The Schenectady Foundation
Schenectady, NY · EIN 14-6019650. Reported 84 grants totalling $5,519,632 to 57 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For The Schenectady Foundation, the IRS classifies it as a support organization for one specific institution (NTEE T11).
- How spread out its giving is. 57 distinct organizations, with 11% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 33% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $47,500. Half of what it reported fell between $12,000 and $76,500; the smallest was $7,200 and the largest $500,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schenectady Community Action Program Inc | Schenectady, NY | $585,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Regional Food Bank of N E Ny Inc | Latham, NY | $404,400 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Better Community Neighborhoods Inc | Schenectady, NY | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Cooperative Extension Association in the State of N Y | Schenectady, NY | $332,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Schenectady Inner City Ministry | Schenectady, NY | $310,300 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Food Pantries of the Capital Dist Inc | Albany, NY | $250,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hamilton Hill Drop-in Arts & Crafts Center | Schenectady, NY | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Empire State Youth Orchestra | Schenectady, NY | $215,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Schenectady Family Health Services Inc | Schenectady, NY | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ellis Hospital Foundation Inc | Schenectady, NY | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Messiah Lutheran | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 | |
| City Mission of Schenectady | Schenectady, NY | $125,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Center for Community Justice Inc | Schenectady, NY | $111,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Schenectady County Community College Foundation Inc | Schenectady, NY | $102,882 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Bethesda House of Schenectady Inc | Schenectady, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Crossroads Center for Children Inc | Schenectady, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp | Schenectady, NY | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Boys and Girls Clubs of Schenectady Inc | Schenectady, NY | $82,250 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Schoharie River Center Inc | Esperance, NY | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| C R E a T E Community Studios Inc | Schenectady, NY | $78,800 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Builders Inc | Boston, MA | $76,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Albany Barn Inc | Albany, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Free Food Fridge Albany | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 | |
| Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County | Troy, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Social Enterprise and Training Center | Schenectady, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Destine Preparatory Charter School | Schenectady, NY | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Safe Inc of Schenectady | Schenectady, NY | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Schenectady Day Nursery Inc | Schenectady, NY | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Operation at Ease Inc | Schenectady, NY | $61,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Schenectady Greenmarket Inc | Schenectady, NY | $55,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority | $51,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 | |
| Goose Hill Neighborhood Association | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 | |
| Luken Daily Bread Food Pantry Inc | Schenectady, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus Inc | Albany, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood of Greater New York Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| C O C O a House Inc | Schenectady, NY | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God | Schenectady, NY | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Capital Region Classical Inc | Schenectady, NY | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Mediation Matters Inc | Albany, NY | $34,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Music Haven Inc | New Haven, CT | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Museum of Innovation and Science | Schenectady, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Schenectady Hindu Temple and Community Services | Schenectady, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Schenectady Job Training Agency | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 | |
| 518 Elevated Inc | Albany, NY | $24,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Capital Roots Inc | Troy, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Albany Can Code Inc | Latham, NY | $18,300 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| New York Folklore Society | Schenectady, NY | $17,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Clarkson University | Potsdam, NY | $16,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Catholic Charities of Diocese of Albany | Albany, NY | $12,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Troy, NY | $12,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| All of US Community Action Group | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 | |
| Arts Center and Theater of Schenectady Inc | Schenectady, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brightside Up Inc | Menands, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Community Fathers Inc | Schenectady, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Creative Placemaking Communities | San Rafael, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy Inc | Albany, NY | $8,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mooncatcher Project Inc | Schenectady, NY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
19 of 57 (33%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Hamilton Hill Arts Center
MUSEUM, GALLERY, AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER - Regional Food Bank
UNDERSERVED SCHENECTADY NEIGHBORHOODS; AND FOOD DELIVERY TRUCK - Better Community Neighborhoods Inc
HOUSING COUNSELING AND FINANCIAL LITERACY - Cornell Cooperative Extension
HEALTHY LIVING 360 - PART 3 - Ellis Hospital Foundation
EXPANDING CARE FOR ADOLESCENTS IN CRISIS - Schenectady Inner City Ministries
ACCESS, SOLIDARITY AND IMPACT; SOLARIZING FEHR AVE FARM
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 43 of 57 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | $1,487,050 | $37,000 |
| 2022 | 16 | $1,286,500 | $50,500 |
| 2023 | 22 | $1,334,700 | $55,500 |
| 2024 | 22 | $1,411,382 | $47,500 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
98% of its giving went to organizations in New York. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available 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.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $47,500 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in New York.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Schenectady Foundation's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 21 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: P O Box 710, Schenectady, NY, 12301.
EIN 14-6019650 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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