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Scherr Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Scherr Family 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.

$37k
Granted FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Human Services$78kHealth$38kEnvironment$17kPhilanthropy$10kInternational$3kEducation$2kFood & Nutrition$2kHousing & Shelter$1kOther$0
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $28k
$2,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$441k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE$15,000
JCC GREATER BOSTON$12,800
CERES$2,500
COMBINED JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES$2,000
BOB PARSON FOUNDATION$1,500
THE SCHWARTZ CENTER$1,000
2 LIFE COMMUNITIES$1,000
Individual grant recipient$720
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 (FY17–24, $77k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER BOSTON: $30k → 8%JCC GREATER BOSTON: $13k → 8%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER BOSTON: $12k → 8%JCC GREATER BOSTON: $9k → 8%JCC GREATER BOSTON: $9k → 8%PINE STREET INN: $250 → 16%JCC GREATER BOSTON: $4k → 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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$136k · 9 repeat orgs$11k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +120% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
10

Total granted

$136k
$8k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+120%
+22%

Still filing today

67%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesPhilanthropyEnvironmentInternationalFood & NutritionOther
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

  • JC
    JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS OF GREATER BOSTON
    6× · 2017–2024 · $77k · revenue +19%
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc
    5× · 2017–2024 · $29k · revenue +162%
  • CI
    CERES INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $17k · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • CS
    COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAM
    one grant, 2018 · $2k
  • AR
    ANN ROMNEY CENTER FOR NEUROLOGIC DISEASES
    one grant, 2022 · $2k
  • CF
    CENTER FOR EYE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INC
    one grant, 2023 · $2k · revenue +12%
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 Eye & Ear Infirmary

THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY ("THE INFIRMARY") IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT TEACHING HOSPITAL CONDUCTING PATIENT CARE AND RESEARCH. THE INFIRMARY IS A TEACHING HOSPITAL OF HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL AND AN INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH.…

Health
2
Hadassah the Women's Zionist Org of America Inc

Hadassah, the women's zionist organization of america, inc., a new york not-for-profit corporation ("hwzoa") enhances the health and lives of people in israel, the united states and worldwide through education, advocacy, women's…

Community Improvement
3
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
4
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
5
National Jewish Health

National Jewish Health's mission since 1899 is to heal, discover and educate as a preeminent healthcare institution. We serve by providing the best integrated and innovative care for patients and their families; by understanding and…

Health
6
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
7
Joslin Clinic Inc

To provide the highest quality specialty medical care to patients with diabetes and diabetes related conditions and to search for a cure.

Health
8
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Associates Inc

MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR ASSOCIATES, INC. ("MEEA") IS A SPECIALTY PHYSICIAN GROUP PRACTICE. IT PROVIDES CARE FOR PATIENTS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, INC. ("MEEI"), A RELATED ORGANIZATION. THE PRACTICE SPECIALIZES IN…

Health
9
Joslin Diabetes Center Inc

Our mission is to prevent, treat, and cure diabetes. our vision is a world free of diabetes and its complications.

Health
10
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc

Tertiary care academic medical center

Health
11
Beth Israel Hospital & Children's Hospital Medical Care Corporation

Pediatric healthcare, education & research

—
12
Peter Cohen Foundation
Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc; the most unlike its peers is Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation. 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

14 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. 14 of the 23 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
12/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS OF GREATER BOSTON: $76,643 · Human ServicesJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS OF GREATER BOSTON+1 more: $250 · Human ServicesDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $29,050 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Inst…PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $2,000 · HealthPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NO…CENTER FOR EYE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INC: $1,500 · HealthCERES INC: $16,550 · EnvironmentCERES INCMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $4,000 · OtherMASS GENERA…ADL: $2,800 · OtherADLBOB PARSON FOUNDATION: $1,500 · OtherBOB PARSON …COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAM: $1,500 · OtherCOMMUNITY S…ANN ROMNEY CENTER FOR NEUROLOGIC DISEASES: $1,500 · OtherANN ROMNEY …PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $1,250 · OtherPLANNED PAR…MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $1,000 · OtherMASS GENERA…Individual grant recipient: $720 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $600 · Other+3 more: $752 · OtherCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc: $7,354 · PhilanthropySHALOM LEARNING INC: $2,440 · PhilanthropyHebrew Senior Life Inc: $1,000 · PhilanthropyNEWTON FOOD PANTRY INC: $1,500 · Food & Nutrition2LIFE COMMUNITIES INC: $1,000 · Housing & Shelter
Human Services$76,893Health$32,550Environment$16,550Other$15,622Philanthropy$10,794Food & Nutrition$1,500Housing & Shelter$1,000

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 budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS OF GREATER BOSTON: $76,643 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $29,050 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCERES INC: $16,550 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc: $7,354 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSHALOM LEARNING INC: $2,440 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEWTON FOOD PANTRY INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCENTER FOR EYE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INC: $1,500 over 1y, 1.4% of budget2LIFE COMMUNITIES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHebrew Senior Life Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWILDFLOWER INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $250 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.

Combined Jewish Phila…Eastern Bank Foundati…Network for GoodDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston IncMA13.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Network for Good · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Scherr Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Scherr Family Foundation. 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • 2LIFE Communities Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Hebrew Senior Life Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 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
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 23 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 Scherr Family’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