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Popplestone Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Popplestone 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.

$51M
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$10M
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 2024.

Arts & Culture$78MPublic Benefit$70MEducation$44MCivil Rights$17MPhilanthropy$14MHuman Services$13MFood & Nutrition$3.2MEnvironment$2.9MOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $50k–250k1 grant · $150k
  • $250k+23 grants · $51M
$825,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$28M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILLIAM J BRENNAN JR CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC$10,000,000
PROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT$10,000,000
STATES UNITED DEMOCRACY CENTER INC$5,000,000
CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER$3,250,000
YOUNG PEOPLE'S CHORUS OF NEW YORK CITY$3,000,000
PARENTCORPS$3,000,000
SD FOUNDATION FBO VOTING RIGHTS LAB$2,500,000
PRO PUBLICA$2,500,000
THE READING LEAGUE INC$2,500,000
HARMONY PROGRAM$2,000,000
TIDES FOUNDATION FBO MOVEMENT VOTER FUND$1,500,000
AMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT$825,000
FAIR ELECTIONS CENTER$650,000
NEW VENTURE FUND FBO MEDIA DEMOCRACY FUND$600,000
EDVESTORS INC$550,000
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 (FY22–23, $5.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 27%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%ROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $5.0M → 28%FRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: $250k → 14%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

IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
MD
DC
AL
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

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

About 7% of Popplestone Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Popplestone Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
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 funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

39%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$87M · 27 repeat orgs$134M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +12% since the first grant, against -5% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
42

Total granted

$87M
$102M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
-5%

Still filing today

85%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 37% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $32M 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
Arts & CultureCivil RightsEducationCrime & LegalPublic BenefitInternationalOther
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

  • WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $21M · revenue +64%
  • PS
    Project STEP Inc
    2× · 2022–2023 · $5.5M · revenue +117% · 76% of their budget
  • NP
    NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION
    3× · 2019–2022 · $2.9M · revenue +145%

Funded once

  • CM
    COMMUNITY MUSIC WORKS PROJECT
    one grant, 2023 · $11M
  • NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10M · revenue +132% · 34% of their budget
  • TV
    THE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10M · revenue +155% · 44% of their budget
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
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
3
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
4
National Public Radio Inc

National public radio, inc. ("npr") works collaboratively with member public radio station licensees ("member stations") to create a more informed public, one that is challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of…

Arts & Culture
5
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
6
Democracy Works Inc

The organization's mission is to leverage web-technologies to improve civic engagement and voter education.

Civil Rights
7
Foreign Policy Research Institute

The foreign policy research institute (frpi) is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the united states. we educate…

International
8
Npr International Operations Inc

Npr international operations, inc. ("nprio") supports the international newsgathering activities of national public radio, inc. through bureaus and offices established locally in foreign countries.

—
9
Kqed Inc

See schedule okqed serves the people of northern california with a community-supported alternative to commercial media, providing the knowledge needed to make informed decisions; convening community dialogue; bringing the arts to everyone;…

Arts & Culture
10
The Rand Corporation

Help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

Public Benefit
11
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
12
Center for American Progress

The center for american progress (cap) is an independent nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. our aim is…

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Generation Citizen Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee Inc. 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

59 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. 59 of the 84 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.

17
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
59/59
Grantees still filing
27/59
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY MUSIC WORKS PROJECT: $10,510,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY MUSIC WORKS PROJECTCENTER FOR ELECTION INNOVATION & RESEARCH (CEIR): $5,000,000 · OtherCENTER FOR ELECTION INNOVATION & RES…AMERICANS UNITED FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $3,500,000 · OtherBLACK VOTERS MATTER: $3,000,000 · OtherPARENTCORPS: $3,000,000 · OtherLITERACY INC (LINC): $3,000,000 · OtherNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $2,865,000 · OtherROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $5,000,000 · OtherROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC+35 more: $43,279,373 · Other+35 moreWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $20,500,000 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER F…NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $14,500,000 · EducationNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY O…Massachusetts Institute of Technology: $8,000,000 · EducationMassachusetts Institute of…ALL OUR KIN INC: $5,000,000 · EducationALL OUR KIN INCICIVICS INC: $4,250,000 · EducationICIVICS INCTHE READING LEAGUE INC: $2,500,000 · Education+3 more: $3,050,000 · EducationPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $10,000,000 · Civil RightsPROTECT DEMOCRACY PR…NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $10,000,000 · Civil RightsNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE …THE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $10,000,000 · Civil RightsTHE VOTER PARTICIPAT…STATES UNITED DEMOCRACY CENTER INC: $5,000,000 · Civil RightsSTATES UNITED DEMOCR…Fair Elections Center: $2,000,000 · Civil RightsFLORIDA RIGHTS RESTORATION COALITION: $2,000,000 · Civil Rights+5 more: $4,250,000 · Civil Rights+5 moreBOSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $6,400,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON YOUTH SYMPH…Project STEP Inc: $5,500,000 · Arts & CultureProject STEP IncUNITING VOICES: $4,000,000 · Arts & CultureUNITING VOICESATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT INC: $3,500,000 · Arts & CultureATLANTA MUSIC PROJ…EDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC INC: $3,000,000 · Arts & CultureEDUCATION THROUGH …THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S CHORUS OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $3,000,000 · Arts & CultureTHE YOUNG PEOPLE'S…COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC: $2,700,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMUNITY MUSIC CE…AMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT INC: $2,500,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN JOURNALIS…PRO PUBLICA INC: $2,500,000 · Arts & CulturePRO PUBLICA INCNEIGHBORHOOD MUSIC SCHOOL INC: $2,000,000 · Arts & CultureTHE HARMONY PROGRAM INC: $2,000,000 · Arts & CultureHANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY: $1,500,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $570,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER INC: $10,000,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,050,000 · Crime & LegalTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $4,900,000 · PhilanthropyTIDES FOUNDATION: $3,000,000 · PhilanthropyFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $5,691,500 · Community Improvement
Other$79,154,373Education$57,800,000Civil Rights$43,250,000Arts & Culture$39,170,000Crime & Legal$12,050,000Philanthropy$7,900,000Community Improvement$5,691,500

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $20,500,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $14,500,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $10,000,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $10,000,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetTHE CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER INC: $10,000,000 over 3y, 23% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $10,000,000 over 1y, 44% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $8,000,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $6,400,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $5,691,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetProject STEP Inc: $5,500,000 over 2y, 76% of budgetROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $5,000,000 over 1y, 37% of budgetSTATES UNITED DEMOCRACY CENTER INC: $5,000,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetALL OUR KIN INC: $5,000,000 over 1y, 42% of budgetTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $4,900,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetICIVICS INC: $4,250,000 over 2y, 37% of budgetUNITING VOICES: $4,000,000 over 1y, 55% of budgetEDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC INC: $3,000,000 over 1y, 69% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $3,000,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE YOUNG PEOPLE'S CHORUS OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $3,000,000 over 1y, 40% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $2,865,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC: $2,700,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetAMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT INC: $2,500,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetTHE READING LEAGUE INC: $2,500,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $2,500,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetPARENTCHILD INC: $2,250,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,050,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetFair Elections Center: $2,000,000 over 3y, 20% of budgetFLORIDA RIGHTS RESTORATION COALITION: $2,000,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD MUSIC SCHOOL INC: $2,000,000 over 1y, 43% of budgetTHE HARMONY PROGRAM INC: $2,000,000 over 1y, 45% of budgetTHE URBAN INSTITUTE: $2,000,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $1,750,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetEDVESTORS INC: $1,650,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetGENERATION CITIZEN INC: $1,500,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetHANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY: $1,500,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetOPENSECRETS: $1,500,000 over 3y, 20% of budgetPROTEUS FUND INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetFAIRVOTE: $1,000,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetMassachusetts Budget and Policy Center Inc: $1,000,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetBOSTON DEBATE LEAGUE INCORPORATED: $1,000,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetVerified Voting Foundation: $1,000,000 over 1y, 29% of budgetVOTERIDERS: $1,000,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetMOVEMENT ADVANCEMENT PROJECT: $1,000,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetFOOD FOR FREE COMMITTEE INC: $850,000 over 2y, 7.2% of budgetAsian & Pacific Islander American Vote: $750,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetWOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INC: $700,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities: $600,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCENTER FOR CIVIC DESIGN INC: $500,000 over 1y, 30% 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.

Boston Foundation IncThe Klarman Family Fo…Liberty Mutual Founda…Eastern Bank Foundati…Linde Family Foundati…William E Schrafft an…D'Addario Foundation …Barr FoundationRamsey McCluskey Fami…Ploughshares Foundati…The Cabot Family Char…The Hamilton Company …
Boston Foundation IncMA30.5× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · The Klarman Family Foundation · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Linde Family Foundation · William E Schrafft and Bertha E Schrafft Charitable Trust · D'Addario Foundation Inc · Barr Foundation · Ramsey McCluskey Family Foundation · Ploughshares Foundation · The Cabot Family Charitable Trust · The Hamilton Company 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 Popplestone Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Popplestone 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%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Icivics Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Food Link Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Women's Lunch Place Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Boston Debate League Incorporated: 7% of income from government
  • Boston City Singers Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Emmanuel Music Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Zumix Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Neighborhood Music School Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Food for Free Committee Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Handel and Haydn Society: 2% of income from government
  • Boston Children's Chorus Inc: 2% of income from government
  • New England Conservatory of Music: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras Inc: 1% of income from government
  • All Our Kin Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Edvestors Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Community Music Center of Boston Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 84 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 Popplestone’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