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The 1156 Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The 1156 Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$586k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$626kPhilanthropy$268kArts & Culture$54kEnvironment$44kFood & Nutrition$30kHuman Services$26kHousing & Shelter$20kRecreation & Sports$16kOther$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $45k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $136k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $155k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$840k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE BRIDGE PROJECT$250,000
BEACON ACADEMY$155,000
CHATHAM ORPHEUM THEATER$25,000
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY$25,000
CAPE CODE FISHERMEN'S ALLIANCE$20,000
STAGE HARBOR SAILING SCHOOL INC$15,917
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY$10,000
UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS$10,000
UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS$10,000
THE PARK SCHOOL$10,000
CAPE CODE FISHERMEN'S ALLIANCE$10,000
REVELS INC$5,000
BOSTON FOUNDATION$5,000
SMITH COLLEGE$5,000
BOSTON BALLET$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 (FY25–25, $26k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%VINFEN: $1k → 8%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $10k → 16%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $10k → 16%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $5k → 16%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 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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
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
3
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
4
Boston Society of Architects

The boston society of architects (bsa/aia) exists to improve the quality of life for boston-area residents by championing innovation in the built environment. as a membership association, we achieve this mission in partnership with the bsa…

—
5
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
6
Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston

The Boston Public Library provides educational and cultural enrichment free to all by engaging the public through programming and active spaces, restoring and preserving our history, providing access to borrow from our vast collection of…

Education
7
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
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
Boston Harbor Now Inc

Our mission is to ensure that the people of greater boston benefit from a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive waterfront, harbor, and islands; these spaces are equitable, accessible, and adapted to climate change; and to ensure our public,…

Environment
10
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
11
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
12
Boston Public Library Fund Inc

The boston public library fund provides financial support to the boston public library (bpl), ensuring that it remains viable, engaging, accessible, and free to all. the library fund fulfills this mission by working in partnership with…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Boston Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Stage Harbor Sailing School 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

19 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. 19 of the 51 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
6/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Beacon Academy: $340,000 · OtherBeacon AcademyThe Park School: $65,000 · OtherThe Park SchoolBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY: $35,000 · OtherBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARYCAPE CODE FISHERMEN'S ALLIANCE: $30,000 · OtherCape Cod Fishermen's Alliance: $30,000 · OtherUnited South End Settlements: $20,000 · Other+29 more: $69,312 · Other+29 moreTHE BRIDGE PROJECT INC: $250,000 · PhilanthropyTHE BRIDGE PROJECT INC+2 more: $6,000 · PhilanthropyBEACON ACADEMY INC: $155,000 · EducationBEACON ACADEMY IN…PARK SCHOOL CORPORATION: $10,000 · EducationPARK SCHOOL CORPO…+3 more: $6,500 · EducationTHE CHATHAM ORPHEUM THEATER INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $5,000 · Arts & CultureREVELSINC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON BALLET INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureUNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $25,000 · Human ServicesVINFEN CORPORATION: $1,000 · Human ServicesUPPER SACO VALLEY LAND TRUST: $5,000 · Food & NutritionSAVE THE HARBORSAVE THE BAY INC: $1,000 · Environment
Other$589,312Philanthropy$256,000Education$171,500Arts & Culture$40,000Human Services$26,000Food & Nutrition$5,000Environment$1,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBEACON ACADEMY INC: $155,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetUNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPARK SCHOOL CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBoston Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREVELSINC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBOSTON BALLET INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVINFEN CORPORATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPROPRIETORS OF THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELDREDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY 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.

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 IncEastern Bank Foundati…Fidelity FoundationThe Virginia Wellingt…Cambridge Savings Cha…National Philanthropi…Gs Donor Advised Phil…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…Donor Advised Charita…
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 · Eastern Bank Foundation · Fidelity Foundation · The Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 The 1156 Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The 1156 Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Vinfen Corporation: 83% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Revelsinc: 1% of income from government
  • The Trustees of the Smith College: 1% of income from government
  • Beacon Academy Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Ballet Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Proprietors of the Boston Athenaeum: 0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 51 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 1156’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