FundersMassachusetts

Lowell Five Charitable Foundation Inc

Tewksbury, MA · EIN 81-5403578. Reported 121 grants totalling $649,065 to 76 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$4,275median grant
$649,065granted, 2021-2024
76organizations funded
48%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,360,666assets, 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. Lowell Five Charitable Foundation Inc 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 $4,275. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $7,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $27,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
13 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
51 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
33 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
23 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
1 grant

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
The Lowell PlanLowell, MA$57,000442024
Boys and Girls Club of Greater LowellLowell, MA$50,000332023
Local City and Town ScholarshipsLowell, MA$42,000332023
Other Various DonationsLowell, MA$39,750332023
Greater Merrimack Valley Convention & Visitors BureauLowell, MA$36,000442024
Town of DracutDracut, MA$30,500442024
Greater Lowell Community FoundationLowell, MA$27,875442024
Community TeamworkLowell, MA$23,000222022
Town of WilmingtonWilmington, MA$22,200332024
Boys and Girls Club of Greater NashuaNashua, NH$22,000112024
Girls IncLowell, MA$20,000222024
North Andover Farmers MarketNorth Andover, MA$15,000112024
Merrimack Valley Food BankLowell, MA$14,639222024
Chelmsford Parade CommitteeChelmsford, MA$11,500442024
Town of ChelmsfordChelmsford, MA$10,200332024
Boys and Girls Club of Greater HaverhillHaverhill, MA$10,000222024
Friends of Groton EldersWest Groton, MA$10,000112021
Strongwater FarmTewksbury, MA$10,000112021
Town of GrotonGroton, MA$10,000222024
Merrimack Valley Housing PartnershipLowell, MA$9,000332024
Town of North AndoverNorth Andover, MA$8,500442024
City of LowellLowell, MA$8,250222024
Salvation ArmyLowell, MA$8,000222022
Massachusetts Bankers Association Charitable FoundationBoston, MA$6,000222022
Harbor CareNashua, NH$5,850222023
Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart FoundationDracut, MA$5,787112024
One Wish ProjectLawrence, MA$5,573112023
House of HopeLowell, MA$5,572112024
New England First Responder CoalitionNashua, NH$5,386112024
Foster Kids of the Merrimack ValleyMethuen, MA$5,381112022
Age SpanLawrence, MA$5,301112022
Catie's ClosetDracut, MA$5,213112023
Alternative HouseLowell, MA$5,162112023
Liv for LivWestford, MA$5,127112023
Table of PlentyChelmsford, MA$5,095112022
The Center for Hope and HealingLowell, MA$5,094112022
Billerica Boys and Girls ClubBillerica, MA$5,000112023
Coalition for a Better AcreLowell, MA$5,000222022
North Andover Historical SocietyNorth Andover, MA$5,000112021
Town of TyngsboroughTyngsborough, MA$5,000112024
Nashua Soup Kitchen and ShelterNashua, NH$4,803112021
The Plus CompanyTewksbury, MA$4,532112021
Town of PepperellPepperell, MA$4,500222024
Children's Dyslexia Center Inc Boston NorthLowell, MA$4,275112021
Habitat for Humanity of Greater LowellWestford, MA$4,000222024
Lamprey Health CareNashua, NH$4,000222024
Southern New Hampshire Services IncPeterborough, NH$4,000222024
Friends of the Jv Fletcher Library FoundationWestford, MA$3,000112024
Town of LittletonLittleton, MA$3,000112021
StrongwaterTewksbury, MA$2,500112023
The Owl Diner CharitiesLowell, MA$2,500112021
The Sun Santa FundLowell, MA$2,500222024
Collegiate Charter School of LowellLowell, MA$2,000112024
Middlesex Community CollegeLowell, MA$2,000112024
Town of TewksburyTewksbury, MA$2,000112022
Billerica Community Farmers MarketBillerica, MA$1,000112023
City of NashuaNashua, NH$1,000112024
Dracut Scholarship FoundationDracut, MA$1,000112024
Greater Nashua Habitat for HumanityHollis, NH$1,000112024
Project LearnLowell, MA$1,000112023
Tewksbury Memorial High SchoolTewksbury, MA$1,000112024
The Plus CompanyNashua, NH$1,000112024
Town of BillericaBillerica, MA$1,000112024
Tyngsboro Scholarship TrustTewksbury, MA$1,000112024
Lowell AllianceLowell, MA$500112024
Nashoba Valley Technical High SchoolWestford, MA$500112024
Nmrs Scholarship FoundationTownsend, MA$500112024
Pepperell Exchange ClubPepperell, MA$500112024
Shawsheen Valley Techical High SchoolBillerica, MA$500112024
Westford Food PantryWestford, MA$500112024
Boy Scout Troop 250Waltham, MA$250112024
City of HaverhillHaverhill, MA$250112023
Haverhill Council on AgingHaverhill, MA$250112024
Immaculate Conception ParishLowell, MA$250112024
Pepperell Plus IncPepperell, MA$250112024
Town of DunstableDunstable, MA$250112024

27 of 76 (36%) 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 48%, 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 47 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Youth Development
10 grants
Housing & Shelter
7 grants
Human Services
6 grants
Community Improvement
6 grants
Food & Nutrition
5 grants
Recreation & Sports
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Education
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202124$167,249$4,585
202226$157,921$5,198
202325$148,525$5,000
202446$175,370$2,000

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. 92% of this one's giving went to organizations in Massachusetts. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Massachusetts
$600K
New Hampshire
$49K

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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 Fund27 shared recipientsEastern Bank Foundation18 shared recipientsGreater Lowell Community Foundation17 shared recipientsWe Share a Common Thread Foundation Inc16 shared recipientsSalem Five Charitable Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsCummings Foundation Grants Inc (fka Oneworld Boston Inc)14 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $4,275. 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 Massachusetts.
  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 MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Lowell Five Charitable Foundation Inc'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: 30 International Place, Tewksbury, MA, 01876. 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 81-5403578 · 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.