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Pdb Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Pdb 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.

$4.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
29
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$830k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Crime & Legal$6.2MEducation$5.7MHealth$2.8MFood & Nutrition$1.2MInternational$1.1MYouth Development$1.1MEmployment$922kHuman Services$555kOther$0
02FY2024 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $80k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $969k
  • $250k+9 grants · $3.3M
$50,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$80M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASS LIBERATION$830,233
UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE$455,754
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$450,000
WENTWORTH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$355,200
THE TRUSSELL TRUST$254,117
CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLICANCE FOUNDATION$250,000
WEST END HOUSE$250,000
FAMILY NURTURING CENTER OF MASSACHUSETTS$250,000
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTION OF NEW ENGLAND$250,000
PROCTOR ACADEMY$210,000
YEAR UP$200,000
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND$159,388
GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK$100,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE$100,000
TASK FORCE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH$50,000
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.

US giving: 89% of grant dollars ($18M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 11% that went abroad ($2.2M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $380k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 87% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%TASK FORCE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH: $50k → 14%NEW HAMPSHIRE FOOD BANK: $10k → 7%NEW HAMPSHIRE FOOD BANK: $10k → 7%NEW HAMPSHIRE FOOD BANK: $10k → 7%NEW HAMPSHIRE FOOD BANK: $10k → 7%NEW HAMPSHIRE FOOD BANK: $10k → 7%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $10k → 16%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $10k → 16%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $10k → 16%FAMILY NURTURING CENTER OF MASSACHUSETTS: $250k → 16%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

NH
MA
IA
RI
CA
DE
OK
GA

Beyond the US: 11% of all-years giving ($2.2M)

1 country, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
United Kingdom$2.2M · 9 grants
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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$19M · 27 repeat orgs$777k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +17% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
14

Total granted

$19M
$472k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+10%

Still filing today

74%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $305k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthCrime & LegalCivil RightsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • PA
    PROCTOR ACADEMY
    6× · 2019–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +50%
  • TC
    THE CARROLL SCHOOL
    6× · 2019–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +64%
  • II
    INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +351%

Funded once

  • FN
    FAMILY NURTURING CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $260k
  • WGBH Educational Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue -2%
  • NT
    NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND USA
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
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 Architectural College

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

—
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
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.…

—
4
New England Lawboston

New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…

Education
5
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide access to and conduct activities in furtherance of higher education.

—
6
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
7
Northeastern University
Education
8
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
9
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
10
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Bb&n, an all gender day school in cambridge, massachusetts, was established in 1974 by the merger of two independent schools, the buckingham school and the browne & nichols school, founded respectively in 1889 and 1883. located on multiple…

Education
11
Dean College

Dean college is a private, residential new england college grounded in a culture and tradition that all students deserve the opportunity to discover and exceed their greatest aspirations. a personal and transformative community since 1865,…

Education
12
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is West End House Inc; the most unlike its peers is Downtown Dog Rescue. 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

28 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. 28 of the 44 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/28
Grantees still filing
20/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MASS LIBERATION: $6,189,542 · Crime & LegalMASS LIBERATIONAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $1,950,000 · OtherAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETYUNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE: $1,326,393 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDETHE TRUSSELL TRUST: $783,077 · OtherTHE TRUSSELL TRUSTBOYS AND GIRLS CLUS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: $318,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUS OF NEW HAMPS…GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $301,750 · OtherFAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $260,000 · OtherFAMILY NURTURING CENTER OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $250,000 · Other+23 more: $632,501 · Other+23 morePROCTOR ACADEMY: $1,355,000 · EducationPROCTOR ACADEMYTHE CARROLL SCHOOL: $1,155,000 · EducationTHE CARROLL SCHOOLWENTWORTH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $1,044,200 · EducationWENTWORTH INSTITUTE OF TECHNO…YEAR UP INC: $920,000 · EducationYEAR UP INCBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC: $559,607 · EducationBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND IN…+3 more: $220,165 · EducationINTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND INC: $1,087,000 · Civil RightsCAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE FOUNDATION INC: $705,000 · HealthLIFE SCIENCE CARES INC: $30,000 · HealthWEST END HOUSE INC: $710,000 · Recreation & SportsSALTIRE FOUNDATION (USA): $399,250 · Philanthropy
Crime & Legal$6,189,542Other$5,821,721Education$5,253,972Civil Rights$1,087,000Health$735,000Recreation & Sports$710,000Philanthropy$399,250

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 budgetMASS LIBERATION: $6,189,542 over 6y, 94% of budgetPROCTOR ACADEMY: $1,355,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetTHE CARROLL SCHOOL: $1,155,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetINTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND INC: $1,087,000 over 6y, 4.1% of budgetWENTWORTH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $1,044,200 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetYEAR UP INC: $920,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWEST END HOUSE INC: $710,000 over 4y, 4.8% of budgetCAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE FOUNDATION INC: $705,000 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC: $559,607 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetSALTIRE FOUNDATION (USA): $399,250 over 6y, 75% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $301,750 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY NURTURING CENTER OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $250,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetFLARE EDUCATION INC: $175,000 over 3y, 9.7% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRAW ART WORKS INC: $80,501 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetTHE TASK FORCE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNew Hampshire Catholic Charities: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SECOND STEP INC: $45,225 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetBIOMEDICAL SCIENCE CAREERS PROGRAM INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE SCIENCE CARES INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetDowntown Dog Rescue: $15,450 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetHOPE-NET: $12,600 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetWALTHAM BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOTTING SCHOOL INC: $5,165 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTECHSOUP GLOBAL: $2,450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSUMMER SEARCH: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $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 MASS LIBERATION ↗
  • Who funds PROCTOR ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds THE CARROLL SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND INC ↗
  • Who funds WENTWORTH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC ↗
  • Who funds YEAR UP INC ↗
  • Who funds WEST END HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds SALTIRE FOUNDATION (USA) ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY NURTURING CENTER OF MASSACHUSETTS INC ↗
  • Who funds FLARE EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds WGBH Educational Foundation ↗
  • Who funds RAW ART WORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TASK FORCE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH INC ↗
  • Who funds New Hampshire Catholic Charities ↗
  • Who funds THE SECOND STEP INC ↗
  • Who funds BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE CAREERS PROGRAM INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY SERVINGS INC ↗
  • Who funds LIFE SCIENCE CARES INC ↗
  • Who funds Downtown Dog Rescue ↗
  • Who funds HOPE-NET ↗
  • Who funds WALTHAM BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds COTTING SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds TECHSOUP GLOBAL ↗
  • Who funds SUMMER SEARCH ↗

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.

Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…Cummings Foundation G…Richard K Lubin Famil…Cambridge Savings Cha…Combined Jewish Phila…Fidelity FoundationLiberty Mutual Founda…Vanguard Charitable E…The Blackbaud Giving …Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Ayco Charitable F…
Boston Foundation IncMA21.4× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Richard K Lubin Family Foundation · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Fidelity Foundation · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Ayco 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 Pdb Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Pdb Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Waltham Boys & Girls Club Inc: 29% of income from government
  • The Second Step Inc: 26% of income from government
  • International Institute of New England Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Community Servings Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Raw Art Works Inc: 7% of income from government
  • West End House Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Cotting School Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get 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.

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 44 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

Play a game based on Pdb’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