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· Private foundation

The Tiny Tiger 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.

$370k
Granted FY2025still arriving
36
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$28k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$477kEducation$225kHuman Services$205kRecreation & Sports$156kAnimals$155kYouth Development$140kReligion$115kHousing & Shelter$75kOther$0
02FY2025 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $38k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $333k
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$8.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$27,500
COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION$20,000
BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC$20,000
ADVENTURE UNLIMITED$15,000
CHESTNUT HILL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION$15,000
PINE STREET INN INC$15,000
NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION$15,000
VINFEN'S GATEWAY ARTS$15,000
BOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION$10,000
THE PRINCIPLE FOUNDATION$10,000
GODDARD HOUSE - HOME FOR AGED WOMEN$10,000
BOSTON BALLET INC$10,000
826 BOSTON INC$10,000
BOSTON CASA$10,000
FARM AND WILDERNESS FOUNDATION$10,000
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 (FY20–25, $319k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 39% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%RAINBOW VALLEY RESOURCE NETWORK INC: $5k → 11%CHESTNUT HILL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: $15k → 7%CHERISHABILITY: $5k → 12%CHESTNUT HILL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: $15k → 7%CHERISHABILITY: $5k → 12%CHESTNUT HILL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: $15k → 7%CHESTNUT HILL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: $15k → 7%CHESTNUT HILL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: $15k → 7%CHESTNUT HILL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: $15k → 7%CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $10k → 8%CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $10k → 8%CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $10k → 8%CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $10k → 8%VINFEN CORPORATION: $15k → 7%PINE STREET INN INC: $15k → 16%PINE STREET INN INC: $15k → 16%PINE STREET INN INC: $15k → 16%OUR SPACE INC: $10k → 8%PINE STREET INN INC: $15k → 16%GATEWAY ARTS: $15k → 7%PINE STREET INN INC: $15k → 16%GATEWAY ARTS: $12k → 7%PINE STREET INN INC: $15k → 16%GATEWAY ARTS: $12k → 7%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $5k → 16%UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $5k → 16%CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $10k → 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
VT
IL
MA
OR
CA
CO
MO
AZ
KS
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 44 repeat orgs$70k to everyone else

44 repeat relationships: 33 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

44
4

Total granted

$2.0M
$35k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+81%

Still filing today

89%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $35k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsAnimalsEmploymentOther
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

  • WGBH Educational Foundation
    6× · 2020–2025 · $148k · revenue +9%
  • BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $120k · revenue +25%
  • CZ
    COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND
    6× · 2020–2025 · $115k · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • CF
    CENTER FOR ARTISTRY AND SCHOLARSHIP INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +81%
  • TP
    THE PRINCIPIA CORPORATION
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • CN
    CAMPS NEWFOUND AND OWATONNA
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
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
New England Lawboston

New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…

Education
3
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
4
Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation

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

—
5
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
6
Boston Arts Summer Institute Inc
Recreation & Sports
7
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
8
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
9
Trustees of the Berkshire Museum

Bringing people together for experiences that spark creativity and innovative thinking by making inspiring educational connections among art, history, and natural science.

Arts & Culture
10
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Bb&n, an all gender day school in cambridge, massachusetts, was established in 1974 by the merger of two independent schools, the buckingham school and the browne & nichols school, founded respectively in 1889 and 1883. located on multiple…

Education
11
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
12
Boston Center for the Arts Inc

Boston center for the arts (bca) is a not-for-profit performing and visual arts campus that supports working artists to create, perform, and exhibit new works; develops new audiences; and connects the arts to the community.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New England Aquarium Corporation; the most unlike its peers is Wgbh Educational Foundation. 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

43 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. 43 of the 51 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/43
Grantees still filing
34/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WGBH Educational Foundation: $147,500 · Arts & CultureWGBH Educational FoundationBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $120,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATI…BOSTON BALLET INC: $60,000 · Arts & CultureBOSTON BALLET INCHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INCCENTRAL SQUARE THEATER INC: $49,000 · Arts & CultureCENTRAL SQUARE THEATER INCLyric Stage Company of Boston Inc: $32,500 · Arts & CultureLyric Stage Company of Bosto…LONGYEAR FOUNDATION: $17,500 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $38,000 · Arts & Culture+4 moreTHE PRINCIPLE FOUNDATION: $70,000 · OtherTHE PRINCIPLE FOUNDATIONGODDARD HOUSE - HOME FOR AGED WOMEN: $60,000 · OtherGODDARD HOUSE - HOME FOR AGED W…MORE THAN WORDS INC: $60,000 · OtherMORE THAN WORDS INCBOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION INC: $55,000 · OtherBOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION IN…FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST: $55,000 · OtherFIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIS…RAW ART WORKS INC: $55,000 · OtherRAW ART WORKS INCPRINCIPIA COLLEGE: $30,000 · OtherJEWISH VOCATIONAL SERVICE INC: $30,000 · OtherSUMMER SEARCH: $20,000 · OtherTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $45,000 · OtherTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONSMASSACHUSETTS PROJECT 351 INC: $20,000 · Other+8 more: $83,600 · Other+8 moreChestnut Hill Benevolent Association: $90,000 · Human ServicesChestnut Hill Ben…PINE STREET INN INC: $90,000 · Human ServicesPINE STREET INN I…CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYON…VINFEN CORPORATION: $53,500 · Human ServicesVINFEN CORPORATIO…CHERISHABILITY: $15,000 · Human Services+2 more: $20,000 · Human Services+2 more826 BOSTON INC: $60,000 · Education826 BOSTON…BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC: $60,000 · EducationBOSTON PUB…CONSERVATORY LAB FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · EducationCONSERVATO…THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $10,800 · EducationTHE ART IN…CENTER FOR ARTISTRY AND SCHOLARSHIP INC: $10,000 · EducationCODMAN ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · EducationADVENTURE UNLIMITED: $101,000 · Recreation & SportsADVENTURE …HALE EDUCATION INC: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsHALE EDUCA…TENACITY INC: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsTENACITY I…Camp Newfound Owatonna Corporation: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsCamp Newfo…FARM AND WILDERNESS FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsFARM AND W…COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: $115,000 · AnimalsCOMMONWEAL…NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION: $75,000 · AnimalsNEW ENGLAN…BOSTON CASA INC: $60,000 · Civil Rights
Arts & Culture$514,500Other$583,600Human Services$328,500Education$200,800Recreation & Sports$196,000Animals$190,000Civil Rights$60,000

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 budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $147,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $120,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: $115,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetADVENTURE UNLIMITED: $101,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetChestnut Hill Benevolent Association: $90,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $90,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION: $75,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PRINCIPLE FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budget826 BOSTON INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetBOSTON BALLET INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON CASA INC: $60,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMORE THAN WORDS INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION INC: $55,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetRAW ART WORKS INC: $55,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetVINFEN CORPORATION: $53,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCONSERVATORY LAB FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetCENTRAL SQUARE THEATER INC: $49,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $45,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLyric Stage Company of Boston Inc: $32,500 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetHALE EDUCATION INC: $30,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH VOCATIONAL SERVICE INC: $30,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTENACITY INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS PROJECT 351 INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSUMMER SEARCH: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCamp Newfound Owatonna Corporation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFARM AND WILDERNESS FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLONGYEAR FOUNDATION: $17,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ALBERT BAKER FUND: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCHERISHABILITY: $15,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $10,800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $10,800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLITERATIONS CORP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCENTER FOR ARTISTRY AND SCHOLARSHIP INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetOur Space Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetZUMIX INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCODMAN ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTHE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $7,200 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $5,000 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 WGBH Educational Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND ↗
  • Who funds ADVENTURE UNLIMITED ↗
  • Who funds Chestnut Hill Benevolent Association ↗
  • Who funds PINE STREET INN INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds THE PRINCIPLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds 826 BOSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON CASA INC ↗
  • Who funds CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC ↗
  • Who funds MORE THAN WORDS INC ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON PARTNERS IN EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds RAW ART WORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds VINFEN CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC ↗
  • Who funds CONSERVATORY LAB FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS ↗
  • Who funds Lyric Stage Company of Boston Inc ↗
  • Who funds HALE EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH VOCATIONAL SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds TENACITY INC ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS PROJECT 351 INC ↗
  • Who funds SUMMER SEARCH ↗
  • Who funds Camp Newfound Owatonna Corporation ↗
  • Who funds FARM AND WILDERNESS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds LONGYEAR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ALBERT BAKER FUND ↗
  • Who funds CHERISHABILITY ↗
  • Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds LITERATIONS CORP ↗

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 IncMA29.2× affinity14 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · The Isabel Foundation · Tenacre Foundation · Barr Foundation · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation · Highland Street Connection and Subsidiaries · Powell Crown 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 Tiny Tiger Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Tiny Tiger Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Vinfen Corporation: 83% of income from government
  • Jewish Vocational Service Inc: 39% of income from government
  • More Than Words Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Boston Casa Inc: 20% of income from government
  • New England Aquarium Corporation: 12% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Raw Art Works Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Zumix Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Huntington Theatre Co Inc: 4% of income from government
  • 826 Boston Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Central Square Theater Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% 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
  • The Institute of Contemporary Art Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Conservatory Lab Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Ballet Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Farm and Wilderness Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Arts Academy Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
7report 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 Tiny Tiger Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Tiny Tiger 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 51 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

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