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Plinth

· Private foundation

Stemberg Thomas G Char Fnd Attn Noreen Snow Bbh

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.

$443k
Granted FY2024still arriving
23
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$210k
Largest
01What you fund
0184% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY20172024.

Arts & Culture$1.6MEducation$748kPublic Safety & Disaster$75kYouth Development$75kPhilanthropy$58kRecreation & Sports$25kHealth$18kEnvironment$17kInternational$10kOther$494k
02FY2024 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k10 grants · $28k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $155k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $260k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$6.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM$210,000
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$50,000
BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY$25,000
THE BOSTON FOUNDATION$15,000
BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL$15,000
COUTRY CLUB EMPLOYEE EDUCATION FUND INC$15,000
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD$15,000
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO$15,000
THE EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY$10,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BOSTON$10,000
BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$10,000
FUSION ACADEMY$10,000
PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND$9,000
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION$5,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 73% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%BEAVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $25k → 7%PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $95k → 8%NORTHEAST ARC INC: $10k → 10%COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS: $10k → 11%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $55k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $317k → 16%CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $10k → 16%BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%ELON UNIVERSITY: $25k → 13%COUTRY CLUB EMPLOYEE EDUCATION FUND INC: $15k → 7%PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $95k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $50k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $210k → 16%PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $70k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $25k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $190k → 16%PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $35k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $20k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $150k → 16%PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $35k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $18k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $125k → 16%PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $25k → 8%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $15k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $110k → 16%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $13k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $100k → 16%DEXTER SCHOOL: $43k → 7%BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $13k → 12%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $50k → 16%DEXTER SCHOOL: $43k → 7%BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: $15k → 16%DEXTER SCHOOL: $33k → 7%CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF WESTON: $80k → 8%CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF WESTON: $80k → 8%PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD: $15k → 8%THE BOSTON FOUNDATION: $28k → 16%THE BOSTON FOUNDATION: $15k → 16%BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY: $25k → 16%BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY: $25k → 16%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL PEDIATRICS: $65k → 16%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $25k → 16%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL PEDIATRICS: $15k → 16%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL PEDIATRICS: $15k → 16%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $15k → 16%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL PEDIATRICS: $15k → 16%THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $25k → 16%INNER CITY SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $14k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$2.9M · 30 repeat orgs$144k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +40% since the first grant, against +34% for the ones you funded once.

30 repeat relationships — 19 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
14

Total granted

$2.9M
$119k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+34%

Still filing today

73%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureEnvironmentRecreation & SportsPublic Safety & DisasterYouth DevelopmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +117%
  • PS
    PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
    7× · 2017–2024 · $364k · revenue +49%
  • BS
    BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $207k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • TA
    THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
  • TN
    THE NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON
    one grant, 2020 · $13k
  • TO
    TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSSgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +44%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — 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
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

3
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
4
Trustees of Boston College

Mission strengthened by more than a century and a half of dedication to academic excellence, boston college commits itself to the highest standards of teaching and research in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and to the…

Education
5
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Bb&n, an all gender day school in cambridge, massachusetts, was established in 1974 by the merger of two independent schools, the buckingham school and the browne & nichols school, founded respectively in 1889 and 1883. located on multiple…

Education
6
New England Lawboston

New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…

Education
7
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
8
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

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

9
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
10
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
11
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
12
Bentley University

Organization's mission bentley university believes good business can impact more than the bottom line - it can change the world. bentley is a community of future business leaders who will deliver value in the marketplace and lasting…

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Our Sisters School and the most unlike its peers is The Harvard Independent Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 57 years old; the field is 17. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number19%0%<5yr14%3%5–10yr21%20%10–20yr20%11%20–35yr13%11%35–55yr13%54%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value19%0%<5yr14%1%5–10yr21%3%10–20yr20%8%20–35yr13%2%35–55yr13%87%55yr+

The field is 19% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 11% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/36
the rest of the field
11%
4,838/44,178

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

34 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 34 of the 49 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/34
Grantees still filing
26/34
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC — $1,252,400 · Arts & CultureISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INCBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC — $207,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC — $60,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more — $58,500 · Arts & CulturePERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND — $364,000 · EducationPERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIN…THE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF WESTON INC — $160,000 · EducationTHE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF WES…Elon University — $55,000 · EducationElon UniversityTHE BEAVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL INC — $45,000 · EducationTHE BEAVER COUNTRY DAY SCHO…+10 more — $123,500 · Education+10 moreDEXTER SCHOOL — $119,999 · OtherDEXTER SCHOOLMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL PEDIATRICS — $115,000 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS GENER…UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO — $71,400 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF TORON…MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL — $40,000 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS GENER…INNER CITY SCHOLARSHIP FUND — $31,268 · OtherINNER CITY SCHOLARS…MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED — $25,000 · OtherTHE ARNOLD ARBORETUM OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY — $25,000 · Other+15 more — $110,500 · Other+15 moreTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC — $75,000 · Public Safety & DisasterBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC — $75,000 · Youth DevelopmentBoston Foundation Inc — $48,000 · PhilanthropyCHAPEL & YORK US FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 · PhilanthropyEMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC — $15,250 · Recreation & SportsFUSION ACADEMY SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION — $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Arts & Culture$1,577,900Education$747,500Other$538,167Public Safety & Disaster$75,000Youth Development$75,000Philanthropy$58,000Recreation & Sports$25,250

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC — $1,252,400 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetPERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND — $364,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC — $207,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF WESTON INC — $160,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC — $75,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC — $75,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC — $60,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetElon University — $55,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBoston Foundation Inc — $48,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BEAVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL INC — $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKLINE MUSIC SCHOOL INC — $35,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC — $22,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FRANCIS OUIMET SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC — $20,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC — $17,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College — $16,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC — $15,250 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE COUNTRY CLUB EMPLOYEE EDUCATION FUND INC — $15,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetThe Harvard Independent Inc — $12,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetBUZZARDS BAY COALITION — $11,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CARROLL SCHOOL — $10,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JAPAN SOCIETY OF BOSTON INC — $10,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetFUSION ACADEMY SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetBROOKLINE FOOD PANTRY INC — $10,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCornell University — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHEAST ARC INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHAPEL & YORK US FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPS TO SUCCESS INC — $7,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetOUR SISTERS SCHOOL — $7,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE CO INC — $6,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAR-MA INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBOSTON BALLET INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELLEN M GIFFORD SHELTERING HOME CO — $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC
  • Who funds PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
  • Who funds BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
  • Who funds THE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF WESTON INC
  • Who funds THE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC
  • Who funds BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds Elon University
  • Who funds Boston Foundation Inc
  • Who funds THE BEAVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL INC
  • Who funds BROOKLINE MUSIC SCHOOL INC
  • Who funds CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds THE FRANCIS OUIMET SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College
  • Who funds EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC
  • Who funds THE COUNTRY CLUB EMPLOYEE EDUCATION FUND INC
  • Who funds The Harvard Independent Inc
  • Who funds BUZZARDS BAY COALITION
  • Who funds THE CARROLL SCHOOL
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS
  • Who funds THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF BOSTON INC
  • Who funds FUSION ACADEMY SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION
  • Who funds BROOKLINE FOOD PANTRY INC
  • Who funds Cornell University
  • Who funds NORTHEAST ARC INC
  • Who funds CHAPEL & YORK US FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds STEPS TO SUCCESS INC
  • Who funds OUR SISTERS SCHOOL
  • Who funds AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE CO INC

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Boston Foundation IncMA22× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Stemberg Thomas G Char Fnd Attn Noreen Snow Bbh funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 120%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 2%
  • Northeast Arc Inc73% of income from government
  • Buzzards Bay Coalition37% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College7% of income from government
  • Perkins School for the Blind7% of income from government
  • Steps to Success Inc5% of income from government
  • Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts Inc3% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Inc2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations2% of income from government
  • Brookline Music School Inc1% of income from government
  • Boston Ballet Inc0% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc0% of income from government
  • Emerald Necklace Conservancy Inc0% of income from government
  • American Repertory Theatre Co Inc0% of income from government
  • Boston Arts Academy Foundation Inc0% of income from government
  • Our Sisters School0% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 49 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph