FundersNew Jersey

Lucy Foundation

Madison, NJ · EIN 22-2737472. Reported 80 grants totalling $259,882 to 35 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$259,882granted, 2021-2024
35organizations funded
74%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,502,468assets, 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. Lucy 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 $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $3,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $15,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
2 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
63 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
10 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
5 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
St Paul's SchoolConcord, NH$28,882222022
Colgate UniversityHamilton, NY$26,500332024
The Marvelwood SchoolKent, CT$18,000442024
South Kent SchoolKent, CT$16,500222024
The Country SchoolMadison, CT$15,500442024
Yale New Haven HospitalNew Haven, CT$13,500442024
E C Scranton Memorial LibraryMadison, CT$10,000222022
The Madison FoundationMadison, CT$10,000442024
Billion Oyster ProjectNew York, NY$9,500442024
Jed FoundationBrooklyn, NY$8,500332023
Pike Place Market FoundationSeattle, WA$8,500332023
Seattle AquariumSeattle, WA$8,500442024
Maine Island Trail AssociationPortland, ME$8,000442024
Cape Eleuthera FoundationBoston, MA$7,500332023
Last Prisoner ProjectDenver, CO$7,500332024
Food Education FundNew York, NY$6,500332024
Brown University Sports FoundationProvidence, RI$6,000222022
Threshold Community ProgramDecatur, GA$6,000442024
UsicBethesda, MD$6,000332024
Edible SchoolyardBerkeley, CA$5,500222024
Madison Historical SocietyMadison, CT$5,500222024
Neighbor to NeighborMadison, CT$4,000222024
Network for Teaching EntrepreneurshipNew York, NY$3,000112021
Scranton LibraryMadison, CT$3,000112024
Scranton LibraryScranton, PA$3,000112023
Cape Eleuthera FoundationPhiladelphia, PA$2,000112024
City HarvestBrooklyn, NY$2,000112023
Nst Network AbortionBeaverton, OH$2,000112024
Stone Barnes CenterTarrytown, NY$2,000112023
The Jed FoundationBoston, MA$2,000112024
Brown UniversityProvidence, RI$1,000112021
Seattle Parks FoundationSeattle, WA$1,000112021
Southampton Soccer Club LtdSouthhampton, NY$1,000112021
US International Lawn TennisBethesda, MD$1,000112021
Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT$500112024

22 of 35 (63%) 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 74%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 48 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
17 grants
Health Care
8 grants
International Affairs
4 grants
Mental Health
4 grants
Environment
4 grants
Community Improvement
3 grants
Crime & Legal
3 grants
Arts & Culture
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202119$61,000$3,000
202219$66,882$2,500
202321$62,500$2,000
202421$69,500$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. 37% of this one's giving went to organizations in Connecticut. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Connecticut
$96K
New York
$59K
New Hampshire
$29K
Washington
$18K
Massachusetts
$10K
Maine
$8K
Colorado
$8K
Maryland
$7K

Find more foundations like Lucy Foundation

We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.

No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.

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 Fund15 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust12 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc11 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program10 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc9 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. 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 Connecticut.
  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 education in ConnecticutEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding international affairs in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Lucy 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: 387 Main Street 3, Madison, NJ, 07940. 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 22-2737472 · 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.