Skip to content
Robert W & Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway & Barnes LLP at a glance

· Private foundation

Robert W & Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway & Barnes LLP

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.

$99k
Granted FY2025still arriving
37
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$10k
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.

Environment$109kInternational$101kEducation$84kArts & Culture$52kSocial Science$30kFood & Nutrition$26kHousing & Shelter$25kCrime & Legal$24kOther$0
02FY2025 · 37 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k36 grants · $89k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$2,500
Median grant
10
States reached
$293k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TRUSTEES OF TUFTS COLLEGE$10,000
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB$7,000
AFS-USA INC$6,000
AFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS INC$5,000
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS & SCIENCES$5,000
FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY$5,000
PBS FOUNDATION$5,000
RAZOM INC$5,000
CREATIVE CAULDRON INC$5,000
NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL INC$5,000
PREBLE STREET$3,500
WORLD FOOD PROGRAM USA$3,000
GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES$3,000
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC$2,500
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF LOWER MERRIMACK VALLEY$2,500
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, $26k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 42% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%MICHAEL PHELPS FOUNDATION: $500 → 11%HOMELESS HEALTH CARE LOS ANGELES: $1k → 14%GOOD PLUS FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 17%SISTERSONG WOMEN OF COLOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE COLLECTIVE: $500 → 13%HOMELESS HEALTH CARE LOS ANGELES: $1k → 14%HOMELESS HEALTH CARE LOS ANGELES: $1k → 14%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $2k → 16%ABORTION LIBERATION FUND OF PA: $500 → 22%HOMELESS HEALTH CARE LOS ANGELES: $1k → 14%HOMELESS HEALTH CARE LOS ANGELES: $1k → 14%HOMELESS HEALTH CARE LOS ANGELES: $1k → 14%PREBLE STREET: $4k → 7%BOSTON HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC: $500 → 16%PREBLE STREET: $4k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $4k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $3k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $2k → 7%MASSACHUSETTS BAIL FUND: $500 → 8%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
MN
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
WV
VA
MD
AZ
TN
DC
AL
GA
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$468k · 36 repeat orgs$47k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +17% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

36 repeat relationships: 27 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
34

Total granted

$468k
$33k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
0%

Still filing today

92%
91%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
EnvironmentHuman ServicesEducationInternationalArts & CultureCivil RightsOther
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

  • Trustees of Tufts College
    6× · 2020–2025 · $63k · revenue +39%
  • Appalachian Mountain Club
    6× · 2020–2025 · $35k · revenue +92%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $29k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • RP
    READING PARTNERS
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -38%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $3k · revenue +39%
  • UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTSgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue +74%
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
Aclu Foundation of Massachusetts Inc

Aclu foundation of ma was established to defend freedoms guaranteed in the constitution and bill of rights through public education and litigation.

Civil Rights
2
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
3
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
4
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
7
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
8
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
9
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
10
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
11
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Afs-Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is Ukraine House Dc Foundation Inc. 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

74 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. 74 of the 80 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
74/74
Grantees still filing
37/74
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Appalachian Mountain Club: $35,000 · EnvironmentAppalachian Mountain Cl…Natural Resources Council of Maine Inc: $31,500 · EnvironmentNatural Resources Counc…FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY: $28,500 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF CASCO BAY+8 more: $11,000 · Environment+8 moreAFS-USA INC: $43,000 · InternationalAFS-USA INCAFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS INC: $26,500 · InternationalAFS INTERCULTURAL PROG…RAZOM INC: $13,500 · InternationalRAZOM INCInternational Rescue Committee INC: $10,000 · InternationalInternational Rescue C…HIAS INC: $4,000 · International+4 more: $4,500 · InternationalTrustees of Tufts College: $62,500 · EducationTrustees of Tufts …VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $10,000 · EducationVIRGINIA COMMONWEA…READING PARTNERS: $5,000 · EducationREADING PARTNERS+6 more: $6,000 · Education+6 moreGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC: $21,500 · OtherGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SE…BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF LOWER MERRIMACK VALLEY: $16,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF L…GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $8,500 · OtherGREATER BOSTON FOOD BAN…Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program: $4,500 · OtherCAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO LAKE INC: $14,500 · OtherCAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO…PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $7,500 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDE…LAWYERS DEFENDING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY INC: $4,000 · Other+23 more: $29,000 · Other+23 moreCreative Cauldron Inc: $27,000 · Arts & CultureCreative C…PBS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Arts & CulturePBS FOUNDA…Portland Museum of Art: $4,000 · Arts & CulturePortland M…ESSEX NATIONAL HERITAGE COMMISSION INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureESSEX NATI…Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation: $2,500 · Arts & CultureMaine Publ…WGBH Educational Foundation: $2,500 · Arts & CultureWGBH Educa…+3 more: $2,500 · Arts & Culture+3 morePREBLE STREET: $14,500 · Human ServicesPREBLE ST…FRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS O…Homeless Health Care Los Angeles: $6,000 · Human ServicesHomeless …CONCORD COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS: $6,000 · Human ServicesCONCORD C…UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $2,000 · Human Services+6 more: $3,500 · Human Services+6 moreAMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS & SCIENCES: $30,000 · Social Science
Environment$106,000International$101,500Education$83,500Other$105,500Arts & Culture$46,500Human Services$42,000Social Science$30,000

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 budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $62,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAFS-USA INC: $43,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club: $35,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNatural Resources Council of Maine Inc: $31,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS & SCIENCES: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CASCO BAY: $28,500 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCreative Cauldron Inc: $27,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetAFS INTERCULTURAL PROGRAMS INC: $26,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC: $21,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPREBLE STREET: $14,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO LAKE INC: $14,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetRAZOM INC: $13,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetVIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM INC: $10,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $8,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $7,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHomeless Health Care Los Angeles: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS: $6,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetREADING PARTNERS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPBS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMid Coast Hunger Prevention Program: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPortland Museum of Art: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHIAS INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAWYERS DEFENDING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF MAINE FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHARRIS CENTER FOR CONSERVATION EDUCATION INC: $3,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGood Shepherd Food Bank: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTEDFORD HOUSING: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetESSEX NATIONAL HERITAGE COMMISSION INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMIGHTY WRITERS: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMaine Public Broadcasting Corporation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEADING HOME INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBlack Mamas Matter Alliance Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINNER-CITY ARTS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE FOR HALLIE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOOD PLUS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JED FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BAIL PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $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.

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 US Charitable Gif…New Hampshire Charita…Eastern Bank Foundati…The Orchard FoundationBarr FoundationAnalog Devices Founda…ImpactassetsincMaine Community Found…The Robert Wood Johns…The Pfizer Foundation…Morgan Stanley Global…
Boston Foundation IncMA16.4× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · The US Charitable Gift Trust · New Hampshire Charitable Foundation · Eastern Bank Foundation · The Orchard Foundation · Barr Foundation · Analog Devices Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Maine Community Foundation Inc · The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc

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 Robert W & Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway & Barnes LLP funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert W & Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway & Barnes LLP. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Essex National Heritage Commission Inc: 87% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Heading Home Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Legal Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • American Academy of Arts & Sciences: 3% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club: 1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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 Robert W & Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway & Barnes LLP?

Find your warmest path to Robert W & Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway & Barnes LLP 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 80 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 Robert W & Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway & Barnes LLP’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