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Plinth

· Private foundation

The Mezitt Horticultural Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$24k
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$5k
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 FY20172025.

Food & Nutrition$104kEnvironment$50kEducation$18kArts & Culture$10kHealth$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$1,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$284k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY$5,000
HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE$5,000
NEW ENGLAND BOTANIC GARDEN AT TOWER HILL$2,000
CORNELL BOTANICAL GARDENS$1,000
FRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARDENS$1,000
NATIVE PLANT TRUST$1,000
RHODODENDRON SOCIETY MA CHAPTER$1,000
IPPS ER FOUNDATION$1,000
FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETARY$1,000
FUTURE FARMERS AMERICA FOUNDATION$1,000
MNLA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE$1,000
TRUSTEES OF RESERVATION$1,000
GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS$1,000
HARVARD UNIVERSITY - ARNOLD ARBORETUM$1,000
HERITAGE GARDENS$600
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:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 43% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 8%MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $15k → 7%FUTURE FARMERS AMERICA FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%NATIVE PLANT TRUST: $2k → 8%TOWER HILL BOTANICAL GARDENS: $3k → 11%MASSACHUSETTS FFA ASSOCIATION: $1k → 11%MNLA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE: $1k → 14%CORNELL BOTANICAL GARDENS: $1k → 16%HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $5k → 15%FRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARDENS: $1k → 9%MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $15k → 7%NATIVE PLANT TRUST: $1k → 8%TOWER HILL BOTANICAL GARDENS: $3k → 11%RHODODENDRON SOCIETY MA CHAPTER: $1k → 11%MNLA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE: $1k → 14%CORNELL BOTANICAL GARDENS: $1k → 16%HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $4k → 15%FRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARDENS: $1k → 9%MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $15k → 7%NEW ENGLAND BOTANIC GARDEN AT TOWER HILL: $2k → 11%MNLA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE: $1k → 14%HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $3k → 15%MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $15k → 7%TOWER HILL BOTANICAL GARDENS: $2k → 11%HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $2k → 15%MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $14k → 7%TOWER HILL BOTANICAL GARDENS: $1k → 11%TRUSTEES OF RESERVATION: $1k → 16%HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $2k → 15%MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $12k → 7%TOWER HILL BOTANICAL GARDENS: $800 → 11%TRUSTEES OF RESERVATION: $1k → 16%HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $1k → 15%MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $11k → 7%MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $5k → 7%AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY: $2k → 11%FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETARY: $2k → 8%HARVARD UNIVERSITY - ARNOLD ARBORETUM: $2k → 8%FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETARY: $2k → 8%FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETARY: $1k → 8%FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETARY: $1k → 8%FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETARY: $1k → 8%FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETARY: $1k → 8%HARVARD UNIVERSITY - ARNOLD ARBORETUM: $1k → 8%HARVARD UNIVERSITY - ARNOLD ARBORETUM: $750 → 8%HOPKINTON SUSTAINABLE GREEN COMMITTEE: $2k → 8%GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS: $1k → 8%GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS: $1k → 8%GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS: $1k → 8%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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$173k · 15 repeat orgs$16k to everyone else

15 repeat relationships — 10 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
5

Total granted

$173k
$6k

Still filing today

60%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
EnvironmentArts & CultureEducationOther

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

  • HR
    HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $17k · revenue +150%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $9k · revenue +56%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARDENS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $6k · revenue +101%

Funded once

  • AR
    AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY
    one grant, 2018 · $2k
  • HS
    HOPKINTON SUSTAINABLE GREEN COMMITTEE
    one grant, 2024 · $2k
  • MF
    MASSACHUSETTS FFA ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2024 · $1k

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
Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation Inc Attn Susan Sacco
2
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
3
Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens

The mission of the jenkins arboretum & gardens is to preserve natural, tranquil woodlands for community enjoyment, to showcase native plants and a world class collection of rhododendrons and azaleas, and to promote environmental…

Environment
4
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Foundation

To support charitable, plant-based scientific, and educational activities exclusively for the benefit of the minnesota landscape arboretum of the university of minnesota

Environment
5
Worcester County Horticultural Society

New england botanic garden at tower hill creates experiences with plants that inspire people and improve the world.

Environment
6
Bartlett Arboretum Association Inc

To cultivate and develop an expansive collection of trees, gardens, and plants for all to explore, enjoy and study; and to provide through education and stewardship, a greener, healthier, more beautiful environment.

Environment
7
The Norman Bird Sanctuary Trust

Our mission is to spark people's curiosity to explore, steward, and find peace and joy in nature. in service to this, norman bird sanctuary inspires, builds, and engages a community of stewards who preserve, protect, enjoy, and learn from…

Animals
8
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Inc

We harness the power of plants for humankind and share the joy and beauty of tropical gardening with everyone. fairchild tropical botanic garden is a museum of tropical plants within a world famous, 83-acre designed landscape. it was…

Environment
9
Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc

To protect the nature of massachusetts for people and for wildlife through education, land conservation, advocacy, scientific research, and habitat stewardship/restoration.

Environment
10
Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve

The mission of the mount desert land & garden preserve is to conserve and share the beauty of our historic lands and gardens.

11
The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts Inc

Assisting member clubs with education and appreciation of horticulture, landscape and floral design, gardening and environmental concerns through workshops and schools.

Environment
12
Sonoma Botanical Garden

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the most unlike its peers is Mnla Foundation for Educational Excellence Inc. 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

11 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. 11 of the 25 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/11
Grantees still filing
9/11
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

MA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY — $96,500 · OtherMA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETYTOWER HILL BOTANICAL GARDENS — $9,800 · OtherTOWER HILL BOTANICAL GARDENSIPPS ER FOUNDATION — $6,000 · OtherCORNELL BOTANICAL GARDENS — $5,530 · Other+11 more — $15,950 · Other+11 moreHORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC — $16,500 · EnvironmentHORTICULTURAL RESEARCH …FRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARDENS — $5,800 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARD…GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INC — $5,200 · EnvironmentGROW NATIVE MASSACHUSET…MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY — $5,000 · EnvironmentMASSACHUSETTS HORTICULT…NATIVE PLANT TRUST INC — $4,500 · EnvironmentNATIVE PLANT TRUST INCTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS — $2,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY — $8,850 · Arts & CultureISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC — $800 · Arts & CultureMNLA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE INC — $5,000 · EducationEMMANUEL COLLEGE — $1,000 · Education
Other$133,780Environment$39,000Arts & Culture$9,650Education$6,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetHORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC — $16,500 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY — $8,850 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARDENS — $5,800 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetGROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INC — $5,200 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetMNLA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE INC — $5,000 over 7y, 4.5% of budgetNATIVE PLANT TRUST INC — $4,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM INC — $1,100 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetEMMANUEL COLLEGE — $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC — $800 over 2y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF BEDROCK GARDENS
  • Who funds GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INC
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
  • Who funds MNLA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE INC
  • Who funds NATIVE PLANT TRUST INC
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM INC
  • Who funds EMMANUEL COLLEGE
  • Who funds ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC

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.

Boston Foundation IncMA12.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Mezitt Horticultural Foundation 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%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 2%
  • Native Plant Trust Inc3% of income from government
  • Grow Native Massachusetts Inc3% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations2% of income from government
  • Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery1% of income from government
  • Emmanuel College0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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.

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 25 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