleston Square Branch Library$17,2371n/a
Gore Place Society$17,00021%
Pioneer Valley History Network$16,5402n/a
The Village Afrocentric Cultural Center Inc$16,30016%
Grassroots Culture$16,0001n/a
Framingham History Center Inc$15,84014%
University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation Inc$15,00010%
WGBH Educational Foundation$15,00010%
Theatre Espresso Incorporated$15,0002n/a
Arlington Historical Society$15,0003n/a
Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society$15,0001n/a
Casa Cultrual Dominicana of Worcester$15,0001n/a
The Hyde Square Task Force Inc$15,00011%
Edward M Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Inc$15,00010%
Town of Eastham Mass 02642 (Eastham Library)$15,0001n/a
Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center Inc$15,0002n/a
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library Foundation Incorporated$15,00010%
Bhutanese Society of Western Massachusetts Inc$15,0001n/a
888 Womens History Project Inc$15,0001n/a
Communities for Restorative Justice Inc$15,00013%
Warren J Plaut Charitable Trust$15,000132%
Hispanic Resources Inc$15,00018%
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts$15,0001n/a
Harbor Voices Inc$15,0001n/a
Insight Productions Inc$15,00016%
New England Public Media Inc$15,00011%
Teddy Bear Films Inc$15,0001n/a
YWCA of Southeastern Massachusetts Inc$14,99721%
Tempest Productions Inc$14,9831n/a
Nauset Interfaith Association$14,9711n/a
American Antiquarian Society$14,9351n/a
Greater Dayton Public Television dba Think TV$14,85010%
Me2 Orchestra Inc$14,79518%
Berkshire Community College Foundation Inc$14,66011%
The Wistariahurst Foundation Inc$14,5002n/a
Karuna Center for Peacebuilding Inc$13,70611%
Somerville Historical Society$13,7002n/a
Interlock Media Inc$13,5001n/a
Town of Longmeadow$12,7791n/a
Zeiterion Theatre Inc$12,50010%
Salem State University$12,2501n/a
Historic Northampton Inc$12,25011%
The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights$12,20913%
City of Brockton - Treasurer's Office$12,0301n/a
Museum of Our Industrial Heritage Inc$11,8051n/a
Berkshire Hills Regional School District$11,3501n/a
Amherst Community Television Inc$11,25013%
Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum and Cultural Center Inc$10,2451n/a
The House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association$10,00021%
Community Media Productions Group$10,00016%
Barrington Stage Company Inc$10,00010%
Nantucket Historical Association$10,00010%
Town of Rutland$10,0001n/a
North Shore Community Development Coalit$10,00010%
Revolutionary Spaces Inc$10,00020%
Worcester County Horticultural Society$10,00010%
Kartemquin Educational Films$10,0001n/a
Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge Inc$10,00020%
Trustees of the Berkshire Museum$10,00021%
The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts Inc$10,00011%
The Jones Library Inc$10,00020%
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation Inc$10,00010%
Paul Revere Memorial Association$10,00021%
Hancock Shaker Village Inc$10,00020%
Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum Inc$10,00014%
Springfield Museums Corporation$10,00020%
Westfield Athenaeum$10,0002n/a
Captain Forbes House Museum$10,00017%
Wam Theatre Inc$10,00023%
Worcester State Foundation Inc$10,00010%
Old Sturbridge Inc$10,00020%
Smithsonian Institution$9,98810%
The Worcester Center for Crafts Inc$9,90011%
Lesley University$9,85510%
Flying Cloud Institute Inc$9,8451n/a
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School$9,2501n/a
Ser-Jobs for Progress Inc$8,80010%
Reading Public Library$8,3601n/a
Lower Cape Community Access Television Inc$8,03011%
Springfield College$7,77710%
Robert Treat Paine Historical Trust$7,550110%
Cumann Na Gaeilge I M Boston Inc$7,500131%
Eggtooth Productions Inc$7,500117%
Documentary Educational Resources Inc$7,5001n/a
Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores Incorporated$7,50018%
Duxbury Rural & Historical Society Inc$7,50011%
Westford Historical Society Inc$7,5001n/a
Town of Auburn$7,5001n/a
Town of Williamsburg$7,5001n/a
Icon Museum and Study Center Inc$7,50011%
Committee for Northampton Inc$7,5002n/a
Chinese Historical Society of New England Inc$7,5001n/a
Springfield Public Forum Inc$7,50014%
Lawrence Communityworks Inc$6,09510%
The Literacy Project$6,00021%
Fitchburg State University Foundation Inc$5,1001n/a
The House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association$5,0251n/a

Plus 16 recipients with no EIN on record ($360k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 18 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 178 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAfrican Cultural Services Inc: $82,914 over 5y, 12% of budgetLocal Access: $80,000 over 4y, 46% of budgetNew Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Inc: $79,460 over 4y, 16% of budgetThe Center for Independent Documentary Inc: $68,750 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetDouble Edge Theatre Productions Inc: $65,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetBlues to Green Inc: $60,000 over 3y, 6.8% of budget20 Summers Inc: $60,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetBams Fest Inc: $59,800 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetPorter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation Inc: $57,025 over 2y, 33% of budgetMarblehead Museum & Historical Society Inc: $53,854 over 1y, 6.4% of budgetRose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Inc: $50,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWellfleet Historical Society Inc: $50,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetThe Cambridge Historical Society: $47,500 over 3y, 9.3% of budgetCasa Dos Acores Da Nova Inglaterra Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 82% of budgetMassachusetts Center for Native American Awareness Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetRoyall House Association: $40,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetEveryday Boston Inc: $40,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetLeague of Women for Community Service: $40,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetAquinnah Cultural Center Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 9.2% of budgetBecket Athenaeum Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetOld Colony Historical Society: $40,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetBread and Roses Heritage Committee Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 85% of budgetRaising Multicultural Kids: $40,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetBristol Black Collective: $40,000 over 1y, 80% of budgetBoston Dance Alliance Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetNewton Historical Society Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetRoxbury Cultural District Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 48% of budgetBoston Comic Arts Foundation LTD: $40,000 over 1y, 29% of budgetBerkshire Pride Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 37% of budgetThe Thoreau Society Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetThe Shirley-Eustis House Association: $40,000 over 2y, 8.9% of budgetNueva Esperanza Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetNortheastern University: $39,948 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHistorical Natural History & Library Soc of Natick Inc: $39,100 over 1y, 25% of budgetMerrimack Repertory Theatre Inc: $38,082 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetThe Gibson Society Inc: $37,332 over 2y, 15% of budgetThe Filmmakers Collaborative Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGuerilla Opera Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetSave the Harborsave the Bay Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLiteracy Volunteers of Greater Worcester Inc: $35,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetWorcester Historical Museum: $35,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetLEAP for Education Inc: $33,625 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetFreedom House Inc: $33,571 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetPrimary Source Inc: $33,178 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetThe Network for Social Justice Inc: $33,025 over 1y, 9.2% of budgetPlimoth Patuxet Museums Inc: $32,975 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetImmigrant City Archives: $31,383 over 3y, 7.1% of budgetPocumtuck Valley Memorial Association: $30,606 over 3y, 1.4% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 178.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Barr FoundationMA74.4× affinity48 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Barr Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts · Highland Street Connection and Subsidiaries · New England Foundation for the Arts Incorporated · Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund Trust · Berkshire Bank Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Fidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation · Essex County Community Foundation Inc

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.

Compare Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc with peer funders

About Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc

How much does Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc give?
Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc reported 52 itemized grants totaling $963,214, out of $1,230,839 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 25 and 80 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (73%), Education (10%), Civil Rights (3%).
Who are Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: African Cultural Services Inc ($83k), University of Massachusetts ($83k), Local Access ($80k).
Does Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 76% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Barr Foundation, Boston Foundation Inc, Eastern Bank Foundation.
Where is Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc based?
Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy Inc is based in MA.

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 254 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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