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Nisbet Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Nisbet Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$14k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2024.

Animals$29kEnvironment$20kInternational$8kHealth$6kRecreation & Sports$5kArts & Culture$4kScience & Tech$3kEducation$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$121k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Manomet$2,000
CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL$2,000
Environmental Defense Fund$2,000
Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation$1,000
Doctors Without Borders USA Inc$1,000
AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 52% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%The 300 Committee: $1k → 8%Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutio: $2k → 8%The Nature Conservancy: $1k → 16%American Youth Table Tennis Associa: $1k → 9%MSF Doctors Without Borders US: $1k → 17%Environmental Defense Fund: $500 → 14%Waterbird Society: $4k → 12%AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY: $1k → 6%TechnoServe: $1k → 7%Virginia Center for the Creative Arts: $1k → 13%Island Heritage Trust of Deer Isle: $500 → 11%Cape Cod Health Care Foundation: $1k → 8%Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute: $1k → 8%The Nature Conservancy: $500 → 16%American Youth Table Tennis Assoc: $1k → 9%Doctors Without Borders USA Inc: $1k → 17%American Bird Conservancy: $1k → 6%Virginia Center for the Creative Arts: $500 → 13%Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation: $1k → 8%The Nature Conservancy: $1k → 16%American Youth Table Tennis Assoc: $1k → 9%Doctors Without Borders USA Inc: $1k → 17%Cape Code Health Care Foundation: $1k → 8%American Youth Table Tennis Association: $1k → 9%MSF-Doctors Without Borders: $1k → 17%Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation: $1k → 8%American Youth Table Tennis Association: $500 → 9%Doctors Without Borders USA Inc: $1k → 17%Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation: $1k → 8%Doctors Without Borders: $1k → 17%Cape Cod Health Care Foundation: $1k → 8%Doctors Without Borders USA Inc: $500 → 17%Association to Preserve Cape Cod: $1k → 8%Doctors Without Borders USA Inc: $500 → 17%Cotuit Center for the Arts: $2k → 8%Environmental Defense Fund: $2k → 17%Environmental Defense Fund: $1k → 17%Environmental Defense Fund: $1k → 17%Environmental Defense Fund: $1k → 17%Environmental Defense Fund: $1k → 17%Environmental Defense Fund: $500 → 17%Environmental Defense Fund: $250 → 17%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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$59k · 12 repeat orgs$20k to everyone else

12 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
10

Total granted

$59k
$15k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+70%

Still filing today

75%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentInternationalArts & CultureAnimalsScience & TechOther
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

  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    8× · 2017–2024 · $7k · revenue +202%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $5k · revenue +98%
  • CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $3k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • WS
    Waterbird Society Upper Mississippi
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • CC
    COTUIT CENTER FOR THE ARTS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $2k · revenue +41%
  • T3
    THE 300 COMMITTEE LAND TRUST INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $1k · revenue +70%
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
3
Rainforest Trust

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

International
4
Atlantic Coast Conservancy Inc

The mission of the atlantic coast conservancy is to provide 21st century solutions and sound scientific applications for conservation of critical natural resources in the face of a changing climate, focusing on the southeasthern united…

Environment
5
Wildcoast

The mission of wildcoast is to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems and address climate change through natural solutions. our staff is dedicated to conserving threatened and endangered coastlines and wildlife in california and mexico.…

Environment
6
Chesapeake Conservancy Inc

To conserve and restore the natural and cultural resources of the chesapeake bay watershed for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. we serve as a catalyst for change, advancing strong public and private…

Environment
7
National Audubon Society Inc

We work towards a future where birds thrive across the americas because audubon is a powerful, diverse, and ever-growing force for conservation. (continued on schedule o).

Environment
8
Int'l Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources - Us

Iucn-us fund builds bridges between us donors and iucn by catalyzing, accelerating, funding and promoting iucn's work - conserving nature and natural resources in the united states and throughout the world.

Environment
9
The Quebec-Labrador Foundation Inc

The program mission of the quebec-labrador foundation u.s. is defined by a regional component (new england and eastern canada), and an international component, which ties our regional model to a global conservation network. qlf's program…

Philanthropy
10
Oceana Inc

To advocate for policy changes by governments and corporations in order to preserve ocean life and return the oceans to their former abundance.

Environment
11
Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems

The northeastern regional association of coastal and ocean observing systems' (neracoos) mission is to produce, integrate and communicate high- quality information that helps ensure safety, economic and environmental resilience, and…

Science & Tech
12
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

The national caucus of environmental legislators empowers a nonpartisan network of legislative champions to protect, conserve, and improve the natural and human environment.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; the most unlike its peers is Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. 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, 2017–2025.

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. 14 of the 24 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
12/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WATERBIRD SOCIETY: $21,500 · OtherWATERBIRD SOCIETYIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCape Cod Health Care Foundation: $5,000 · OtherCape Cod Health Care FoundationWaterbird Society Upper Mississippi: $5,000 · OtherWaterbird Society Upper MississippiAmerican Youth Table Tennis Assoc: $3,500 · OtherAmerican Youth Table Tennis AssocTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,500 · OtherManomet Center for Conservation Sciences: $2,000 · Other+5 more: $4,500 · Other+5 moreENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $7,250 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE…CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $3,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION INTERNAT…MANOMET INC: $3,000 · EnvironmentMANOMET INCTHE 300 COMMITTEE LAND TRUST INC: $1,250 · EnvironmentTHE 300 COMMITTEE LAN…ASSOCIATION TO PRESERVE CAPE COD INC: $1,000 · EnvironmentASSOCIATION TO PRESER…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $5,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SA…CAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA: $2,500 · InternationalCAMBRIDGE I…TECHNOSERVE INC: $1,000 · InternationalTECHNOSERVE…COTUIT CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS: $1,500 · Arts & CultureWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $3,000 · Science & TechAmerican Bird Conservancy: $2,000 · Animals
Other$49,000Environment$15,500International$8,500Arts & Culture$3,500Science & Tech$3,000Animals$2,000

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 budgetWATERBIRD SOCIETY: $21,500 over 5y, 3.4% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $7,250 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $5,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMANOMET INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Bird Conservancy: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOTUIT CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE 300 COMMITTEE LAND TRUST INC: $1,250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTECHNOSERVE INC: $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 WATERBIRD SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds MANOMET INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds CAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds American Bird Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds COTUIT CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE 300 COMMITTEE LAND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds TECHNOSERVE INC ↗
  • Who funds ASSOCIATION TO PRESERVE CAPE COD 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.

The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation IncNC8.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 63%
  • Association to Preserve Cape Cod Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Manomet Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Cotuit Center for the Arts Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
2rely 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 24 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 2024, released 2024. 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