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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC

UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $121,323 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($89,094). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2024
$967k
Funders on record
5
Grants received
$121k
Net assets
$183k
3/5 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 6%
01What it does

What Union Square Main Streets Inc does

Mission

Neighborhood revitalization and character preservation through promotional events, technical assistance to local small businesses, facilitation of business collaboration and promotion, and encouragement of new businesses.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Promotion of a farmers market in union square

    $49,759 spent$100,231 earned by the program
    6% of program spending
  2. Fluff is a madcap festival honoring the invention of marshmallow fluff in union square and somerville's proud tradition of innovation.

    $32,938 spent$65,730 earned by the program
    4% of program spending
  3. Event creation and planning, events and cultural offerings, email newsletter and other community information sources. Usms completed its american rescue plan act funded keeping small strong pilot in december 2024.

    $785,167 spent$13,000 earned by the program
    90% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $867,864.

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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($168k) Expenses 100 ($151k) Net assets 100 ($105k)2018 Revenue 119 ($199k) Expenses 102 ($154k) Net assets 142 ($149k)2019 Revenue 141 ($237k) Expenses 148 ($223k) Net assets 155 ($163k)2020 Revenue 160 ($268k) Expenses 172 ($260k) Net assets 163 ($172k)2021 Revenue 225 ($378k) Expenses 238 ($358k) Net assets 182 ($191k)2022 Revenue 262 ($440k) Expenses 317 ($478k) Net assets 146 ($154k)2023 Revenue 549 ($921k) Expenses 491 ($739k) Net assets 318 ($335k)2024 Revenue 576 ($967k) Expenses 743 ($1.1M) Net assets 174 ($183k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (576)Expenses (743)Net assets (174)Peer revenue range

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 $180k to $370k (+106%).

$115k
$158k
$175k
$220k
$208k
$180k
$370k
$220k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2018 37% · 2019 30% · 2020 34% · 2021 48% · 2022 34% · 2023 67% · 2024 67%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

81% of UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (62% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 12,439 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$17k
’17
$45k
’18
$14k
’19
$9k
’20
$19k
’21
−$38k
’22
$181k
’23
−$152k
’24
1.4
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.

Chief executive

Jessica Eshleman

Executive director

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

2018201920202021202220232024
Listed16131111111112
Joined·+4+4+1+1+1+1
No longer listed·761110
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $3k → $31k.

1 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 73% 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 UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS 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

UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 92%; half comes from just 1 funder.

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

84% 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 UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC.

73%
largest funder
92%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 75% · 2022 100% · 2023 84% — 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.

Where its funders are

73% of UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC'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 $32k that is directly attributable, 84% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.

MA
CT

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’20
’21
’23
Massachusetts out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $89k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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

Against its field

UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 11,971 community improvement nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−16% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve1.4mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)28% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,971 community improvement nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Government funding UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6k on record.

State$6k
17
18
20
22
23
Top programs
  • (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$6k

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 UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS 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

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 14%Fundraising 8%

Governance

10
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

100%

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 UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS 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.

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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 UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC?
UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $121,323 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($89,094). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC have?
IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $121,323 in grants to UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS INC?
NETWORK FOR GOOD is the largest funder on record, with $89,094 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like UNION SQUARE MAIN STREETS 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 Union Square Main Streets →

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 5 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