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· Private foundation

Norfolk Charitable Trust

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.

$500k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Philanthropy$1.4MEnvironment$1.2MEducation$860kFood & Nutrition$500kArts & Culture$381kHealth$180kReligion$10kScience & Tech$10k
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$500,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATION$500,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 88% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM: $50k → 15%HENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATION: $500k → 8%WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $10k → 8%NEW BEDFORD WHALING MUSEUM: $321k → 11%TRUSTEES OF AMHERST COLLEGE: $375k → 12%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $85k → 16%OVER THE HORIZON FUND: $50k → 11%SAINT GABRIEL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $10k → 8%OLD DARTMOUTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10k → 11%TRUSTEES OF AMHERST COLLEGE: $375k → 12%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $85k → 16%TABOR ACADEMY: $10k → 8%TRUSTEES OF AMHERST COLLEGE: $100k → 12%HENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATION: $500k → 16%HENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATION: $390k → 16%THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $520k → 16%THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $500k → 16%THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $141k → 16%BOSTON PUBLIC MARKET ASSOCIATION: $500k → 16%BETH ISRAEL LAHEY HEALTH INC: $10k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

04

Where the work is directed

The same grants, placed two ways — where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose earmarks the money.

About 22% of Norfolk Charitable Trust’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another. Read by recipient address, 98% of the giving stays in MA; read by stated purpose it is 68% — less of the work is directed home than the recipients' locations suggest.

Norfolk Charitable Trustlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address

Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$3.6M · 4 repeat orgs$971k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +88% since the first grant, against +58% for the ones you funded once.

4 repeat relationships — 1 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
8

Total granted

$3.6M
$971k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+88%
+58%

Still filing today

75%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHealthEnvironmentScience & TechPublic BenefitOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • HP
    HENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATION
    3× · 2023–2025 · $1.4M · revenue +89%
  • THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS
    2× · 2019–2020 · $1.2M · revenue +36%
  • AC
    AMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES
    2× · 2018–2019 · $850k · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • BP
    BOSTON PUBLIC MARKET ASSOCIATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $500k · revenue +27%
  • Old Dartmouth Historical Societygraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $331k · revenue +189%
  • OT
    OVER THE HORIZON FUND
    one grant, 2017 · $50k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

2
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
3
Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation Inc Attn Susan Sacco
4
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
5
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
6
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

7
Managers of Boston Port and Seamen's Aid Society
8
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
9
Lowell Observatory

The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…

Science & Tech
10
Bentley University

Organization's mission bentley university believes good business can impact more than the bottom line - it can change the world. bentley is a community of future business leaders who will deliver value in the marketplace and lasting…

Education
11
Harvard Conservation Trust

To preserve the unique character and natural resources of harvard.

Environment
12
Trustees of Boston College

Mission strengthened by more than a century and a half of dedication to academic excellence, boston college commits itself to the highest standards of teaching and research in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and to the…

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Trustees of Reservations and the most unlike its peers is Henry P Kendall Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

05the grantee network

9 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 9 of the 12 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
9/9
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

HENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATION — $1,390,000 · OtherHENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATIONMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL — $170,000 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL+2 more — $60,000 · OtherTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS — $1,161,150 · EnvironmentTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONSAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES — $850,000 · EducationAMHERST COLLEGE TRUST…+1 more — $10,000 · EducationBOSTON PUBLIC MARKET ASSOCIATION INC — $500,000 · Public BenefitBOSTON PUBLI…Old Dartmouth Historical Society — $331,025 · Arts & CultureOld Dartm…ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM — $50,000 · Arts & CultureARIZONA-S…WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION — $10,000 · Science & TechBETH ISRAEL LAHEY HEALTH INC — $10,000 · Health
Other$1,620,000Environment$1,161,150Education$860,000Public Benefit$500,000Arts & Culture$381,025Science & Tech$10,000Health$10,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetHENRY P KENDALL FOUNDATION — $1,390,000 over 3y, 19% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS — $1,161,150 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES — $850,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON PUBLIC MARKET ASSOCIATION INC — $500,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetOld Dartmouth Historical Society — $331,025 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM — $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBETH ISRAEL LAHEY HEALTH INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTABOR ACADEMY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation IncNC8.9× 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 · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Norfolk Charitable Trust funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 30%1%5%11%20%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 2%
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution63% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations2% of income from government
  • Old Dartmouth Historical Society2% of income from government
  • Amherst College Trustees0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Norfolk Charitable Trust?

Find your warmest path to Norfolk Charitable Trust 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 12 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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