FundersMassachusetts

Bertolon Family Foundation

Boston, MA · EIN 04-6917944. Reported 93 grants totalling $2,760,877 to 50 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$2,760,877granted, 2021-2024
50organizations funded
60%of grantees funded again the next year
$11.2Massets, 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. Bertolon Family 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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $4,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $545,640. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
20 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
50 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
12 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
4 grants
$100,000 and Up
7 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
North Shore Community College FoundationDanvers, MA$1,310,640442024
Beverly BootstrapsBeverly, MA$502,500112024
Mass Eye & EarBoston, MA$500,000112024
The Cabot Performing Arts CenterBeverly, MA$290,000332024
Cape Cod Healthcare FoundationHyannis, MA$20,000442024
Second Congregational ChurchBeverly, MA$17,000442024
Beverly HospitalBeverly, MA$15,000332024
Boys and Girl Club of Greater SalemSalem, MA$15,000332024
The Cape PlayhouseDennis, MA$12,000222024
Salem State UniversitySalem, MA$10,000112021
Pingree SchoolSouth Hamilton, MA$7,500332024
Beverly Bootstraps Community ServicesBeverly, MA$5,000222022
Eileen's HouseBoston, MA$5,000112024
Cape AbilitiesHyannis, MA$4,000442024
Plummer Youth PromiseSalem, MA$4,000442024
Winslow Animal Farm SanctuaryNorton, MA$4,000332024
Essex County Community FoundationBeverly, MA$3,000332024
Franciscan ChildrensBrighton, MA$3,000222023
The Salvation ArmyBeverly, MA$3,000332024
Beverly Childrens Learning CenterBeverly, MA$2,000222022
Change in SimpleBeverly, MA$2,000222022
Change Is SimpleBeverly, MA$2,000112024
Montserrat College of ArtBeverly, MA$2,000112021
Roots Ns IncSalem, MA$2,000222022
The Womens Fund of Essex CountyBeverly, MA$2,000222024
Wellspring House IncGloucester, MA$2,000222023
Hillsdale CollegeHillsdale, MI$1,500112021
The Trustees of ReservationsBoston, MA$1,165222022
Beverly Children's Learning CtrBeverly, MA$1,000112024
Girl Scout Troop 233Boston, MA$1,000112021
Harborlight Community PartnersGloucester, MA$1,000112022
Harwich Dennis Rotary ClubSouth Dennis, MA$1,000112022
HawcSalem, MA$1,000112022
Smile TrainNew York, NY$1,000112021
St Rock Haiti FoundationMilton, MA$1,000112023
Susan G Komen for the CureDallas, TX$1,000222023
The Trustees - 1891 SocietyBoston, MA$1,000112024
The Woman's Fund of Essex CountyDanvers, MA$1,000112021
Jacob Sears Memorial LibraryEast Dennis, MA$500112021
Mass General BrighamBoston, MA$500112022
The Village Improvement Society of DennisDennis, MA$500112022
WGBHBoston, MA$422332024
Dennis Memorial LibraryDennis, MA$300332023
Alzheimers AssociationNewton, MA$250112023
Michael Cassidy Memorial Scholarship FundHampton, NH$250112024
Cops for Kids With CancerBraintree, MA$200112022
The Parkinson's FoundationNew York, NY$200112024
Wounded Warrior ProjectJacksonville, FL$200112023
St Jude Children's Research HospitalMemphis, TN$150112023
American Heart AssociationDallas, TX$100112024

24 of 50 (48%) 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 60%, 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 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 45 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
11 grants
Education
11 grants
Health Care
4 grants
Diseases & Disorders
3 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Community Improvement
3 grants
Environment
3 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202119$583,405$1,000
202230$318,470$1,000
202320$289,326$1,000
202424$1,569,676$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. 100% 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
$2.8M
Michigan
$2K
New York
$1K
Texas
$1K
New Hampshire
$250
Florida
$200
Tennessee
$150

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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 recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc17 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc14 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsEssex County Community Foundation Inc13 shared recipientsBoston Foundation Inc13 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. 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 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, rankedFoundations funding education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Bertolon Family 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: 80 City Square, Boston, MA, 02129. 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 04-6917944 · 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 hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.