Massachusetts Charitable Society
Boston, MA · EIN 04-1589975. Reported 85 grants totalling $1,838,994 to 79 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. The IRS has no activity classification on file for this one, so we cannot tell you whether it is a community foundation or a single-institution support fund. The recipient list below is the better guide.
- How spread out its giving is. 79 distinct organizations, with 2% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 0% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $22,500. Half of what it reported fell between $22,000 and $26,000; the smallest was $7,142 and the largest $28,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
22 of those grants were non-cash -- goods, property or services worth $484,000 in total. In-kind giving is real support but it is not a cheque.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partakers Inc | Auburndale, MA | $42,250 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| YMCA of the North Shore Inc | Beverly, MA | $42,250 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Beverly Bootstraps Community Services Inc | Beverly, MA | $38,250 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| More Than Words Inc | Waltham, MA | $38,250 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Neighbors in Need Inc | Lawrence, MA | $38,250 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Rehearsal for Life Inc | Jamaica Plain, MA | $38,250 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| A Place to Turn Inc | Natick, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Acord Inc | S Hamilton, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Brookline Food Pantry Inc | Brookline, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Centre Street Food Pantry Inc | Newton, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Daniels Table Inc | Framingham, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Groundwork Lawrence Inc | Lawrence, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Haven Project Inc | Lynn, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| My Brothers Table Inc | Lynn, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Saint Patricks Parish | Lawrence, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Bridget's Food Pantry | Framingham, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Salem Pantry Inc | Salem, MA | $28,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bambino Basket Inc | Essex, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bethany Hill Place | Boston, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bridge Over Troubled Waters Inc | Boston, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Family Services of the Merrimack Valley Inc | Lawrence, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Heading Home Inc | Boston, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Independence House Inc | Hyannis, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nantucket Community Television Inc | Nantucket, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Natick Community Organic Farm Inc | Natick, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Our Neighbors Table | Amesbury, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pathway to Possible Inc | Newton Center, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Riley Rocks Memorial Foundation Inc | Beverly, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tek Collaborative Inc | Amesbury, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tenacity Inc | Allston, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| We Can Corporation | Harwich Port, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wellspring House Inc | Gloucester, MA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Action Inc | Gloucester, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Berklee College of Music Inc | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Breaktime United Inc | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cotting School Inc | Lexington, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Forward Inc | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Friends of St Stephens Youth Programs Inc | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Latino Support Network | Lynn, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nashoba Learning Group Inc | Bedford, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| North Bennet Street School | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pathways for Children Inc | Gloucester, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pettengill House | Amesbury, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Rosies Place Inc | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Squashbusters Inc | Roxbury Crossing, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Strongwater Farm Therapeutic Equestrian Center Inc | Tewksbury, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Tech Goes Home Incorporated | Boston, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wildstar Equine Assisted Activities and Therapy Inc | Sherborn, MA | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cape Abilities Inc | Hyannis, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Change Is Simple Incorporated | Beverly, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Community Foundation for Nantucket | Nantucket, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Family Health Project Inc | Manchester, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fisher House of Boston Inc | Walpole, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Children | Delavan, WI | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Helping Our Women Inc | Provincetown, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Horizons for Homeless Children Inc | Roxbury, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center Inc | Newburyport, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Longwood Symphony Orchestra Inc | West Newton, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Inc | Boston, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| NAMI Western Massachusetts Inc | Holyoke, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Old Dartmouth Historical Society | New Bedford, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Restoration Project Inc | Belmont, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Root Ns Inc | Salem, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Runway for Recovery Inc | Newburyport, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Open Door | Eagan, MN | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wayside Youth & Family Support Network | Framingham, MA | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Citizens Inn Inc | Peabody, MA | $16,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Interfaith Social Services Inc | Wollaston, MA | $16,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Lazarus House Incorporated | Lawrence, MA | $16,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Spoonfuls Inc | Newton, MA | $16,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Strive Boston | Boston, MA | $16,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| The Open Door Cape Ann Food Pantry Inc | Gloucester, MA | $16,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Boston Foundation Inc | Boston, MA | $7,142 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Cape Cod Foundation Inc | S Yarmouth, MA | $7,142 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts | Springfield, MA | $7,142 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Essex County Community Fdn Inc | Beverly, MA | $7,142 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Greater Lowell Community Foundation Inc | Lowell, MA | $7,142 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Greater Worcester Community Foundation Inc | Worcester, MA | $7,142 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Southcoast Community Foundation Inc | New Bedford, MA | $7,142 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
6 of 79 (8%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 69 of 79 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 19 | $244,994 | $16,250 |
| 2021 | 11 | $308,000 | $28,000 |
| 2022 | 16 | $360,000 | $22,500 |
| 2023 | 17 | $442,000 | $26,000 |
| 2024 | 22 | $484,000 | $22,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
98% of its giving went to organizations in Massachusetts. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. 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 grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $22,500 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Massachusetts.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Massachusetts Charitable Society's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 22 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 67 Batterymarch St 5TH Floor, Boston, MA, 02110.
EIN 04-1589975 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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