The John H and H Naomi Tomfohrde
Boston, MA · EIN 04-3338742. Reported 102 grants totalling $1,712,000 to 64 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. 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. The John H and H Naomi Tomfohrde 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 $15,000 and $20,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $100,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Essex Community College | Haverhill, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bhcc Foundation Inc | Boston, MA | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Young Man With a Plan | Hyde Park, MA | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Leap for Education Inc | Salem, MA | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ace Mv Inc | Vineyard Haven, MA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Flare Education | Cambridge, MA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Northern Essex Community College Foundation | Haverhill, MA | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| The Boston Higher Education Resource Center Inc | Boston, MA | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Jumpstart for Young Children Inc | Boston, MA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Lawrence Boys and Girls Club Inc | Lawrence, MA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Project Learn Inc | Lowell, MA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| West End House Inc | Allston, MA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Steps to Success Inc | Brookline, MA | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Breaktime United Inc | Boston, MA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Bunker Hill Community College Foundation | Boston, MA | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Found in Translation | Dorchester, MA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Uaspire | Boston, MA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Breakthrough Greater Boston Inc | Cambridge, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Enroot Inc | Cambridge, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Jewish Vocational Service Inc | Boston, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Mujeres Unidas Avanzando (mua) | Dorchester, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Roots Ns Inc | Salem, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| St Mary's Center for Women and Children | Dorchester, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Loop Lab | Cambridge, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Chica Inc | Quincy, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| La Vida Inc | Lynn, MA | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Northeast Arc | Danvers, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Raw Art Works Inc | Lynn, MA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Ria Inc | Framingham, MA | $22,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Community Music Center of Boston | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Emerald Necklace Conservancy Inc | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| He Is Me Institute | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Massachusetts Health Council | Woburn, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Quinsigamond Community College Foundaton Inc | Worcester, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sociedad Latina | Roxbury, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Summer Search | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Urban College of Boston | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Haven Project Inc | Lynn, MA | $17,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Boston Arts Academy Foundation | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Boston | Taunton, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Catholic Social Services of Fall River | Fall River, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Easter Seals of Massachusetts | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Edvestors | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Elevated Thought Inc | Lawrence, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Evkids Inc | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Family Services of the Merrimack Valley | Lawrence, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| First Literacy Inc | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Missionsafe | Roxbury, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| More Than Words | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Root Ns Inc | Salem, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Possible Project | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Third Sector New England Dba Future Chefs | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Top Notch Scholars Inc | Lawrence, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Utec Inc | Lowell, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Youth Build Boston | Roxbury, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| 826 Boston | Roxbury, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Coaching for a Change Inc | Taunton, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Coaching for Change | Taunton, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| North Shore Community Development Coalition Inc | Salem, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| School on Wheels of Massachusetts | E Bridgewater, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Family and Children's Service of Greater Lynn Inc | Lynn, MA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Berklee College of Music Inc | Boston, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Middlesex Community College Foundation | Lowell, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Boston Debate League Incorporated | Boston, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
26 of 64 (41%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 22%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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.
- Northern Essex Community College
FOR NECC HEALTHCARE PATHWAYS DESIGN INITIATIVE - Bhcc Foundation Inc
FOR EMPLOYER OUTREACH AND INTERN MENTORSHIP COORDINATOR, PART-TIME - Bunker Hill Community College Foundation
FOR EMPLOYER OUTREACH AND INTERNSHIP MENTORSHIP COORDINATOR - Leap for Education Inc
FOR TEEN CENTER AT LYNN ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL - Flare Education
FOR FLARE EDUCATION 3-YEAR PROGRAM EXPANSION PLAN - Chica Inc
FOR CHICA PROJECT: EARLY COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BENJAMIN FRANKLIN INST. OF TECHNOLOGY
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 80 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 | 12 | $275,000 | $15,000 |
| 2022 | 22 | $352,000 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 21 | $305,000 | $15,000 |
| 2024 | 25 | $405,000 | $15,000 |
| 2025 | 22 | $375,000 | $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
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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 Massachusetts.
- 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 The John H and H Naomi Tomfohrde's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: Co Verrill One Federal St 20TH, Boston, MA, 02110. 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 04-3338742 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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