· Private foundation
The Traveler Fund
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.
Read this first · the figures below need context
91% of The Traveler Fund’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Maine Community Foundation Inc, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 6 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2024, the last year The Traveler Fund named its own grantees at scale: 5 organizations, $22k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k5 grants · $12k
- $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Trout Unlimited Inc | $10,000 |
| Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (dba KELT) | $6,500 |
| The Herren Project | $2,500 |
| Northwell Health Foundation | $1,000 |
| Bath Rotary Club | $1,000 |
| Miramichi Salmon Association | $500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY25–25, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
5 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call). Read against FY2024, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- V5VARIOUS 501(C)(3) CHARITIES5× · 2017–2021 · $118k
- TUTROUT UNLIMITED INC2× · 2024–2025 · $20k · revenue +31%
- KEKENNEBEC ESTUARY LAND TRUST2× · 2024–2025 · $11k · revenue 0%
Funded once
- MCMid Coast Hinger Prevention Projectone grant, 2025 · $5k
- EEEcology Education Incgraduatedone grant, 2025 · $3k · revenue +109%
- SBSomali Bantu Association of Americagraduatedone grant, 2025 · $1k · revenue ×27
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.
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.
The mission of the SRLT is to recognize and conserve the rich wild and workinglandscape of Central Maine's Sebasticook River watershed through conservation,stewardship and education. Our focal programs are land conservation for…
To preserve and protect land surrounding the appalachian trail in maine for public benefit.
Kennebunk Land Trust's mission is to permanently conserve and steward land to benefit natural and human communities.
To conserve lands with significant ecological or cultural resources and manage them in a sustainable way for public benefit.
The mission of Midcoast Conservancy is to protect vital lands and waters on a scale that matters and to inspire wonder and action on behalf of all species and the Earth.
To conserve for the public benefit natural habitat, scenic beauty, and working land of the Boothbay region of Maine by providing stewardship, public access, and environmental programs.
We engage with communities to conserve, steward, and provide access to local lands and clean water for current and future generations to enjoy.
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…
Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust conserves and stewards vital natural areas, supports a vibrant local food system, and connects people with the natural world through inclusive education and recreation programs. Our goal is to protect our…
The mission of the 30 Mile River Watershed Association (30 Mile) is to work as a community for clean and healthy lakes, ponds and streams in our watershed. Since 2008, 30 Mile has led efforts to protect these waters from the growing…
Maine Farmland Trust protects farmland, supports farmers, and advances the future of farming.
Our mission is to permanently conserve and steward natural resources across our island and mainland communities for the benefit of current and future generations.
How this is measured
8 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. 8 of the 11 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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.
Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Traveler Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Traveler Fund. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Traveler Fund?
Find your warmest path to The Traveler Fund 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.
Play a game based on Traveler’s filings →