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The Robert Macnamara Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert Macnamara Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$10k
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$20kArts & Culture$17kEducation$16kFood & Nutrition$12kHealth$2kPhilanthropy$1kSocial Science$1kAnimals$500Other$0
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$250
Median grant
7
States reached
$1.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ITALIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN$3,000
DONORS CHOOSE$1,003
LAS VEGAS PHILHARMONIC$1,000
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES$1,000
DONORS CHOOSE$844
DONORS CHOOSE$648
DONORS CHOOSE$560
DONORS CHOOSE$301
SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH$250
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY- WESTPORT ISLAND$250
COMMUNITY SERVINGS$200
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$200
DONORS CHOOSE$167
PINE STREET INN$150
Individual grant recipient$120
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 (FY20–24, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 58% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $200 → 11%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $350 → 14%CATIES CLOSET: $500 → 8%PINE STREET INN: $150 → 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

ME
IL
NY
MA
NV
PA
CA
VA
AZ
NM
KS
NC
DC
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

62%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$44k · 11 repeat orgs$26k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
22

Total granted

$44k
$23k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+24%

Still filing today

82%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthFood & NutritionEducationInternationalOther
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

  • ITALIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $19k · revenue +23%
  • D
    DONORSCHOOSEORG
    5× · 2020–2024 · $10k · revenue +1%
  • CV
    Carson Valley Community Food Closet Inc
    2× · 2017–2018 · $10k · revenue +180%

Funded once

  • CS
    CERAMIC SUPPLY INC FOR MUDFLAT STUDIOS
    one grant, 2017 · $7k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $4k · revenue +18%
  • CD
    CHILDREN'S DISCOVERY MUSEUMgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue +257%
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
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
2
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
3
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
4
Central Maine Healthcare Corporation

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustful environment through the expertise, committment, and compassion of our family of caregivers.

Health
5
The Childrens Museum

Boston children's museum engages children and families in joyful discovery experiences that instill an appreciation of our world, develop foundational skills, and spark a lifelong love of learning. boston children's museum is a welcoming,…

Arts & Culture
6
Commonwealth Care Alliance Inc

Commonwealth care alliance, inc.'s mission is to improve the health and well-being of people with significant needs by innovating, coordinating and providing the highest quality, individualized care.

Health
7
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Our mission is to solve hunger in central pennsylvania by ensuring that everyone struggling with hunger has access to enough wholesome food every day. we will achieve this bold goal with the help of our generous donors, volunteers and…

Food & Nutrition
8
Feeding Westchester Inc

Driven by the belief that access to healthy food is a basic right for all people, feeding westchester leads hunger action programs and mobilizes the resources needed to eradicate hunger in westchester county.

—
9
Feeding San Diego

On a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. through direct service and community partnerships, feeding san diego provides more than 26 million meals each year to children, families,…

Food & Nutrition
10
Wamc

Wamc is chartered by the new york state board of regents to "furnish, prepare and present non-profit and non-commercial educational, instructional and cultural radio programs and also non-profit and non-commercial programs (wamc's mission…

Arts & Culture
11
Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine

At the children's museum & theatre of maine, we set the stage for every child to imagine and learn through play.

Arts & Culture
12
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Marine Toys for Tots Foundation; the most unlike its peers is School for Advanced Research. 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

25 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. 25 of the 41 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
21/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ITALIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN INC: $18,500 · HealthITALIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN INCChildren's Hospital Los Angeles: $1,000 · Health+1 more: $550 · HealthDONORSCHOOSEORG: $10,300 · EducationDONORSCHOOSEORGUNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION: $4,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LA…CERAMIC SUPPLY INC FOR MUDFLAT STUDIOS: $7,088 · OtherCERAMIC SUPPLY INC FOR MU…UNLV COLLEGE OF ART: $2,000 · OtherUNLV COLLEGE OF ARTST VIATOR SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $1,000 · OtherST VIATOR SCHOOL FOUNDATI…WESTPORT ISLAND HELPING HANDS: $700 · OtherLEWIS E ROWE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $558 · OtherMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $840 · OtherMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUN…+16 more: $3,548 · Other+16 moreCarson Valley Community Food Closet Inc: $10,000 · Food & NutritionCarson Valley Co…+1 more: $300 · Food & NutritionCHILDREN'S DISCOVERY MUSEUM: $3,000 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S …ARTISTS IMAGE RESOURCE INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureARTISTS IMA…THE LAS VEGAS PHILHARMONIC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LAS VEG…ARTSWESTCHESTER INC: $500 · Arts & CultureARTSWESTCHE…AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $250 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $100 · Arts & CultureCatie's Closet Inc: $750 · Human ServicesBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $350 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $250 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $200 · Human ServicesPINE STREET INN INC: $150 · Human ServicesSCHOOL FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH: $1,100 · Social Science
Health$20,050Education$14,300Other$15,734Food & Nutrition$10,300Arts & Culture$6,850Human Services$1,700Social Science$1,100

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 budgetITALIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN INC: $18,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $10,300 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCarson Valley Community Food Closet Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S DISCOVERY MUSEUM: $3,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetARTISTS IMAGE RESOURCE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSCHOOL FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH: $1,100 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LAS VEGAS PHILHARMONIC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChildren's Hospital Los Angeles: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $840 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCatie's Closet Inc: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $550 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetARTSWESTCHESTER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIDCOAST HUMANE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF MID COAST MAINE INC: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $210 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWATERSHED CENTER FOR THE CERAMIC ARTS: $100 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.

Maine Community Found…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Maine Community Foundation IncME12.9× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Macnamara Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert Macnamara Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Italian Home for Children Inc: 29% of income from government
  • Community Servings Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Catie's Closet Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Macnamara Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Robert Macnamara 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 41 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 Robert Macnamara’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