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The Downey Family Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Downey Family Charitable 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.

$153k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$2.3MArts & Culture$210kHealth$3kReligion$2kRecreation & Sports$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$17,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$5.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EPIPHANY SCHOOL$40,000
NATIVITY PREPATORY SCHOOL$35,000
CATHOLIC SCHOOL FOUNDATION$25,000
NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY$17,500
PIONEER INSTITUTE$15,000
BOSTON DANCE ALLIANCE$10,000
ST JOHNS PREP SCHOOL$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY: $32k → 16%St Theresa School: $35k → 16%Catholic Memorial School: $35k → 16%St Theresa School: $35k → 16%St Theresa School: $35k → 16%ST THERESA SCHOOL: $35k → 16%The Roxbury Latin School: $30k → 16%St Theresa School: $30k → 16%The Roxbury Latin School: $30k → 16%St Theresa School: $25k → 16%St Theresa School: $25k → 16%The Roxbury Latin School: $25k → 16%The Roxbury Latin School: $25k → 16%Cathedral High School: $55k → 16%Cathedral High School: $50k → 16%CATHEDRAL HIGH SCHOOL: $45k → 16%Cathedral High School: $35k → 16%Cathedral High School: $30k → 16%Cathedral High School: $25k → 16%Cathedral High School: $25k → 16%PIONEER INSTITUTE: $30k → 16%Mission Grammar School: $35k → 16%Mission Grammar School: $30k → 16%Mission Grammar School: $30k → 16%MISSION GRAMMAR SCHOOL: $30k → 16%Our lady of perpetual helpMission school: $25k → 16%Mother Caroline Academy: $40k → 16%Mother Caroline Academy: $40k → 16%Mother Caroline Academy: $40k → 16%Mother Caroline Academy: $30k → 16%Mother Caroline Academy: $30k → 16%Mother Caroline Academy: $25k → 16%MOTHER CAROLINE ACADEMY: $25k → 16%Nativity Preparatory School: $35k → 16%NATIVITY PREPATORY SCHOOL: $35k → 16%Nativity Preparatory School: $35k → 16%Nativity Preparatory School: $35k → 16%NATIVITY PREPATORY SCHOOL: $35k → 16%Nativity Preparatory School: $30k → 16%Nativity Preparatory School: $25k → 16%EPIPHANY SCHOOL: $40k → 16%EPIPHANY SCHOOL: $40k → 16%Epiphany School: $40k → 16%CATHOLIC SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $125k → 16%Epiphany School: $35k → 16%Epiphany School: $35k → 16%Epiphany School: $29k → 16%Catholic School FDN: $50k → 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.
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 19 repeat orgs$144k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +102% since the first grant, against +48% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
14

Total granted

$2.4M
$144k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+102%
+48%

Still filing today

42%
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%’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
EducationArts & CultureOther
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

  • THE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $294k · revenue +288%
  • TR
    THE ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL
    8× · 2017–2024 · $149k · revenue +33%
  • NE
    NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
    7× · 2017–2025 · $104k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • CS
    Catholic School FDN
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
  • OL
    Our lady of perpetual helpMission school
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • BM
    Building Minds Scholarship FD
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
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
Bentley University

Organization's mission bentley university believes good business can impact more than the bottom line - it can change the world. bentley is a community of future business leaders who will deliver value in the marketplace and lasting…

Education
3
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Bb&n, an all gender day school in cambridge, massachusetts, was established in 1974 by the merger of two independent schools, the buckingham school and the browne & nichols school, founded respectively in 1889 and 1883. located on multiple…

Education
4
Dickinson College

Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship

Education
5
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
6
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
7
Phillips Exeter Academy

Unite goodness and knowledge and inspire youth from every quarter to lead purposeful lives. [text in quotations is taken from the academy's deed of gift, drafted in 1781] knowledge and goodness "above all, it is expected that the attention…

Education
8
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
9
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
10
Dean College

Dean college is a private, residential new england college grounded in a culture and tradition that all students deserve the opportunity to discover and exceed their greatest aspirations. a personal and transformative community since 1865,…

Education
11
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
12
Masters School

The masters school celebrates active participation, deep understanding, and meaningful connection. a community of diverse individuals, we gather to learn, to strive, to dare, to do - to be a power for good in the world.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Beacon Academy Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Winsor School. 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

15 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. 15 of the 33 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
13/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Cathedral High School: $289,000 · OtherCathedral High SchoolMother Caroline Academy: $254,000 · OtherMother Caroline AcademySt Theresa School: $244,000 · OtherSt Theresa SchoolNativity Preparatory School: $209,000 · OtherNativity Preparatory SchoolMission Grammar School: $125,000 · OtherMission Grammar SchoolCatholic Memorial School: $124,000 · OtherCatholic Memorial SchoolBOSTON DANCE ALLIANCE INC: $100,000 · OtherBOSTON DANCE ALLIANCE INCNATIVITY PREPATORY SCHOOL: $70,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $60,000 · Other+13 more: $152,100 · Other+13 moreTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $294,000 · EducationTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INCCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 · EducationCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INCTHE ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL: $149,000 · EducationTHE ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOLNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $103,500 · EducationNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSICBEACON ACADEMY INC: $102,000 · EducationBEACON ACADEMY INCPIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $87,000 · EducationPIONEER INSTITUTE INC+3 more: $42,000 · EducationHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureCity Ballet of Boston Inc: $2,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,627,100Education$927,500Arts & Culture$4,000

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 EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $294,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTHE ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL: $149,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $103,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBEACON ACADEMY INC: $102,000 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetBOSTON DANCE ALLIANCE INC: $100,000 over 9y, 3.5% of budgetPIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $87,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WINSOR SCHOOL: $16,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEW DANCE COMPLEX INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCity Ballet of Boston Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE RIVERBEND CENTER FOR MONTESSORI EXCELLENCE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST BOOK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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 EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds BEACON ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON DANCE ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds PIONEER INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds THE WINSOR SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds PAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NEW DANCE COMPLEX INC ↗
  • Who funds HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC ↗
  • Who funds City Ballet of Boston Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE RIVERBEND CENTER FOR MONTESSORI EXCELLENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds FIRST BOOK ↗

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.

Combined Jewish Phila…Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…The Blackbaud Giving …Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston IncMA17.3× affinity6 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Downey Family Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Downey Family Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Boston Dance Alliance Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Huntington Theatre Co Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • The New Dance Complex Inc: 2% of income from government
  • New England Conservatory of Music: 1% of income from government
  • Beacon Academy Inc: 1% of income from government
  • City Ballet of Boston Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Epiphany School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Downey Family Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Downey Family Charitable 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.

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 33 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 Downey Family’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