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· Private foundation

The Chickering Foundation (Formerly Dedham

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$213k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$23k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Human Services$511kHousing & Shelter$358kCrime & Legal$163kHealth$35kYouth Development$19kPhilanthropy$19k
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$22,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PARENTS HELPING PARENTS$22,500
FAMILIES FOR JUSTICE AS HEALING$22,500
JUSTICE FOR HOUSING$22,500
ON THE RISE$22,500
SECOND STEP$22,500
FAMILY NURTURING CENTER$22,500
PROJECT PLACE CREW PROGRAM$22,500
RESPOND INC$22,500
PARTAKERS INC$20,000
FIDELITY CHARITABLE GIFT FUND$12,653
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 (FY20–25, $225k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, 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%ON THE RISE: $23k → 8%ON THE RISE: $23k → 8%ON THE RISE: $20k → 8%ON THE RISE: $20k → 8%ON THE RISE: $20k → 8%ON THE RISE: $10k → 8%RESPOND INC: $23k → 8%RESPOND INC: $23k → 8%RESPOND INC: $20k → 8%RESPOND INC: $20k → 8%RESPOND INC: $15k → 8%RESPOND INC: $10k → 8%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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 12 repeat orgs$15k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +94% since the first grant, against +41% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
2

Total granted

$1.1M
$15k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+94%
+41%

Still filing today

67%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Crime & LegalHuman ServicesEducationCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • TS
    THE SECOND STEP INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $130k · revenue +13%
  • PH
    PARENTS HELPING PARENTS - THE ROUNDTABLE OF SUPPORT INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $119k · revenue +94%
  • OT
    ON THE RISE INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $115k · revenue +63%

Funded once

  • HI
    HomeStart Incgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +41%
  • TC
    THE CHICKERING FUND
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
The Way Back Inc

To provide rehabilitative housing services and support to help people with psychiatric disabilities reintegrate into the community.the agency provides rehabilitative housing services and staff support as a primary mechanism for achieving…

Human Services
2
Transition House Inc

Transition house is a human services agency dedicated to preventing and ending domestic violence. the agency provides a continuum of housing resources and holistic support for survivors of violence and their children, as well as prevention…

—
3
Foundation for the Homeless Inc

Empowering families and individuals experiencing homelessness to build a future filled with dignity, opportunity, and lasting solutions.

—
4
Women in Transition Inc

To aid in the support of shelter for survivors of domestic violence on a transitional and long term basis.

Human Services
5
Inseparable Inc

Inseparable Inc is focused on creating a world where mental health is treated as a critical and equal piece of overall health, and where systems are designed with their impact on mental health in mind. Inseparable, Inc. is a growing…

Health
6
Wayside House Inc

Our mission is to break the cycle of addiction and trauma for women, children, and families.

—
7
The Home for Little Wanderers Inc

To help vulnerable children and their families build permanent, positive change.

Human Services
8
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc D/B/a Metro Housing Boston

Metro housing boston mobilizes wide-ranging resources to provide innovative and personalized services that lead families and individuals to housing stability, economic security, and an improved quality of life.

Housing & Shelter
9
Woman Inc

W.O.M.A.N., Inc. supports survivors of domestic violence and their loved ones along their healing journeys, bridging value rich networks designed to address intersections of violence. In all our work, we strive to continually increase our…

Health
10
Independence House Inc

To help all domestic and sexual assault victims, survivors and children by creating opportunities for safety and empowerment through crisis intervention, advocacy, counseling, referral, outreach, prevention and education.

Human Services
11
Pathway to Recovery Inc

Operation of transitional and permanent housing programs.

Health
12
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance Inc

Maha breaks down barriers facing first-time and first-generation home buyers and owners through education, counseling, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Homestart Inc; the most unlike its peers is On the Rise 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

10 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. 10 of the 15 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)
10/10
Grantees still filing
9/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SECOND STEP INC: $130,000 · OtherTHE SECOND STEP INCPROJECT PLACE CREW PROGRAM: $128,000 · OtherPROJECT PLACE CREW PROGRAMMSPCC KINNECTION PROGRAM: $77,000 · OtherMSPCC KINNECTION PROGRAMFAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $75,000 · OtherFAMILY NURTURING CENTERFAMILIES FOR JUSTICE AS HEALING INC: $60,000 · OtherFAMILIES FOR JUSTICE AS HEALING INCMY LIFE MY CHOICE: $35,000 · OtherMY LIFE MY CHOICE+1 more: $5,000 · OtherON THE RISE INC: $115,000 · Human ServicesON THE RISE INCRESPOND Inc: $110,000 · Human ServicesRESPOND IncPARENTS HELPING PARENTS - THE ROUNDTABLE OF SUPPORT INC: $119,000 · Crime & LegalPARENTS HELPING PARENT…PARTAKERS INC: $102,500 · Crime & LegalPARTAKERS INCJustice For Housing Inc: $105,000 · Housing & ShelterJustice Fo…FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $13,921 · Community ImprovementHomeStart Inc: $10,000 · Community ImprovementWALKER INC: $19,000 · Education
Other$510,000Human Services$225,000Crime & Legal$221,500Housing & Shelter$105,000Community Improvement$23,921Education$19,000

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 budgetTHE SECOND STEP INC: $130,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetPARENTS HELPING PARENTS - THE ROUNDTABLE OF SUPPORT INC: $119,000 over 6y, 6.4% of budgetON THE RISE INC: $115,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetRESPOND Inc: $110,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetJustice For Housing Inc: $105,000 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetPARTAKERS INC: $102,500 over 5y, 5.6% of budgetFAMILIES FOR JUSTICE AS HEALING INC: $60,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetWALKER INC: $19,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $13,921 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHomeStart Inc: $10,000 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 THE SECOND STEP INC ↗
  • Who funds PARENTS HELPING PARENTS - THE ROUNDTABLE OF SUPPORT INC ↗
  • Who funds ON THE RISE INC ↗
  • Who funds RESPOND Inc ↗
  • Who funds Justice For Housing Inc ↗
  • Who funds PARTAKERS INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILIES FOR JUSTICE AS HEALING INC ↗
  • Who funds WALKER INC ↗
  • Who funds FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
  • Who funds HomeStart 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.

Boston Foundation IncMA20.7× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Bushrod H Campbell & Adah F Hall Charity Fund · Eastern Bank Foundation · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Ploughshares Foundation · Eastern Cambridge Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Network for Good · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund

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 Chickering Foundation (Formerly Dedham funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Chickering Foundation (Formerly Dedham. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 26%
  • Respond Inc: 80% of income from government
  • Partakers Inc: 59% of income from government
  • On the Rise Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Walker Inc: 26% of income from government
  • The Second Step Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Justice for Housing Inc: 22% of income from government
  • HomeStart Inc: 20% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 15 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

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