Massachusetts Charitable Society

Not tax-deductible

Boston, MA501(c)(4)Since 1762EIN 04-1589975Revenue $440K in FY2025

On file with the IRS67 Batterymarch St 5th Floor, 02110-3204 · Boston, MATax-exempt since Jan 1939

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The purpose of the Society is to assist any member in need of assistance , and after death of a member to assist his widow and children in need; to accumulate a fund and to use the income therefrom for the purpose of rendering such assistance. After making provisions for the foregoing, any balance of net income may be used for such chartiable purposes permitted by the charter as the members may from time to time determine. Any citizen of Massachusetts is eligible to membership. An entrance fee of $25 is charged. Our actual activities consist of making donations to the needy in accordance with the purpose for which we were organized.

90¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 9 volunteers.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(4)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
No
Donations are not tax-deductible
Worth a look: the IRS does not list gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
5 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $1.2M a year · 74% of revenue · last 6 filings
Fine: a surplus in 5 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
90%
of spending
Looks good: 90% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$200
to officers and key staff · 0.04% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 0% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Liabilities
$0
0% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 0% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
8
of 8 voting members
Looks good: 8 of 8 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$440K
-53% vs prior year
Spent
$544K
To programs
90%
Net assets
$26.1M
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$440K
FY2025▼ -53%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$390K
FY2021$6.5M
FY2022$706K
FY2023$417K
FY2024$935K
FY2025$440K
Expenses
$544K
FY2025▲ +10%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$335K
FY2021$335K
FY2022$363K
FY2023$411K
FY2024$494K
FY2025$544K
Net assets
$26.1M
FY2025▲ +3%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$17.9M
FY2021$21.7M
FY2022$19.1M
FY2023$21.3M
FY2024$25.4M
FY2025$26.1M

From the FY2025 Form 990 (year ending August 2025) · see the original

Form 990 (PDF) Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jan 1939.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

90 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 90% · $488K Management & general 10% · $56K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

8 people listed on the 990; $200 paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2024); the FY2025 filing did not itemize Part VII
Secretary/Trustee
$200Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer/Trustee
$0Pt VII · Sec A
President/Trustee
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Vice President/Trustee
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Abbott Lawrence Lowell$200$200$200———
Edward Morris Howland II———$200$200$200

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Massachusetts Charitable Society executive salaries →

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo

Programs and updates

Helps members and their families facing hardship or loss.

Questions for Massachusetts Charitable Society

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $488K · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

Charitable gifts to various organizations

$488Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · this organization's grantmaking
Grants paid · 66 grants · $1.5M · 2019–2023
YMCA of the North Shore INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Wellspring House INCMA · FY2023$26,000
We Can CorporationMA · FY2023$26,000
Tenacity INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Tek Collaborative INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Pathway to Possible INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Partakers INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Our Neighbors' Table INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Independence House INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Heading Home INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Bethany Hill PlaceMA · FY2023$26,000
Bambino Basket INCMA · FY2023$26,000
Tech Goes Home IncorporatedMA · FY2022$22,500
See all 66 grants →

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$440K
Ln 12
Investment incomeLn 3$440K
Money outPt IX
$544K
Ln 25
Programscol B$488K
Managementcol C$56K
Owns and owesPt X
$26.1M
net assets · Ln 32
Total assetsLn 16$26.1M
LiabilitiesLn 26$0
PeoplePt VI, VII
8
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a8
IndependentVI 1b8
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Investment incomeLn 3$440K
Gains on assetsLn 7−$93K
Total revenueLn 12$440K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
SavingsLn 2$0
InvestmentsLn 11–13$26.0M
Total assetsLn 16$26.1M
LiabilitiesLn 26$0
Net assetsLn 32$26.1M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 50
VolunteersI 69
Fiscal year endsHeaderAugust
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aNo
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$300K$0
InvestmentsLn 11–13$24.9M$26.0M
Total assetsLn 16$25.4M$26.1M
LiabilitiesLn 26$0$0
Net assetsLn 32$25.4M$26.1M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$488K$488K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$200$200
Accounting feesLn 11c$28K$28K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$2K$2K
Office expensesLn 13$157$157
InterestLn 20$26K$26K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$208$208
Total functional expensesLn 25$544K$488K$56K$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest Viewing $440K$544K−$105K$26.1M 990 PDF
FY2024 $935K$494K$440K$25.4M 990 PDF
FY2023 $417K$411K$5K$21.3M 990 PDF
FY2022 $706K$363K$342K$19.1M 990 PDF
FY2021 $6.5M$335K$6.2M$21.7M 990 PDF
FY2020 $390K$335K$55K$17.9M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $439,589 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $0$0
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $0$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $934,569$439,589
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $0$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $934,569$439,589
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $442,000$488,000
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $200$200
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $51,995$56,034
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $494,195$544,234
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $440,374−$104,645
Part VI · Governance 8 of 8 board members independent, 4 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body8
VI-1b Independent voting members8
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyNo
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $439,589 across 3 lines filed
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $532,873$532,873
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax −$93,284−$93,284
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $439,589$439,589
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $544,234 across 7 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $488,000$488,000
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffManagement $200$200
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $28,155$28,155
IX-11g Other fees for servicesManagement $1,995$1,995
IX-13 Office expensesManagement $157$157
IX-20 InterestManagement $25,519$25,519
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Management $208$208
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $488,000 · Management $56,234 · Fundraising $0$544,234
Part X · Balance sheet $26,138,595 assets, 8 lines filed
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $300,023$0
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $112,228$100,867
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $24,949,251$26,037,728
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $25,361,502$26,138,595
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $0$0
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $25,361,502$26,138,595
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $25,361,502$26,138,595
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $25,361,502$26,138,595
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $26,138,595 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$439,589
XI-2 Total expenses$544,234
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$104,645
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$25,361,502
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$881,738
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$26,138,595

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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