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The Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$34k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$10k
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, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$107kYouth Development$61kHealth$39kArts & Culture$22kRecreation & Sports$18kHousing & Shelter$6kHuman Services$5kInternational$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k10 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$932k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON$10,000
MASS GENERAL HOSPITAL$10,000
BROWN UNIVERSITY$5,000
BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION$2,500
PAN MASS CHALLENGE$1,027
BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$1,000
ROSIE'S PLACE$1,000
RAISING A READER$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
NEDSRA$746
BROOKLINE FOOD PANTRY$500
FRIENDS OF DANA FARBER CANCER$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 (FY19–23, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 49% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%HEROES AND HORSES: $5k → 10%PINE STREET INN: $5k → 16%THE B FUND: $250 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
NH
MT
IL
NY
MA
CT
RI
DC
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 5% of The Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$202k · 15 repeat orgs$52k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +46% since the first grant, against +40% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
28

Total granted

$202k
$47k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+40%

Still filing today

80%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesFood & 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

  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $60k · revenue +34%
  • WU
    WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2019–2022 · $56k · revenue +45%
  • PS
    PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
    5× · 2019–2023 · $33k · revenue +5%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • PINE STREET INN INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +80%
  • HA
    HEROES AND HORSES INC
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue -41%
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
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.…

—
3
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
4
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
5
Bentley University

Organization's mission bentley university believes good business can impact more than the bottom line - it can change the world. bentley is a community of future business leaders who will deliver value in the marketplace and lasting…

Education
6
The Broad Institute Inc

The mission of the broad institute is to propel progress in biomedicine, through research aimed at the understanding and treatment of disease and the dissemination of scientific knowledge to the scientific community to benefit the public.…

Health
7
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
8
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
9
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
10
The Bridgespan Group Inc

Bridgespan's mission is to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society's most important challenges and opportunities.

Community Improvement
11
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
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Boston Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Feeding America. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

34 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. 34 of the 50 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)
34/34
Grantees still filing
30/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $56,462 · EducationWESLEYAN UNIVERSITYPERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $32,532 · EducationPERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLINDTRUSTEES OF THAYER ACADEMY INC: $4,586 · Education+4 more: $4,166 · EducationBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $59,600 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOS…+2 more: $1,206 · Youth DevelopmentMASS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $16,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL HOSPITALIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $7,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCRI (COMMUNITY ROWING INC): $5,000 · OtherCRI (COMMUNITY ROWING INC)JUSTINE MEE LIFF FUND: $3,250 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $2,500 · OtherUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $2,814 · Other+24 more: $18,081 · Other+24 moreBOSTON BALLET INC: $4,300 · Arts & CultureBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE CO INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 · Public Safety & DisasterPINE STREET INN INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesHEROES AND HORSES INC: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $250 · Human ServicesBROWN UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · Community Improvement
Education$97,746Youth Development$60,806Other$65,145Arts & Culture$11,300Public Safety & Disaster$10,500Human Services$10,250Community Improvement$10,000

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 budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $59,600 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $56,462 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $32,532 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEROES AND HORSES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THAYER ACADEMY INC: $4,586 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON BALLET INC: $4,300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $2,814 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE CO INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAR-MA INC: $1,908 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKLINE FOOD PANTRY INC: $1,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $1,647 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBATTEN DISEASE RESEARCH: $1,500 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetDEXTER SOUTHFIELD INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHANGE SUMMER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROSIE'S PLACE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBoston Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESTPORT LAND CONSERVATION TRUST INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetELLIE FUND INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIMPACT MELANOMA INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHCOAST COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAMASTAY SOBER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLUNGEVITY FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND: $305 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKIDSPIRIT INC: $258 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFeeding America: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE B FUND: $250 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSQUASHBUSTERS INC: $206 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOSITIVE TRACKS INC: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $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.

Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…Fiduciary Charitable …Fidelity FoundationArbella Insurance Fou…Gs Donor Advised Phil…American Endowment Fo…The Ayco Charitable F…The Bank of America C…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…
Boston Foundation IncMA21.7× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Fiduciary Charitable Foundation Dba Fiduciary Trust Charitable · Fidelity Foundation · Arbella Insurance Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Ellie Fund Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Southcoast Community Foundation Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Perkins School for the Blind: 7% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Impact Melanoma Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Wesleyan University: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Ballet Inc: 0% of income from government
  • American Repertory Theatre Co Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Arts Academy Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Rosie's Place Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Tom & Elena Matlack Charitable 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 50 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 Tom & Elena Matlack’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