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The Robert Cummings Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert Cummings 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.

$7k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$2k
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.

Environment$19kArts & Culture$15kEducation$10kHealth$9kFood & Nutrition$6kReligion$5kYouth Development$4kInternational$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
8
States reached
$115k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EMORY UNIVERSITY$1,500
BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART$1,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$1,000
THE HISTORIC COLONY HOUSE$500
PROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM$500
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE$500
THE WHEELER SCHOOL$500
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$500
FOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA$500
BONNYVALE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER$250
VERMONT LAND TRUST$250
FOURTH WARD FOUNDATION$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%. 38% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CURE ALZHEIMERS FUND: $500 → 7%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $500 → 12%CHANTICLEER: $500 → 6%BREAST CANCER ORGANIZATION: $750 → 10%SSPC: $2k → 11%BAY AREA LYME FOUNDATION: $1k → 7%FOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA: $500 → 9%THE ANDREW LEVITT CENTER FOR SOCIAL EMERGENCIES: $2k → 10%SF MARIN FOOD BANK: $650 → 10%PLANNED PARENTHOOD LOS ANGELES: $2k → 14%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $500 → 17%PRATT INSTITUTE: $1k → 20%RAICES: $500 → 16%NORTHSTONINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 → 9%THE WESTERLY LAND TRUST: $1k → 7%THE HISTORIC COLONY HOUSE: $500 → 7%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $3k → 14%EMORY UNIVERSITY: $2k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2k → 7%THE CAMPAIGN FOR CHRIST: $500 → 7%SUNDOG POETRY CENTER: $600 → 9%VERMONT LAND TRUST: $1k → 9%BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART: $1k → 11%METAVIVOR: $750 → 6%LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE SERVICE: $500 → 19%SSPC: $2k → 11%THE WESTERLY LAND TRUST: $1k → 7%PROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM: $1k → 14%EMORY UNIVERSITY: $2k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%VERMONT LAND TRUST: $750 → 9%BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART: $1k → 11%CONVENT OF THE SACRED HEART: $2k → 17%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%VERMONT LAND TRUST: $750 → 9%BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART: $1k → 11%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART: $1k → 11%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART: $1k → 11%SOUTH COUNTY HOSPITAL: $1k → 7%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%RI CENTER FOR FREEDOM & PROSPERITY: $2k → 14%WHEELER SCHOOL: $1k → 14%THE WHEELER SCHOOL: $1k → 14%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
MN
NY
MA
PA
CT
RI
CA
VA
MD
NC
DC
GA
TX
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 100% of The Robert Cummings Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 50% of the giving stays in RI; by stated purpose, 0%.

The Robert Cummings Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$48k · 18 repeat orgs$20k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +54% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
26

Total granted

$48k
$20k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+28%

Still filing today

61%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $250 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
HealthEducationArts & CultureEnvironmentInternationalCivil 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

  • BM
    BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $7k · revenue +80%
  • TW
    THE WHEELER SCHOOL
    6× · 2017–2025 · $4k · revenue +54%
  • VERMONT LAND TRUST INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $4k · revenue +67%

Funded once

  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB
    one grant, 2021 · $3k
  • TA
    THE ANDREW LEVITT CENTER FOR SOCIAL EMERGENCY MEDICINE
    one grant, 2017 · $2k · revenue -70%
  • RI
    Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
    one grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue -25%
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 Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
4
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
5
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
6
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
7
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
8
Wildlands Trust Inc

The wildlands trust works throughout southeastern massachusetts to conserve and permanently protect native habitats, farmland, and lands of high ecologic and scenic value that serve to keep our communities healthy and our residents…

Environment
9
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
10
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
11
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
12
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Westerly Hospital Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

31 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. 31 of the 46 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)
30/31
Grantees still filing
19/31
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $9,600 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $3,150 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANKSSPC: $3,000 · OtherSSPCEMORY UNIVERSITY: $3,000 · OtherEMORY UNIVERSITYTHE WESTERLY LAND TRUST: $3,000 · OtherTHE WESTERLY LAND TRUSTBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $3,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBBonnyvale Environmental Education Center: $2,250 · OtherTHE HISTORIC COLONY HOUSE: $2,000 · OtherSOUTH COUNTY HOSPITAL: $1,700 · OtherTHE WESTERLY HOSPITAL: $1,500 · OtherCONVENT OF THE SACRED HEART: $1,500 · OtherRhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity: $1,500 · Other+18 more: $9,400 · Other+18 moreTHE WHEELER SCHOOL: $4,250 · EducationTHE WHEELER SC…PROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM: $4,000 · EducationPROVIDENCE ATH…PRATT INSTITUTE: $1,200 · EducationPRATT INSTITUT…+1 more: $250 · EducationBRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC: $7,000 · Arts & CultureBRATTLEBORO…Sundog Poetry Center Inc: $600 · Arts & CultureSundog Poet…THE ANDREW LEVITT CENTER FOR SOCIAL EMERGENCY MEDICINE: $2,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD LOS ANGELES: $1,500 · HealthMETAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC: $750 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $500 · HealthTHE WESTERLY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $500 · HealthVERMONT LAND TRUST INC: $4,000 · Environment350 VERMONT INC: $250 · EnvironmentInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,000 · InternationalFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $2,500 · Food & Nutrition
Other$44,600Education$9,700Arts & Culture$7,600Health$5,250Environment$4,250International$3,000Food & Nutrition$2,500

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 budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $9,600 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC: $7,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetTHE WHEELER SCHOOL: $4,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT LAND TRUST INC: $4,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM: $4,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $3,150 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WESTERLY LAND TRUST: $3,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBonnyvale Environmental Education Center: $2,250 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANDREW LEVITT CENTER FOR SOCIAL EMERGENCY MEDICINE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD LOS ANGELES: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRATT INSTITUTE: $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $1,150 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBAY AREA LYME FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC: $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLUTHERAN IMMIGRATION & REFUGEE SERVICE INC DBA GLOBAL REFUGE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH STONINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRYSE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WESTERLY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKIND INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Spahr Center: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBAY AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY - HOUSTON INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of Fourth Ward Inc: $250 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRoot Social Justice Center Inc: $250 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

The Vermont Community…Amica Companies Found…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…The Pfizer Foundation…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
The Vermont Community FoundationVT12.9× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Vermont Community Foundation · Amica Companies Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Robert Cummings Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert Cummings 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 42%
  • Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service Inc Dba Global Refuge: 100% of income from government
  • Root Social Justice Center Inc: 42% of income from government
  • Vermont Land Trust Inc: 42% of income from government
  • Brattleboro Museum & Art Centerinc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Robert Cummings Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Robert Cummings Family 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 46 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 Robert Cummings 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