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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

THE FENN SCHOOL

THE FENN SCHOOL (Massachusetts) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,849,655 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($6,445,579). 51 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$20M
Funders on record
69
Grants received
$13M
Net assets
$88M
51/69 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 12%
01What it does

What The Fenn School does

Mission

Guided by our motto, sua sponte, and inspired by our core values of honesty, respect, empathy, and courage, The Fenn School challenges each boy to take responsibility for himself, for his own education, and for the well-being of others. Our boys thrive in a diverse community that celebrates our shared humanity and embraces difference. As part of an ever-changing, interdependent world, fenn empowers each boy to develop strong character and lead with integrity.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Academic program - the school is an accredited educational institution for approximately 315 boys, grades 4 through 9. The school provides a solid curriculum in english, science, social studies, mathematics, and languages. Mathematics and language curricula allow for standard-level as well as advanced-level learning, depending on the student's abilities. The entire academic program is an upward progression toward sophisticated cognitive reasoning and intellectual challenges to prepare boys for secondary school education.

    $8,925,675 spentof which $1,046,369 as grants$8,935,847 earned by the program
    50% of program spending
  2. Arts program - beginning in grade 4, the students are introduced to a six-year sequential curriculum in the arts beginning with studio art, drama, music and wood shop. As the student progresses through each grade other arts program offerings become available, such as ceramics and photography. In grades 8 and 9, students may select from a broad array of courses mentioned plus others such as painting, cartooning, theater tech, video production, steel drums, guitar and rhythm ensemble. Students are required to complete three art requirements for graduation: one each in fine arts, dramatic arts and musical arts.

    $4,462,837 spentof which $523,185 as grants$4,467,923 earned by the program
    25% of program spending
  3. Athletics program - this program promotes athletic competence, confidence, and enjoyment for students of varying athletic abilities and interests. It stresses learning and practicing individual and team skills, and it offers a variety of individual and team activities with various levels of competition. At all levels good sportsmanship is emphasized as the primary lesson to be learned from a well organized athletic program. Sports options, depending on grade, include soccer, football, cross country, track, basketball, wrestling, ice hockey, tennis, and also allows for sports alternative with parental/school approval.

    $4,462,837 spentof which $523,185 as grants$4,467,923 earned by the program
    25% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $17,851,349.

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 ($28M) Expenses 100 ($18M) Net assets 100 ($61M)2018 Revenue 79 ($22M) Expenses 103 ($18M) Net assets 109 ($67M)2019 Revenue 74 ($21M) Expenses 105 ($18M) Net assets 114 ($70M)2020 Revenue 80 ($22M) Expenses 107 ($19M) Net assets 117 ($72M)2021 Revenue 73 ($20M) Expenses 106 ($19M) Net assets 138 ($85M)2022 Revenue 81 ($23M) Expenses 114 ($20M) Net assets 124 ($76M)2023 Revenue 74 ($20M) Expenses 119 ($21M) Net assets 130 ($80M)2024 Revenue 69 ($19M) Expenses 125 ($22M) Net assets 137 ($84M)2025 Revenue 72 ($20M) Expenses 130 ($23M) Net assets 144 ($88M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (72)Expenses (130)Net assets (144)

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 $88M to $100M (+13%).

$74M
$86M
$89M
$88M
$100M
$90M
$95M
$98M
$104M
'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: 2020 6% · 2022 9% · 2023 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$10M
’17
$4.0M
’18
$2.4M
’19
$3.5M
’20
$1.7M
’21
$2.5M
’22
−$446k
’23
−$2.6M
’24
−$2.9M
’25
4.0
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
Listed323334323233343331
Joined·+9+7+8+8+6+9+7+5
No longer listed·861085887
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 36 funders, grant income fell $2.5M → $1.8M.

13 of 69 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 76% 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 THE FENN SCHOOL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 69 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

THE FENN SCHOOL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 73%; half comes from just 1 funder.

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

76% 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 THE FENN SCHOOL.

50%
largest funder
73%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 75% · 2019 43% · 2020 32% · 2021 44% · 2022 50% · 2023 56% — diversifying over time.

“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

45% of THE FENN SCHOOL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 74% 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

76% of THE FENN SCHOOL'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 $3.1M that is directly attributable, 82% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.

IL
WI
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
MO
KY
VA
DE
AZ
NC
TX
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. $9.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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

Organizations like THE FENN SCHOOL

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 16%Fundraising 6%

Governance

25
board members
96%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

61%

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

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE FENN SCHOOL: 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.

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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 THE FENN SCHOOL?
THE FENN SCHOOL (Massachusetts) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,849,655 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($6,445,579). 51 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does THE FENN SCHOOL have?
IRS filings report 69 organizations giving $12,849,655 in grants to THE FENN SCHOOL, 51 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE FENN SCHOOL?
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $6,445,579 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE FENN SCHOOL 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 Fenn School →

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 69 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