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Mentor Charitable Fund Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Mentor Charitable Fund Inc

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.

$91k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$7k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$51kFood & Nutrition$42kEnvironment$37kArts & Culture$29kHealth$26kHousing & Shelter$23kCivil Rights$20kEducation$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$7,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$419k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEANNE GEIGER CRISIS CENTER$7,000
PETTENGILL HOUSE$7,000
HANDS ON NATURE$7,000
GREEN ROOTS$7,000
Individual grant recipient$7,000
IMMIGRANT LEARNING CENTER$7,000
WE CAN$7,000
THE BIKE CONNECTOR INC$7,000
MIRA COALITION$7,000
Individual grant recipient$7,000
RESCUE CHARLIE'S FRIENDS$7,000
FOR KIDS ONLY AFTERSCHOOL$7,000
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT ORG$7,000
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 (FY17–25, $45k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 30% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%WE CAN: $7k → 8%WE CAN: $3k → 8%GROWING PLACES: $3k → 11%FOR KIDS ONLY AFTERSCHOOL: $7k → 16%FOR KIDS ONLY AFTERSCHOOL: $3k → 16%PETTENGILL HOUSE: $7k → 10%PETTENGILL HOUSE: $3k → 10%JEANNE GEIGER CRISIS CENTER: $7k → 10%OUR NEIGHBOR'S TABLE: $3k → 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.
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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$275k · 30 repeat orgs$75k to everyone else

30 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
11

Total granted

$275k
$33k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+145%

Still filing today

67%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $42k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesFood & NutritionHealthEnvironmentHousing & ShelterEmploymentOther
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

  • THREE SISTERS GARDEN PROJECT INC
    3× · 2021–2023 · $14k · revenue +76%
  • HO
    HANDS ON NATURE INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $10k · revenue +12%
  • TP
    The Pettengill House Inc
    2× · 2024–2025 · $10k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • ON
    Our Neighbors' Table Inc
    one grant, 2024 · $3k · revenue -2%
  • MB
    MASS BAIL FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $3k
  • UM
    UMASS MEMORIAL
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
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 Harbor Now Inc

Our mission is to ensure that the people of greater boston benefit from a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive waterfront, harbor, and islands; these spaces are equitable, accessible, and adapted to climate change; and to ensure our public,…

Environment
2
Berkshire Grown Inc

Through events, workshops, promotions, advocacy and education highlighting locally-grown and produced food, the organization helps to create a thriving local food economy.

Food & Nutrition
3
Boston Public Market Association Inc

Our mission is to continue to develop and operate a permanent year-round market in boston and to support the farmers, fishers, and entrepreneurs who grow, catch, and produce local food, and to nourish our community with food and…

Public Benefit
4
Walkboston Inc

Walkmassachusetts makes walking safer and easier in massachusetts to encourage better health, a cleaner environment and vibrant communities.

Unclassified
5
Greater Boston Food Bank Inc

Our costs consist of acquiring, sorting and distributing food to 617 member agencies, transportation and logistics, and community outreach to 69 direct distribution sites such as gbfb mobile markets, and federal distributions for low…

—
6
Massachusetts Education & Career Opportunities Inc

Massachusetts education and career opportunities, inc. (massedco, inc.) is a statewide network of service sites that provides education and career advising to over 12,000 low-income, first generation individuals each year. massedco…

Education
7
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance Inc

Maha breaks down barriers facing first-time and first-generation home buyers and owners through education, counseling, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

Housing & Shelter
8
Food Link Inc

Food link is working to create a more equitable food system throughout greater boston by rescuing and distributing high-quality, customized food to under-resourced communities and by advocating for systems change.

Food & Nutrition
9
Root Ns Inc

Root's mission is to help young adults create a pathway to independence through food service training and employment. by developing essential life and work readiness skills, youth leave root prepared for success in the workplace.

Food & Nutrition
10
Massachusetts Avenue Project Inc

The mission of Massachusetts Avenue Project is to nurture the growth of a diverse and equitable community food system and promote local economic opportunities, access to affordable, nutritious food and social-change education.

Human Services
11
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc D/B/a Metro Housing Boston

Metro housing boston mobilizes wide-ranging resources to provide innovative and personalized services that lead families and individuals to housing stability, economic security, and an improved quality of life.

Housing & Shelter
12
Gardens for Health International

Gardens for Health International works to provide lasting agricultural solutions to chronic childhood malnutrition

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Growing Places Garden Project Inc; the most unlike its peers is Rescue Charlies Friends. 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

31 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. 31 of the 48 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/31
Grantees still filing
19/31
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BRAIN ARTS PROJECT: $13,600 · OtherBRAIN ARTS PROJECTFAMILY SVCS OF MERRIMACK VALLEY: $12,800 · OtherFAMILY SVCS OF MERRIMACK VALLEYIndividual grant recipient: $10,400 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,400 · OtherTHE BIKE CONNECTOR INC: $10,400 · OtherFRIDAY NIGHT SUPPER INC: $10,200 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,200 · OtherMERIMACK BLACK AND BROWN VOICES: $10,200 · OtherMETRO HOUSING BOSTON: $10,200 · OtherELIOT SCHOOL OF FINE APPLIED ARTS: $9,000 · OtherTHE IMMIGRANT LEARNING CENTER INC: $7,000 · OtherYOUTH DEVELOPMENT ORG: $7,000 · OtherHANDS ON NATURE INC: $10,400 · OtherBREAKTIME UNITED INC: $10,200 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE ADVOCACY COALITION INC: $7,000 · OtherRESCUE CHARLIES FRIENDS: $7,000 · Other+13 more: $51,800 · Other+13 moreThe Pettengill House Inc: $10,400 · Human ServicesThe Pettengill…FOR KIDS ONLY AFTERSCHOOL INC: $10,400 · Human ServicesFOR KIDS ONLY …WE CAN CORPORATION: $10,400 · Human ServicesWE CAN CORPORA…JEANNE GEIGER CRISIS CENTER INC: $7,000 · Human ServicesJEANNE GEIGER …Our Neighbors' Table Inc: $3,400 · Human ServicesOur Neighbors'…GROWING PLACES GARDEN PROJECT INC: $3,000 · Human ServicesGROWING PLACES…THREE SISTERS GARDEN PROJECT INC: $13,600 · Food & NutritionTHREE SISTER…ABOUT FRESH INC: $9,000 · Food & NutritionABOUT FRESH …BACKYARD GROWERS INC: $6,800 · Food & NutritionBACKYARD GRO…MILL CITY GROWS INC: $6,800 · Food & NutritionMILL CITY GR…BOSTON AREA GLEANERS INC: $3,000 · Food & NutritionBOSTON AREA …Healthy Waltham Inc: $10,200 · HealthLAST MILE HEALTH: $6,800 · HealthTHE METROWEST FREE MEDICAL PROGRAM INC: $6,000 · HealthGREENROOTS INC: $7,000 · EnvironmentWILDLANDS TRUST INC: $6,000 · EnvironmentINNERCITY WEIGHTLIFTING INC: $12,800 · Recreation & SportsHEADING HOME INC: $6,800 · Housing & ShelterLAZARUS HOUSE INC: $6,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$207,800Human Services$44,600Food & Nutrition$39,200Health$23,000Environment$13,000Recreation & Sports$12,800Housing & Shelter$12,800

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 budgetTHREE SISTERS GARDEN PROJECT INC: $13,600 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetINNERCITY WEIGHTLIFTING INC: $12,800 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHANDS ON NATURE INC: $10,400 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetThe Pettengill House Inc: $10,400 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFOR KIDS ONLY AFTERSCHOOL INC: $10,400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWE CAN CORPORATION: $10,400 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BIKE CONNECTOR INC: $10,400 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetHealthy Waltham Inc: $10,200 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBREAKTIME UNITED INC: $10,200 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetABOUT FRESH INC: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE IMMIGRANT LEARNING CENTER INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE ADVOCACY COALITION INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRESCUE CHARLIES FRIENDS: $7,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetJEANNE GEIGER CRISIS CENTER INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREENROOTS INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLAST MILE HEALTH: $6,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBACKYARD GROWERS INC: $6,800 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetHISPANIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $6,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMILL CITY GROWS INC: $6,800 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHEADING HOME INC: $6,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAZARUS HOUSE INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE METROWEST FREE MEDICAL PROGRAM INC: $6,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetWILDLANDS TRUST INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetEVKIDS INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPOLITICAL ASYLUMIMMIGRATION REPRESENTATION PROJECT INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetOur Neighbors' Table Inc: $3,400 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGROWING PLACES GARDEN PROJECT INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBoston Charitable Trust Fund City of Boston Trust Office: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 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.

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.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Cummings Foundation G…Boston Foundation IncPoint32health Foundat…United Way Of Massach…Bushrod H Campbell & …Essex County Communit…Analog Devices Founda…Yawkey Foundation IICambridge Savings Cha…Liberty Mutual Founda…Agnes M Lindsay Trust
Eastern Bank FoundationMA38.1× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Boston Foundation Inc · Point32health Foundation Inc · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · Bushrod H Campbell & Adah F Hall Charity Fund · Essex County Community Foundation Inc · Analog Devices Foundation · Yawkey Foundation II · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Agnes M Lindsay Trust

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 Mentor Charitable Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mentor Charitable Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Growing Places Garden Project Inc: 49% of income from government
  • Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center Inc: 40% of income from government
  • The Immigrant Learning Center Inc: 34% of income from government
  • For Kids Only Afterschool Inc: 29% of income from government
  • Boston Area Gleaners Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Heading Home Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Our Neighbors' Table Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Mill City Grows Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Wildlands Trust Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Evkids Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Three Sisters Garden Project Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Essex County Community Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Greenroots Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Breaktime United Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Lazarus House Inc: 1% of income from government
  • We Can Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
5report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Mentor Charitable Fund Inc?

Find your warmest path to Mentor Charitable Fund 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 48 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 Mentor’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