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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC

FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $547,801 to it, the largest being FAIR SHARE INC ($477,801). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$17M
Funders on record
2
Grants received
$548k
Net assets
$11M
1/2 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 0%
01What it does

What Fund for the Public Interest Inc does

Mission

The fund's mission is to further public interest research, education, and advocacy on issues affecting social welfare both directly and by providing financial, organizational, and other assistance to public interest organizations.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Public interest advocacy, public education and outreach project - this project involves talking with citizens of cities and towns throughout the country, discussing the objectives of our partner organizations, including the environment, consumer protection, good government, and human rights. Citizens are mobilized to take action on the organizations' supported issues, encouraged to join and participate in the organization, and provided educational materials.

    $6,829,504 spent$10,231,485 earned by the program
    52% of program spending

  2. Organizational support and advising to other exempt organizations - the fund for the public interest provides consulting and other organizational assistance, as well as grants, to nonprofit public interest organizations throughout the country.

    $6,285,568 spent$5,830,398 earned by the program
    48% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $13,115,072.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($34M) Expenses 100 ($29M) Net assets 100 ($7.8M)2018 Revenue 86 ($29M) Expenses 90 ($26M) Net assets 132 ($10M)2019 Revenue 78 ($26M) Expenses 95 ($28M) Net assets 118 ($9.3M)2020 Revenue 59 ($20M) Expenses 73 ($21M) Net assets 106 ($8.3M)2021 Revenue 47 ($16M) Expenses 51 ($15M) Net assets 124 ($9.7M)2022 Revenue 47 ($16M) Expenses 56 ($17M) Net assets 119 ($9.3M)2023 Revenue 47 ($16M) Expenses 53 ($16M) Net assets 130 ($10M)2024 Revenue 46 ($16M) Expenses 55 ($16M) Net assets 134 ($11M)2025 Revenue 50 ($17M) Expenses 60 ($18M) Net assets 138 ($11M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (50)Expenses (60)Net assets (138)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $39M to $57M (+46%).

$33M
$38M
$31M
$39M
$39M
$57M
$43M
$35M
$30M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$4.4M
’17
$2.7M
’18
−$1.4M
’19
−$1.3M
’20
$936k
’21
−$700k
’22
$384k
’23
−$385k
’24
−$601k
’25
5.5
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed8910111114121414
Joined·+2+3+1+1+5+1+2+2
No longer listed·12012302
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.

Funder
'17
'24*
'25*
total
Environmental Action Incunclassified
$70k
funders
1
1
1

From the IRS filings of FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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

FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 87% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

100% 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 FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC.

87%
largest funder
100%
top three
~1
effective funders

“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.

Where its funders are

FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 2 states in all.

CO
DC

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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

Organizations like FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST 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

Fiscal Alliance Foundation Inc88%Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group Education Fund Inc86%Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group Inc85%Science and Technology Futures Inc84%Philanthropy Massachusetts Inc83%Prime Coalition Inc83%Associated Industries of Massachusetts Foundation Inc83%Massachusetts Student Public Interest Research Group Inc83%

Nationally

Foundation for Government Accountability Inc88%California Public Interest Research Group Inc88%Fiscal Alliance Foundation Inc88%United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund Inc88%United States Public Interest Research Group Inc87%California Public Interest Research Group Edu Fund87%Progress Florida Education Institute Inc87%The Fund for Public Schools Inc87%
05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

74% of spending goes to programs.

Program 74%Management 10%Fundraising 16%

Governance

7
board members
29%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 24 states

AK
ME
NH
WA
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
MD
KS
TN
NC
OK
GA
FL

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • National Assoc of Organizations in the Public Interest Inc · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST 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 FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC?
FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $547,801 to it, the largest being FAIR SHARE INC ($477,801). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC have?
IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $547,801 in grants to FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST INC?
FAIR SHARE INC is the largest funder on record, with $477,801 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like FUND FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST 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.

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 2 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