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The Sherman Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Sherman Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$84k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Youth Development$189kFood & Nutrition$177kEducation$157kHousing & Shelter$89kAnimals$85kCrime & Legal$36kRecreation & Sports$25kHealth$21kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $24k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $60k
$3,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$167k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PREBLE STREET$10,000
WAYSIDE FOOD PROGRAM$10,000
FRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDUCATION$10,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN ME$10,000
GOOD SHEPHERD FOOD BANK$10,000
GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE$10,000
CAMPFIRE INSTITUE$5,000
THE TELLING ROOM$3,000
MY PLACE TEEN CENTER$3,000
SWEETSER$2,500
CAMP SUNSHINE$2,500
SOUTH PORTLAND FOOD CUPBOARD$2,500
STRIVE$2,500
I'M YOUR NEIGHBOR BOOKS$1,000
OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE$1,000
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, $117k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 15% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%SWEETSER: $3k → 9%SWEETSER: $3k → 9%SWEETSER: $3k → 9%SWEETSER: $3k → 9%SWEETSER: $3k → 9%SWEETSER: $2k → 9%SWEETSER: $1k → 9%SWEETSER: $1k → 9%SWEETSER: $1k → 9%PREBLE STREET: $16k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $15k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $15k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $10k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $10k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $10k → 7%PREBLE STREET: $10k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $3k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $3k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $3k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $1k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $1k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $1k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $1k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $1k → 7%OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE: $1k → 7%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.
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$814k · 29 repeat orgs$39k to everyone else

29 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
12

Total granted

$814k
$38k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+38%

Still filing today

59%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% 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
EducationFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureOther
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

  • WF
    Wayside Food Programs
    9× · 2017–2025 · $90k · revenue +99%
  • PS
    PREBLE STREET
    7× · 2019–2025 · $86k · revenue +203%
  • GO
    GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $85k · revenue +102%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $13k
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN MAINE - LEWISTONAUBURN CLUB
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MUSEUM AND THEATRE OF MAINEgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +52%
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
Maine GearShare

To provide access to outdoor gear and know-how through a collaborative, equity-centered approach.

Recreation & Sports
2
Fork Food Lab

Fork Food Lab is a nonprofit food business incubator and shared commercial kitchen focused on growing the local food economy. We support the growth of sustainable Maine-based businesses by providing entrepreneurs with work space,…

Environment
3
Maine Council on Aging

A broad multi-disciplinary network that works to ensure we can all live healthy, engaged, and secure lives as we age in our homes and communities. With the voices of people with lived experience, we work on policy issues related to…

Unclassified
4
Maine Media College

Maine Media Workshops & College educates and inspires visual artists and storytellers to achieve their creative potential. We provide lifelong learning opportunities for those pursuing the fine arts and media-related professions. We are…

—
5
Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center

The Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center serves as a hub of collaboration that strengthens the immigrant community through language acquisition, economic integration and civic engagement.

Human Services
6
Portland Public Library

Portland Public Library is a welcoming cultural center that brings people together and connects them with trusted resources, ideas, experiences, and information. We build a stronger community by inspiring learning, creativity, and…

Education
7
Protect Maine's Fishing Heritage Foundation
Environment
8
Coastal Enterprises Inc

Cei integrates financing, small business and industry expertise, and policy solutions to grow a vibrant future for people and communities in maine and rural regions.

Housing & Shelter
9
Wetlands Foundation
Environment
10
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine Inc

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children statewide; provides affordable home away from home lodging which increases access to medical care for…

Health
11
Maine Access Points

To recognize the resiliency of people who use drugs and to work in collaboration to create access points for overdose prevention and harm reduction services in Maine.

Health
12
Islesboro Islands Trust

The mission of Islesboro Islands Trust is to enhance the quality of residents' lives through the preservation of open space, educate all residents as to the value of the island's natural ecosystems, and act as an environmental advocate on…

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine; the most unlike its peers is Portland Esl Scholarship Fund. 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 42 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/25
Grantees still filing
18/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN ME: $70,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN MEBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN MAINE - GREATER PORTLAND CLUBS: $34,046 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN MAINE …PREBLE STREET RESOURCE CENTER: $30,000 · OtherPREBLE STREET RESOURCE CENTERFRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT ED: $27,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDTHORNTON ACADEMY: $24,795 · OtherTHORNTON ACADEMYSTRIVE: $16,500 · OtherSTRIVEIndividual grant recipient: $12,500 · OtherKonbit Sante Cap Haitien Health: $11,000 · Other+17 more: $54,500 · Other+17 moreWayside Food Programs: $90,000 · Food & NutritionWayside Food ProgramsGood Shepherd Food Bank: $77,000 · Food & NutritionGood Shepherd Food BankSOUTH PORTLAND FOOD CUPBOARD: $10,000 · Food & NutritionSOUTH PORTLAND FOOD CUP…PREBLE STREET: $86,000 · Human ServicesPREBLE STREETSweetser: $17,000 · Human ServicesSweetserThe Opportunity Alliance: $14,000 · Human ServicesThe Opportunity…FRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDUCATION: $75,000 · EducationFRIENDS OF …WAYNFLETE SCHOOL: $12,000 · EducationWAYNFLETE S…+2 more: $2,500 · EducationGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $85,000 · AnimalsGULF OF MAI…The Telling Room: $32,500 · Youth DevelopmentThe Tellin…My Place Teen Center Inc: $27,000 · Youth DevelopmentMy Place T…CAMPFIRE INSTITUTE INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentCAMPFIRE I…CAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO LAKE INC: $16,000 · Recreation & SportsPortland Community Squash: $7,500 · Recreation & SportsMAINE ADAPTIVE SPORTS & RECREATION: $1,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$280,341Food & Nutrition$177,000Human Services$117,000Education$89,500Animals$85,000Youth Development$79,500Recreation & Sports$24,500

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 budgetWayside Food Programs: $90,000 over 9y, 2.0% of budgetPREBLE STREET: $86,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $85,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetGood Shepherd Food Bank: $77,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDUCATION: $75,000 over 6y, 8.9% of budgetThe Telling Room: $32,500 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetMy Place Teen Center Inc: $27,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetCAMPFIRE INSTITUTE INC: $20,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetSweetser: $17,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO LAKE INC: $16,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetThe Opportunity Alliance: $14,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetWAYNFLETE SCHOOL: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetKonbit Sante Cap Haitien Health: $11,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetSOUTH PORTLAND FOOD CUPBOARD: $10,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPortland Community Squash: $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCape Elizabeth Land Trust: $3,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTexas Low-Income Housing Information Service: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMAINE BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAINE ADAPTIVE SPORTS & RECREATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAPE ELIZABETH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE ROOT CELLAR: $1,000 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 Wayside Food Programs ↗
  • Who funds PREBLE STREET ↗
  • Who funds GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Good Shepherd Food Bank ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF PORTLAND ADULT EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds The Telling Room ↗
  • Who funds My Place Teen Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds CAMPFIRE INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds Sweetser ↗
  • Who funds CAMP SUNSHINE AT SEBAGO LAKE INC ↗
  • Who funds The Opportunity Alliance ↗
  • Who funds WAYNFLETE SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Konbit Sante Cap Haitien Health ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH PORTLAND FOOD CUPBOARD ↗
  • Who funds Portland Community Squash ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S MUSEUM AND THEATRE OF MAINE ↗
  • Who funds Portland ESL Scholarship Fund ↗
  • Who funds Cape Elizabeth Land Trust ↗
  • Who funds Texas Low-Income Housing Information Service ↗
  • Who funds MAINE BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS MEMORIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MAINE ADAPTIVE SPORTS & RECREATION ↗
  • Who funds CAPE ELIZABETH EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ROOT CELLAR ↗
  • Who funds I'm Your Neighbor Books ↗

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…Sam L Cohen FoundationSaco & Biddeford Savi…The Widgeon Point Cha…Elmina B Sewall Found…Davis Family Foundati…The Smith Family Char…Vincent B and Barbara…United Way IncJohn T Gorman Foundat…Stephen & Tabitha Kin…Karen Anne Bollwerk B…
Maine Community Foundation IncME35.7× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Sam L Cohen Foundation · Saco & Biddeford Savings Charitable Foundation · The Widgeon Point Charitable Foundation · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · Davis Family Foundation · The Smith Family Charitable Ta · Vincent B and Barbara G Welch Supporting Organization · United Way Inc · John T Gorman Foundation · Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation Inc · Karen Anne Bollwerk Burke and William a Burke Family Charitable Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report 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 Sherman Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Sherman 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 42 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 Sherman 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