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Shea Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Shea 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.

$18k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$903kRecreation & Sports$169kReligion$155kHuman Services$124kEducation$108kAnimals$52kYouth Development$34kHousing & Shelter$29kOther$0
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$4,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BETHANY HEALTH CARE$4,500
ANGELL ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER$4,500
Individual grant recipient$4,500
ST PATRICKS MANOR$4,500
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 (FY20–23, $117k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%YMCA OF GREATER BOSTON: $2k → 16%SYRIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: $5k → 14%BOSTON HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $75k → 16%BOSTON HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $25k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $5k → 16%PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $3k → 8%PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $2k → 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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 32 repeat orgs$402k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +47% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 30 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
59

Total granted

$1.3M
$393k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
+11%

Still filing today

44%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • BOSTON HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $100k · revenue +62%
  • MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
    3× · 2021–2023 · $43k · revenue +49%
  • FM
    FERREN MEMORIAL INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $18k · revenue +185% · 68% of their budget

Funded once

  • BM
    BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER PAUL BOWMAM MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $45k
  • NE
    NEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $30k · revenue +41%
  • ME
    MGH - ELAINE CONNOLLY KIDNEY CANCER RESEARCH FUND (DR XIN GAO)
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
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
Greater Boston Council On Alcoholism Inc
Philanthropy
2
Managers of Boston Port and Seamen's Aid Society
—
3
Greater Boston Food Bank Inc

Our costs consist of acquiring, sorting and distributing food to 617 member agencies, transportation and logistics, and community outreach to 69 direct distribution sites such as gbfb mobile markets, and federal distributions for low…

—
4
Historic Boston Incorporated
—
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
Boston Public Market Association Inc

Our mission is to continue to develop and operate a permanent year-round market in boston and to support the farmers, fishers, and entrepreneurs who grow, catch, and produce local food, and to nourish our community with food and…

Public Benefit
7
Boston Municipal Research Bureau

To provide objective and impartial research and policy analysis in order to promote more efficient, effective and responsible government for the city of boston.

Public Benefit
8
Neighborhealth Corporation

Neighborhealth's mission is to promote and sustain healthy communities, families, and individuals by providing accessible, person-centered, and compassionate, high-quality health care services to all who live and work in our service area,…

Health
9
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…

—
10
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

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

—
11
Massachusetts Nonprofit Network

The mission of the massachusetts nonprofit network is to unite and strengthen the nonprofit sector in the commonwealth through public policy, public awareness, and capacity building services.

Education
12
Massachusetts Competitive Partnership Inc

Macp's stated mission is to promote job stabilization and growth across the full spectrum of business, and within all geographic regions of the commonwealth through working in partnership with business and government. macp's main priority…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is St Patrick's Manor Inc; the most unlike its peers is Friends of Edmands Park Incorporated. 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

40 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. 40 of the 94 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
39/40
Grantees still filing
25/40
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BETHANY HEALTH CARE: $421,525 · OtherBETHANY HEALTH CAREMASS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $134,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL HOSPITALMGH - DR XIN GAO: $75,000 · OtherMGH - DR XIN GAOTHE DOMINICAN FOUNDATION OF DOMINICAN FRIARS PROVINCE OF ST JO: $74,500 · OtherTHE DOMINICAN FOUNDATION OF DOMINICAN FRIARS PROVINCE OF ST JOSWAMPSCOTT YOUTH FOOTBALL: $64,000 · OtherGATES OF HEAVEN ST AUGUSTINE'S CHAPEL: $52,000 · Other+66 more: $556,500 · Other+66 moreBOSTON HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesSyrian American Council: $5,000 · Human ServicesPEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesPINE STREET INN INC: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $2,000 · Human ServicesNEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC: $30,000 · HealthGillys House Inc: $12,000 · HealthThe Hospital Bed Project Inc: $5,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 · HealthST PATRICK'S MANOR INC: $4,500 · HealthMASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $42,500 · AnimalsFERREN MEMORIAL INC: $18,000 · EducationST MARK'S SCHOOL OF SOUTHBOROUGH INC: $12,500 · EducationDAN FAHEY FALL CLASSIC INC: $8,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $2,500 · EducationNORWOOD LITTLE LEAGUE INC: $13,000 · Recreation & SportsSwampscott Youth Baseball Inc: $11,000 · Recreation & SportsNorwood Youth Football Inc: $6,000 · Recreation & SportsFriends of Edmands Park Incorporated: $2,500 · Recreation & SportsONSET BAY ASSOCIATION INC: $12,000 · Community ImprovementBUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT: $5,000 · Community ImprovementNewton Neighbors Inc: $2,000 · Community Improvement
Other$1,377,525Human Services$117,000Health$56,500Animals$42,500Education$41,000Recreation & Sports$32,500Community Improvement$19,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBOSTON HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $42,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFERREN MEMORIAL INC: $18,000 over 2y, 68% of budgetNORWOOD LITTLE LEAGUE INC: $13,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetST MARK'S SCHOOL OF SOUTHBOROUGH INC: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCARITAS COMMUNITIES INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGillys House Inc: $12,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetONSET BAY ASSOCIATION INC: $12,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $11,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSwampscott Youth Baseball Inc: $11,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetWALPOLE COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY INC: $8,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetDAN FAHEY FALL CLASSIC INC: $8,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetCamp for All Kids: $8,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHOUSING CORPORATION OF ARLINGTON: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNorwood Youth Football Inc: $6,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetGreen Newton Inc: $5,500 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetSyrian American Council: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Hospital Bed Project Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetPEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL BRAIN TUMOR SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST PATRICK'S MANOR INC: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RIVERS SCHOOL CORPORATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL MENTORING PARTNERSHIP INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTRE STREET FOOD PANTRY INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFriends of Edmands Park Incorporated: $2,500 over 1y, 90% of budgetST PATRICK'S DAY PARADE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER BOSTON INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHINESE CULTURE CONNECTION INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetANCHOR FOOD PANTRY: $1,000 over 1y, 1.7% 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 BOSTON HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS PROGRAM INC ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ↗
  • Who funds NEW ENGLAND LIFE FLIGHT INC ↗
  • Who funds FERREN MEMORIAL INC ↗
  • Who funds NORWOOD LITTLE LEAGUE INC ↗
  • Who funds ST MARK'S SCHOOL OF SOUTHBOROUGH INC ↗
  • Who funds CARITAS COMMUNITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Gillys House Inc ↗
  • Who funds ONSET BAY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Swampscott Youth Baseball Inc ↗
  • Who funds WALPOLE COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds DAN FAHEY FALL CLASSIC INC ↗

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.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Arbella Insurance Fou…Boston Foundation IncCambridge Savings Cha…Salem Five Charitable…Citizens Charitable F…The Bay State Federal…Massachusetts Bankers…The New England Patri…Cummings Foundation G…Combined Jewish Phila…Amica Companies Found…
Eastern Bank FoundationMA20.6× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Arbella Insurance Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Salem Five Charitable Foundation Inc · Citizens Charitable Foundation · The Bay State Federal Savings Charitable Foundation · Massachusetts Bankers Association Charitable Foundation Inc · The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Amica Companies 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 Shea Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shea Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 190%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Walpole Community Food Pantry Inc: 37% of income from government
  • St Patrick's Manor Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program Inc: 8% of income from government
  • New England Life Flight Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Chinese Culture Connection Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
19get 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Shea Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Shea Family 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 94 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 Shea 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