FundersConnecticut

Charter Oak Foundation

West Simsbury, CT · EIN 95-2264158. Reported 64 grants totalling $350,500 to 42 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$350,500granted, 2021-2024
42organizations funded
38%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,354,618assets, 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. Charter Oak 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 $5,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,500 and the largest $10,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
5 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
53 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
Youth OutlookNaperville, IL$25,000442024
Family Matters IncChicago, IL$20,000442024
Healing Meals FoundationBloomfield, CT$20,000332023
Sg United FoundationYork, ME$20,000332024
Trinity Academy of HartfordHartford, CT$16,000332024
Laurel House Inc Dba Hope HarborTustin, CA$15,000222023
The Network Against Domestic AbuseEnfield, CT$15,000332023
The Social & Emotional Wellness InitiativeCulver City, CA$11,000222023
A Promise to JordanSimsbury, CT$10,000222022
Compass for Kids IncSpringfield, IL$10,000222024
Innovators for PurposeActon, MA$10,000222022
Kitchen Garden Project Inc Garden-Raised BountyOlympia, WA$10,000112024
Laurel House IncStamford, CT$10,000222024
Queerspace CollectiveMinneapolis, MN$10,000112024
Vera Court Neighborhood CenterMadison, WI$10,000222024
Your Move MkeMilwaukee, WI$10,000222024
The Lucy ProjectMiami, FL$7,500112022
Apna Ghar IncChicago, IL$6,000112021
Love Unity & Values InstituteChicago, IL$6,000112021
The Advot ProjectLos Angeles, CA$6,000112021
Abc House IncAlbany, OR$5,000112024
All 4 Kidz IncMilwaukee, WI$5,000112023
Chicago Abortion FundChicago, IL$5,000112022
Chicago Hopes for KidsChicago, IL$5,000112021
College Bound OpportunitiesRiverwoods, IL$5,000112021
Erins Angels of Cny IncPhoenix, NY$5,000112024
Heart Women & GirlsChicago, IL$5,000112021
Heavenward Farm Horsemanship IncMorrow, OH$5,000112024
Helping Others Prepare for EternityGarden Grove, CA$5,000112021
Mean Girls EmpowermentSouth Holland, IL$5,000112021
Minnesota Transportation Museum IncSt Paul, MN$5,000112024
Mission Edge San DiegoSan Diego, CA$5,000112023
Nehemiah GroupChicago, IL$5,000112023
Norwalkstamford Grassroots Tennis & Education IncNorwalk, CT$5,000112023
Read to AchieveNashville, TN$5,000112024
Seneca Family of AgenciesOakland, CA$5,000112022
Urban CompassLos Angeles, CA$5,000112021
Winning Ways IncBranford, CT$5,000112024
With HopeDallas, TX$5,000112022
Hands for HopeNorth Hollywood, CA$4,500112023
Soar and ElevateRichmond, VA$2,000112024
Heal Through Food IncQueens, NY$1,500112023

14 of 42 (33%) 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 38%, 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 52 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
14 grants
Youth Development
13 grants
Education
6 grants
Community Improvement
5 grants
Food & Nutrition
5 grants
Mental Health
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
1 grant
Environment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202119$102,000$5,000
202212$72,500$5,000
202316$75,000$5,000
202417$101,000$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. 28% of this one's giving went to organizations in Illinois. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Illinois
$97K
Connecticut
$81K
California
$56K
Wisconsin
$25K
Maine
$20K
Minnesota
$15K
Washington
$10K
Massachusetts
$10K

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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 Fund19 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc16 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc12 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust7 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc7 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 Illinois.
  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 human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in ConnecticutEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Charter Oak 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: 48 Fox Den Road, West Simsbury, CT, 06092. 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 95-2264158 · 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.