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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC

ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,716,628 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($10,458,385). 42 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$8.1M
Funders on record
79
Grants received
$28M
Net assets
$32M
42/79 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 71%
01What it does

What ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts Inc does

Mission

Aclu foundation of ma was established to defend freedoms guaranteed in the constitution and bill of rights through public education and litigation.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. The organization provides legal support and assistance by providing assistance and representation to individuals and organizations in selected cases in order to advance civil liberties and rights. The field and education program carried out by the organization seeks to engage the public and increase understanding and commitment to civil liberties and rights.- the aclu foundation of massachusetts secured a settlement in a years-long class action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of new england-based immigrants and their u.s. Citizen spouses, offering relief for noncitizens with final orders of removal who are married to u.s. Citizens.- the aclu foundation of massachusetts filed 6 lawsuits challenging unlawful trump administration policies and executive orders, including to defend due process, free speech, immigrants' rights, lgbtq equality, and public health.- the aclu foundation of massachusetts also reached over 1,000 individuals with know your rights presentations and workshops.

    $5,134,611 spent$179,503 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $5,134,611.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($4.1M) Expenses 100 ($4.4M) Net assets 100 ($9.2M)2019 Revenue 364 ($15M) Expenses 118 ($5.1M) Net assets 203 ($19M)2020 Revenue 164 ($6.7M) Expenses 116 ($5.1M) Net assets 200 ($18M)2021 Revenue 183 ($7.4M) Expenses 118 ($5.2M) Net assets 269 ($25M)2022 Revenue 146 ($5.9M) Expenses 117 ($5.1M) Net assets 279 ($26M)2023 Revenue 247 ($10M) Expenses 134 ($5.8M) Net assets 306 ($28M)2024 Revenue 132 ($5.4M) Expenses 146 ($6.4M) Net assets 328 ($30M)2025 Revenue 198 ($8.1M) Expenses 151 ($6.6M) Net assets 349 ($32M)
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (198)Expenses (151)Net assets (349)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $9.8M to $19M (+98%).

$9.8M
$19M
$19M
$25M
$26M
$29M
$31M
$33M
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

83% of ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (97% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,024 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$302k
’18
$9.7M
’19
$1.6M
’20
$2.3M
’21
$850k
’22
$4.2M
’23
−$999k
’24
$1.5M
’25
6.1
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Carol Rose

Executive director

Board chair

April Evans

Chair (as of 6/24)

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed1515161618242723
Joined·+2+2+2+4+6+7+4
No longer listed·2122048
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 27 funders, grant income rose $137k → $2.5M.

24 of 79 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 91% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 79 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

92% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC.

38%
largest funder
80%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 66% · 2018 79% · 2019 95% · 2020 63% · 2021 65% · 2022 65% · 2023 69% — growing more concentrated.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

35% of ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

91% of ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $2.4M that is directly attributable, 67% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.

IL
NY
MA
PA
NJ
RI
CA
CO
DE
DC
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Massachusetts out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $25M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 431 civil rights nonprofits its size.

Operating margin18% · above the median
Months of reserve6.1mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)10% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 431 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $65k on record.

State$65k
Top programs
  • (EE) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES$65k

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Massachusetts

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

78% of spending goes to programs.

Program 78%Management 11%Fundraising 11%

Governance

14
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

84%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MA

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts Inc · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC?
ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,716,628 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($10,458,385). 42 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC have?
IRS filings report 79 organizations giving $27,716,628 in grants to ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC, 42 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC?
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $10,458,385 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like ACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 79 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing