Skip to content
Sweetser Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Sweetser Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$334k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$1.5MCrime & Legal$100kReligion$83kArts & Culture$67kHealth$28kPublic Safety & Disaster$23kHousing & Shelter$21kHuman Services$21kOther$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $83k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $98k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $153k
$5,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$1.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE$100,000
ST MARY'S CHURCH$53,000
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE$28,000
SEEDS 4 SUCCESS$20,000
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION$20,000
STAIR$15,000
ARCS FOUNDATION$15,000
THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION$6,500
UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND FINANCIAL SERVICES$6,000
CONSTRUCTION EDUCATION FOUNDATION$5,000
INTERFAITH SOCIAL SERVICES$5,000
CLARK UNIVERSITY$5,000
ROLLINS COLLEGE$5,000
COMPASSIONATE CARE ALS (CCALS)$5,000
ST AGATHA SCHOOL$5,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $9k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 33% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%INTERFAITH SOCIAL SERVICES: $5k → 7%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $800 → 8%ERIK'S RANCH: $2k → 11%MAGGIE'S PLACE: $800 → 11%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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
NH
WA
MN
IL
NY
MA
OH
CT
RI
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
OK
FL
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.
$1.9M · 44 repeat orgs$169k to everyone else

44 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2025, 24 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

44
23

Total granted

$1.9M
$127k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+31%

Still filing today

64%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $42k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHealthHuman ServicesArts & CulturePhilanthropyFood & 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

  • WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
    3× · 2022–2025 · $160k · revenue +19%
  • S4
    SEEDS 4 SUCCESS INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $144k · revenue +126%
  • CA
    COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $100k · revenue +78%

Funded once

  • JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $45k · revenue +64%
  • GO
    GIRLS ON THE RUN - DC
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue -34%
  • MH
    Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -61%
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
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
2
Roger Williams University

At Roger Williams University, students are prepared to be thinkers and doers ready to solve challenging problems with innovative solutions. RWU offers robust offerings of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across eight…

Education
3
Boston Architectural College

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

—
4
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
5
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
6
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
7
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
8
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
9
Northeastern University
Education
10
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
11
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
12
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Emerson College; the most unlike its peers is Construction Education Foundation of Virginia 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

51 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. 51 of the 74 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/51
Grantees still filing
36/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ARCHBISHOP CARROLL HIGH SCHOOL: $425,000 · OtherARCHBISHOP CARROLL HIGH SCHOOLWORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: $160,000 · OtherWORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTEUNIVERSITY OF MAINE: $122,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MAINEARCS FOUNDATION: $90,000 · OtherARCS FOUNDATIONST MARY'S CHURCH: $64,000 · Other+39 more: $399,050 · Other+39 moreStart the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) - Annapolis Inc: $94,400 · EducationStart the Adventure in…CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $82,000 · EducationCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUND…JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $45,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSI…Trustees of Saint Joseph's College Saint Joseph's College of Maine: $25,000 · EducationTrustees of Saint Jose…CLARKSON UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · EducationTHOMAS COLLEGE: $20,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF CLARK UNIVERSITY: $17,500 · EducationUniversity of New England: $15,000 · EducationROLLINS COLLEGE: $15,000 · Education+10 more: $74,000 · Education+10 moreSEEDS 4 SUCCESS INC: $144,400 · Youth DevelopmentGIRLS ON THE RUN - DC: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC: $100,000 · Civil RightsTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $44,000 · Arts & CultureANNAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $22,500 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $800 · Arts & CultureCOAST GUARD FOUNDATION INC: $22,900 · Public BenefitPAWS FOR PURPLE HEARTS: $2,800 · Public BenefitSHARE OUTREACH INC: $13,000 · Food & NutritionFeeding America: $10,750 · Food & NutritionMilton Community Food Pantry Inc: $1,500 · Food & Nutrition
Other$1,260,050Education$407,900Youth Development$154,400Civil Rights$100,000Arts & Culture$67,300Public Benefit$25,700Food & Nutrition$25,250

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 budgetWORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: $160,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSEEDS 4 SUCCESS INC: $144,400 over 8y, 5.2% of budgetCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC: $100,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetStart the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) - Annapolis Inc: $94,400 over 7y, 6.9% of budgetCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $82,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $45,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $44,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Saint Joseph's College Saint Joseph's College of Maine: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCOAST GUARD FOUNDATION INC: $22,900 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetANNAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $22,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetCLARKSON UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHOMAS COLLEGE: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCONSTRUCTION EDUCATION FOUNDATION OF VIRGINIA INC: $20,000 over 4y, 16% of budgetTRUSTEES OF CLARK UNIVERSITY: $17,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSPA CREEK CONSERVANCY INC: $15,000 over 8y, 4.7% of budgetUniversity of New England: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetROLLINS COLLEGE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSHARE OUTREACH INC: $13,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetRensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHusson University: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRivier University: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $10,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN - DC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEMERSON COLLEGE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetElon University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe William S Baer School: $7,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetInternational Rett Syndrome Foundation: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCedarville University: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LIGHT HOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSERVE THE CHILDREN: $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetAMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS ASSN: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERFAITH SOCIAL SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $4,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASSUMPTION UNIVERSITY: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON COLLEGE: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS FOR PURPLE HEARTS: $2,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetERIK'S RANCH INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAnnapolis Dragon Boat Foundation Inc: $1,500 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetMilton Community Food Pantry Inc: $1,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetBACK CREEK CONSERVANCY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAGGIE'S PLACE INC: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHISTORIC ANNAPOLIS INC: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC: $700 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHumane World for Animals 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 WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds SEEDS 4 SUCCESS INC ↗
  • Who funds COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC ↗
  • Who funds Start the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) - Annapolis Inc ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Trustees of Saint Joseph's College Saint Joseph's College of Maine ↗
  • Who funds COAST GUARD FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ANNAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds CLARKSON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds CONSTRUCTION EDUCATION FOUNDATION OF VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF CLARK UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SPA CREEK CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds University of New England ↗
  • Who funds ROSIE'S PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds ROLLINS COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds SHARE OUTREACH INC ↗
  • Who funds Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ↗
  • Who funds Husson University ↗
  • Who funds Rivier University ↗
  • Who funds Feeding America ↗
  • Who funds GIRLS ON THE RUN - DC ↗
  • Who funds Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital ↗

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.

Davis Educational Fou…Bangor Savings Bank F…Community Foundation …LPL Financial Foundat…New Hampshire Charita…Eastern Bank Foundati…F Roger Miller TrustCochran Gifford a Tr …Higgins Mary E Educ F…Lillian M Baker Trust…Albert H YoungWilliam Searls Schola…
Davis Educational FoundationME17.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Davis Educational Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · Community Foundation of Anne Arundel Co · LPL Financial Foundation Inc · New Hampshire Charitable Foundation · Eastern Bank Foundation · F Roger Miller Trust · Cochran Gifford a Tr Uind · Higgins Mary E Educ Fund · Lillian M Baker Trust Portland Trust Co LLC · Albert H Young · William Searls Scholarship Fund First National Bank Trustee

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 Sweetser Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sweetser Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Seeds 4 Success Inc: 48% of income from government
  • Historic Annapolis Inc: 45% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute: 8% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Trustees of Clark University: 2% of income from government
  • Assumption University: 0% of income from government
  • Washington College: 0% of income from government
  • Rollins College: 0% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Emerson College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get 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 · 0–75%
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 74 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

Play a game based on Sweetser’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