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The Albert J Gifford Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

The Albert J Gifford Charitable Trust

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$140k
Granted FY2024still arriving
11
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$280kPhilanthropy$179kArts & Culture$91kHuman Services$79kReligion$71kYouth Development$45kCommunity Improvement$35kEnvironment$35kOther$0
02FY2024 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $24k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $116k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE$30,000
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH$26,000
UNITED WAY OF CENTERAL MASSACHUSETTS$25,000
REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL$15,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY METRO WESTGREATER$10,000
HANOVER THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS$10,000
MCAULEY NAZARETH HOME FOR BOYS$8,000
SHREWSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY$7,000
LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF GREATER WORCESTER$5,000
DISMAS HOUSE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC$2,000
INDIA SOCIETY OF WORCESTER (ISW)$2,000
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 (FY18–24, $94k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%SOUTH MIDDLESEX OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL: $5k → 8%MCAULEY NAZARETH HOME FOR BOYS: $8k → 11%YWCA OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS: $10k → 11%YWCA OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS: $10k → 11%YWCA OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS: $5k → 11%JEREMIAH'S INN: $13k → 11%JEREMIAH'S INN: $8k → 11%JEREMIAH'S INN: $5k → 11%FRIENDLY HOUSE INC: $15k → 11%MUSTARD SEED CATHOLIC WORKER COMMUN: $10k → 11%OPEN SKY COMMUNITY SERVICES: $5k → 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.
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.

73%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$657k · 13 repeat orgs$241k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +68% since the first grant, against +47% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
20

Total granted

$657k
$193k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+68%
+47%

Still filing today

77%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $48k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyHealthCrime & LegalOther
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
    7× · 2018–2024 · $230k · revenue +61%
  • UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $179k · revenue +46%
  • JI
    JEREMIAH'S INN INC
    3× · 2019–2022 · $26k · revenue +87%

Funded once

  • GW
    GREATER WORCESTER COMMUNITY FD
    one grant, 2020 · $35k
  • WORCESTER ART MUSEUM
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue -26%
  • YI
    YOU INC
    one grant, 2018 · $20k
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
Worcester Community Cable Access Inc
—
2
Worcester Country Club

The club is established for the purpose of providing athletic exercises including golf, bowling, swimming, tennis, cross country skiing, and other out-of-door sports, and for the establishment and maintenance of facilities for the…

—
3
Wellesley Community Childrens Center Inc

Provision of quality education and child care programs and services.

Human Services
4
Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce

The organization is dedicated to being the leading business organization in central massachusetts by providing valuable membership services and programs and events to its members and in advancing and advocating on behalf of economic…

—
5
Worcester East Side Community Development Corporation

To stabilize and revitalize the East Side Neighborhoods that we serve in order to improve the quality of life for all those who reside or work here. We aim to reduce neighborhood blight, preserve current housing stock, increase the…

Housing & Shelter
6
Worcester Community Action Council Inc

The mission of the worcester community action council, inc. is helping people move to economic self-sufficiency through programs, partnerships, and advocacy.

Human Services
7
Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services Inc

Worcester youth and family services empowers all people, of all ages, toward leading capable, purposeful, responsible, fulfilled lives in healthy families and communities.

Human Services
8
Worcester Youth Center Inc

To provide services for disadvantaged youth

Youth Development
9
Worcester Common Ground Inc

To establish and maintain housing for low and moderate income families in the Worcester area. Worcester Common Ground also provides income eligible individuals the opportunity to be homeowners.

Housing & Shelter
10
Worcester District Medical Society

Medical education and medical ethics

Health
11
Worcester Area Mission Society United Church of Christ

The organization's vision is to fuel inclusion, voice, and opportunity for all. to support its charitable mission of working with individuals and community partners to inspire economic and educational equity through social change. wam ucc…

Religion
12
Worcester Regional Research Bureau Inc

Worcester regional research bureau, inc. serves the public interest of greater worcester by conducting independent, non-partisan research and analysis of public policy issues to promote informed public debate and decision-making.

Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is South Middlesex Opportunity Council Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mustard Seed Catholic Worker Community 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

23 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. 23 of the 38 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)
23/23
Grantees still filing
17/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: $230,000 · OtherWORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTEUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC: $179,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INCFIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH: $104,000 · OtherFIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHGREATER WORCESTER COMMUNITY FD: $35,000 · Other+17 more: $132,342 · Other+17 moreJEREMIAH'S INN INC: $25,500 · Human ServicesJEREMIAH'S …YWCA CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesYWCA CENTRA…FRIENDLY HOUSE INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDLY HO…MUSTARD SEED CATHOLIC WORKER COMMUNITY INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesMUSTARD SEE…MCAULEY NAZARETH INC: $8,000 · Human ServicesMCAULEY NAZ…OPEN SKY COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesOPEN SKY CO…SOUTH MIDDLESEX OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesSOUTH MIDDL…WORCESTER ART MUSEUM: $20,000 · Arts & CultureWORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $20,000 · Arts & CultureMUSIC WORCESTER INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureINDIA SOCIETY OF WORCESTER: $7,000 · Arts & CultureWORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyREGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentREACH OUT AND READ INC: $8,000 · EducationAMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY: $5,000 · EducationEDWARD M KENNEDY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER INC: $8,000 · HealthDISMAS HOUSE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $6,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$680,342Human Services$93,500Arts & Culture$62,000Philanthropy$20,000Environment$15,000Education$13,000Health$8,000Crime & Legal$6,000

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 budgetWORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: $230,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC: $179,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetJEREMIAH'S INN INC: $25,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetYWCA CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWORCESTER ART MUSEUM: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetFAMILY HEALTH CENTER OF WORCESTERINC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMUSIC WORCESTER INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDLY HOUSE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetREGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WORCESTER INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMUSTARD SEED CATHOLIC WORKER COMMUNITY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetEDWARD M KENNEDY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMCAULEY NAZARETH INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetREACH OUT AND READ INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF WORCESTER: $7,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetINDIA SOCIETY OF WORCESTER: $7,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetDISMAS HOUSE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetOPEN SKY COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH MIDDLESEX OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF GREATER WORCESTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% 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.

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.

The Fletcher Foundati…Stoddard Charitable T…Wyman GordonWebster Five Foundati…Ruth H & Warren a Ell…The Fred Harris Danie…The George I Alden Tr…Greater Worcester Com…Schwartz Charitable F…United Way of Central…Berkshire Bank Founda…J Irving & Jane L Eng…
The Fletcher FoundationMA45.3× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Fletcher Foundation · Stoddard Charitable Trust · Wyman Gordon · Webster Five Foundation Inc · Ruth H & Warren a Ellsworth Foundation · The Fred Harris Daniels Foundation · The George I Alden Trust · Greater Worcester Community Foundation Inc · Schwartz Charitable Foundation · United Way of Central Massachusetts Inc · Berkshire Bank Foundation Inc · J Irving & Jane L England Charitable Trusta Molloy & F Russellco-Trustees

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 Albert J Gifford Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Albert J Gifford Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • Open Sky Community Services Inc: 71% of income from government
  • Mcauley Nazareth Inc: 62% of income from government
  • Family Health Center of Worcesterinc: 34% of income from government
  • South Middlesex Opportunity Council Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Edward M Kennedy Community Health Center Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Reach Out and Read Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute: 6% of income from government
  • Worcester Historical Museum: 6% of income from government
  • Regional Environmental Council Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Music Worcester Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Jeremiah's Inn Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Friendly House Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Girls Incorporated of Worcester: 2% of income from government
  • Boys and Girls Club of Worcester Inc: 1% of income from government
  • American Antiquarian Society: 1% of income from government
  • Worcester Art Museum: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Albert J Gifford Charitable Trust?

Find your warmest path to The Albert J Gifford Charitable Trust through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

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 38 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

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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