Skip to content
The Ada Howe Kent Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ada Howe Kent Foundation

Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.0M
Granted FY2023
1
Grants FY2023
1
States reached
$1.0M
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, FY2021 to 2023.

Education$474kScience & Tech$150kInternational$115kArts & Culture$113kHealth$109kEnvironment$82kCommunity Improvement$40kPublic Safety & Disaster$38kOther$0
02FY2023 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
See$1,000,000
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 (FY21–21, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%Community House Inc: $2k → 10%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
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CT
CA
VA
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.

42%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$864k · 28 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

28 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2023, 28 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
29

Total granted

$864k
$197k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+16%

Still filing today

54%
28%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.0M went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23
EducationArts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyInternationalEnvironmentOther
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

  • Cornell University
    2× · 2021–2022 · $150k · revenue +23%
  • TT
    THE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE
    2× · 2021–2022 · $100k · revenue +11%
  • MIDDLESEX SCHOOL
    2× · 2021–2022 · $70k · revenue +14%

Funded once

  • CU
    Cornell University Weikk Cornell Medical College
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • SC
    Smith College Dept of Religion
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
  • PA
    Pan Am Historical Foundation Incgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · 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
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
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
4
Rhode Island School of Design

The mission of rhode island school of design, through its college and museum,is to educate its students and the public in the creation and (see schedule o)appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to…

Education
5
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
6
Amherst College Trustees

Amherst college educates students of exceptional potential from all backgrounds so that they may seek value and advance knowledge, engage the world around them, and lead principled lives of consequence. amherst brings together the most…

Education
7
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
8
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
9
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
10
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
11
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
12
Saint Anselm College

Saint anselm is a catholic, benedictine college providing all of its students a distinctive liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career preparation. it does so in a learning community that encourages…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Trustees of Reservations; the most unlike its peers is Sherman Volunteer Fire Department. 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

24 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. 24 of the 59 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/24
Grantees still filing
21/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

See: $1,000,000 · OtherSeeINTERNATIONAL SERVICE FELLOWSHIP: $70,000 · Other+40 more: $468,000 · Other+40 morePresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $150,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of …Cornell University: $150,000 · EducationCornell UniversityTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $100,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH…MIDDLESEX SCHOOL: $70,000 · EducationMIDDLESEX SCHOOL+2 more: $26,000 · EducationISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $53,000 · Arts & CultureCAPE ANN MUSEUM INC: $20,000 · Arts & CulturePan Am Historical Foundation Inc: $20,000 · Arts & CultureWORLD MONUMENTS FUND INC: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $2,500 · Arts & CultureTHE NATIONAL FRAGILE X FOUNDATION: $40,000 · HealthHAZLET TOWNSHIP FIRST AID & RESCUE SQUAD: $5,000 · HealthTHE SOUTHAMPTON FRESH AIR HOME: $2,500 · HealthIslesboro Islands Trust: $10,000 · PhilanthropyTHE NETHERLAND-AMERICA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · InternationalTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $8,000 · Environment
Other$1,538,000Education$496,000Arts & Culture$100,500Health$47,500Philanthropy$10,000International$10,000Environment$8,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $150,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $150,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMIDDLESEX SCHOOL: $70,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SERVICE FELLOWSHIP: $70,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $53,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATIONAL FRAGILE X FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetSHERMAN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: $23,000 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetCAPE ANN MUSEUM INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPan Am Historical Foundation Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetGRACE CHURCH SCHOOL: $16,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetIslesboro Islands Trust: $10,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetJUILLIARD SCHOOL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NETHERLAND-AMERICA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $6,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHAZLET TOWNSHIP FIRST AID & RESCUE SQUAD: $5,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetCommunity Food Bank Of New Jersey Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOTTOM LINE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD MONUMENTS FUND INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGLOUCESTER STAGE COMPANY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE SHERMAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTHE SOUTHAMPTON FRESH AIR HOME: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds MIDDLESEX SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL SERVICE FELLOWSHIP ↗
  • Who funds ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATIONAL FRAGILE X FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SHERMAN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT ↗
  • Who funds CAPE ANN MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds Pan Am Historical Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds GRACE CHURCH SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Islesboro Islands Trust ↗
  • Who funds JUILLIARD SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE NETHERLAND-AMERICA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds HAZLET TOWNSHIP FIRST AID & RESCUE SQUAD ↗

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.

Gs Donor Advised Phil…American Endowment Fo…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management IncNY10.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Ada Howe Kent Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ada Howe Kent Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Cape Ann Museum Inc: 38% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of the Smith College: 1% of income from government
  • The Bottom Line Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Sherman Volunteer Fire Department: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 59 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Ada Howe Kent’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