Manton Foundation

Name

Manton Foundation

Legal name

Manton Foundation

Website

https://mantonfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation and Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

Keywords

• Charitable foundation
• Philanthropic grants
• Nonprofit funding
• Community preservation
• Arts and culture grants

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Endowment Returns: The Manton Foundation generates revenue through investment returns on its endowment. Established in 1991 by Jim and Gretchen Manton, the foundation uses these returns to fund grants to nonprofit organizations in education, arts and culture, medical research, and community preservation in New England and beyond.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Manton Foundation is a family-run charitable foundation established in 1991 by Jim and Gretchen Manton. It provides grant funding to nonprofit organizations in education, arts and culture, medical research, and community preservation, primarily in New England. The foundation awards 50-70 grants annually, with a modal grant size of $100,000 and a median grant size of $175,000, and works proactively alongside nonprofit partners throughout the grant lifecycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research: A collaborative research center established at Boston Children's Hospital in partnership with the Manton Foundation for understanding and treating orphan diseases.
• Manton Research Center

Products and services

• Education Grants Program
• Arts and Culture Grants Program
• Medical Research Grants Program
• Community Preservation Grants Program

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Manton Foundation invested $1.4 million in ARSL's New England projects that provided critical infrastructure and service improvements for rural and small libraries. ARSL provides advocacy, networking, and continuing educational opportunities for library professionals serving communities across North America. The foundation tapped into ARSL's network to provide appropriate support to underserved rural libraries.
• Boston Children's HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Partnership between Boston Children's Hospital and the Manton Foundation to create the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research. The foundation provided $35 million over six grants to bridge critical funding gaps in early-stage orphan disease research, create training opportunities for young investigators, and encourage cross-disciplinary partnership. The center has become a collaborative vehicle for understanding and treating understudied and underfunded conditions.
• Clark Art InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007When Jim Manton died in 2005, he left behind a $40 million art collection. The Manton Foundation donated this collection to the Clark Art Institute along with a $50 million financial gift, creating the Manton Research Center. The combined gift was reportedly the largest made to an American museum in 2007. The center officially reopened in November 2016, promoting scholarship in arts and culture.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• New Hampshire Charitable Foundation: New England's largest statewide community foundation, active across the same six New England states with comparable cause-area priorities in education, health, and community vitality.
• The Boston Foundation: Massachusetts' largest community foundation, serving many of the same nonprofits and causes as Manton but operating as a public community foundation rather than a single-family vehicle — providing a useful regional benchmark for grantmaking scale.
• Vermont Community Foundation: Statewide community foundation serving Vermont nonprofits across education, arts, environment, and community development — overlapping with Manton's New England community preservation and education priorities.

Direct peers

• The Flatley Foundation: Greater Boston-area family foundation supporting community development, education, and health initiatives in New England — directly comparable in geographic focus, family-led governance, and cause-area prioritization.
• Clipper Ship Foundation: Boston-based private foundation supporting education, health, and community services across Greater Boston — operating with a comparable regional scope and similar mid-sized grant ranges.
• Cabot Family Charitable Trust: Boston-based family philanthropic trust funding education, arts, and conservation in New England — directly comparable in family-led governance model, regional focus, and cause-area mix.
• Yawkey Foundation: Boston-based family foundation (legacy of the Yawkey family) supporting education, health, and community-based nonprofits in New England, with similar grant sizes and a comparable family-led governance structure.
• Barr Foundation: Boston-based private family foundation with overlapping focus areas in arts and culture, education, and climate, serving a similar New England nonprofit ecosystem with comparable multi-million-dollar programmatic grants.
• Klarman Family Foundation: Boston-based high-capacity family foundation led by Seth Klarman with similarly large, flexible grantmaking capacity targeting education, scientific research, and community needs — a closely comparable operating model and scale profile.
• Highland Street Foundation: Massachusetts-based family foundation funding nonprofits across education, arts and culture, and health — operating in the same New England geography and similar cause areas with a comparable mid-to-large grant size profile.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Manton Foundation