FundersMaine

Bonnell Cove Foundation

Camden, ME · EIN 13-3556721. Reported 66 grants totalling $359,438 to 46 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$359,438granted, 2021-2024
46organizations funded
25%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,594,484assets, 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. Bonnell Cove 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $3,976 and $6,000; the smallest was $2,000 and the largest $15,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
21 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
39 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
6 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
Wooden Boats for Veterans FoundatioSdausalito, CA$22,500332024
Brigs Youth Sail TrainingHamilton, Ontario$21,310442024
Center for Coastal StudiesProvincetown, MA$17,338222023
Maine Island Trail AssociationPortland, ME$15,000222023
Call of the SeaSausalito, CA$14,945222024
Friends of Casco BaySouth Portland, ME$12,500222024
Sea Education AssociationWoods Hole, MA$10,500222024
Bellingham Bay Community Boating CeBellingham, WA$10,000222024
Gulf of Maine Lobster FKennebunkport, ME$10,000112023
Loggerhead Marine CenterJuno Beach, FL$10,000112022
New York Harbor Foundation IncNew York, NY$10,000222022
Rocking the BoatNew York, NY$10,000112022
The Coral Reef AllianceOakland, CA$10,000222022
Vashon Mauri Island NatVashon, WA$10,000222024
Long Live the KingSeattle, WA$9,730112021
The Gloucester Adventure IncGloucester, MA$9,000112024
Sound ExperiencePort Townsend, WA$8,500112022
Hurricane Island FoundationRockland, ME$8,400332024
Billion Oyster Project IncNew York, NY$7,500222024
Nooksack Salmon Enhancement AssnBellingham, WA$7,500222024
Northwest Straits FoundationBellingham, WA$7,100112021
Ascensions Community SeWashington, DC$7,000112021
Centrum FoundationPort Townsend, WA$6,000112023
US Sailing AssociationBristol, RI$6,000112023
Sail NewportNewport, RI$5,836222024
Backcountry Medical GuidesBelligham, WA$5,000112024
Bellingham Bay CommunitBellingham, WA$5,000112021
Broad Reach Foundation for Youth LWaterloo$5,000112024
Cape Cod Maritime MuseumHyannis, MA$5,000112022
Cobscook InstitutePrescott Twp, ME$5,000112024
Fins Attached Marine Research and CColorado Springs, CO$5,000112024
Maine Coast FishermanBrunswick, ME$5,000112023
MarallianceSan Francisco, CA$5,000112023
Northwest School of WoodPort Hadlock, WA$5,000112021
Ocean Research ProjectAnnapolis, MD$5,000112023
Puget Sound RestorationBainbridge, WA$5,000112023
Sea Meadow Marine FoundationYarmouth, ME$5,000112024
Spaulding Wooden Boat CenterSausalito, CA$5,000112024
Northwest Maritime CenterPort Townsand, WA$4,775112021
Save the BayProvidence, RI$4,385222024
Gulf of Maine Research InstitutePortland, ME$4,000112022
Maine Maritime MuseumBath, ME$3,350112023
Barry UniversityMiami, FL$3,000112024
Marine Mammals of MaineBath, ME$3,000112023
National Audubon SocietyBreman, ME$3,000112023
Sustainable Marblehead IncMarblehead, MA$2,269112022

16 of 46 (35%) 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 25%, 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 40 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Environment
13 grants
Education
7 grants
Arts & Culture
7 grants
Youth Development
5 grants
Animal Welfare
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
3 grants
International Affairs
1 grant
Science & Technology
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202112$66,214$5,000
202215$89,269$5,000
202319$96,919$5,000
202420$107,036$5,000

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. 24% of this one's giving went to organizations in Washington. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Washington
$84K
Maine
$74K
California
$57K
Massachusetts
$44K
New York
$28K
Ontario
$21K
Rhode Island
$16K
Florida
$13K

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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 Fund25 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc20 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program16 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust12 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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 Washington.
  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 environment in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding youth development in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Bonnell Cove 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: 124 Chestnut Street, Camden, ME, 04843. 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 13-3556721 · 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 [email protected] and we will correct it.