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The Gladys Avery Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Gladys Avery 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.

$31k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Youth Development$73kArts & Culture$20kReligion$19kHuman Services$15kFood & Nutrition$11kEnvironment$9kRecreation & Sports$9kCivil Rights$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $20k
$1,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$183k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASSMETROWEST INC$20,000
FIRST PARISH IN WAYLAND$2,000
LAHAINA COMMUNITY LAND TRUST$1,000
WESTON FOREST AND TRAIL ASSOCIATION INC$1,000
BOULDER CANCER FIGHTERS$1,000
PARKINSON ASSOCIATION OF THE CAROLINAS$1,000
THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK$1,000
FRIENDS OF THE LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED (FLOW)$1,000
THRIVE SURVIVOR SUPPORT CENTER$1,000
ALTA COMMUNITY ENRICHMENT$1,000
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$500
PELOTONIA$250
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 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 18% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WELLESLEY WESTON CHABAD CENTER: $5k → 7%THE CAMERON TREDGETT FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%ANGEL FLIGHT OF NEW ENGLAND: $20k → 10%BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASSMETROWEST INC: $23k → 11%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $5k → 16%BREAD AND ROSES COMMUNITY FUND: $2k → 22%ALTA COMMUNITY ENRICHMENT: $1k → 14%AINA MOMONA: $1k → 9%HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE INC: $500 → 16%THE LOVELAND FOUNDATION: $2k → 20%REBUILD CONGRESS (ISSUE ONE): $1k → 14%FOR LOVE OF WATER (FLOW): $1k → 7%FRIENDS OF SOUTH SLOUGH RESERVE INC: $1k → 17%SAVE THE CHILDREN: $1k → 9%PARKINSON ASSOCIATION OF THE CAROLINAS: $1k → 10%BOULDER CANCER FIGHTERS: $1k → 12%MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION NEW HAMPSHIRE: $5k → 7%WELLESLEY-WESTON CHABAD: $1k → 7%BIG BROTHER BIG SISTER OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS: $12k → 8%BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASSMETROWEST INC: $20k → 11%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $3k → 16%BREAD AND ROSES COMMUNITY FUND: $1k → 22%ALTA COMMUNITY: $1k → 14%LAHAINA COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $1k → 9%FRIENDS OF THE LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED (FLOW): $1k → 15%MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $1k → 8%BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASSMETROWEST INC: $7k → 11%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $1k → 16%BREAD AND ROSES COMMUNITY FUND: $1k → 22%FRIENDS OF THE LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED (FLOW): $1k → 15%MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $1k → 8%BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASSMETROWEST INC: $5k → 11%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $1k → 16%MOVEMENT ALLIANCE PROJECT (PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY BAIL FUND): $2k → 22%FRIENDS OF THE LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED (FLOW): $1k → 15%THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK: $1k → 16%HELPING HANDS: $1k → 16%WESTON FOREST AND TRAIL ASSOCIATION INC: $1k → 8%ENVISIONING ACCESS: $1k → 16%COMMUNITY ROWING INC: $1k → 16%FIRST PARISH IN WAYLAND: $6k → 8%WAYLAND HIGH BOOSTERS ASSOCIATION: $5k → 8%CAM TREDGETT FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%FIRST PARISH IN WAYLAND: $3k → 8%FIRST PARISH IN WAYLAND: $3k → 8%FIRST PARISH IN WAYLAND: $2k → 8%WAYLAND BOOSTERS ASSOCIATION: $1k → 8%WAYLAND COMMUNITY POOL INC: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
NH
MI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
CT
CA
CO
VA
NC
DC
HI
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.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$93k · 6 repeat orgs$77k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +12% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
26

Total granted

$93k
$72k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
0%

Still filing today

83%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthRecreation & SportsEnvironmentYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureCivil RightsOther
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

  • BB
    BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASS /METROWEST INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $55k · revenue +12%
  • TS
    THRIVE SURVIVOR SUPPORT CENTER
    3× · 2022–2025 · $9k · revenue +55%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED FLOW
    3× · 2022–2025 · $3k · revenue +0%

Funded once

  • AF
    ANGEL FLIGHT OF NEW ENGLAND
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
  • BB
    BIG BROTHER BIG SISTER OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
    one grant, 2020 · $12k
  • CT
    CAM TREDGETT FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $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 Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
2
Allosource

Inspired by the gift of donation from our communities, allosource responsibly provides innovative cellular and tissue allografts to advance patient healing.

Health
3
Asco Association

Asco association promotes the common business interests of its members by: (1) advocating for policies that improve the quality of cancer care; (2) maintaining the highest standards of oncology medical care through programs supporting…

Community Improvement
4
Western Electricity Coordinating Council

To effectively and efficiently mitigate risks to the reliability and security of the western interconnection's bulk power system.

Public Benefit
5
Uhiwai O Haleakala

The mission of the corporation shall be to work with partners to protect and restore native ecosystems and watersheds, to improve the quality and quantity of freshwater resources to perpetuate hawaiian cultural resources and practices, to…

Environment
6
Lowell Observatory Foundation

To sustain and enhance lowell observatory's mission of research and education by generating perpetual financial support.

Science & Tech
7
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
8
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…

—
9
Big Sur Marathon Foundation Inc

To create beautiful running events that promote health and benefit our community.

—
10
International Biomedical Research Alliance

Our mission is to invest in and accelerate the development of the most promising future leaders in biomedical research with global impact.

Health
11
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.…

—
12
America's Health Insurance Plans Inc

Ahip is the national trade association representing the health insurance industry. ahip's members provide health care coverage, services and solutions to more than 200 million americans. we are committed to market-based solutions and…

Membership Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Rowing Inc; the most unlike its peers is Wayland High School Scholarship Fund Committee. 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

28 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 28 of the 40 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/28
Grantees still filing
15/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ANGEL FLIGHT OF NEW ENGLAND: $20,000 · OtherANGEL FLIGHT OF NEW ENGLANDTHE FIRST PARISH IN WAYLAND: $14,000 · OtherTHE FIRST PARISH IN WAYLANDBIG BROTHER BIG SISTER OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS: $12,000 · OtherBIG BROTHER BIG SISTER OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTSGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $10,500 · OtherGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INCTHRIVE SURVIVOR SUPPORT CENTER: $8,500 · OtherTHRIVE SURVIVOR SUPPORT CENTERCAM TREDGETT FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherWAYLAND HIGH BOOSTERS ASSOCIATION: $5,000 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION NEW HAMPSHIRE: $5,000 · OtherWELLESLEY-WESTON CHABAD CENTER INC: $5,000 · OtherBread and Roses Community Fund: $4,000 · Other+17 more: $17,000 · Other+17 moreBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASS /METROWEST INC: $55,100 · Youth DevelopmentBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL…FRIENDS OF THE LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED FLOW: $3,000 · EnvironmentAINA MOMONA: $1,000 · EnvironmentMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $3,000 · EducationPELOTONIA: $250 · EducationWESTON FOREST AND TRAIL ASSOCIATION INC: $1,500 · Recreation & SportsWAYLAND COMMUNITY POOL INC: $1,000 · Recreation & SportsFLYIN RYAN HAWKS FOUNDATION: $500 · Recreation & SportsParkinson Association of the Carolinas: $1,000 · HealthBOULDER CANCER FIGHTERS: $1,000 · HealthAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $500 · HealthAmerican Heart Association Inc: $500 · HealthTHE LOVELAND FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 · Civil Rights
Other$106,000Youth Development$55,100Environment$4,000Education$3,250Recreation & Sports$3,000Health$3,000Civil Rights$2,000

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 budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL MASS /METROWEST INC: $55,100 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $10,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHRIVE SURVIVOR SUPPORT CENTER: $8,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetWAYLAND HIGH BOOSTERS ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetBread and Roses Community Fund: $4,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $3,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE LOWER OLENTANGY WATERSHED FLOW: $3,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE LOVELAND FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMOVEMENT ALLIANCE PROJECT: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESTON FOREST AND TRAIL ASSOCIATION INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY ROWING INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWAYLAND COMMUNITY POOL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PEOPLE'S FUND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetISSUE ONE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALTA COMMUNITY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetParkinson Association of the Carolinas: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetENVISIONING ACCESS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAINA MOMONA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWAYLAND HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FUND COMMITTEE: $500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFLYIN RYAN HAWKS FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetHOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $500 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.

Amalgamated Charitabl…Boston Foundation IncThe Pfizer Foundation…Network for GoodThe Blackbaud Giving …American Endowment Fo…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Vanguard Charitable E…Paypal Charitable Giv…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…The Bank of America C…
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC12.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Network for Good · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Endowment Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America 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 Gladys Avery Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Gladys Avery Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Community Rowing Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Gladys Avery Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Gladys Avery 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 40 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 Gladys Avery’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