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The Ruettgers Family Charit Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ruettgers Family Charit 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.

$1.7M
Granted FY2025still arriving
57
Grants FY2025still arriving
12
States reached
$261k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$6.9MEducation$2.2MHealth$2.2MInternational$988kEnvironment$580kHuman Services$375kFood & Nutrition$346kCivil Rights$335kOther$0
02FY2025 · 57 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k19 grants · $87k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $525k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $839k
  • $250k+1 grant · $261k
$15,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$27M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER INC$260,789
GARDEN CONSERVANCY$174,270
FOUNDATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE & EAR INFIRMARY INC$149,778
MARANYUNDO INITIATIVE INC$100,000
MASSACHUSETTS EYE & EAR INFIRMARY INC$80,445
ISLAND SCHOOL$75,000
CHILDRENS DAY SCHOOL$60,000
REPRODUCTIVE EQUITY NOW FOUNDATION$50,000
BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL$50,000
CONCORD-CARLISLE COMMUNITY CHEST$50,000
IMPACT ON EDUCATION$50,000
GASPARILLA ISLAND CONSERVATION DISTRICT ACT$35,000
HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK$35,000
GAINING GROUND INC$35,000
DWELLING HOUSE OF HOPE$25,000
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 (FY17–25, $286k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL: $50k → 14%GROWING GARDENS: $10k → 12%BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL: $50k → 14%GROWING GARDENS: $5k → 12%GROWING GARDENS: $5k → 12%GROWING GARDENS: $5k → 12%BALD PEAK COMMUNITY FUND: $5k → 9%GROWING GARDENS: $3k → 12%GROWING GARDENS: $2k → 12%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $5k → 7%GROWING GARDENS: $2k → 12%COVENANT HOUSE INTERNATIONAL: $10k → 17%COVENANT HOUSE INTERNATIONAL: $5k → 17%UNIVERSITY DISTRICT FOOD BANK: $10k → 9%LA COLABORATIVA: $15k → 16%LA COLABORATIVA: $10k → 16%NETWORK OF ENGAGED INTERNATIONAL DONORS: $10k → 16%NETWORK OF ENGAGED INTERNATIONAL DONORS GLOBAL INC: $10k → 16%NEW ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL DONORS: $10k → 16%NEW ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL DONORS: $5k → 16%NEW ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL DONORS: $5k → 16%NEW ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL DONORS: $5k → 16%EAST BOSTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN: $25k → 16%HEALTH EQUITY INTERNATIONAL: $10k → 8%ACEDONE: $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

NH
WA
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
CA
CO
VA
NC
DC
GA
TX
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 74 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

74 repeat relationships: 37 still active in FY2025, 37 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

74
50

Total granted

$15M
$830k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+20%

Still filing today

73%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $569k 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
Arts & CultureHealthEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyFood & NutritionOther
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

  • MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
    7× · 2017–2025 · $2.1M · revenue +29%
  • ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.4M · revenue +117%
  • LC
    LAHEY CLINIC INC
    6× · 2017–2023 · $1.3M · revenue +45%

Funded once

  • BI
    BETH ISRAEL
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • SL
    SPUR LOCAL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +31%
  • MG
    MASS GENERAL CANCER CENTER
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
4
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
5
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
6
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
7
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
8
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide access to and conduct activities in furtherance of higher education.

—
9
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
10
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
11
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
12
Trustees of Boston College

Mission strengthened by more than a century and a half of dedication to academic excellence, boston college commits itself to the highest standards of teaching and research in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and to the…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Food Project Inc; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. 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

97 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. 97 of the 146 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
22
Early backer (in before they grew)
94/97
Grantees still filing
70/97
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WGBH: $3,150,000 · OtherWGBHISLAND SCHOOL: $245,000 · Other+88 more: $2,882,189 · Other+88 moreMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $2,064,424 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF FINE ARTSISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $1,436,685 · Arts & CultureISABELLA STEWART GARDNER …+11 more: $172,500 · Arts & CultureLAHEY CLINIC INC: $1,335,000 · HealthLAHEY CLINIC INCFOUNDATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY INC: $449,778 · HealthFOUNDATION OF THE …BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER INC: $260,789 · HealthBETH ISRAEL DEACON…PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $175,000 · HealthPARTNERS IN HEALTH…BREAKTHROUGH T1D: $145,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1DSEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $105,000 · HealthJOSLIN DIABETES CENTER INC: $95,000 · Health+5 more: $123,945 · HealthTHE MARANYUNDO INITIATIVE INC: $1,310,000 · EducationTHE MARANYUND…THE WINSOR SCHOOL: $130,000 · EducationTHE WINSOR SC…MOVE UP GLOBAL INC: $105,000 · EducationMOVE UP GLOBA…READING PARTNERS: $65,000 · Education+9 more: $301,000 · Education+9 moreTHE GARDEN CONSERVANCY INC: $669,090 · Environment+4 more: $25,000 · EnvironmentHOPE INTERNATIONAL: $207,100 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $175,000 · InternationalWITNESS INC: $160,000 · International+2 more: $21,000 · InternationalCONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC: $260,000 · PhilanthropySPUR LOCAL INC: $100,000 · PhilanthropyBOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FNDTN INC: $61,000 · PhilanthropyGreenville Area Community Fnd: $30,000 · Philanthropy+4 more: $36,000 · Philanthropy
Other$6,277,189Arts & Culture$3,673,609Health$2,689,512Education$1,911,000Environment$694,090International$563,100Philanthropy$487,000

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 budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $2,064,424 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $1,436,685 over 9y, 2.1% of budgetLAHEY CLINIC INC: $1,335,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MARANYUNDO INITIATIVE INC: $1,310,000 over 7y, 89% of budgetTHE GARDEN CONSERVANCY INC: $669,090 over 9y, 5.2% of budgetBETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER INC: $260,789 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC: $260,000 over 8y, 6.3% of budgetHOPE INTERNATIONAL: $207,100 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $175,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $175,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICANS FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE INC F/K/A FLA IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY CENTER: $165,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetWITNESS INC: $160,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $145,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGAINING GROUND INC: $130,000 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetTHE WINSOR SCHOOL: $130,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S DAY SCHOOL INC: $124,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $105,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMOVE UP GLOBAL INC: $105,000 over 5y, 28% of budgetSPUR LOCAL INC: $100,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetBUCKNER INTERNATIONAL: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJOSLIN DIABETES CENTER INC: $95,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY D/B/A CONCORD MUSEUM: $70,000 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetDWELLING HOUSE OF HOPE INC: $65,000 over 3y, 9.7% of budgetREADING PARTNERS: $65,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION: $64,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetBOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FNDTN INC: $61,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $52,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetIMPACT ON EDUCATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE EQUITY NOW FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetFLATIRONS ELEMENTARY PTO: $47,500 over 4y, 22% of budgetNETWORK OF ENGAGED INTERNATIONAL DONORS GLOBAL INC: $45,000 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetCarlisle Historical Society Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 55% of budgetTHE BUSH SCHOOL: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS: $36,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEND 68 HOURS OF HUNGER: $35,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetURBAN REVIVAL INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetGrowing Gardens: $31,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetGreenville Area Community Fnd: $30,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSAINT MARTIN'S UNIVERSITY: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE: $27,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEAST BOSTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN INC: $25,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetThe Food Project Inc: $25,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLA COLABORATIVA INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY CORPORATION: $25,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetPacific Legal Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $20,000 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.

  • Who funds MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds LAHEY CLINIC INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MARANYUNDO INITIATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GARDEN CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY INC ↗
  • Who funds BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds CONCORD CARLISLE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPE INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICANS FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE INC F/K/A FLA IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds WITNESS INC ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH T1D ↗
  • Who funds GAINING GROUND INC ↗
  • Who funds THE WINSOR SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S DAY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ↗
  • Who funds MOVE UP GLOBAL INC ↗
  • Who funds SPUR LOCAL INC ↗
  • Who funds BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds JOSLIN DIABETES CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS EYE & EAR INFIRMARY ↗
  • Who funds CONCORD ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY D/B/A CONCORD MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds DWELLING HOUSE OF HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds READING PARTNERS ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds BOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FNDTN 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.

Boston Foundation IncCombined Jewish Phila…Eastern Bank Foundati…Cummings Foundation G…The Jaket FoundationIbm International Fou…Liberty Mutual Founda…Fidelity FoundationZachary and Lindsey G…Rosse Family Charitab…Pobble Stone Foundati…Highland Street Conne…
Boston Foundation IncMA39.2× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · The Jaket Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Fidelity Foundation · Zachary and Lindsey Gund Foundation · Rosse Family Charitable Foundation Inc · Pobble Stone Foundation · Highland Street Connection and Subsidiaries

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 180%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Maranyundo Initiative Inc: 85% of income from government
  • Joslin Diabetes Center Inc: 35% of income from government
  • La Colaborativa Inc: 34% of income from government
  • East Boston Community Soup Kitchen Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Eastie Farm Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Commonwealth Kitchen Inc: 9% of income from government
  • The Boston Landmarks Orchestra Inc: 9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Dwelling House of Hope Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Growing Gardens: 6% of income from government
  • Gaining Ground Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Native Plant Trust Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Boston Children's Chorus Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Concord Antiquarian Society D/B/a Concord Museum: 1% of income from government
  • Lahey Clinic Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Lawyers for Civil Rights Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
18get no government money at all
18report 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 Ruettgers Family Charit Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Ruettgers Family Charit 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 146 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 Ruettgers Family Charit’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