Skip to content
The Foster Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Foster Family 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.

$182k
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2024 to 2025.

Education$146kEnvironment$72kCommunity Improvement$47kPublic Benefit$5kArts & Culture$3kHealth$3kReligion$2kYouth Development$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k23 grants · $42k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $90k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$2,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC$50,000
LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC$25,000
LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC$25,000
BOWDOIN COLLEGE$20,000
BOWDOIN COLLEGE$10,000
MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC$10,000
BOWDOIN COLLEGE$6,000
TOWN OF BELMONT$5,000
BOWDOIN COLLEGE$5,000
OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION$3,500
OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION$2,500
OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION$2,500
MOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL$2,500
FIRST CHURCH IN BELMONT UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST$2,000
BOWDOIN COLLEGE$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY24–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 76% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%ARLINGTON BOYS CLUB INC: $1k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $160 → 16%THE SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONWASHINGTON DC ICO: $1k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $1k → 13%MARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $100 → 7%UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND FOUNDATION: $155 → 22%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $20k → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $13k → 9%MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $50k → 8%BOSTON UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $155 → 16%THE SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONWASHINGTON DC ICO: $1k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $155 → 13%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $20k → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $10k → 9%MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $10k → 8%GRUB STREET INC: $1k → 16%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $10k → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $10k → 9%MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $10k → 8%GRUB STREET INC: $500 → 16%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $6k → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $4k → 9%TRANSITION HOUSE INC: $500 → 8%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $5k → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $4k → 9%LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $25k → 8%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $2k → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $3k → 9%LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $25k → 8%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $2k → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $3k → 9%LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $25k → 8%BOWDOIN COLLEGE: $500 → 7%OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $3k → 9%LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $2k → 8%LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $500 → 8%MOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL: $3k → 8%TOWN OF BELMONT: $5k → 8%FIRST CHURCH IN BELMONT UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST: $2k → 8%BELMONT NEWS FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 8%FRIENDS OF THE BELMONT PUBLIC LIBRARY INCORPORATED: $1k → 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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$263k · 7 repeat orgs$16k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +6% since the first grant, against -2% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
1

Total granted

$263k
$155

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
-2%

Still filing today

71%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $16k went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
EducationArts & CultureEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementHealthYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • LM
    LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $77k · revenue +6%
  • BC
    Bowdoin College
    2× · 2024–2025 · $66k · revenue +22%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2024–2025 · $315 · revenue +8%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $155 · revenue -2%
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
Trustees of Boston College

Mission strengthened by more than a century and a half of dedication to academic excellence, boston college commits itself to the highest standards of teaching and research in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and to the…

Education
2
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
3
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
4
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
5
University of Massachusetts Foundation Inc

The mission of the university of massachusetts foundation, inc. is to foster and promote the growth, progress and general welfare of the university of massachusetts as stated in the original 1950 articles of organization. the foundation…

Education
6
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
7
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

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
University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association Inc

To promote the interests of the university of massachusetts amherst through programs, services and communications that develop and reinforce the bonds between the university and its alumni; to validate the value and alumni pride in the…

—
10
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

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

—
11
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of Maryland College Park Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mount Auburn Hospital. 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

14 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. 14 of the 18 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
6/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $77,000 · EducationLEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INCBowdoin College: $65,500 · EducationBowdoin College+3 more: $2,155 · EducationMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $70,000 · EnvironmentMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIET…OCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $47,000 · Community ImprovementOCEAN PARK ASSOCIAT…TOWN OF BELMONT: $5,000 · OtherTHE FIRST CHURCH IN BELMONT UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST: $2,000 · OtherTHE SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONWASHINGTON DC ICO: $2,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $1,155 · OtherTRANSITION HOUSE INC: $500 · Other+1 more: $315 · OtherMOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL: $2,500 · HealthGRUB STREET INC: $1,500 · Arts & CultureBELMONT NEWS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureARLINGTON BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $1,000 · Youth DevelopmentMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $100 · Philanthropy
Education$144,655Environment$70,000Community Improvement$47,000Other$10,970Health$2,500Arts & Culture$2,500Youth Development$1,000Philanthropy$100

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLEXINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $77,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $70,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBowdoin College: $65,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOCEAN PARK ASSOCIATION: $47,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetMOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF BELMONT PUBLIC LIBRARY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetTRANSITION HOUSE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $315 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND FOUNDATION INC: $155 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $100 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.

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 IncVanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Boston Foundation IncMA16.6× affinity6 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Foster Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Foster Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Transition House Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Mount Auburn Hospital: 5% of income from government
  • Grub Street Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • University of Maryland Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 18 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 Foster 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