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Massachusetts · Private foundation

The Wellspring 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.

$310k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
9
Grants FY2025
13
Organizations funded FY2024
62%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$30,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$50,000
Organizations funded a year
8 to 13
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
4
Total assets, FY2025
$3.3M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 62% of the organizations The Wellspring Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 63% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 37% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $470k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentCrime & LegalEducationCivil RightsCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving9$310k44%
FY202413$750k62%
FY202311$310k55%
FY20228$330k75%
FY202110$180k60%
FY20208$340k38%
FY20198$230k38%
FY20188$180k25%
96% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$760kPublic Benefit$635kArts & Culture$515kCivil Rights$245kCrime & Legal$245kFood & Nutrition$80kInternational$75kHousing & Shelter$50kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
UT
VA
DC
TX

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 37 grantees
All grantees of The Wellspring Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc$290,00060%
The Center for Reproductive Rights Inc$195,00070%
International Documentary Foundation Inc$180,00040%
Lone Star Justice Alliance$160,00073%
Voteriders$150,00012%
Movement Voter Fund$150,00011%
Educational Video Center Inc$145,00082%
Clean Air Task Force Inc$125,00020%
Center for Popular Democracy Inc$100,00010%
The Life You Can Save$75,00011%
Spring Street Climate Fund Inc$75,00022%
Fund for the City of New York Inc$50,00010%
The Good Information Foundation$50,00012%
Columbia Land Conservancy Inc$50,00040%
Feel Good Action$50,00012%
NAMI National$45,00020%
Utah Film Center$45,00020%
The Gunk Foundation$30,000160%
Recidiviz Inc$30,00010%
Virginia Organizing Inc$30,00010%
Association of Independents in Radio Inc$30,0001n/a
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund$20,00010%
Abolitionist Law Center$20,0001n/a
Civil Rights Corps$20,00010%
Physical Plant Arts$20,0001n/a
Red Hook Initiative$20,00010%
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Inc$15,00010%
New York Women in Film & Television Inc$15,00011%
Eight Million Stories Inc$10,0001n/a
The New York Times Communities Fund$10,00010%
The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth$10,00010%
Transportation Alternatives Inc$10,00010%
Reach Out and Read of Greater New York Inc$10,00011%
Libraries Without Borders$10,00011%
Regional Plan Association Inc$10,00010%
Strategies for Youth$5,00010%
Confluence Philanthropy Inc$3,00010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 11 recipients with no EIN on record ($550k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

The Wellspring Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 33 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNatural Resources Defense Council Inc: $290,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Center for Reproductive Rights Inc: $195,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Documentary Foundation Inc: $180,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetLone Star Justice Alliance: $160,000 over 7y, 3.4% of budgetVoteriders: $150,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetMovement Voter Fund: $150,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetEducational Video Center Inc: $145,000 over 8y, 2.4% of budgetClean Air Task Force Inc: $125,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCenter for Popular Democracy Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Life You Can Save: $75,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetSpring Street Climate Fund Inc: $75,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetFund for the City of New York Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Good Information Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetColumbia Land Conservancy Inc: $50,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFeel Good Action: $50,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetNAMI National: $45,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUtah Film Center: $45,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetThe Gunk Foundation: $30,000 over 1y, 60% of budgetRecidiviz Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVirginia Organizing Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLeague of Conservation Voters Education Fund: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCivil Rights Corps: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRed Hook Initiative: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNew York Women in Film & Television Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetThe New York Times Communities Fund: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTransportation Alternatives Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetReach Out and Read of Greater New York Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetLibraries Without Borders: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetRegional Plan Association Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetStrategies for Youth: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetConfluence Philanthropy Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 33.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

The Ford FoundationNY24.7× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ford Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Tides Foundation · Annie E Casey Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · The New York Community Trust · Jewish Communal Fund · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · New Venture Fund · The Overbrook Foundation · The Tow 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.

Compare The Wellspring Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Wellspring Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Wellspring 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.

About The Wellspring Foundation

How much does The Wellspring Foundation give?
The Wellspring Foundation reported 9 grants totaling $310,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 13 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does The Wellspring Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (27%), Public Benefit (23%), Arts & Culture (18%).
Who are The Wellspring Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Natural Resources Defense Council Inc ($290k), The Center for Reproductive Rights Inc ($195k), International Documentary Foundation Inc ($180k).
Does The Wellspring Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 62% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Wellspring Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Wellspring Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Ford Foundation, Impactassetsinc, Tides Foundation.
Where is The Wellspring Foundation based?
The Wellspring Foundation is based in MA.

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 48 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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