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Messler Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Messler Family Foundation

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.

$160k
Granted FY2025still arriving
26
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$16k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$485kHuman Services$213kArts & Culture$201kHousing & Shelter$171kFood & Nutrition$110kEducation$105kYouth Development$88kInternational$75kOther$0
02FY2025 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k18 grants · $74k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $86k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Maine Coast Heritage Trust$16,250
Midcoast Habitat for Humanity$10,000
Gamble House$10,000
Homeworthy$10,000
Penobscot Bay YMCA$10,000
Wingspan$10,000
Historic Charleston Foundation$10,000
Park Slope Childcare Collective$10,000
Galapagos Conservancy$5,000
Trekkers$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
The Door$5,000
Sanctuary For Families$5,000
Maine Farmland Trust$5,000
Center for Furniture Craftsmanship$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 (FY17–25, $114k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Penobscot Bay YMCA: $15k → 11%Penobscot Bay YMCA: $10k → 11%Penobscot Bay YMCA: $10k → 11%Penobscot Bay YMCA: $10k → 11%Penobscot Bay YMCA: $10k → 11%Homeworthy: $10k → 11%Knox Country Homeless Coalition: $10k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $5k → 11%Penobscot Bay YMCA: $5k → 11%Penobscot Bay YMCA: $5k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $5k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $5k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $3k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $3k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $3k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $3k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $3k → 11%Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers: $1k → 11%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

ME
MN
NY
MA
CT
CA
CO
VA
NC
SC
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 42 repeat orgs$153k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

42 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

42
22

Total granted

$1.5M
$143k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+13%

Still filing today

64%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
EnvironmentHuman ServicesArts & CultureInternationalEducationFood & NutritionOther
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

  • Maine Coast Heritage Trust
    8× · 2017–2025 · $179k · revenue +106%
  • PB
    PENOBSCOT BAY YMCA
    8× · 2017–2025 · $75k · revenue +12%
  • CF
    CENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP
    9× · 2017–2025 · $65k · revenue +54%

Funded once

  • CC
    Connecticut College Film Studies
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • GF
    Gift from Within (last made 06312017)
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
  • FO
    Friends of Camden School District
    one grant, 2017 · $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
Midcoast Conservancy

The mission of Midcoast Conservancy is to protect vital lands and waters on a scale that matters and to inspire wonder and action on behalf of all species and the Earth.

Environment
2
Coastal Mountains Land Trust

We conserve land permanently to benefit the natural and human communities of western the Penobscot Bay region.

Environment
3
Maine Media College

Maine Media Workshops & College educates and inspires visual artists and storytellers to achieve their creative potential. We provide lifelong learning opportunities for those pursuing the fine arts and media-related professions. We are…

—
4
Kennebunk Land Trust

Kennebunk Land Trust's mission is to permanently conserve and steward land to benefit natural and human communities.

Environment
5
Maine Conservation Alliance

Maine Conservation Alliance envisions a Maine where nature and people thrive through an inclusive, just democracy, a sustainable economy, and equitable access to nature's benefits - healthy climate, lands, air, and waters. We bring people…

Environment
6
Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve

The mission of the mount desert land & garden preserve is to conserve and share the beauty of our historic lands and gardens.

—
7
Islesboro Islands Trust

The mission of Islesboro Islands Trust is to enhance the quality of residents' lives through the preservation of open space, educate all residents as to the value of the island's natural ecosystems, and act as an environmental advocate on…

Philanthropy
8
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
9
Wetlands Foundation
Environment
10
Coastal Enterprises Inc

Cei integrates financing, small business and industry expertise, and policy solutions to grow a vibrant future for people and communities in maine and rural regions.

Housing & Shelter
11
Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries

Secure a sustainable future for fisheries and fishing communities in Eastern Maine and beyond.

Science & Tech
12
Federation of State Conservation Voter Leagues

Maine Conservation Voters plays a critical role in turning public support for conservation into new laws to protect our air, land, water and wildlife. As a result of successful strategies, a focused policy agenda and sharp accountability…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Natural Resources Council of Maine Inc; the most unlike its peers is Documentary Songwriters. 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

38 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. 38 of the 66 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
36/38
Grantees still filing
29/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Gamble House: $120,000 · OtherGamble HouseTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $80,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYHISTORIC CHARLESTON FOUNDATION: $72,500 · OtherHISTORIC CHARLESTON FOUNDATIONSalvation Army: $52,500 · OtherSalvation ArmyIndividual grant recipient: $45,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $42,500 · OtherTrout Unlimited Maine Chapter: $35,000 · Other+42 more: $502,750 · Other+42 moreMaine Coast Heritage Trust: $178,750 · EnvironmentMaine Coast Heritag…Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc: $62,500 · EnvironmentCoastal Maine Botan…Natural Resources Council of Maine Inc: $41,000 · EnvironmentNatural Resources C…LAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $18,500 · EnvironmentLAND TRUST ALLIANCE…PENOBSCOT BAY YMCA: $75,000 · Human ServicesPENOBSCOT B…SANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES INC: $52,500 · Human ServicesSANCTUARY F…COASTAL FAMILY HOSPICE: $28,500 · Human ServicesCOASTAL FAM…Homeworthy: $20,000 · Human ServicesHomeworthyMaine Farmland Trust: $55,000 · Food & NutritionCITY HARVEST INC: $37,500 · Food & NutritionCENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP: $65,000 · EducationThe Thacher School Inc: $20,000 · EducationMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $35,000 · InternationalTHE WOMEN'S BAKERY INC: $20,000 · InternationalOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $20,000 · InternationalTREKKERS INC: $52,500 · Recreation & SportsMERRYSPRING INC: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$950,250Environment$300,750Human Services$176,000Food & Nutrition$92,500Education$85,000International$75,000Recreation & Sports$57,500

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 budgetMaine Coast Heritage Trust: $178,750 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $80,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPENOBSCOT BAY YMCA: $75,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetHISTORIC CHARLESTON FOUNDATION: $72,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetCENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP: $65,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetCoastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc: $62,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Farmland Trust: $55,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetTREKKERS INC: $52,500 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetSANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES INC: $52,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNatural Resources Council of Maine Inc: $41,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetCITY HARVEST INC: $37,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $35,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetFinding Our Voices: $30,000 over 4y, 6.1% of budgetMIDCOAST HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $28,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetCOASTAL FAMILY HOSPICE: $28,500 over 9y, 5.4% of budgetEXODUS TRANSITIONAL COMMUNITY INC: $27,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetGALAPAGOS CONSERVANCY INC: $25,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetHomeworthy: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE WOMEN'S BAKERY INC: $20,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetTHE DOOR - A CENTER OF ALTERNATIVES INC: $20,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPoints North Institute: $20,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetThe Thacher School Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $18,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCAMBA INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPARK SLOPE CHILD CARE COLLECTIVE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGREAT POND MOUNTAIN CONSERVATION TR: $10,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetThe Telling Room: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetDOCUMENTARY SONGWRITERS: $5,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetMAINE PRO-MUSICA: $5,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCoastal Opportunities: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEDIA ALLIANCE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPAWS Animal Adoption Center: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% 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 Maine Coast Heritage Trust ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds PENOBSCOT BAY YMCA ↗
  • Who funds HISTORIC CHARLESTON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP ↗
  • Who funds Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc ↗
  • Who funds Maine Farmland Trust ↗
  • Who funds TREKKERS INC ↗
  • Who funds SANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Natural Resources Council of Maine Inc ↗
  • Who funds CITY HARVEST INC ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds Finding Our Voices ↗
  • Who funds MIDCOAST HABITAT FOR HUMANITY ↗
  • Who funds COASTAL FAMILY HOSPICE ↗
  • Who funds EXODUS TRANSITIONAL COMMUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds GALAPAGOS CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds Homeworthy ↗
  • Who funds THE WOMEN'S BAKERY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE DOOR - A CENTER OF ALTERNATIVES INC ↗
  • Who funds OXFAM-AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds Points North Institute ↗
  • Who funds The Thacher School Inc ↗
  • Who funds LAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds CAMBA INC ↗
  • Who funds PARK SLOPE CHILD CARE COLLECTIVE INC ↗

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.

Maine Community Found…Onion FoundationAnn H Symington Found…Fisher Charitable Fou…Bangor Savings Bank F…Davis Family Foundati…Community Foundation …Trowbridge FoundationCara Charitable Found…Association FoundationThe Bertuzzi Family F…Arthur K Watson Trust…
Maine Community Foundation IncME29.3× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Onion Foundation · Ann H Symington Foundation Xxxxx6000 · Fisher Charitable Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · Davis Family Foundation · Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · Trowbridge Foundation · Cara Charitable Foundation Inc · Association Foundation · The Bertuzzi Family Foundation · Arthur K Watson Trust Xxxxx5001

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Messler Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Messler Family Foundation 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 66 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 Messler 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