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The Herb Chambers Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Herb Chambers Charitable Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$14M
Granted FY2024still arriving
49
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$13M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$17MYouth Development$2.6MRecreation & Sports$351kEducation$325kHousing & Shelter$317kArts & Culture$295kHuman Services$288kPublic Safety & Disaster$216kOther$0
02FY2024 · 49 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k26 grants · $88k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $302k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $769k
  • $250k+1 grant · $13M
$6,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL$12,633,869
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF DORCHESTER$200,000
MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY$199,558
DANA-FARBER'S JIMMY FUND CLINIC$198,878
GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE FOUNDATION INC$120,118
CAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION$50,000
ALZHEIMERS ASSOCIATION$49,913
RON BURTON TRAINING VILLAGE$25,029
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS$25,028
AMERICAN RED CROSS OF EASTERN MASS$25,000
THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK$25,000
PINE STREET INN$24,708
BURLINGTON AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE$17,500
NEW ENGLAND CENTER AND HOME FOR VETERANS$15,000
BEACON HILL VILLAGE$15,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $163k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 89% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%The Pettengill House Inc: $1k → 10%The Home for Little Wanderers: $5k → 16%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $5k → 16%The Home for Little Wanderers: $3k → 16%Pine Street Inn: $25k → 16%Pine Street Inn: $25k → 16%Somerville Homeless Coalition: $8k → 8%PINE STREET INN: $25k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $25k → 16%Somerville Homeless Coalition: $3k → 8%Pine Street Inn: $2k → 16%People Helping People Inc: $3k → 8%PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE: $3k → 8%People Helping People: $3k → 8%BEACON HILL VILLAGE: $15k → 16%BEACON HILL VILLAGE: $15k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
NY
MA
IN
CT
RI
VA
DC
OK
FL
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$21M · 74 repeat orgs$977k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +0% for those funded once.

74 repeat relationships: 35 still active in FY2024, 39 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

74
76

Total granted

$21M
$910k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+0%

Still filing today

42%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $66k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureRecreation & SportsPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • RB
    Ron Burton Training Village Inc
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +218%
  • CH
    CAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $625k · revenue +229%
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WORCESTER INC
    4× · 2018–2024 · $600k · revenue +75%

Funded once

  • NH
    NAVAL HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue -48%
  • TB
    The Boston Foundation-MA COVID-19 Relief Fund
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • AR
    American Red Cross of Mass
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
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
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Historic Boston Incorporated
—
4
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.…

—
5
Mass General Brigham Incorporated

Patient care, teaching, research and serving the community.

Health
6
Managers of Boston Port and Seamen's Aid Society
—
7
Ocean State Cancer Crushers
—
8
Boston Foundation
Philanthropy
9
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth Inc

The mission of the beth israel deaconess hospital-plymouth, inc. (bid-plymouth or hospital) is to improve the health and well-being of its patients and communities by providing a full continuum of healthcare services with excellence and…

Health
10
Northeast Hospital Corporation

Centering on a concept and continuum of care that embraces the health, well-being and dignity of each patient, regardless of their ability to pay, northeast hospital corporation (nhc) has four facilities, beverly hospital, addison gilbert…

Health
11
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc

Tertiary care academic medical center

Health
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Vietnam Veterans Workshop Inc Dba New England Center and Home for Veterans; the most unlike its peers is Bella Mente Quantum Racing Association. 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

70 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. 70 of the 165 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
66/70
Grantees still filing
48/70
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $13,983,673 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITALRon Burton Training Village Inc: $1,067,579 · OtherRon Burton Training Village Inc+131 more: $3,250,000 · Other+131 moreMASSACHUSETTS EYE & EAR INFIRMARY: $1,415,109 · HealthMASSACHUSE…BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS INC: $200,433 · HealthBRIDGE OVE…ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $173,810 · HealthALZHEIMER'…IMPACT MELANOMA INC: $90,000 · Health+10 more: $207,500 · Health+10 moreCAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC: $625,000 · Youth DevelopmentGOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $140,118 · Arts & CultureBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $35,500 · Arts & CultureNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureDORCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ATTN EARL TAYLOR PRESIDENT: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $2,000 · Arts & CulturePINE STREET INN INC: $101,591 · Human ServicesBEACON HILL VILLAGE INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesFUND FOR BOSTON NEIGHBORHOODS INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $12,500 · Human ServicesSOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesPEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE INC: $7,500 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesVIETNAM VETERANS WORKSHOP INC DBA NEW ENGLAND CENTER AND HOME FOR VETERANS: $90,000 · Housing & ShelterMASSACHUSETTS AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALLIANCE INC: $35,000 · Housing & ShelterANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF BOSTON: $48,000 · AnimalsLAST HOPE K9 RESCUE LTD: $25,000 · Animals
Other$18,301,252Health$2,086,852Youth Development$625,000Arts & Culture$212,618Human Services$187,591Housing & Shelter$125,000Animals$73,000

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 budgetMASSACHUSETTS EYE & EAR INFIRMARY: $1,415,109 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetRon Burton Training Village Inc: $1,067,579 over 4y, 9.8% of budgetCAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC: $625,000 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WORCESTER INC: $600,300 over 4y, 4.6% of budgetBRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS INC: $200,433 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $173,810 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $140,118 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $101,591 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetVIETNAM VETERANS WORKSHOP INC DBA NEW ENGLAND CENTER AND HOME FOR VETERANS: $90,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetIMPACT MELANOMA INC: $90,000 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetSt Mary's Center for Women & Children Inc: $70,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSCHOLAR ATHLETES INC: $65,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetSAIL TO PREVAIL: $62,500 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetNAVAL HISTORICAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 9.9% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBella Mente Quantum Racing Association: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC: $49,132 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF BOSTON: $48,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBurlington Area Chamber of Commerce: $40,500 over 5y, 5.6% of budgetBOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $35,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALLIANCE INC: $35,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetBEACON HILL VILLAGE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 5.7% of budgetBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFUND FOR BOSTON NEIGHBORHOODS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetJOSLIN DIABETES CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLAST HOPE K9 RESCUE LTD: $25,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetHIGH HOPES THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC: $23,400 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCARDINAL CUSHING CENTERS INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION OF MASS: $10,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetTHE BASEBALL INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE FENN SCHOOL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Diabetes Association: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDORCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ATTN EARL TAYLOR PRESIDENT: $10,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetLYME ART ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOLD LYME FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 25% of budgetBIG SISTER ASSOCIATION OF GREATER BOSTON INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetST MARK COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $10,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetDANA-FARBER INC: $7,508 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MEDFORD FAMILY NETWORK CORP: $7,500 over 3y, 7.3% of budgetPEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE INC: $7,500 over 3y, 1.8% 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 MASSACHUSETTS EYE & EAR INFIRMARY ↗
  • Who funds Ron Burton Training Village Inc ↗
  • Who funds CAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WORCESTER INC ↗
  • Who funds BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS INC ↗
  • Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds PINE STREET INN INC ↗
  • Who funds VIETNAM VETERANS WORKSHOP INC DBA NEW ENGLAND CENTER AND HOME FOR VETERANS ↗
  • Who funds IMPACT MELANOMA INC ↗
  • Who funds St Mary's Center for Women & Children Inc ↗
  • Who funds SCHOLAR ATHLETES INC ↗
  • Who funds SAIL TO PREVAIL ↗
  • Who funds NAVAL HISTORICAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc ↗
  • Who funds Bella Mente Quantum Racing Association ↗
  • Who funds GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF BOSTON ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALLIANCE 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.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Boston Foundation IncArbella Insurance Fou…Cummings Foundation G…Cambridge Savings Cha…American Tower Corpor…Salem Five Charitable…Rockland Trust Charit…Kitchings Family Foun…Boston Bruins Charita…GivenGain Foundation …Combined Jewish Phila…
Eastern Bank FoundationMA32.7× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Arbella Insurance Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · Salem Five Charitable Foundation Inc · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Kitchings Family Foundation · Boston Bruins Charitable Foundation Inc · GivenGain Foundation USA · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston 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 Herb Chambers Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Herb Chambers Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 260%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Amegoinc: 76% of income from government
  • Vietnam Veterans Workshop Inc Dba New England Center and Home for Veterans: 66% of income from government
  • Cardinal Cushing Centers Inc: 40% of income from government
  • St Mary's Center for Women & Children Inc: 40% of income from government
  • The Home for Little Wanderers Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Joslin Diabetes Center Inc: 35% of income from government
  • Bridge Over Troubled Waters Inc: 32% of income from government
  • Somerville Homeless Coalition Inc: 31% of income from government
  • Beacon Hill Village Inc: 28% of income from government
  • Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce: 24% of income from government
  • Boston Medical Center Corporation: 23% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • South Boston Community Health Center in: 10% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Impact Melanoma Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • University of New Haven: 2% of income from government
  • Boys and Girls Club of Worcester Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Lyme Art Association Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Camp Harbor View Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Sudbury Historical Society Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Baseball Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Friends of the Public Garden Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Goodspeed Opera House Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc: 0% of income from government
  • High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Animal Rescue League of Boston: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
26get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely on government for over half their income
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 165 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Herb Chambers’ 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