Massachusetts · Nonprofit
THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC
THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 475 organizations whose IRS filings report $283,535,827 to it, the largest being THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION ($53,210,812). 282 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $92M
- Funders on record
- 475
- Grants received
- $284M
- Net assets
- $97M
What Third Sector New England Inc does
Mission
Tsne strengthens organizations working towards a just and equitable society.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Through an array of capacity building services and management support programs, third sector new england builds the leadership and effectiveness of individuals and groups to create a more just and democratic society.third sector new england's fiscal sponsorship program provides management support to mission-driven groups that focus their work on issues affecting the root causes of social problems. We support all projects with a broad array of administrative services. Tsne manages nonprofit projects' finances, governance, human resources, insurance needs, and other increasingly complex compliance issues associated with running a stand alone nonprofit. Through these support services for a variety of individual projects, we seek to provide wider access to resources and services for people systematically denied fair access. Project-based work addresses issues such as civil and other basic human rights, environmental sustainability, food security, and access to health care, housing, and education.
$62,457,006 spentof which $12,631,130 as grants$18,322,234 earned by the program90% of program spendingTsne's consulting services assist non-profits in building organizational capacity using a whole systems approach. A broad range of services are offered that include organizational assessment, board development, executive transitions management, succession planning, program evaluation, and strategic planning. Our consultants also engage in field building projects which affect coalitions or have broad community impact.
$3,069,697 spent$561,742 earned by the program4% of program spendingTsne's property services provides nonprofits with affordable property management services and below-market office and meeting spaces. The nonprofit center is boston's home for progressive social change nonprofits and a resource for the larger nonprofit community. With 110,000 square feet of office space and meeting space, the center is a hub for nonprofits in the boston area. Developed using sustainable design, the center's mission is to foster collaboration and enhance organizational stability. The center's tenants are mission-focused nonprofits committed to making a positive impact in the communities they operate and on the constituents they serve. In addition to the nonprofit center, tsne provides wrap-around property management and operational support for local nonprofit owned properties.
$3,586,600 spentof which $2,500 as grants$3,573,263 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $69,113,303.
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 2024 to 2025, from $149M to $116M (−22%).
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 2% · 2018 7% · 2019 8% · 2020 13% · 2021 5% · 2022 2% · 2023 1% · 2024 2% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
71% of THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (60% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Elaine L Ng
CEO
Board chair
Jaye Y Smith
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 110 funders to 178 funders, grant income rose $25M → $43M.
69 of 475 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 22% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.7M from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest Third Sector New England Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC raised.
From the IRS filings of THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 475 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
THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 funders to its left
32% 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 THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 23% · 2018 28% · 2019 29% · 2020 17% · 2021 14% · 2022 14% · 2023 15% — 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
43% of THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC draws 82% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 32 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $62M arriving through sponsors registered in 24 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
THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 366 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 366 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $23.4M on record — $13.2M federal, $10.1M state.
- Department of Agriculture$7.3M
- Department of Health and Human Services$3.2M
- Department of Justice$1.7M
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$1.0M
- Environmental Protection Agency$30k
- MA$8.9M
- OR$878k
- VT$188k
- CT$124k
- NJ$34k
- DE$8k
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 THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND 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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
74%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 29 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Third Sector Holdings Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND 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 THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC?
- THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 475 organizations whose IRS filings report $283,535,827 to it, the largest being THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION ($53,210,812). 282 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC have?
- IRS filings report 475 organizations giving $283,535,827 in grants to THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC, 282 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC?
- THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $53,210,812 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND 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 475 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