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Phineas W Sprague Memorial Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Phineas W Sprague Memorial 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.

$225k
Granted FY2025still arriving
52
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$44k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$337kArts & Culture$229kFood & Nutrition$134kEducation$123kEnvironment$109kPhilanthropy$102kRecreation & Sports$81kHuman Services$46kOther$0
02FY2025 · 52 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k48 grants · $149k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $77k
$3,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAINE MEDICAL CENTER$43,500
GOOD SHEPHERD FOOD BANK$12,000
FARMS FOR FOOD EQUITY$11,000
CAPE ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL$10,000
RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER$6,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF NEW ENGLAND$6,000
KETCHA OUTDOORS$6,000
AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION$6,000
WAYFINDER SCHOOLS$6,000
PORTLAND COMMUNITY SQUASH$5,000
MAINE PRESERVATION$5,000
UNION OF MAINE VISUAL ARTISTS$5,000
SCARBOROUGH LAND TRUST$5,000
CAMP COMMUNITY ARENA GROUP$5,000
MARINE LEARNING PROJECT$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 (FY20–25, $97k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 24% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%MOTHER SETON HOUSE: $3k → 13%SOUTHERN MAINE AGENCY ON AGING: $5k → 9%SOUTHERN MAINE AGENCY ON AGING: $4k → 9%SOUTHERN MAINE AGENCY ON AGING: $3k → 9%SOUTHERN MAINE AGENCY ON AGING: $3k → 9%SOUTHERN MAINE AGENCY ON AGING: $3k → 9%SOUTHERN MAINE AGENCY ON AGING: $2k → 9%STOP TRAFFICKING US: $5k → 7%WAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $7k → 7%WAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $6k → 7%WAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $5k → 7%WAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $5k → 7%WAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $5k → 7%WAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $5k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $6k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $6k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $6k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $6k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $5k → 7%RIDING TO THE TOP THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $5k → 7%PROSPERITY ME: $2k → 7%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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 53 repeat orgs$127k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

53 repeat relationships: 42 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
28

Total granted

$1.1M
$100k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+8%

Still filing today

72%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $27k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHealthHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEducationOther
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

  • M
    MaineHealth
    5× · 2020–2025 · $138k · revenue +87%
  • GS
    Good Shepherd Food Bank
    6× · 2020–2025 · $88k · revenue +50%
  • THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $43k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • MM
    MAINE MEDICAL CENTER - PIER
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $8k
  • MM
    MAINE MEDICAL CENTER - SPIRITUAL CARE
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Protect Maine's Fishing Heritage Foundation
Environment
2
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…

—
3
Wetlands Foundation
Environment
4
Maine Museum of Photographic Arts

The mission of the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts is to inspire, engage and educate through the exhibition, preservation and collection of photographic works. The Museums programs address contemporary, historical, cultural and…

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries

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

Science & Tech
7
Maine Rivers

Maine Rivers is a statewide advocacy organization. Our mission is to protect, restore and enhance the ecological health of Maine's river systems. We support and direct efforts to conserve and improve the health of Maine's rivers and…

Environment
8
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
9
Maine & Company

Maine & Company is a private, non-profit business development sales organization. Its purpose is to improve Maine's success in attracting new business and expanding and retaining existing business by providing a focused, statewide sales…

—
10
Penobscot Bay Medical Center

Penobscot Bay Medical Center (PBMC) is an acute care hospital that offers inpatient and outpatient care, diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative services, patient and community education, and a full range of specialty services through…

—
11
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Industrial Heritage Trust

The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company & Museum preserves and operates hstoric two-foot gauge railroad equipment for the education and enjoyment of the public.

Science & Tech
12
Manufacturers Association of Maine

The manufacturers association of maine is dedicated to promoting and strengthening manufacturing in maine as an informative voice for the state's manufacturing community.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine; the most unlike its peers is Androscoggin Bank's Mainstreet Fdn Portland Trust Company Llc. 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

60 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. 60 of the 91 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)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
59/60
Grantees still filing
38/60
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MAINE MEDICAL CENTER - TRACK PROGRAM: $75,000 · OtherMAINE MEDICAL CENTER - TRACK PROGRAMCAPE ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL: $40,000 · OtherCAPE ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOLSCARBOROUGH LAND TRUST: $26,000 · OtherSCARBOROUGH LAND TRUSTCAPE ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL - CEHS SCHOLARSHIP: $16,000 · OtherMAINE BEHAVORIAL HEALTHCARE: $15,000 · OtherMaine Seacoast Mission: $15,000 · OtherKetcha Outdoors: $34,000 · OtherKetcha OutdoorsGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $19,000 · Other+35 more: $195,500 · Other+35 moreMAINE PRESERVATION: $30,500 · Arts & CultureMAINE PRESERVATIONPortland Museum of Art: $24,000 · Arts & CulturePortland Museum of A…TATE HOUSE MUSEUM: $23,000 · Arts & CultureTATE HOUSE MUSEUMMAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $21,000 · Arts & CultureMAINE HISTORICAL SOC…Sailing Ships Portland: $21,000 · Arts & CultureSailing Ships Portla…SAIL MAINE: $20,500 · Arts & CultureSAIL MAINEGREATER PORTLAND LANDMARKS INC: $18,000 · Arts & CultureGREATER PORTLAND LAN…CHILDREN'S MUSEUM AND THEATRE OF MAINE: $15,500 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S MUSEUM AN…PALAVER STRINGS INC: $11,000 · Arts & CulturePROUTS NECK HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $9,500 · Arts & CulturePortland School of Ballet: $9,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $27,000 · Arts & Culture+7 moreMaineHealth: $138,000 · HealthMaineHealthPlanned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc: $41,000 · HealthPlanned Parenthoo…+4 more: $11,500 · Health+4 moreGood Shepherd Food Bank: $87,500 · Food & NutritionGood Shepher…FARMS FOR FOOD EQUITY: $24,500 · Food & NutritionFARMS FOR FO…Maine Farmland Trust: $20,000 · Food & NutritionMaine Farmla…+2 more: $2,000 · Food & NutritionTHE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION: $42,500 · EnvironmentTHE AMERIC…Cape Elizabeth Land Trust: $26,000 · EnvironmentCape Eliza…Maine Audubon Society: $23,000 · EnvironmentMaine Audu…Maine Island Trail Association: $11,000 · EnvironmentMaine Isla…OCEANSWIDE INC: $4,000 · Environment+3 more: $8,000 · Environment+3 moreRIDING TO THE TOP: $34,000 · Human ServicesWAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $33,000 · Human ServicesSouthern Maine Agency on Aging: $20,000 · Human ServicesStop Trafficking US: $5,000 · Human Services+2 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesMaine Huts & Trails: $23,000 · EducationMAINE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $13,000 · EducationWAYNFLETE SCHOOL: $4,000 · EducationSCARBOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARY: $3,000 · EducationPond Cove Parents Association co Claire Joyce: $3,000 · Education
Other$435,500Arts & Culture$230,000Health$190,500Food & Nutrition$134,000Environment$114,500Human Services$97,000Education$46,000

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 budgetMaineHealth: $138,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGood Shepherd Food Bank: $87,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION: $42,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc: $41,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRIDING TO THE TOP: $34,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetKetcha Outdoors: $34,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetWAYFINDER SCHOOLS: $33,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetMAINE PRESERVATION: $30,500 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetCape Elizabeth Land Trust: $26,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetFARMS FOR FOOD EQUITY: $24,500 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetPortland Museum of Art: $24,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Huts & Trails: $23,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetMaine Audubon Society: $23,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTATE HOUSE MUSEUM: $23,000 over 6y, 3.9% of budgetMAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $21,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetSailing Ships Portland: $21,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetSAIL MAINE: $20,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSouthern Maine Agency on Aging: $20,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Farmland Trust: $20,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $19,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER PORTLAND LANDMARKS INC: $18,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM AND THEATRE OF MAINE: $15,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Seacoast Mission: $15,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPortland Community Squash: $13,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMAINE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $13,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPALAVER STRINGS INC: $11,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetMaine Island Trail Association: $11,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF SEGUIN ISLAND LIGHT STATION: $10,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetUnited Way Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPortland School of Ballet: $9,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetKIDS CONNECT INC: $8,000 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetMaine Maritime Museum: $6,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetVictoria Mansion: $6,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetUnion of Maine Visual Artists Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLand Conservation Assistance Network: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLifeFlight Foundation: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetILLUSTRATION INSTITUTE: $4,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetWAYNFLETE SCHOOL: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANDROSCOGGIN BANK'S MAINSTREET FDN PORTLAND TRUST COMPANY LLC: $3,500 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetCENTRAL MAINE MEDICAL CENTER: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOUR RESCUE: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPORTLAND OVATIONS: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChewonki Foundation Inc: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSCARBOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMANOMET INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPond Cove Parents Association co Claire Joyce: $3,000 over 3y, 5.3% of budgetSURF FOR LIFE: $2,500 over 1y, 30% of budgetMAINE CRAFTS ASSOCIATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

  • Who funds MaineHealth ↗
  • Who funds Good Shepherd Food Bank ↗
  • Who funds THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc ↗
  • Who funds RIDING TO THE TOP ↗
  • Who funds Ketcha Outdoors ↗
  • Who funds WAYFINDER SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds MAINE PRESERVATION ↗
  • Who funds Cape Elizabeth Land Trust ↗
  • Who funds FARMS FOR FOOD EQUITY ↗
  • Who funds Portland Museum of Art ↗
  • Who funds Maine Huts & Trails ↗
  • Who funds Maine Audubon Society ↗
  • Who funds TATE HOUSE MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Sailing Ships Portland ↗
  • Who funds SAIL MAINE ↗
  • Who funds Southern Maine Agency on Aging ↗
  • Who funds Maine Farmland Trust ↗
  • Who funds GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds GREATER PORTLAND LANDMARKS INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S MUSEUM AND THEATRE OF MAINE ↗
  • Who funds Maine Seacoast Mission ↗
  • Who funds Portland Community Squash ↗
  • Who funds MAINE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds PALAVER STRINGS INC ↗
  • Who funds Maine Island Trail Association ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF SEGUIN ISLAND LIGHT STATION ↗
  • Who funds United Way Inc ↗
  • Who funds PROUTS NECK HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗

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…Davis Family Foundati…Sam L Cohen FoundationMorton-Kelly Charitab…Fisher Charitable Fou…Horizon Foundation IncThe Apple Lane Founda…Saco & Biddeford Savi…Onion FoundationThe Widgeon Point Cha…Elmina B Sewall Found…Albert B Glickman Fam…
Maine Community Foundation IncME63.5× affinity35 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Davis Family Foundation · Sam L Cohen Foundation · Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust · Fisher Charitable Foundation · Horizon Foundation Inc · The Apple Lane Foundation Inc 14101830 · Saco & Biddeford Savings Charitable Foundation · Onion Foundation · The Widgeon Point Charitable Foundation · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · Albert B Glickman Family 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 Phineas W Sprague Memorial Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Phineas W Sprague Memorial Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Manomet Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
21report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Phineas W Sprague Memorial Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Phineas W Sprague Memorial 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 91 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 Phineas W Sprague Memorial’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