· Private foundation
Sylvester Memorial Fund
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| PARISH OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST | $2,600 |
| NORWELL HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FUND | $2,000 |
| NVNA AND HOSPICE | $2,000 |
| YOUTH ACROSS BORDERS | $2,000 |
| SOUTH SHORE BAPTIST CHURCH | $2,000 |
| COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL | $1,000 |
| THE JAMES LIBRARY | $500 |
| PINE STREET INN | $500 |
| YOUTH PASTOR THEOLOGIAN | $500 |
| MASS AUDOBON SOCIETY | $500 |
| CHURCH HILL CEMETERY CORPORATION | $500 |
| WGBH EDUCATION FOUNDATION | $500 |
| CUSHING POND PRESERVATION GROUP | $500 |
| US CHESS FEDERATION | $300 |
| NEW ENGLAND WILDLIFE CENTER | $300 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY21–25, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.
28 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- NVNorwell Visiting Nurse Association Inc5× · 2020–2025 · $8k · revenue +102%
Compassion International Incorporated4× · 2022–2025 · $4k · revenue +16%- FOFLORIDA OCEANOGRAPHIC SOCIETY INC6× · 2020–2025 · $1k · revenue +13%
Funded once
- SJST JOHN EPISCOPAL CHURCHone grant, 2020 · $4k
- NSNORTH SOUTH RIVER WATERSHEDone grant, 2020 · $3k
- WTWILDLANDS TRUST INCone grant, 2021 · $1k · revenue -6%
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.
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.
Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)
Maine Audubon works to conserve Maine's wildlife and habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation, and action. We are helping the people of Maine become the nation's most informed and effective stewards of wildlife and…
The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…
The wildlife society's mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.
The new jersey audubon society is a privately supported, not-for-profit, statewide membership organization. (see schedule o for details).
The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."
Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.
Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.
The nber conducts unbiased, non-partisan economic research and communicates the findings of that research to academic researchers, policy-makers, and business professionals. (continued on schedule o)
Our mission is to spark people's curiosity to explore, steward, and find peace and joy in nature. in service to this, norman bird sanctuary inspires, builds, and engages a community of stewards who preserve, protect, enjoy, and learn from…
Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…
How this is measured
25 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. 25 of the 64 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 Norwell Visiting Nurse Association Inc ↗
- Who funds YOUTH ACROSS BORDERS INC ↗
- Who funds Compassion International Incorporated ↗
- Who funds FLORIDA OCEANOGRAPHIC SOCIETY INC ↗
- Who funds WILDLANDS TRUST INC ↗
- Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS ↗
- Who funds STRAFFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
- Who funds CHRISTIAN CAMPS & CONFERENCE INC ↗
- Who funds HINGHAM LAND CONSERVATION TRUST ↗
- Who funds Appalachian Mountain Club ↗
- Who funds PINE STREET INN INC ↗
- Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
- Who funds AMERICAN RIVERS INC ↗
- Who funds MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC ↗
- Who funds NEW ENGLAND WILDLIFE CENTER 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.
Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Sylvester Memorial Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sylvester Memorial Fund. Bigger dots raise more.
- Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
- Wildlands Trust Inc: 5% of income from government
- The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
- The National Federation of the Blind: 2% of income from government
- Appalachian Mountain Club: 1% of income from government
- Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
- New England Wildlife Center Inc: 1% of income from government
- Florida Oceanographic Society Inc: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Sylvester Memorial’s filings →