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McNamara Foundation 3 at a glance

· Private foundation

McNamara Foundation 3

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.

$123k
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Environment$256kEducation$136kPublic Benefit$73kFood & Nutrition$68kArts & Culture$50kAnimals$37kHealth$36kPublic Safety & Disaster$26kOther$0
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $76k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $47k
$4,500
Median grant
7
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VOCES UNIDAS$20,000
MARGARET MCNAMARA EDUCATIONAL GRANTS$16,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$11,259
WOMEN'S EARTH ALLIANCE$8,000
MISTY MEADOWS EQUINE LEARNING CENTER$8,000
SEED PEACE$6,000
NATUARAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL (NRDC)$5,000
MARTHA'S VINYARD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$5,000
WILDERNESS WORKSHOP$5,000
CENTER FOR LAND BASED LEARNING$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK$4,500
MARTHA'S TABLE$4,500
LIFE INTER FAITH TEAM ON UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY (LIFT UP)$4,000
PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH$3,000
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 (FY18–25, $13k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%HUTS FOR VETS: $3k → 7%HUTS FOR VETS: $3k → 7%HUTS FOR VETS: $3k → 7%HUTS FOR VETS: $2k → 7%HUTS FOR VETS: $1k → 7%HUTS FOR VETS: $1k → 7%HUTS FOR VETS: $1k → 7%Huts for Vets: $500 → 7%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

MI
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
CO
VA
NM
NC
DC
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$670k · 32 repeat orgs$115k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
18

Total granted

$670k
$94k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+25%

Still filing today

69%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $21k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationFood & NutritionInternationalArts & CultureRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • MM
    MARGARET MCNAMARA EDUCATION GRANTS
    8× · 2017–2025 · $106k · revenue +101%
  • Earth Island Institute Inc
    7× · 2019–2025 · $46k · revenue +171%
  • THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
    9× · 2017–2025 · $40k · revenue +109%

Funded once

  • C1
    CARBON 120
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • TA
    THE ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENTS IN RADIO
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • CC
    CHRIST CHURCH PARISH OF GEORGETOWN
    one grant, 2021 · $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
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
2
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
3
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
4
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
5
Global Forest Generation

Global Forest Generation restores and protects forest ecosystems in partnership with grassroots leaders and local communities across vast landscapes which play a critical role in preserving water, protecting biodiversity, storing carbon,…

Environment
6
Climate Foundation

To research and develop healthy climate solutions comprising global food security, ecosystem regeneration and carbon balance in seas and soils.

Science & Tech
7
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
8
Eden Peopleplanet

To offer the dignity of fair employment to people living in impoverished communities, who become transformational agents of global forest restoration.

International
9
Cascade Climate Inc

To accelerate progress in interventions that harness Earths natural systems to stabilize the climate.

Environment
10
United States Endowment for Forestry

The endowment works collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic, transformative, and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation's working forests and forest reliant communities.

Environment
11
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
12
Friends of the Earth (Action) Inc

To improve the environment through education and policy work, with an emphasis on pollution, climate change, and energy issues; and how congress and the administration stand on these issues.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Accelerate Change Inc; the most unlike its peers is Reading Is Fundamental 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

35 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. 35 of the 57 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/35
Grantees still filing
25/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MARGARET MCNAMARA EDUCATION GRANTS: $105,500 · OtherMARGARET MCNAMARA EDUCATION GRANTSVOCES UNIDAS: $40,000 · OtherVOCES UNIDASWOMEN'S VOICESVOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $40,000 · OtherWOMEN'S VOICESVOTER PARTICIPATION CENTEROffice of the Recording Secretary: $33,334 · OtherOffice of the Recording SecretaryWILDERNESS WORKSHOP: $29,000 · OtherWILDERNESS WORKSHOPHEAL Africa: $26,000 · OtherHEAL Africa+24 more: $135,522 · Other+24 moreEarth Island Institute Inc: $46,000 · EnvironmentEarth Island Institute IncTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $39,500 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LANDCenter for Land-Based Learning: $37,000 · EnvironmentCenter for Land-Based Lear…CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $19,000 · EnvironmentCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INCBIODIVERSITYWORKS INC: $12,000 · EnvironmentBIODIVERSITYWORKS INCCENTER FOR CARBON REMOVAL: $9,000 · EnvironmentDUMBARTON OAKS PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $8,000 · Environment+7 more: $17,700 · Environment+7 moreMISTY MEADOWS EQUINE LEARNING CENTER INC: $25,000 · EducationMISTY MEA…READING IS FUNDAMENTAL INC: $13,500 · EducationREADING I…WASHINGTON SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: $12,500 · EducationWASHINGTO…City Wildlife Inc: $12,000 · EducationCity Wild…CHATHAM UNIVERSITY: $3,000 · Education+1 more: $2,000 · EducationCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $25,000 · Food & NutritionCAPITAL A…MARTHA'S TABLE INC: $22,000 · Food & NutritionMARTHA'S …ISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD: $17,000 · Food & NutritionISLAND GR…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $26,259 · InternationalREFUGEES INTERNATIONAL INC: $4,500 · InternationalENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL: $18,500 · Arts & CultureHuts for Vets: $13,000 · Human Services
Other$409,356Environment$188,200Education$68,000Food & Nutrition$64,000International$30,759Arts & Culture$18,500Human Services$13,000

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 budgetMARGARET MCNAMARA EDUCATION GRANTS: $105,500 over 8y, 7.6% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $46,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $39,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCenter for Land-Based Learning: $37,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetWILDERNESS WORKSHOP: $29,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $26,259 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $25,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMISTY MEADOWS EQUINE LEARNING CENTER INC: $25,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetMARTHA'S TABLE INC: $22,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $19,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL: $18,500 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD: $17,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetREADING IS FUNDAMENTAL INC: $13,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHuts for Vets: $13,000 over 8y, 2.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF GEORGETOWN WATERFRONT PA: $12,522 over 6y, 14% of budgetWASHINGTON SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: $12,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBIODIVERSITYWORKS INC: $12,000 over 9y, 1.1% of budgetCity Wildlife Inc: $12,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetACCELERATE CHANGE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITY HEALTH CARE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBELOVED ASHEVILLE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR CARBON REMOVAL: $9,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDUMBARTON OAKS PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $8,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetFOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREFUGEES INTERNATIONAL INC: $4,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCITIZENS CLIMATE EDUCATION CORP: $3,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetVINEYARD CONSERVATION SOCIETY INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHATHAM UNIVERSITY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROARING FORK CONSERVANCY: $2,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYale University: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of the National Arboretum: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRios to Rivers: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds MARGARET MCNAMARA EDUCATION GRANTS ↗
  • Who funds Earth Island Institute Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND ↗
  • Who funds Center for Land-Based Learning ↗
  • Who funds WILDERNESS WORKSHOP ↗
  • Who funds WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds MISTY MEADOWS EQUINE LEARNING CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MARTHA'S TABLE INC ↗
  • Who funds CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL ↗
  • Who funds ISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD ↗
  • Who funds READING IS FUNDAMENTAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Huts for Vets ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF GEORGETOWN WATERFRONT PA ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON SCHOOL FOR GIRLS ↗
  • Who funds BIODIVERSITYWORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds City Wildlife Inc ↗
  • Who funds ACCELERATE CHANGE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITY HEALTH CARE INC ↗
  • Who funds BELOVED ASHEVILLE ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR CARBON REMOVAL ↗
  • Who funds DUMBARTON OAKS PARK CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds FOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds LIFE INTER FAITH TEAM ON UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY ↗

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.

The Ayco Charitable F…Greater Washington Co…South Mountain Compan…Arches FoundationTower Family Fund IncMartha's Vineyard Ban…Aspen Community Found…ImpactassetsincMorgan Stanley Global…Gs Donor Advised Phil…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…
The Ayco Charitable FoundationNY15.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Greater Washington Community Foundation · South Mountain Company Foundation · Arches Foundation · Tower Family Fund Inc · Martha's Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation Inc · Aspen Community Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 McNamara Foundation 3 funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from McNamara Foundation 3. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Biodiversityworks Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Island Grown Initiative Ltd: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to McNamara Foundation 3?

Find your warmest path to McNamara Foundation 3 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 57 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

Play a game based on McNamara Foundation 3’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