Skip to content
Susanna E Bedell Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Susanna E Bedell 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.

$62k
Granted FY2024still arriving
21
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$12k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$55kHealth$53kHuman Services$43kArts & Culture$27kCrime & Legal$24kPublic Benefit$22kReligion$22kFood & Nutrition$17kOther$0
02FY2024 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k18 grants · $28k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $34k
$1,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$907k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HARVARD TH CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH$12,000
BRYN MAWR COLLEGE$12,000
CONCORD-CARLISLE COMMUNITY CHEST$10,000
AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM$5,000
FIRST PARISH CHURCH LINCOLN$4,000
CONCORD CHORUS$4,000
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE$2,000
TOWN OF CONCORD COUNCIL ON AGING$2,000
CURTIS MEMORIAL LIBRARY$1,200
MAINE COAST HERITAGE TRUST$1,000
SERVE YOUR CITY DC MUTUAL AID$1,000
GAINING GROUND$1,000
DISCOVERY MUSEUM$1,000
FIRST PARISH CHURCH WESTON$1,000
FRIENDS OF THE CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY$1,000
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 55% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%MUNROE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $2k → 8%HARVARD TH CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $12k → 16%BRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $12k → 10%AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $5k → 17%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $10k → 18%BRUNSWICK TOPSHAM LAND TRUST: $2k → 7%TREE STREET YOUTH: $2k → 13%HARVARD TH CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $10k → 16%BRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $12k → 10%AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $3k → 17%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5k → 18%CURTIS MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $1k → 7%HARVARD TH CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $10k → 16%BRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $10k → 10%AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $3k → 17%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5k → 18%FIRST PARISH CHURCH LINCOLN: $4k → 8%HARVARD TH CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $10k → 16%BRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $10k → 10%AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $2k → 17%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $2k → 18%MAINE COAST HERITAGE TRUST: $2k → 9%FIRST PARISH CHURCH: $4k → 8%HARVARD TH CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $10k → 16%BRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $5k → 10%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $2k → 18%MAINE COAST HERITAGE TRUST: $2k → 9%FIRST PARISH CHURCH LINCOLN: $4k → 8%MAINE COAST HERITAGE TRUST: $2k → 9%FIRST PARISH CHURCH: $4k → 8%FIRST PARISH CHURCH LINCOLN: $4k → 8%CULTIVATING COMMUNITY: $5k → 7%CONCORD-CARLISLE COMMUNITY CHEST: $16k → 8%CULTIVATING COMMUNITY: $5k → 7%TOWN OF CONCORD COUNCIL ON AGING: $10k → 8%CONCORD-CARLISLE COMMUNITY CHEST: $10k → 8%CONCORD-CARLISLE COMMUNITY CHEST: $8k → 8%CONCORD-CARLISLE COMMUNITY CHEST: $6k → 8%TOWN OF CONCORD COUNCIL ON AGING: $5k → 8%CONCORD CHORUS: $4k → 8%GAINING GROUND: $2k → 8%CONCORD MUSEUM: $2k → 8%CONCORD INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%CONCORD-CARLISLE COMMUNITY CHEST: $2k → 8%FRIENDS OF THE CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY: $2k → 8%CONCORD MUSEUM: $2k → 8%TOWN OF CONCORD COUNCIL ON AGING: $2k → 8%TOWN OF CONCORD COUNCIL ON AGING: $1k → 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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$214k · 20 repeat orgs$11k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
8

Total granted

$214k
$7k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+17%

Still filing today

55%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k 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
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationHealthPhilanthropyCivil 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

  • BM
    BRYN MAWR COLLEGE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $49k · revenue +34%
  • CC
    CONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $42k · revenue +56%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM
    4× · 2020–2024 · $12k · revenue +77%

Funded once

  • TC
    THE CONCORD INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $2k · revenue +11%
  • TS
    TREE STREET YOUTH INC
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue +17%
  • SP
    SPC PRESERVATION FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $1k
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
Maine Historical Society

Maine Historical Society, founded in 1822, is a private non-profit whose mission is to preserve and share Maine's story. Based in Portland, we work closely with communities and partners throughout the state, and serve a statewide and…

Arts & Culture
2
Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve

The mission of the mount desert land & garden preserve is to conserve and share the beauty of our historic lands and gardens.

—
3
Midcoast Conservancy

The mission of Midcoast Conservancy is to protect vital lands and waters on a scale that matters and to inspire wonder and action on behalf of all species and the Earth.

Environment
4
New England Museum Association

New england museum association's mission is to connect a community engaged in learning, collaboration, and action to cultivate a better museum world.

—
5
Maine Maritime Museum

To connect people to the past, present, and future of Maine's waterways and their global reach.

Arts & Culture
6
Abbe Museum

To illuminate and advance greater understanding of and support for Wabanaki Nations' heritage, living cultures, and homelands.

Arts & Culture
7
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

To inspire appreciation, understanding and stewardship of our natural environment through discovery and learning.

Arts & Culture
8
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc

The mission of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Inc. is to inspire meaningful connections among people and nature and promote plant conservation through horticulture, education, and plant science.

Environment
9
Kennebunk Land Trust

Kennebunk Land Trust's mission is to permanently conserve and steward land to benefit natural and human communities.

Environment
10
Connecticut Farmland Trust Inc

Protect Connecticuts farmland for agricultural use by purchasing and accepting donations of agricultural conservation easements

Food & Nutrition
11
Maine Farmland Trust

Maine Farmland Trust protects farmland, supports farmers, and advances the future of farming.

Food & Nutrition
12
Fitchburg Art Museum

The mission of the fitchburg art museum is to inspire creativity and learning, and to contribute to the well-being of our diverse communities in fitchburg, north central massachusetts, and new england. to accomplish the mission, we…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Discovery Museum Inc; the most unlike its peers is Concord Chorus 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

20 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. 20 of the 35 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
15/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

President and Fellows of Harvard College: $52,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard CollegeBRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $49,000 · EducationBRYN MAWR COLLEGEFriends of the Concord Free Public Library Inc: $3,500 · EducationTOWN OF CONCORD COUNCIL ON AGING: $18,025 · OtherTOWN OF CONCORD COUNCIL …FIRST PARISH CHURCH LINCOLN: $12,000 · OtherFIRST PARISH CHURCH LINC…FIRST PARISH CHURCH: $8,000 · OtherFIRST PARISH CHURCHGAINING GROUND INC: $4,900 · OtherGAINING GROUND INCMUNROE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $3,000 · OtherCURTIS MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $2,700 · OtherFIRST PARISH CHURCH WESTON: $2,020 · Other+13 more: $9,906 · Other+13 moreCONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC: $42,000 · PhilanthropyCONCORD CARLISLE …AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $12,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN F…CONCORD CHORUS INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureCONCORD CH…CONCORD ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY D/B/A CONCORD MUSEUM: $4,000 · Arts & CultureCONCORD AN…THE CONCORD INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CONCOR…DISCOVERY MUSEUM INC: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $24,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUS…CULTIVATING COMMUNITY: $11,000 · Food & NutritionMaine Coast Heritage Trust: $7,000 · EnvironmentBrunswick-Topsham Land Trust Inc: $2,500 · EnvironmentKENNEBEC ESTUARY LAND TRUST: $800 · Environment
Education$104,500Other$60,551Philanthropy$42,000Arts & Culture$24,500Civil Rights$24,000Food & Nutrition$11,000Environment$10,300

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $52,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $49,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC: $42,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $24,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $12,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCULTIVATING COMMUNITY: $11,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMaine Coast Heritage Trust: $7,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD CHORUS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetGAINING GROUND INC: $4,900 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCONCORD ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY D/B/A CONCORD MUSEUM: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBrunswick-Topsham Land Trust Inc: $2,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CONCORD INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTREE STREET YOUTH INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDISCOVERY MUSEUM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKENNEBEC ESTUARY LAND TRUST: $800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMid Coast Hunger Prevention Program: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAINE MUSEUM OF INNOVATION LEARNING AND LABOR: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCUREPSP INC: $500 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.

  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds BRYN MAWR COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds CONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds CULTIVATING COMMUNITY ↗
  • Who funds Maine Coast Heritage Trust ↗
  • Who funds CONCORD CHORUS INC ↗
  • Who funds GAINING GROUND INC ↗
  • Who funds CONCORD ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY D/B/A CONCORD MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds Friends of the Concord Free Public Library Inc ↗
  • Who funds Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE CONCORD INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds TREE STREET YOUTH INC ↗
  • Who funds DISCOVERY MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds KENNEBEC ESTUARY LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program ↗
  • Who funds MAINE MUSEUM OF INNOVATION LEARNING AND LABOR ↗
  • Who funds CUREPSP 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.

Boston Foundation IncElmina B Sewall Found…Maine Community Found…Quimby Family Foundat…ImpactassetsincMorton-Kelly Charitab…Good Shepherd Food Ba…Onion FoundationBangor Savings Bank F…Eastern Bank Foundati…Ge Aerospace Foundati…The Bank of America C…
Boston Foundation IncMA17.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · Maine Community Foundation Inc · Quimby Family Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust · Good Shepherd Food Bank · Onion Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · Eastern Bank Foundation · Ge Aerospace Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation 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 Susanna E Bedell Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Susanna E Bedell Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Gaining Ground Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Discovery Museum Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Concord Antiquarian Society D/B/a Concord Museum: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 35 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 Susanna E Bedell’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