Boston Baptist Social Union
Medford, MA · EIN 04-6034977. Reported 139 grants totalling $4,721,580 to 49 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. 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. Boston Baptist Social Union 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 $20,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $30,000; the smallest was $340 and the largest $376,125. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts | Groton, MA | $1,015,005 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Massachusetts Baptist Multi-Cultural Ministries | Lexington, MA | $980,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Ruggles Baptist Church | Boston, MA | $245,255 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| First Nepali Baptist Church of Somerville | Somerville, MA | $160,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Seafarer's Friend | Chelsea, MA | $150,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| First Baptist Church - Lynn | Lynn, MA | $140,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Messiah Baptist Church | Brockton, MA | $134,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Christian Youth Conference at Ocean Park Inc | New Bedford, MA | $122,800 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Boston Missionary Baptist Community Center | Roxbury, MA | $121,250 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Calvary Baptist Church of Lowell | Lowell, MA | $120,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| First Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain | Jamaica Plain, MA | $116,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Overseas Burmese Christion Fellowship | Boston, MA | $116,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| The Boston Project Ministries | Dorchester, MA | $104,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Emmanuel Gospel Center | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| First Baptist Church of Medford | Medford, MA | $95,820 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Lowell International Church | Lowell, MA | $91,900 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| United Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain | Jamaica Plain, MA | $83,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Twelfth Baptist Church | Roxbury, MA | $81,200 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| City Mission Society of Boston | Boston, MA | $77,750 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| All Hands in-Trinity Baptist Church | Arlington, MA | $66,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| First Baptist Church of West Townsend | West Townsend, MA | $66,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| The Outdoor Church of Cambridge | Harvard, MA | $64,500 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Boston Black Church Vitality | Boston, MA | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Young Life Boston | Boston, MA | $50,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Uniteboston | Dorchester, MA | $48,400 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Miracle Mile Ministries | Boston, MA | $42,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| First Baptist Church of Rockport | Rockport, MA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| City Strings United | Roxbury, MA | $20,500 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| First Baptist Church of Needham | Needham, MA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Iglesia Bautista Hispanoamericano De Boston | Boston, MA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Project Manna Mass Avenue Baptist Church | Cambridge, MA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Remember Those in Captivity Ministries Inc | Brighton, MA | $19,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| First Baptist Church of Danvers | Danvers, MA | $18,300 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| CASA Nueva Vida Inc | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Fbc of Wakefield | Wakefield, MA | $13,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Amirah | Woburn, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Communities Together Inc | Lawrence, MA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Immigrant Family Services Institute Inc (ifsi-Usa) | Roslindale, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Massachusetts Avenue Baptist Church | Cambridge, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Fbc Bedford | Bedford, MA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Zion Baptist Church Everett | Everett, MA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Compass Point Ministries | Abington, MA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| First Baptist Church of Rowley | Rowley, MA | $5,400 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| La Vida Compass | Gloucester, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New Galilee Full Gospel Community Worship Center | Lynn, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Tedl-Tabernacle Evangelique De Louange | Lynn, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| First Baptist Church of Wakefield | Wakefield, MA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Baptist Church of All Nations | Taunton, MA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Annie Belmer Tree House | Fitchburg, MA | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
36 of 49 (73%) 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 84%, 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 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.
- The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts
TO PROVIDE SUMMER & WINTER CANOEING EXPERIENCES TO INDIVIDUALS WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE, AND SUPPORT TO MULTI CULTURAL MINISTRIES. VETERANS SUPPORT MINISTRIES. - Lowell International Church
FOOD PANTRY AND SOUP KITCHEN - City Mission Society of Boston
PROGRAM SUPPORT FOR YOUTH AND ADULTS TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL, WITH A FOCUS ON HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION. - First Baptist Church of West Townsend
SUPPORT FOR MUSIC MINISTRY FOR ELDERLY AND DEVELOPMENTALLY DELAYED PERSONS.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 22 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 37 | $1,094,930 | $16,000 |
| 2021 | 34 | $1,177,643 | $18,650 |
| 2022 | 33 | $1,099,082 | $24,500 |
| 2023 | 35 | $1,349,925 | $20,000 |
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 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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $20,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- 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 Boston Baptist Social Union's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 34 Oakland Street, Medford, MA, 02155. 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 04-6034977 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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