FundersMassachusetts

Edwin S Webster Foundation

Boston, MA · EIN 04-6000647. Reported 274 grants totalling $8,835,000 to 101 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$25,000median grant
$8,835,000granted, 2021-2024
101organizations funded
83%of grantees funded again the next year
$52.1Massets, latest filing

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. Edwin S Webster Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $15,000 and $30,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $300,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$5,000 - $10,000
25 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
106 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
96 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
30 grants
$100,000 and Up
17 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
The Greater Boston Food BankBoston, MA$805,000442024
Massachusetts General HospitalBoston, MA$570,000442024
Boys & Girls Clubs of BostonBoston, MA$500,000442024
Squam Lakes AssociationHolderness, NH$365,000442024
Speare Memorial HospitalPlymouth, NH$345,000442024
President & Fellows of Harvard CollegeCambridge, MA$250,000112024
Squam Lakes Natural Science CenterHolderness, NH$250,000442024
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA$240,000442024
Boston Childrens HospitalBoston, MA$235,000442024
Pine Street Inn IncBoston, MA$225,000442024
Joslin Diabetes CenterBoston, MA$180,000442024
Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionWoods Hole, MA$175,000442024
Hospital for Special SurgeryNew York, NY$170,000442024
Friends of the Children - Boston IncBoston, MA$160,000442024
Windrush Farm Therapeutic Equitation IncNorth Andover, MA$145,000442024
Oak Hill Children's CenterPownal, VT$140,000442024
Landmark School IncPrides Crossing, MA$135,000442024
Wentworth Institute of TechnologyBoston, MA$135,000442024
Boston Symphony OrchestraBoston, MA$120,000442024
Emerald Necklace ConservancyBoston, MA$120,000442024
Granite United WayPlymouth, NH$120,000332024
Museum of Fine ArtsBoston, MA$120,000442024
Friends' Central SchoolWynnewood, PA$115,000442024
Museum of Science BostonBoston, MA$105,000442024
New England Aquarium CorpBoston, MA$105,000442024
Bennington MuseumBennington, VT$100,000442024
Newport Historical SocietyNewport, RI$100,000442024
Preservation Society of Newport CountyNewport, RI$100,000442024
Vermont Folklife CenterMiddlebury, VT$100,000442024
Care DimensionsDanvers, MA$90,000442024
Gulf of Maine Research InstitutePortland, ME$90,000442024
Southwestern Vermont Health Care CorpBennington, VT$85,000222024
Essex County Community FoundationDanvers, MA$80,000442024
Kestrel Land TrustAmherst, MA$80,000442024
LymetvPortland, ME$80,000442024
Manomet IncManomet, MA$80,000442024
Schoolyard FilmsJupiter, FL$80,000442024
The Friends of Mount Auburn CemeteryCambridge, MA$75,000442024
Preservation League of New York StateAlbany, NY$70,000442024
The Trustees of ReservationsBoston, MA$70,000332024
Betsy's ParkHolderness, NH$65,000442024
Brattleboro Museum & Art CenterBrattleboro, VT$65,000332024
Rehearsal for Life IncJamaica Plain, MA$65,000442024
Thompson Island Outward Bound EducationBoston, MA$65,000332023
Fountain House IncNew York, NY$60,000332023
Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumBoston, MA$60,000442024
Planned Parenthood of Northern New EnglandColchester, VT$60,000442024
Schepens Eye Research Institute IncBoston, MA$60,000112021
Next Stage Arts ProjectPutney, VT$55,000442024
Holderness SchoolHolderness, NH$50,000112024
Lgh Charitable TrustLawrence, MA$50,000222024
Susu Community FarmNewfane, VT$50,000112023
United South End SettlementsBoston, MA$50,000332024
Eastern Virginia Medical SchoolNorfolk, VA$45,000442024
Echoing Green FoundationNew York, NY$45,000442024
Massachusetts Audubon SocietyLincoln, MA$45,000442024
Vermont Center for EcostudiesNorwich, VT$45,000222022
Marine Biological LaboratoryWoods Hole, MA$40,000332024
Museum of the American RevolutionPhiladelphia, PA$40,000222022
Whole Village Family Resource CenterPlymouth, NH$40,000112021
Hitchcock Center for the EnvironmentAmherst, MA$35,000332024
WGBH Educational FoundationBoston, MA$30,000332023
Bennington CollegeBennington, VT$25,000112023
Camphill Village USA IncCopake, NY$25,000112023
For Kids IncMedford, MA$25,000332024
Pomfret SchoolPomfret, CT$25,000112022
Retreat FarmBrattleboro, VT$25,000112022
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital CorpCharlestown, MA$25,000112021
Squam Lakes Conservation SocietyHolderness, NH$25,000112022
Boston Modern Orchestra Company IncMalden, MA$20,000112023
Cathleen Stone Island Outward Bound Education CenterBoston, MA$20,000112024
Epsilon Spires IncBrattleboro, VT$20,000222023
General Douglas Macarthur FoundationNorfolk, VA$20,000442024
Maine Coast Fisherman's AssociationBrunswick, ME$20,000222024
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtNorth Adams, MA$20,000222024
Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill, MA$20,000112024
Putney Food Shelf IncPutney, VT$20,000222022
Squam Archives CenterHolderness, NH$20,000222024
The Hermitage Museum & GardensNorfolk, VA$20,000442024
Virginia Stage CompanyNorfolk, VA$20,000222024
International Institute of New EnglandBoston, MA$15,000112022
Paige AcademyBoston, MA$15,000112021
Sentara FoundationVirginia Beach, VA$15,000222024
Sentara HealthcareNorfolk, VA$15,000222022
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book ArtAmherst, MA$15,000112023
The New York Botanical GardenBronx, NY$15,000112021
Cancer Care Foundation of TidewaterNorfolk, VA$10,000222022
National Society Colonial Dames of MassBoston, MA$10,000112021
Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphia, PA$10,000222022
Slover Library FoundationNorfolk, VA$10,000222022
The Home for Little WanderersBoston, MA$10,000112024
United Way of Windham CountyBrattleboro, VT$10,000112021
Urbano Project IncCambridge, MA$10,000112023
Virginia Zoological SocietyNorfolk, VA$10,000112023
Wellspring HouseGloucester, MA$10,000112021
Calvert School IncBaltimore, MD$5,000112022
Chryslter Museum of ArtNorfolk, VA$5,000112022
Dartmouth-Hitchcock HealthLebanon, NH$5,000112024
Egg Harbor Township High School Crew Booster ClubNorthfield, NJ$5,000112024
Louise W Eggleston Center IncNorfolk, VA$5,000112021
YMCA of South Hampton RoadsChesapeake, VA$5,000112024

71 of 101 (70%) 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 83%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 222 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
77 grants
Education
37 grants
Environment
27 grants
Human Services
22 grants
Health Care
12 grants
Animal Welfare
9 grants
Recreation & Sports
8 grants
Diseases & Disorders
8 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202169$1,955,000$20,000
202270$2,285,000$20,000
202367$2,125,000$25,000
202468$2,470,000$25,000

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 62% of this one's giving went to organizations in Massachusetts. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Massachusetts
$5.5M
New Hampshire
$1.3M
Vermont
$800K
New York
$385K
Rhode Island
$200K
Maine
$190K
Virginia
$180K
Pennsylvania
$165K

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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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund70 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc60 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program54 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust53 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc46 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc40 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $25,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Massachusetts.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Foundations funding arts & culture in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Edwin S Webster Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 2 Liberty Square 500, Boston, MA, 02109. 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 04-6000647 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.