Massachusetts · Private foundation
The Colburn 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.
- $96k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 19
- Grants FY2025
- 18
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 56%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $2,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $33,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 9 to 18
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 5
- Total assets, FY2025
- $1.0M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 56% of the organizations The Colburn Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 33% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $27k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 19 | $96k | 11% |
| FY2024 | 18 | $81k | 56% |
| FY2023 | 17 | $139k | 24% |
| FY2022 | 15 | $85k | 13% |
| FY2021 | 13 | $70k | 23% |
| FY2020 | 13 | $68k | 15% |
| FY2019 | 11 | $73k | 18% |
| FY2018 | 9 | $60k | 11% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA Inc | $91,500 | 9 | 2% |
| The Art Institute of Chicago | $60,000 | 1 | 0% |
| The Trustees of Reservations | $35,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc | $12,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Mass General Brigham Incorporated | $10,500 | 7 | n/a |
| Manchester Essex Conservation Trust | $9,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Museum of Fine Arts | $8,000 | 1 | 0% |
| The Frick Collection | $7,200 | 7 | 0% |
| Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc | $5,200 | 5 | 0% |
| American Foundation for Courtauld Instit | $3,200 | 2 | 1% |
Show all 14 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA Inc | $91,500 | 9 | 2% |
| The Art Institute of Chicago | $60,000 | 1 | 0% |
| The Trustees of Reservations | $35,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc | $12,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Mass General Brigham Incorporated | $10,500 | 7 | n/a |
| Manchester Essex Conservation Trust | $9,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Museum of Fine Arts | $8,000 | 1 | 0% |
| The Frick Collection | $7,200 | 7 | 0% |
| Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc | $5,200 | 5 | 0% |
| American Foundation for Courtauld Instit | $3,200 | 2 | 1% |
| Conservation Law Foundation Inc | $2,000 | 1 | 0% |
| American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches | $2,000 | 1 | 0% |
| St Johns Church | $1,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Manchester-By-The-Sea Museum Inc | $500 | 1 | 0% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 20 recipients with no EIN on record ($474k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Colburn Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Colburn Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Colburn Foundation 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.
About The Colburn Foundation
- How much does The Colburn Foundation give?
- The Colburn Foundation reported 19 grants totaling $96,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 9 and 18 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does The Colburn Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (64%), Health (12%), Environment (6%).
- Who are The Colburn Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA Inc ($92k), The Art Institute of Chicago ($60k), The Trustees of Reservations ($35k).
- Does The Colburn Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 56% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Colburn Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Colburn Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Amazonsmile Foundation.
- Where is The Colburn Foundation based?
- The Colburn Foundation is based in MA.
Play a game based on Colburn’s filings →