Massachusetts · Nonprofit
CFLEADS
CFLEADS (Massachusetts) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,580,980 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($7,834,977). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.4M
- Funders on record
- 42
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Cfleads does
Mission
Cfleads envisons a world in which community foundations are vital partners in building communities where all residents are prosperous, healthy and secure. Our mission is to help community foundations build strong communities by advancing effective practices, sharing knowledge and galvanizing action on critical issues of our time.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Galvanize action on issues:continued to build understanding among community foundations of critical issues facing communities (I.e. Economic mobility, community safety, sustainable development goals, etc.); facilitated the adoption of internal practices at community foundations that increase external effectiveness on these issues; spurred collective action on issues of common concern; and built on momentum from launch/dissemination of the Cfleads economic mobilty report: pathways to progress, highlighting the work of community foundations engaged in Cfleads programming, particularly the economic mobility portfolio of activities.
$2,275,093 spentof which $479,575 as grants59% of program spendingBuilding organizational capacity:continued to build understanding of community leadership among community foundation boards, senior staff, and partners through peer connections, in-person convenings, and structured networking opportunities. The executive leadership institute (eli) for ceos facilitated in-person convenings with 12 new ceos. The eli for vps facilitated cohort sessions with 16 new community foundation vps. 2025 also saw the launch of the community leadership lab (virtual) convening with over 35 registrants. Lastly, the 2025 forum included the participation of over 140 cf leaders, representing over 60 community foundations.
$948,563 spentof which $11,000 as grants$159,407 earned by the program24% of program spendingSharing knowledge:continued to increase field understanding of the value of community leadership as a core organizing strategy for community impact. Cfleads in-person and cohort-based programs reached 722 individuals, across 47 states, and serving 337 community foundations. Additionally, Cfleads hosted webinars and presented at regional and national conferences, with topics including Cfleads' fellowship information session, introduction to community safety for cfs, leading with our values (a 3-part series), community foundation leadership roundtable: supporting our immigrant communities, and a variety of others. (continued on sch o)the organization published blog posts, published/shared resources and newsletters related to community leadership and community foundations' work. Hosted "the gathering," an event designed exclusively for african-american community foundation ceos.
$450,536 spent$8,780 earned by the program12% of program spendingOrganzing for impact:partnership development, initiatives, and programs aimed at strengthening field-wide impact; supporting collective action among community foundations on key issues of common concern/interest; building infrastructure to expand community leadership capacity at community foundation of all sizes across the united states and the americas. Cfleads programs served over 300 cfs, representing 47 states, with 19 in-person meetings, 26 virtual convenings, 11 webinars, and 1,538 participants - including the very successful launch of the civic health body of work.
$211,821 spent$14,000 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,886,013.
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 2020 to 2021, from $5.1M to $11M (+117%).
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 9% · 2018 19% · 2019 1% · 2021 1% · 2023 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of CFLEADS’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 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
Mary L Thomas
CEO
Board chair
Isaiah Oliver
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 14 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $1.7M → $4.6M.
26 of 42 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 CFLEADS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 42 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
CFLEADS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
33% 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 CFLEADS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 44% · 2018 65% · 2019 76% · 2020 49% · 2021 53% · 2022 18% · 2023 77% — 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
44% of CFLEADS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
CFLEADS draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
CFLEADS holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,504 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,504 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding CFLEADS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $570k on record — $570k federal, $150 state.
- Inter-American Foundation$570k
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $150
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 CFLEADS
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
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
60%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CFLEADS: 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 CFLEADS?
- CFLEADS (Massachusetts) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,580,980 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($7,834,977). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CFLEADS have?
- IRS filings report 42 organizations giving $23,580,980 in grants to CFLEADS, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CFLEADS?
- GATES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $7,834,977 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CFLEADS 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 42 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