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The Scarbro Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Scarbro 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.

$39k
Granted FY2025still arriving
36
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0185% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Human Services$99kHealth$38kArts & Culture$35kEducation$35kEnvironment$33kHousing & Shelter$18kCivil Rights$18kFood & Nutrition$9kOther$0
02FY2025 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k35 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$500
Median grant
7
States reached
$67k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING)$10,000
ANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION$5,000
AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION$2,000
WBUR$2,000
BOSTON BALLET$2,000
WGBH$2,000
Individual grant recipient$1,500
MSPCC$1,500
NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION (NPCA)$1,000
BREAKTHROUGH T1D$1,000
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION$1,000
WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION$1,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$500
MARE$500
FOOD BANK OF WESTERN MASS$500
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, $99k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 5% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%ANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%ANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%ANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $25k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $12k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $12k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $10k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $3k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $2k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $2k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $2k → 8%HGRM (HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLIING): $1k → 8%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 16%PINE STREET INN: $500 → 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

MT
NY
MA
IA
RI
CA
NE
VA
MD
KS
NC
DC
GA
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$313k · 58 repeat orgs$20k to everyone else

58 repeat relationships: 35 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

58
15

Total granted

$313k
$19k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+29%

Still filing today

53%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k 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
HealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureEnvironmentEducationHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • HG
    HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $69k · revenue +56%
  • AJ
    ANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $25k · revenue +6%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $17k · revenue +45%

Funded once

  • HG
    HOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLING
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • CP
    CASTLE PLAYGROUND PROJECT
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • A
    ACLU
    one grant, 2019 · $2k
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
Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston

The Boston Public Library provides educational and cultural enrichment free to all by engaging the public through programming and active spaces, restoring and preserving our history, providing access to borrow from our vast collection of…

Education
2
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
3
Boston Architectural College

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

—
4
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
5
Lowell Observatory

The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…

Science & Tech
6
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Inc

See attached schedule othe conservancy has sole responsibility for managing all aspects of the rose kennedy greenway, including horticulture, programming, public art, maintenance, and capital improvements. we envision a vibrant, inclusive,…

Recreation & Sports
7
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
8
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
9
Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation Inc Attn Susan Sacco
—
10
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
11
Massachusetts Historical Society

To promote understanding of the history of massachusetts and the nation by collecting and communicating materials and resources that foster historical knowledge.

Arts & Culture
12
New England Historic Genealogical Society

New england historic genealogical society's mission is to advance the study of family history in america and beyond. we educate, inspire, and connect people through our scholarship, collections, and expertise. we conduct business under the…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Trustees of Reservations; the most unlike its peers is Rsc Foundation 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

37 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. 37 of the 74 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/37
Grantees still filing
28/37
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $17,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITYWGBH: $17,000 · OtherWGBHIndividual grant recipient: $12,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLING: $10,000 · OtherHOUSEHOLD GOODS RECYCLINGALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION: $9,000 · OtherALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATIONJDRF: $5,000 · Other+47 more: $71,850 · Other+47 moreHOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $69,000 · Human ServicesHOUSEHOLD GOODS INCANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION INCWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $4,500 · Human ServicesPINE STREET INN INC: $4,500 · Human ServicesAmerican Diabetes Association: $17,000 · HealthAmerican …JOSLIN DIABETES CENTER INC: $8,000 · HealthJOSLIN DI…BREAKTHROUGH T1D: $2,000 · HealthBREAKTHRO…+3 more: $700 · HealthCarlisle Conservation Foundation: $8,500 · EnvironmentNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $6,000 · EnvironmentRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $4,500 · Environment+1 more: $500 · EnvironmentBOSTON BALLET INC: $16,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF SCIENCE: $600 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $700 · Arts & CultureWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 · EducationPERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $4,500 · EducationMASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN: $11,500 · Crime & Legal
Other$142,350Human Services$103,000Health$27,700Environment$19,500Arts & Culture$17,300Education$12,000Crime & Legal$11,500

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 budgetHOUSEHOLD GOODS INC: $69,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetAmerican Diabetes Association: $17,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $17,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON BALLET INC: $16,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN: $11,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCarlisle Conservation Foundation: $8,500 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetJOSLIN DIABETES CENTER INC: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetABBY KELLEY FOSTER HOUSE INC: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FOOD BANK OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INC: $3,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMERRIMACK VALLEY FOOD BANK INC: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGleason Public Library Endowment: $1,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: $900 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLeague of American Wheelman Inc: $800 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF SCIENCE: $600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSEEDS OF PEACE INC: $600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCARLISLE POLICE ASSOCIATION: $500 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND QUILT MUSEUM INC: $400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE GLEASON PUBLIC LIBRARY: $300 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetRSC Foundation Inc: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEMERSON HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEMERSON HOSPITAL: $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.

  • Who funds HOUSEHOLD GOODS INC ↗
  • Who funds ANDREW JAMES LAWSON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds American Diabetes Association ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds Carlisle Conservation Foundation ↗
  • Who funds JOSLIN DIABETES CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds ABBY KELLEY FOSTER HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND ↗
  • Who funds ROSIE'S PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds RAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds PINE STREET INN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE FOOD BANK OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds MERRIMACK VALLEY FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH T1D ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS ↗
  • Who funds Gleason Public Library Endowment ↗

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.

Citizens Charitable F…Analog Devices Founda…Boston Foundation IncNeil & Anna Rasmussen…The Pfizer Foundation…The Bank of America C…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…
Citizens Charitable FoundationRI14.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Citizens Charitable Foundation · Analog Devices Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Neil & Anna Rasmussen Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Joslin Diabetes Center Inc: 35% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Perkins School for the Blind: 7% of income from government
  • Merrimack Valley Food Bank Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Emerson Hospital: 3% of income from government
  • New England Quilt Museum Inc: 3% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Commonwealth Zoological Corporation D/B/a Zoo New England: 2% of income from government
  • Boston Ballet Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Museum of Science: 0% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get 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
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.

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 74 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 Scarbro 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