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The Bigbird Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bigbird Fund

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.

$175k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$34k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$2.9MFood & Nutrition$584kEducation$349kEnvironment$223kYouth Development$217kHealth$118kRecreation & Sports$115kHousing & Shelter$89kOther$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $34k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $140k
$8,400
Median grant
5
States reached
$5k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY INC$34,000
PHOENIX CHARTER ACADEMY$28,060
NEWPORT FESTIVALS FOUNDATION$15,000
WOMENS FOUNDATION OF BOSTON$13,400
AQUIDNECK LAND TRUST$10,000
NEWTON WELLESLEY HOSPITAL$10,000
PIONEER INSTITUTE$10,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC$10,000
MASSART - MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN FOUNDATION INC$10,000
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE$8,400
THE CAMPHILL SCHOOL$5,000
SOCCER UNITY PROJECT$5,000
NORMAN BIRD SANCTUARY$5,000
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART$2,500
THE PUBLIC THEATER$2,330
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 (FY17–25, $117k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 77% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%IAMHOLDENON INC (DBA HOPE GIVERS): $5k → 18%NORTH HILL NEEDHAM: $25k → 7%ON THE RISE: $2k → 8%THE PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%THE PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $1k → 16%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $1k → 16%COMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $1k → 16%HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $35k → 16%HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $17k → 16%HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $10k → 16%HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $5k → 16%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $5k → 16%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $5k → 16%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $3k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
NH
IL
NY
MA
OR
PA
RI
CA
VA
MD
NM
DC
GA
TX
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.
$4.5M · 48 repeat orgs$383k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

48 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2025, 33 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
45

Total granted

$4.5M
$372k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+30%

Still filing today

79%
76%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthEducationFood & NutritionEnvironmentOther
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

  • HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.6M · revenue +139%
  • TB
    THE BASEBALL INC
    6× · 2017–2023 · $259k · revenue +55%
  • MC
    Massachusetts College of Art and Design Foundation Inc
    7× · 2017–2025 · $112k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • RC
    ROANOKE COLLEGE CAMPAIGN
    one grant, 2018 · $50k
  • WB
    WATERTOWN BOYS AND GIRLS' CLUB INC
    one grant, 2018 · $50k · revenue +9%
  • NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +108%
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 Higher Education Assistance Corporation

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide access to and conduct activities in furtherance of higher education.

—
3
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
4
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
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
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
7
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
8
Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation

Mhic's mission is to be an innovative private financier of afforable housing and community development throughout new england, providing financing that would not otherwise be available, and extending the impact of that financing to ensure…

Housing & Shelter
9
Brighton Marine Inc

Brighton marine, inc. provides military and veteran families with comprehensive campus-based quality health care, as well as affordable and supportive housing for at-risk veterans and their families.

Health
10
Neighborhealth Corporation

Neighborhealth's mission is to promote and sustain healthy communities, families, and individuals by providing accessible, person-centered, and compassionate, high-quality health care services to all who live and work in our service area,…

Health
11
Commonwealth Care Alliance Inc

Commonwealth care alliance, inc.'s mission is to improve the health and well-being of people with significant needs by innovating, coordinating and providing the highest quality, individualized care.

Health
12
New England Lawboston

New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Philanthropy Massachusetts Inc; the most unlike its peers is Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 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

78 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. 78 of the 99 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
78/78
Grantees still filing
60/78
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $2,598,150 · Arts & CultureHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC+11 more: $159,180 · Arts & Culture+11 moreThe Food Project Inc: $482,184 · Food & NutritionThe Food Pro…FOODCORPS INC: $35,000 · Food & NutritionFOODCORPS IN…ABOUT FRESH INC: $21,000 · Food & Nutrition+2 more: $4,000 · Food & NutritionPHOENIX CHARTER ACADEMY: $126,860 · OtherPHOENIX CHARTER ACA…Massachusetts College of Art and Design Foundation Inc: $111,950 · OtherMassachusetts Colle…ROANOKE COLLEGE CAMPAIGN: $50,000 · OtherROANOKE COLLEGE CAM…GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $30,000 · OtherBoston Foundation Inc: $30,000 · OtherWOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $28,400 · OtherWATERTOWN BOYS AND GIRLS' CLUB INC: $50,000 · OtherWATERTOWN BOYS AND …+49 more: $419,024 · Other+49 moreTHE BASEBALL INC: $259,000 · Recreation & Sports+2 more: $4,810 · Recreation & SportsAQUIDNECK ISLAND LAND TRUST: $112,300 · EnvironmentMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentAppalachian Mountain Club: $8,000 · Environment+1 more: $2,500 · EnvironmentPIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 · EducationTHE ODYSSEY SCHOOL INC: $25,000 · EducationEMMANUEL COLLEGE: $20,000 · EducationNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $16,666 · EducationTHE FRANCIS OUIMET SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $11,001 · EducationTHE CAMPHILL SCHOOL INC: $10,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $8,400 · Education+1 more: $1,500 · EducationHORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $67,200 · Human ServicesNORTH HILL NEEDHAM INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $7,500 · Human ServicesCONNECTED CONTENT INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $5,000 · Human Services+6 more: $10,500 · Human Services
Arts & Culture$2,757,330Food & Nutrition$542,184Other$846,234Recreation & Sports$263,810Environment$222,800Education$122,567Human Services$120,200

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 budgetHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $2,598,150 over 9y, 3.1% of budgetThe Food Project Inc: $482,184 over 5y, 4.8% of budgetTHE BASEBALL INC: $259,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetAQUIDNECK ISLAND LAND TRUST: $112,300 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetMassachusetts College of Art and Design Foundation Inc: $111,950 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $100,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN: $67,200 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSITE SANTA FE: $62,500 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetWATERTOWN BOYS AND GIRLS' CLUB INC: $50,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetTHE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC: $49,100 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFOODCORPS INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBoston Foundation Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $28,400 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ODYSSEY SCHOOL INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH HILL NEEDHAM INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEWPORT FESTIVALS FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetARBOR BROTHERS INC DBA ARBOR RISING: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BOMA PROJECT INC: $24,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $22,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetABOUT FRESH INC: $21,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetEMMANUEL COLLEGE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE: $16,674 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $16,666 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSeal Legacy Foundation Inc: $16,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH KITCHEN INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHEADING HOME INC: $13,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE FOR A NEW COMMONWEALTH INC: $12,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE FRANCIS OUIMET SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $11,001 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Farm School Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetJUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CAMPHILL SCHOOL INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNewport Hospital: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHealthy Waltham Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Philanthropy Connection Inc: $9,075 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetTHE NORMAN BIRD SANCTUARY TRUST: $9,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $8,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club: $8,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTED CONTENT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetMATTAPAN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON ART REVIEW INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetNEW YORK STAGE AND FILM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC: $4,700 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.

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…Cummings Foundation G…Fidelity FoundationCombined Jewish Phila…Rockland Trust Charit…Liberty Mutual Founda…Van Beuren Charitable…The Hamilton Company …Eastern Cambridge Fou…Mass General Brigham …Cambridge Savings Cha…
Boston Foundation IncMA38.8× affinity22 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 · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Fidelity Foundation · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Van Beuren Charitable Foundation Inc · The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation · Eastern Cambridge Foundation · Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation 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 Bigbird Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bigbird Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 130%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Reach Beyond Domestic Violence Inc: 53% of income from government
  • Justice Resource Institute Inc: 48% of income from government
  • On the Rise Inc: 39% of income from government
  • The Home for Little Wanderers Inc: 38% of income from government
  • More Than Words Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Boston Medical Center Corporation: 23% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Mattapan Community Health Center Inc: 21% of income from government
  • Foodcorps Inc: 21% of income from government
  • Horizons for Homeless Children: 21% of income from government
  • Heading Home Inc: 17% of income from government
  • New England Aquarium Corporation: 12% of income from government
  • Community Servings Inc: 12% of income from government
  • The Farm School Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Commonwealth Kitchen Inc: 9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Soccer Unity Project Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Gaining Ground Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Huntington Theatre Co Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Watertown Boys and Girls' Club Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Handel and Haydn Society: 2% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Boston Art Review Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Urbanity Dance Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Camp Harbor View Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Crossroads for Kids Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club: 1% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Institute of Contemporary Art Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Baseball Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Beacon Academy Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Emmanuel College: 0% of income from government
  • Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Philanthropy Massachusetts Inc: 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
13get no government money at all
12report 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 99 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 Bigbird’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