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· Private foundation

The Kelsey Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$224k
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What you fund
0199% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20212025.

Human Services$195kPhilanthropy$133kHealth$130kEnvironment$120kFood & Nutrition$104kEducation$104kHousing & Shelter$50kInternational$35kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k19 grants · $111k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $113k
$8,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$3.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND$12,500
THE JOHN W GRAHAM EMERGENCY SHELTER AND SERVICES$10,000
SHELBURNE FARMS$10,000
VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$10,000
SPECTRUM YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES INC$10,000
COMMITTEE ON TEMPORARY SHELTER INC$10,000
RESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC$10,000
ADIRONDACK FOUNDATION$10,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE NORTH COUNTRY NY INC$10,000
ADDISON COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION GROUP INC DBA HOPE$10,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BURLINGTON INC$10,000
GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA FOUNDATION INC (6663-S01)$8,000
CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE INC$8,000
PREVENT CHILD ABUSE-VERMONT$8,000
STERN CENTER FOR LANGUARD & LEARNING$8,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY21–25, $164k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HOMESHARE VERMONT INC: $5k → 10%VERMONT RIVER CONSERVANCY INC: $5k → 9%ADDISON COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION GROUP INC DBA HOPE: $10k → 9%Vermont River Conservancy: $4k → 9%Greater Burlington YMCA: $10k → 10%SPECTRUM YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES INC: $10k → 10%HOWARD CENTER: $10k → 10%Spectrum: $10k → 10%Greater Burlington YMCA: $10k → 10%Greater Burlington YMCA: $10k → 10%Spectrum: $10k → 10%KING STREET CENTER: $10k → 10%HOWARDCENTER INC DBA HOWARD CENTER INC: $8k → 10%Spectrum: $8k → 10%RESOURCE: $10k → 10%RESOURCE: $10k → 10%RESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC: $10k → 10%RESOURCE: $8k → 10%RESOURCE: $8k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$644k · 26 repeat orgs$245k to everyone else

26 repeat relationships — 14 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
23

Total granted

$644k
$151k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+23%

Still filing today

69%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $94k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthEnvironmentHousing & ShelterCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • SHELBURNE FARMS
    5× · 2021–2025 · $55k · revenue +62%
  • RA
    RESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $45k · revenue +39%
  • PP
    Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc
    4× · 2022–2025 · $45k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • HA
    HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OF ESSEX COUNTY INC
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +3%
  • CV
    CHAMPLAIN VALLEY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +36%
  • LC
    Lewis Creek Association
    one grant, 2022 · $10k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Cooperation Vermont

The mission of cooperation vermont is to build thriving community economic and enviromental democracy.

Community Improvement
2
Cooperation Vermont Community Land Trust

The mission of cooperation vermont community land trust is to reclaim the commons.

Community Improvement
3
Vermont Trails & Greenways Council

To promote trails and greenways and to ensure that people will always have access to the landscape of vermont.

Environment
4
Vermont Electric Cooperative Inc

Vermont electric cooperative is a member owned not-for-profit whose mission is to provide safe, affordable, and reliable energy services to its members.

5
Vermont Land Trust Inc

Rooted in vermont since 1977, the vermont land trust unites land and lives for the enduring benefit of people and the place we share. we help people protect, care for, and connect to land. this includes the farms, forests, natural areas,…

Environment
6
Vermont Foodbank

To gather and share quality food and nurture partnerships so that no one in vermont will go hungry.

Food & Nutrition
7
Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Medical Center

Cvph medical center's mission is to provide quality health care for the north country region in upstate new york.

Health
8
Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies Inc

Vcet's purpose is to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship across vermont. this is accomplished by providing expert mentoring and technical assistance, the operation of coworking/incubation facilities and the operation of early stage…

Community Improvement
9
Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Inc

We nurture the economic prosperity, ecological health, and social connectivity of people, businesses, organizations and communities in vermont for the benefit and well-being of all who live here.

Employment
10
Vermont Etv Inc

Vermont pbs celebrates the innovation and creative spirit of vermont, our neighbors in new england, new york and canada, and civic society beyond, to spark community and democracy in our world. we offer programming and events that connect,…

11
Vermont Woodlands Association

Vermont woodlands association's (vwa) mission is to educate and advocate for the practices of productive stewardship, use, and enjoyment of vermont's woodlands. we achieve this mission by delivering educational programs and technical…

Environment
12
The University of Vermont Medical Center

To improve the health of the people in the communities we serve by integrating patient care, education, and research in a caring environment.

Health

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Inc and the most unlike its peers is Partners in Adventure Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 42 years old; the field is 21. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number17%0%<5yr12%5%5–10yr19%8%10–20yr20%28%20–35yr16%33%35–55yr16%26%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value17%0%<5yr12%1%5–10yr19%2%10–20yr20%19%20–35yr16%48%35–55yr16%31%55yr+

The field is 17% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 8% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/46
the rest of the field
8%
170/2,069

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

46 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 46 of the 66 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/46
Grantees still filing
28/46
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

HELPING OVERCOME POVERTY'S EFFECTS — $35,000 · OtherHELPING OVERCOME POVERTY'S EFFECTSLAKESIDE SCHOOL — $32,500 · OtherLAKESIDE SCHOOLSARA M HOLBROOK COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $25,000 · OtherSARA M HOLBROOK COMMUNITY CENTER INCJohn Graham Center — $25,000 · OtherJohn Graham CenterTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $20,000 · OtherPrevent Child Abuse - VT — $17,500 · OtherNOFA - VT — $17,500 · OtherINTERVALE CENTER INC — $35,000 · OtherINTERVALE CENTER INCPARTNERS IN ADVENTURE INC — $15,000 · Other+28 more — $191,500 · Other+28 moreRESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC — $45,000 · Human ServicesRESOURCE A NONPROFI…SPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC — $37,500 · Human ServicesSPECTRUM YOUTH AND …GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA INC — $30,000 · Human ServicesGREATER BURLINGTON …HowardCenter Inc — $17,500 · Human ServicesHowardCenter IncADDISON COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION GRO INC D/B/A HOPE — $10,000 · Human ServicesADDISON COUNTY COMM…KING STREET CENTER INC — $10,000 · Human ServicesKING STREET CENTER …STEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC — $10,000 · Human ServicesSTEPS TO END DOMEST…THE VERMONT RIVER CONSERVANCY INC — $9,000 · Human Services+2 more — $10,000 · Human Services+2 moreTHE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $93,000 · PhilanthropyTHE VERMONT COM…ADIRONDACK FOUNDATION — $40,000 · PhilanthropyADIRONDACK FOUN…ADIRONDACK MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION — $5,000 · PhilanthropySHELBURNE FARMS — $55,000 · EnvironmentSHELBURNE FAR…CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC — $37,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION …ADIRONDACK LAND TRUST INC — $21,500 · EnvironmentADIRONDACK LA…VERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS INC — $7,500 · EnvironmentVERMONT YOUTH…+1 more — $2,500 · EnvironmentPlanned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc — $45,000 · HealthPlanned Par…STERN CENTER FOR LANGUAGE AND LEARNING — $28,000 · HealthSTERN CENTE…PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE NORTH COUNTRY NEW YORK INC — $10,000 · HealthPLANNED PAR…COUNSELING SERVICE OF ADDISON COUNTY — $10,000 · HealthCOUNSELING …GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA FOUNDATION INC (6663-SO1) — $8,000 · HealthGREATER BUR…THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT HEALTH NETWORK HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE — $7,500 · HealthTHE UNIVERS…COMMITTEE ON TEMPORARY SHELTER INC — $20,000 · Housing & ShelterHOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OF ESSEX COUNTY INC — $10,000 · Housing & ShelterThe John W Graham Emergency Shelter and Service Inc — $10,000 · Housing & ShelterCHAMPLAIN COLLEGE INCORPORATED — $35,500 · EducationREACH OUT AND READ INC — $2,500 · Education
Other$414,000Human Services$179,000Philanthropy$138,000Environment$123,500Health$108,500Housing & Shelter$40,000Education$38,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $93,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSHELBURNE FARMS — $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetRESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC — $45,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc — $45,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetADIRONDACK FOUNDATION — $40,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC — $37,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC — $37,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCHAMPLAIN COLLEGE INCORPORATED — $35,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINTERVALE CENTER INC — $35,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetGREATER BURLINGTON YMCA INC — $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSTERN CENTER FOR LANGUAGE AND LEARNING — $28,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSARA M HOLBROOK COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $25,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetADIRONDACK LAND TRUST INC — $21,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMITTEE ON TEMPORARY SHELTER INC — $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHowardCenter Inc — $17,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN ADVENTURE INC — $15,000 over 2y, 7.2% of budgetVERMONT WORKS FOR WOMEN INC — $12,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetVermont Public Radio — $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OF ESSEX COUNTY INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCHAMPLAIN VALLEY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE NORTH COUNTRY NEW YORK INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetADDISON COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION GRO INC D/B/A HOPE — $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKING STREET CENTER INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCOUNSELING SERVICE OF ADDISON COUNTY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPS TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC — $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE VERMONT RIVER CONSERVANCY INC — $9,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetGREATER BURLINGTON YMCA FOUNDATION INC (6663-SO1) — $8,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT HEALTH NETWORK HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE — $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCommon Roots Inc — $6,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetKIDSAFE COLLABORATIVE INC — $6,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetLund Family Center Inc — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHAMPLAIN AREA TRAILS INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetADIRONDACK MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOMESHARE VERMONT INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetREACH OUT AND READ INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT PUBLIC CO — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH BRANCH NATURE CENTER INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWHALLONSBURG GRANGE HALL INC — $2,500 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetADDISON COUNTY RELOCALIZATION NETWORK INC — $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Vermont Community FoundationVT56.2× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Vermont Community Foundation · National Life Group Charitable Foundation Inc · Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc · Peoples United Community Foundation · Fanny Allen Corporation · United Way of Northwest Vermont Inc · George W Mergens Foundation · Agnes M Lindsay Trust · Francis T & Louis T Nichols Foundation · Lintilhac Foundation Inc · Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family Foundation · The Robert Fleming & Jane Howe Patrick Foundation Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Kelsey Trust funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 18%
  • Kidsafe Collaborative Inc76% of income from government
  • Steps to End Domestic Violence Inc71% of income from government
  • Prevent Child Abuse Vermont58% of income from government
  • Vermont Works for Women Inc52% of income from government
  • Committee On Temporary Shelter Inc52% of income from government
  • Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Inc47% of income from government
  • King Street Center Inc43% of income from government
  • Lund Family Center Inc34% of income from government
  • Homeshare Vermont Inc32% of income from government
  • Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont31% of income from government
  • Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Inc23% of income from government
  • The Vermont River Conservancy Inc21% of income from government
  • Addison County Community Action Gro Inc D/B/a Hope18% of income from government
  • Boys and Girls Club of Burlington Inc16% of income from government
  • Intervale Center Inc13% of income from government
  • Reach Out and Read Inc9% of income from government
  • HowardCenter Inc8% of income from government
  • North Branch Nature Center Inc4% of income from government
  • Shelburne Farms3% of income from government
  • Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc2% of income from government
  • Resource a Nonprofit Community Enterprise Inc2% of income from government
  • Vermont Public Co0% of income from government
  • Champlain College Incorporated0% of income from government
  • Common Roots Inc0% of income from government
  • Stern Center for Language and Learning0% of income from government
  • The Vermont Community Foundation0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
5rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Kelsey Trust?

Find your warmest path to The Kelsey Trust 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 66 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph