Lincoln & Therese Filene Foundation Inc
Boston, MA · EIN 23-7423946. Reported 192 grants totalling $6,117,370 to 87 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Lincoln & Therese Filene Foundation Inc did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $20,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $1,175,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts | Vienna, VA | $2,425,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs, NY | $700,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Neighborhood Developers Inc | Chelsea, MA | $160,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Vocational Services | Boston, MA | $140,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Found in Translation | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ria House Inc | Framingham, MA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bill of Rights Institute | Arlington, VA | $95,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Zumix Inc | East Boston, MA | $79,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Primary Source | Watertown, MA | $75,070 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Children-Boston | Boston, MA | $75,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Generation Citizen Inc | New York, NY | $75,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Project Citizen | Calabasas, CA | $65,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Icivics | Cambridge, MA | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice | Boston, MA | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sportsmen's Tennis & Enrichment Center | Dorchester, MA | $56,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| CASA Myrna Vazquez Inc | Boston, MA | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Musiconnects | Roslindale, MA | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Read to a Child | Wellesley, MA | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boy's and Girls Club of Dorchester | Dorchester, MA | $50,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Discovering Justice | Boston, MA | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Courageous Sailing | Boston, MA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| My Life My Choice a Program of Justice Resource | Boston, MA | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Shelter Music Boston | Arlington, MA | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ascentria Community Services | Worcester, MA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Boston CASA | Boston, MA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk County | Boston, MA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Economic Mobility Pathways | Boston, MA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Empath | Boston, MA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Epiphany School | Boston, MA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Family Services of the Merrimack Valley | Lawrence, MA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| La Colaborativa Inc | Chelsea, MA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| La Vida Inc | Lynn, MA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Achieve | Washington, DC | $38,100 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boston Education Development Foundation Inc | Roxbury, MA | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Entrepreneurship for All | Lowell, MA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Longy School of Music of Bard College | Cambridge, MA | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Boston Area Rape Crisis Center | Cambridge, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Education Through Music-Massachusetts | Boston, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Elevated Thought Inc | Lawrence, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Emerge Inc | Columbia, MD | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Girlstart | Austin, TX | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Meryl's Safe Haven Inc | Worcester, MA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lower Cape Community Access Television Inc | North Eastham, MA | $27,700 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mab Community Services | Brookline, MA | $25,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Berks County Community Foundation Inc | Reading, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boston Lyric Opera | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Boston Music Project | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| League of Women Voters of Massachusetts | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| United Help Ukraine | Gaithersburg, MD | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Suffolk University Law School | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bird Street Community Center | Dorchester, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boston College High School | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brookline Interactive Group | Brookline, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee Inc | Cambridge, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Combined Jewish Philantropies | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Enroot | Cambridge, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jeremiah Program | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Maine Boys to Men | Portland, ME | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Playworks Massachusetts | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Tech Goes Home Digital Inclusion Programs | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Connecticut Democracy Center | Hartford, CT | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Union of Minority Neighborhoods | Jamaica Plain, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Victim Rights Law Center | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Welcome Project Inc | Somerville, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Youth Development Organization | Lawrence, MA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Boston Day and Evening Academy | Roxbury, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chelsea Collaborative Inc | Chelsea, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hyde Square Task Force | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Julie's Family Learning Program Inc | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Love Life Now Foundation | Avon, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Making Music Matters Inc | West Roxbury, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Museum of Science | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Potencia Inc | Malden, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Civic Series Boston Fellowship | Bala Cynwyd, PA | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| 826 Boston Inc | Roxbury, MA | $12,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Catholic Charities Worcester County | Worcester, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Global Impact | Alexandria, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Guerilla Opera | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Haven Project | Lynn, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lowell's Boat Shop | Amesbury, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Maine Community Foundation | Ellsworth, ME | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Route One Ministry | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| School on Wheels of Ma | East Bridgewater, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Dedham School of Music | Dedham, MA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| All Newton Music School | West Newton, MA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
51 of 87 (59%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 71%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
BUILDING IMPROVEMENT COSTS AT THE PARK - Skidmore College
FILENE MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP/HELEN FILENE LADD CONCERT H - Bill of Rights Institute
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR BOSTON AREA TEACHERS - The Neighborhood Developers Inc
CONNECT ONE-ON-ONE FINANCIAL AND EMPLOYMENT COACHING PROGRAM - Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice
EXPANDING ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN BOSTON - Sportsmen's Tennis & Enrichment Center
SCHOOL TO SPORTSMEN'S PROGRAM
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 131 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | $1,059,500 | $15,000 |
| 2022 | 51 | $2,114,500 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 45 | $1,447,800 | $15,000 |
| 2024 | 47 | $1,495,570 | $15,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
41% of its giving went to organizations in Virginia. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Virginia.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Lincoln & Therese Filene Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: Nutter Mcclennen Fish Llp Pob 514, Boston, MA, 02205. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 23-7423946 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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