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Walking Stick Family Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Walking Stick Family 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.

$126k
Granted FY2025still arriving
41
Grants FY2025still arriving
17
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Environment$221kEducation$129kArts & Culture$100kFood & Nutrition$93kHealth$35kPhilanthropy$28kAnimals$6kInternational$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 41 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k39 grants · $96k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
$2,000
Median grant
17
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
909 WBUR$20,000
A CLIMATE TO THRIVE$10,000
NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION$7,000
WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$6,000
MAINE PUBLIC BROADCASTING$6,000
WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING$5,000
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL$5,000
BOSTON DANCE ALLIANCE$5,000
OUR CHILDREN'S TRUST$5,000
WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$4,000
THE SIERRA CLUB$4,000
MAINE AUDUBON$3,000
MASS AUDUBON$3,000
MAINE ORGANIC FARMERS$3,000
IOWA PUBLIC RADIO$2,000
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 (FY22–22, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GLOBAL DISASTER RELIEF TEAM: $1k → 8%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
NH
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
OH
PA
CA
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$522k · 73 repeat orgs$121k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

73 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2025, 53 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

73
47

Total granted

$522k
$78k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+1%

Still filing today

68%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $43k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CultureEducationFood & NutritionHealthInternationalOther
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

  • GN
    GROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $70k · revenue +45%
  • AC
    A CLIMATE TO THRIVE
    5× · 2021–2025 · $50k · revenue +82%
  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2018–2024 · $49k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $7k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $7k
  • TT
    THE TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue 0%
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
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
4
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
5
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
6
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
7
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
8
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
9
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
10
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
11
Conservation Law Foundation Inc

Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. we use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources,…

Environment
12
Cdp North America Inc

Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Charles River Conservancy Inc; the most unlike its peers is New York University. 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

84 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. 84 of the 142 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
82/84
Grantees still filing
57/84
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $49,468 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITYNORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION: $42,000 · OtherNORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION909 WBUR: $22,270 · Other909 WBURGREENPEACE INC: $12,000 · OtherWOMEN'S & MEN'S HEALTH SERVICES: $10,500 · OtherBASS HARBOR MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $10,500 · Other+79 more: $164,755 · Other+79 moreGROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INC: $70,000 · EnvironmentGROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INCA CLIMATE TO THRIVE: $50,000 · EnvironmentA CLIMATE TO THRIVENATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $18,500 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCI…AMERICAN RIVERS INC: $8,000 · Environment+21 more: $45,175 · Environment+21 moreJESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $38,500 · EducationJESUP MEM…HOLDERNESS SCHOOL: $4,000 · EducationHOLDERNES…BENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION: $3,600 · EducationBENNINGTO…STEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION INC: $3,250 · EducationSTEPPINGS…University of Arizona Foundation: $2,000 · Education+4 more: $2,800 · EducationWGBH Educational Foundation: $10,100 · Arts & CultureWEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING FOUNDA: $8,500 · Arts & CultureMaine Public Broadcasting Corporation: $6,900 · Arts & CultureWISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureTURTLE STUDIOS CORPORATION: $3,000 · Arts & CultureIOWA PUBLIC RADIO INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF PUBLIC RADIO ARIZONA: $2,000 · Arts & CultureMAINE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEREST REPORTING: $1,450 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $650 · Arts & CultureCAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $27,500 · Philanthropy+1 more: $550 · PhilanthropyMaine Farmland Trust: $9,500 · Food & NutritionTHE SYLVIA CENTER: $8,000 · Food & NutritionNATIONAL YOUNG FARMERS COALITION INC: $7,000 · Food & NutritionMAINE ORGANIC FARMERS AND GARDENERS ASSOCIATION: $1,750 · Food & Nutrition+2 more: $1,475 · Food & NutritionPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $12,000 · HealthEVERY MOTHER COUNTS: $4,300 · HealthBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $2,500 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $2,000 · HealthSOUTH FLORIDA PUBLIC MEDIA GROUP INC: $2,000 · Health
Other$311,493Environment$191,675Education$54,150Arts & Culture$37,600Philanthropy$28,050Food & Nutrition$27,725Health$22,800

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 budgetGROW NATIVE MASSACHUSETTS INC: $70,000 over 7y, 4.4% of budgetA CLIMATE TO THRIVE: $50,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $49,468 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $38,500 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetCAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $27,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $18,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREENPEACE INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $10,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMaine Farmland Trust: $9,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING FOUNDA: $8,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE SYLVIA CENTER: $8,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL YOUNG FARMERS COALITION INC: $7,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Public Broadcasting Corporation: $6,900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmazon Watch Inc: $5,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOUR CHILDREN'S TRUST: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOSTON DANCE ALLIANCE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEVERY MOTHER COUNTS: $4,300 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHOLDERNESS SCHOOL: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREENPEACE FUND INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAINFOREST ALLIANCE INC: $3,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION: $3,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC: $3,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION INC: $3,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTURTLE STUDIOS CORPORATION: $3,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetFriends of Acadia: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMaine Audubon Society: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $2,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAND FOR GOOD INC: $2,250 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetStewardship Education Alliance: $2,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIOWA PUBLIC RADIO INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH FLORIDA PUBLIC MEDIA GROUP INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF PUBLIC RADIO ARIZONA: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSUNRISE MOVEMENT EDUCATION FUND: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBERKSHIRE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION TEAM INC: $1,900 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $1,825 over 3y, 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.

Maine Community Found…Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…Eastern Cambridge Fou…American Tower Corpor…PatagoniaorgCombined Jewish Phila…Hattie a and Fred C L…Beard Family Charitab…Stevenson Family Char…The Charlotte Foundat…Colket Family Foundat…
Maine Community Foundation IncME25.9× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Eastern Cambridge Foundation · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · Patagoniaorg · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Hattie a and Fred C Lynam Trust · Beard Family Charitable Trust John E Beard Trustee · Stevenson Family Charitable Trust · The Charlotte Foundation Inc · Colket Family 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 Walking Stick Family Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Walking Stick Family Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Boston Medical Center Corporation: 23% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Boston Area Gleaners Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Turtle Studios Corporation: 12% of income from government
  • The Cambridge Historical Society: 11% of income from government
  • Charles River Watershed Association Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Boston Dance Alliance Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Grow Native Massachusetts Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Commonwealth Zoological Corporation D/B/a Zoo New England: 2% of income from government
  • Bikes Not Bombs Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club: 1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Emerald Necklace Conservancy Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Bennington College Corporation: 0% of income from government
  • Steppingstone Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 Walking Stick Family Fund?

Find your warmest path to Walking Stick Family 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.

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 142 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 Walking Stick 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