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Samelson-Lowitt Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Samelson-Lowitt Foundation Inc

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.

$2k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$341kEducation$302kCivil Rights$50kInternational$6kHealth$5kHousing & Shelter$3kCommunity Improvement$3kPublic Safety & Disaster$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$13k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY$2,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 9% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL: $130k → 7%ANGIOGENESIS FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%ROSIE'S PLACE: $1k → 16%UNICEF USA: $2k → 17%SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 6%CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL: $100k → 7%MASS AUDUBON SOCIETY: $100k → 8%ROSIE'S PLACE: $1k → 16%CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL: $70k → 7%MASS AUDUBON SOCIETY: $100k → 8%ROSIE'S PLACE: $1k → 16%MASS AUDUBON SOCIETY: $100k → 8%TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $2k → 16%MASS AUDUBON SOCIETY: $25k → 8%RIAC BOSTON: $2k → 16%MASS AUDUBON SOCIETY: $14k → 8%ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS: $25k → 16%MASS AUDUBON SOCIETY: $500 → 8%ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS: $25k → 16%JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND: $4k → 8%CENTER FOR WOMEN & ENTERPRISE INC: $3k → 16%THE RIVERS SCHOOL: $2k → 8%WOMEN AND ENTERPRISE: $2k → 16%GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS: $100 → 8%MASSACHUSETTS LAND TRUST COALITION: $250 → 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.
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$693k · 4 repeat orgs$24k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
11

Total granted

$693k
$22k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+25%

Still filing today

100%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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
EnvironmentInternationalEducationHealthHousing & ShelterCivil 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

  • MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $340k · revenue +47%
  • TC
    THE CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $300k · revenue +14%
  • ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $50k · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • AF
    ANGIOGENESIS FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +383%
  • JA
    JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER BOSTON INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $4k · revenue +41%
  • CENTER FOR WOMEN & ENTERPRISE INC
    one grant, 2024 · $3k · revenue 0%
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
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
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

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

—
4
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
5
University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association Inc

To promote the interests of the university of massachusetts amherst through programs, services and communications that develop and reinforce the bonds between the university and its alumni; to validate the value and alumni pride in the…

—
6
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
7
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
8
Bartlett Arboretum Association Inc

To cultivate and develop an expansive collection of trees, gardens, and plants for all to explore, enjoy and study; and to provide through education and stewardship, a greener, healthier, more beautiful environment.

Environment
9
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
10
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
11
Massachusetts Business Roundtable Inc

The mission of the roundtable is to make massachusetts the most desirable place to live, work and do business by engaging private sector executives and public leaders to ensure access to a robust, diverse and talented workforce that…

—
12
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…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Rivers School Corporation; the most unlike its peers is Massachusetts Audubon Society 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

13 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. 13 of the 16 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $339,500 · EnvironmentMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC+3 more: $1,350 · EnvironmentTHE CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL INC: $300,000 · EducationTHE CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL INCACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $50,000 · Civil RightsIndividual grant recipient: $2,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $2,000 · OtherTHE RIVERS SCHOOL CORPORATION: $2,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $2,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSS: $1,000 · OtherJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER BOSTON INC: $4,000 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $2,000 · InternationalANGIOGENESIS FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · HealthROSIE'S PLACE INC: $3,000 · Housing & ShelterCENTER FOR WOMEN & ENTERPRISE INC: $3,000 · Employment
Environment$340,850Education$300,000Civil Rights$50,000Other$9,000International$6,000Health$5,000Housing & Shelter$3,000Employment$3,000

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 budgetMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $339,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CHARLES RIVER SCHOOL INC: $300,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetANGIOGENESIS FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER BOSTON INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR WOMEN & ENTERPRISE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RIVERS SCHOOL CORPORATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS LAND TRUST COALITION: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INC: $100 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.

Fidelity FoundationBoston Foundation IncMorgan Stanley Global…Eastern Bank Foundati…Vanguard Charitable E…The Blackbaud Giving …National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity FoundationMA15.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Samelson-Lowitt Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Samelson-Lowitt Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Center for Women & Enterprise Inc: 27% of income from government
  • Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation: 4% of income from government
  • Grow Native Massachusetts Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
1report 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 16 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

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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