Massachusetts · Nonprofit
ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC
ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 104 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,104,307 to it, the largest being Boston Foundation Inc ($1,265,360). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $378M
- Funders on record
- 104
- Grants received
- $10M
- Net assets
- $23M
What Action for Boston Community Development Inc does
Mission
Abcd's mission is to empower disadvantaged people by providing them with the tools to overcome poverty, live with dignity and achieve their full potential.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Abcd's child care choices of boston (cccb) serves as the child care resource and referral agency for arlington, boston, brookline, cambridge, chelsea, everett, revere, somerville and winthrop. Cccb plays a key role in making child care work for everyone by providing support, resources, technical assistance, training and child care expertise to a very diverse community. In fy2025, cccb distributed approximately $137 million in state-funded child care vouchers to nearly 7,990 families with more than 11,628 children. (continued on schedule o).
$139,672,183 spent35% of program spendingAbcd's head start and early head start programs helped over 1,902 children prepare for success in school and life by providing high-quality early education and care. Head start serves as a model for early education initiatives nationally, providing comprehensive services - education, health, nutrition, family services and intensive parent engagement, and advocates for the needs of young children from low-income families.
$48,916,606 spentof which $371,402 as grants$224,031 earned by the program12% of program spendingAbcd's energy program made payments to local vendors to keep more than 15,000 households warm this year. The abcd energy conservation services provide vulnerable boston households with heating system and appliance repairs and replacements, weatherization, lighting, and more. As one of the co-founders of lean (low-income energy affordability network) and the lead vendor for eversource, abcd helped to design and implement statewide programs for 45,000 low-income households under the massachusetts green communities act. (continued on schedule o).
$181,974,543 spent45% of program spendingAbcd provides a variety of services to low-income families at its central offices and through a network of neighborhood service centers. Other program services include health services, housing and homeless prevention, summer youth employment, education, career development and employment, financial literacy, elder services, food pantries, adult education, foreclosure prevention, tax preparation and drop-in services. Health services reached over 17,106 individuals with disease prevention and reproductive health care and provided training and support for 40 clinics and 140 health care providers. Housing and homeless prevention helps families and individuals who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes to maintain or obtain affordable housing. In fy2025, abcd helped 677 families have a place to call home. Abcd-trained volunteer tax preparers helped 3,593 families and brought $7 million into local households through federal tax refunds and tax credits. On average, foster grandparents spend 38 hours a week sharing their compassion and wisdom with children facing extraordinary challenges including poverty, learning disabilities, and even homelessness. Summerworks, abcd's summer jobs…
$30,485,903 spentof which $159,172 as grants$71,066 earned by the program8% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $401,049,235.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $73M to $105M (+44%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 70% · 2018 71% · 2019 70% · 2020 74% · 2021 68% · 2022 71% · 2023 62% · 2024 55%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (17% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Sharon Scott-Chandler
President/CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 19 funders to 35 funders, grant income rose $962k → $1.5M.
13 of 104 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 23% 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 ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 104 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
ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 13% of grant income, and it takes 10 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 10 funders to its left
70% 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 ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 19% · 2019 15% · 2020 37% · 2021 18% · 2022 14% · 2023 26% — broadly stable.
“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
40% of ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% give in more than one year at all.
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
77% of ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.
Against its field
ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 248 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 248 human services nonprofits over $100M, FY2024
Government funding ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $389.2M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$380.1M
- Corporation for National and Community Service$9.0M
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$103k
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 ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
98% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Abcd Real Estate Corporation Inc · exempt
- Abcd Low Cost Housing Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 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.
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 ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC?
- ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 104 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,104,307 to it, the largest being Boston Foundation Inc ($1,265,360). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC have?
- IRS filings report 104 organizations giving $10,104,307 in grants to ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC, 52 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC?
- Boston Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $1,265,360 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 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 Action for Boston Community Development →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 104 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing