Skip to content
Westra Family Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Westra Family Charitable Trust

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.

$78k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$250kYouth Development$105kScience & Tech$80kHealth$39kHuman Services$30kPhilanthropy$27kArts & Culture$26kRecreation & Sports$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $65k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$496k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA$20,000
SERVE AND CONNECT$15,000
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FDN$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
UNITED WAY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY$10,000
HARVARD UNIVERSITY$7,500
ESPLANADE ASSOCIATION$5,000
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 (FY19–24, $100k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $50k → 10%SERVE AND CONNECT: $15k → 16%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $10k → 10%SERVE AND CONNECT: $15k → 16%PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE: $10k → 10%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.
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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$377k · 10 repeat orgs$134k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +111% since the first grant, against +61% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 3 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

10
8

Total granted

$377k
$109k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+111%
+61%

Still filing today

70%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k 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
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • PLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE INC
    3× · 2019–2022 · $70k · revenue +111%
  • BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $50k · revenue +159%
  • ELEVATE NEW ENGLAND INC
    2× · 2021–2023 · $35k · revenue +139%

Funded once

  • TB
    The Broad Institute Incgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +44%
  • BT
    BOSTON TRINITY ACADEMY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +65%
  • UE
    UP EDUCATION NETWORK
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue -50%
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
The Bookbuilders of Boston Educational Fund Inc
Education
3
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
4
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
5
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
6
Bpe Inc

Bpe drives exceptional outcomes for all students by developing great teachers and great schools. for three decades, bpe (formerly the boston plan for excellence) has devised solutions to the toughest challenges faced by boston's students…

Education
7
Edvestors Inc

Edvestors was founded in 2002 as a platform to connect boston philanthropists with the city's public schools by identifying, shaping, and matching donors with promising school improvement efforts. (see schedule o)

Education
8
Phillips Exeter Academy

Unite goodness and knowledge and inspire youth from every quarter to lead purposeful lives. [text in quotations is taken from the academy's deed of gift, drafted in 1781] knowledge and goodness "above all, it is expected that the attention…

Education
9
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.…

—
10
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
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
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Park Street School Inc; the most unlike its peers is Jb's Keys to Dmd Inc. 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

18 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. 18 of the 22 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

President and Fellows of Harvard College: $80,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard CollegeBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC: $50,000 · EducationBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INCThe Norman B Leventhal Map & Education Center Inc: $30,000 · EducationThe Norman B Leventhal Map & Education Center…BOSTON TRINITY ACADEMY INC: $25,000 · EducationBOSTON TRINITY ACADEMY INCUP EDUCATION NETWORK: $20,000 · EducationUP EDUCATION NETWORKBUCKINGHAM BROWNE & NICHOLS SCHOOL: $15,000 · EducationBUCKINGHAM BROWNE & NICHOLS SCHOOLTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $10,000 · Education+1 more: $5,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $95,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIAMGH: $19,500 · OtherMGHUNITED WAY: $16,500 · OtherUNITED WAYIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE INC: $70,000 · Human ServicesPLUMMER YOUTH PROMI…SERVE AND CONNECT: $30,000 · Human ServicesSERVE AND CONNECTThe Broad Institute Inc: $25,000 · HealthREACH INC: $8,500 · HealthJB'S KEYS TO DMD INC: $5,000 · HealthELEVATE NEW ENGLAND INC: $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentGRUB STREET INC: $16,000 · Arts & CultureAmerican Battlefield Trust: $10,000 · Arts & CultureESPLANADE ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureUnited Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Education$235,000Other$141,000Human Services$100,000Health$38,500Youth Development$35,000Arts & Culture$31,000Philanthropy$10,000

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 budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $80,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPLUMMER YOUTH PROMISE INC: $70,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetBOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC: $50,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetELEVATE NEW ENGLAND INC: $35,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetSERVE AND CONNECT: $30,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetThe Norman B Leventhal Map & Education Center Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetThe Broad Institute Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON TRINITY ACADEMY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUP EDUCATION NETWORK: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGRUB STREET INC: $16,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBUCKINGHAM BROWNE & NICHOLS SCHOOL: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Battlefield Trust: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUnited Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREACH INC: $8,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJB'S KEYS TO DMD INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetESPLANADE ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 IncFidelity FoundationBarr FoundationCombined Jewish Phila…Eastern Bank Foundati…Richard & Susan Smith…Riley Mabel Louise Tr…American Tower Corpor…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…The Pfizer Foundation…Charities Aid Foundat…
Boston Foundation IncMA20.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Fidelity Foundation · Barr Foundation · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Richard & Susan Smith Family Foundation · Riley Mabel Louise Tr Uwill · American Tower Corporation Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America

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 Westra Family Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Westra Family Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 19%
  • Reach Inc: 85% of income from government
  • Plummer Youth Promise Inc: 64% of income from government
  • United Way of Massachusetts Bay Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Up Education Network: 22% of income from government
  • The Broad Institute Inc: 19% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Grub Street Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Epiphany School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Buckingham Browne & Nichols School: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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.

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 22 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 Westra 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