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Palmer Walbridge Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Palmer Walbridge 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.

$513k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Environment$1.0MScience & Tech$663kArts & Culture$517kEducation$273kHealth$211kHuman Services$166kAnimals$143kFood & Nutrition$89kOther$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $264k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $230k
$20,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$6.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BIGELOW LABORATORY FOR OCEAN SCIENCES$150,000
COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS$80,000
BOOTHBAY REGION LAND TRUST$30,000
MAINE COLLEGE OF ART$26,000
MIDCOAST HUMANE SOCIETY$20,000
THE OPERA HOUSE AT THE BOOTHBAY HARBOR$20,000
FINDING OUR VOICES$20,000
BOOTHBAY HARBOR MEMORIAL LIBRARY ASSN$20,000
ISLAND INSTITUTE$20,000
BOOTHBAY REGION AMBULANCE SERVICE$20,000
RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CTR$16,000
BOOTHBAY REGION COMMUNITY RESOURCE CNCL$15,000
HARBOR THEATER$15,000
BOOTHBAY REGION HEALTH CARE$12,000
MAINE FARMLAND TRUST$10,000
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 (FY19–25, $192k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 21% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NEW HOPE FOR WOMEN: $12k → 11%NEW HOPE FOR WOMEN: $12k → 11%NEW HOPE FOR WOMEN: $9k → 11%NEW HOPE FOR WOMEN: $8k → 11%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CEN: $25k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CEN: $21k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CEN: $20k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CTR: $16k → 7%BOOTHBAY REGION FOOD PANTRY: $20k → 9%BOOTHBAY REGION FOOD PANTRY: $20k → 9%BOOTHBAY REGION FOOD PANTRY: $19k → 9%BOOTHBAY REGION FOOD PANTRY: $10k → 9%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
NH
MA
PA
CA
CO
MO
FL
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.1M · 36 repeat orgs$233k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +60% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

36 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2025, 16 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
13

Total granted

$3.1M
$233k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+60%
+24%

Still filing today

89%
85%

New vs renewed · share of each year

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

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationEnvironmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthPublic BenefitOther
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

  • BL
    Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
    7× · 2019–2025 · $570k · revenue +131%
  • CM
    Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc
    7× · 2019–2025 · $463k · revenue +132%
  • BR
    Boothbay Region Land Trust
    7× · 2019–2025 · $227k · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • RT
    REBUILDING TOGETHER-LINCOLN COUNTY
    one grant, 2022 · $28k · revenue +21%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +6%
  • SP
    ST PHILIPS EPISCOPAL CHURCH HODGE ST
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
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
Wetlands Foundation
Environment
2
Protect Maine's Fishing Heritage Foundation
Environment
3
Maine Maritime Museum

To connect people to the past, present, and future of Maine's waterways and their global reach.

Arts & Culture
4
Boothbay Railway Village

The mission of the boothbay railway village is to conserve, display and interpret artifacts, authentic period structures and technologies utilized in maine during the historical period of the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries.

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce

Promotion of the boothbay harbor area of maine for tourism and industry and maintenance of a regional information center for the general public.

—
7
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
8
Sail Maine

To provide affordable access to the water through community sailing and educational programming.

Arts & Culture
9
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…

—
10
Boothbay Region Housing Trust

To build affordable homes for working men and women.

Housing & Shelter
11
Maine Island Trail Association

The mission of the Maine Island Trail Association is to advance a model of thoughtful use and volunteer stewardship of Maine's wild islands, creating an inspiring recreational water trail that is cared for by the people who use it.

Environment
12
Frenchman Bay Conservancy

Frenchman Bay Conservancy protects and cares for our local lands and waters for the benefit of communities and nature.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library Association; the most unlike its peers is Vmaq Monument Foundation. 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

44 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. 44 of the 49 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)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/44
Grantees still filing
35/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc: $463,000 · EnvironmentCoastal Maine Botanical Gardens …Boothbay Region Land Trust: $227,156 · EnvironmentBoothbay Region Land TrustBoothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation: $118,150 · EnvironmentBoothbay Harbor Waterfront Prese…Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation: $67,500 · EnvironmentBoothbay Region Maritime Foundat…MONHEGAN ASSOCIATES INC: $45,130 · Environment+2 more: $40,000 · EnvironmentBigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences: $570,000 · Science & TechBigelow Laboratory …MAINE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $165,000 · EducationMAINE COLLEGE OF A…BOOTHBAY SEA AND SCIENCE CENTER: $92,650 · EducationBOOTHBAY SEA AND S…THE MIQUON SCHOOL: $84,500 · EducationTHE MIQUON SCHOOLSOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $76,500 · EducationSOUTHERN MAINE COM…Island Institute: $55,000 · EducationIsland InstituteBOOTHBAY HARBOR MEMORIAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $35,000 · EducationBOOTHBAY HARBOR ME…BOOTHBAY REGION STUDENT AID FUND IN: $29,980 · EducationBOOTHBAY REGION ST…+1 more: $11,000 · EducationTHE OPERA HOUSE AT BOOTHBAY HARBOR: $188,920 · Arts & CultureTHE OPERA …Harbor Theater: $103,500 · Arts & CultureHarbor The…THE ASHLEY BRYAN CENTER: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ASHLEY…+1 more: $2,500 · Arts & CultureMIDCOAST HUMANE SOCIETY: $135,000 · OtherMIDCOAST HUMANE SOCIET…YMCA BOOTH BAY REGION: $35,000 · OtherST PHILIPS EPISCOPAL CHURCH HODGE ST: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherTHE PATH OF CITRUS COUNTY INC: $25,000 · OtherBOOTHBAY REGION COMMUNITY RESOURCE COUNCIL: $98,000 · OtherBOOTHBAY REGION COMMUN…Finding Our Voices: $45,000 · OtherFinding Our VoicesVOICES FOR CHILDREN OF NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $25,000 · OtherSPECIAL OLYMPICS MAINE INC: $40,000 · OtherSPECIAL OLYMPICS MAINE…REBUILDING TOGETHER-LINCOLN COUNTY: $27,920 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $25,000 · Other+12 more: $153,558 · Other+12 moreRIDING TO THE TOP: $82,000 · Human ServicesBOOTHBAY REGION FOOD PANTRY: $69,000 · Human ServicesNEW HOPE FOR WOMEN INC: $40,500 · Human ServicesBOOTHBAY REGION HEALTH CARE INC: $70,920 · HealthBOOTHBAY REGION AMBULANCE SERVICE: $55,000 · Health+1 more: $3,500 · Health
Environment$960,936Science & Tech$570,000Education$549,630Arts & Culture$314,920Other$659,478Human Services$191,500Health$129,420

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences: $570,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetCoastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc: $463,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetBoothbay Region Land Trust: $227,156 over 7y, 5.4% of budgetTHE OPERA HOUSE AT BOOTHBAY HARBOR: $188,920 over 7y, 11% of budgetMAINE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $165,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBoothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation: $118,150 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetHarbor Theater: $103,500 over 6y, 14% of budgetBOOTHBAY REGION COMMUNITY RESOURCE COUNCIL: $98,000 over 6y, 5.0% of budgetBOOTHBAY SEA AND SCIENCE CENTER: $92,650 over 7y, 8.7% of budgetTHE MIQUON SCHOOL: $84,500 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetRIDING TO THE TOP: $82,000 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetSOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $76,500 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetBOOTHBAY REGION HEALTH CARE INC: $70,920 over 3y, 8.1% of budgetBOOTHBAY REGION FOOD PANTRY: $69,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetBoothbay Region Maritime Foundation: $67,500 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetBOOTHBAY REGION AMBULANCE SERVICE: $55,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetIsland Institute: $55,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMONHEGAN ASSOCIATES INC: $45,130 over 7y, 17% of budgetFinding Our Voices: $45,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetNEW HOPE FOR WOMEN INC: $40,500 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MAINE INC: $40,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetBOOTHBAY HARBOR MEMORIAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $35,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetBOOTHBAY REGION STUDENT AID FUND IN: $29,980 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetREBUILDING TOGETHER-LINCOLN COUNTY: $27,920 over 1y, 24% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PATH OF CITRUS COUNTY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetVOICES FOR CHILDREN OF NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetUpstream Policy Institute Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetMaine Farmland Trust: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ASHLEY BRYAN CENTER: $20,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetTHE DERRYFIELD SCHOOL: $17,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetVMAQ MONUMENT FOUNDATION: $15,078 over 2y, 9.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS FLORIDA Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVILLAGERS FOR VETERANS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetFour Directions Development Corporation: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOOTHBAY REGION HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $13,980 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMonhegan Historical & Cultural Museum Association: $11,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE COMMONWEALTH SCHOOL INC: $11,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETYSPCA OF SUMTER COUNTY INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association Boothbay Region: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Cancer Foundation: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAGAPE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 3.5% 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.

Maine Community Found…Mildred H McEvoy Foun…Schacknow Family Foun…Wilson Wilde Family F…Leach Elizabeth Ann P…Susan & George Craig …Elmina B Sewall Found…A R and Marylouise Ta…Saco & Biddeford Savi…Bangor Savings Bank F…The Halcyon FoundationChester & Muriel Dawe…
Maine Community Foundation IncME42× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Mildred H McEvoy Foundation · Schacknow Family Foundation Inc · Wilson Wilde Family Foundation Inc · Leach Elizabeth Ann Pfdn · Susan & George Craig Family Foundation Inc · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · A R and Marylouise Tandy Foundation · Saco & Biddeford Savings Charitable Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · The Halcyon Foundation · Chester & Muriel Dawes Charitable 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 Palmer Walbridge Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Palmer Walbridge Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    4get no government money at all
    10report 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.

    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 49 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 Palmer Walbridge’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