FundersMassachusetts

The John H and H Naomi Tomfohrde

Boston, MA · EIN 04-3338742. Reported 80 grants totalling $1,337,000 to 55 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$15,000median grant
$1,337,000granted, 2021-2024
55organizations funded
18%of grantees funded again the next year
$9,772,706assets, 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. 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.

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 $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.

$5,000 - $10,000
8 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
59 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
12 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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
Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill, MA$100,000112021
Bhcc Foundation IncBoston, MA$80,000332024
Leap for Education IncSalem, MA$60,000332024
Ace Mv IncVineyard Haven, MA$50,000222024
Flare EducationCambridge, MA$50,000222024
Young Man With a PlanHyde Park, MA$50,000222024
Jumpstart for Young Children IncBoston, MA$45,000332024
Northern Essex Community College Foundation IncHaverhill, MA$40,000222024
Breaktime United IncBoston, MA$35,000222023
Found in TranslationDorchester, MA$35,000222023
Enroot IncCambridge, MA$30,000222024
Jewish Vocational Service IncBoston, MA$30,000222023
Lawrence Boys and Girls Club IncLawrence, MA$30,000222024
Mujeres Unidas Avanzando (mua)Dorchester, MA$30,000222023
Project Learn IncLowell, MA$30,000222024
St Mary's Center for Women and ChildrenDorchester, MA$30,000222024
The Boston Higher Education Resource Center IncBoston, MA$30,000222023
The Loop LabCambridge, MA$30,000222024
West End House IncAllston, MA$30,000222024
Chica IncQuincy, MA$25,000112024
Northeast ArcDanvers, MA$25,000112021
Ria IncFramingham, MA$22,000332024
Community Music Center of BostonBoston, MA$20,000112021
Emerald Necklace Conservancy IncBoston, MA$20,000112023
Quinsigamond Community College Foundaton IncWorcester, MA$20,000112024
Steps to Success IncBrookline, MA$20,000222023
UaspireBoston, MA$20,000112023
Boston Arts Academy FoundationBoston, MA$15,000112024
Breakthrough Greater BostonCambridge, MA$15,000112023
Catholic Social Services of Fall RiverFall River, MA$15,000112021
Easter Seals of MassachusettsBoston, MA$15,000112023
EdvestorsBoston, MA$15,000112022
Elevated Thought IncLawrence, MA$15,000112024
Evkids IncBoston, MA$15,000112024
Family Services of the Merrimack ValleyLawrence, MA$15,000112023
First Literacy IncBoston, MA$15,000112024
La Vida IncLynn, MA$15,000222024
MissionsafeRoxbury, MA$15,000112021
More Than WordsBoston, MA$15,000112024
Root Ns IncSalem, MA$15,000112021
Roots Ns IncSalem, MA$15,000112024
Third Sector New England Dba Future ChefsBoston, MA$15,000112022
Top Notch Scholars IncLawrence, MA$15,000112023
Utec IncLowell, MA$15,000112023
Youth Build BostonRoxbury, MA$15,000112023
Coaching for a Change IncTaunton, MA$10,000112022
Coaching for ChangeTaunton, MA$10,000112024
North Shore Community Development Coalition IncSalem, MA$10,000112023
Raw Art Works IncLynn, MA$10,000112023
School on Wheels of MassachusettsE Bridgewater, MA$10,000112022
Family and Children's Service of Greater Lynn IncLynn, MA$7,500112023
The Haven Project IncLynn, MA$7,500112023
Berklee College of Music IncBoston, MA$5,000112024
Middlesex Community College FoundationLowell, MA$5,000112022
The Boston Debate League IncorporatedBoston, MA$5,000112022

21 of 55 (38%) 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 18%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 62 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
30 grants
Youth Development
8 grants
Employment
6 grants
Housing & Shelter
4 grants
Human Services
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
3 grants
Religion
2 grants
Arts & Culture
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202112$275,000$15,000
202222$352,000$15,000
202321$305,000$15,000
202425$405,000$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

Boston, MA
$405K
Haverhill, MA
$140K
Cambridge, MA
$100K
Salem, MA
$100K
Dorchester, MA
$95K
Lawrence, MA
$75K
Lowell, MA
$50K
Hyde Park, MA
$50K

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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 Fund43 shared recipientsBoston Foundation Inc34 shared recipientsEastern Bank Foundation32 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc30 shared recipientsCummings Foundation Grants Inc (fka Oneworld Boston Inc)28 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc28 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,000. 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 education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

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 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

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

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.

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