Bonnell Cove Foundation
Groton, CT · EIN 13-3556721. Reported 96 grants totalling $485,912 to 68 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. Bonnell Cove 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $3,976 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,460 and the largest $15,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden Boats for Veterans Foundatio | Sdausalito, CA | $22,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Brigs Youth Sail Training | Hamilton, Ontario | $21,310 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Center for Coastal Studies | Provincetown, MA | $20,373 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Maine Island Trail Association | Portland, ME | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Call of the Sea | Sausalito, CA | $14,945 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hurricane Island Foundation | Rockland, ME | $13,950 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Billion Oyster Project Inc | New York, NY | $12,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Friends of Casco Bay | South Portland, ME | $12,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Cobscook Institute | Prescott Twp, ME | $10,607 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Sea Education Association | Woods Hole, MA | $10,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Bellingham Bay Community Boating Ce | Bellingham, WA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Cape Cod Maritime Museum | Hyannis, MA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Gulf of Maine Lobster F | Kennebunkport, ME | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Loggerhead Marine Center | Juno Beach, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New York Harbor Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Rocking the Boat | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Coral Reef Alliance | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Vashon Mauri Island Nat | Vashon, WA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Long Live the King | Seattle, WA | $9,730 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Gloucester Adventure Inc | Gloucester, MA | $9,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Save the Bay | Providence, RI | $8,685 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Sound Experience | Port Townsend, WA | $8,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Spaulding Wooden Boat Center | Sausalito, CA | $8,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Gulf of Maine Research Institute | Portland, ME | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Assn | Bellingham, WA | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Northwest Straits Foundation | Bellingham, WA | $7,100 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ascensions Community Se | Washington, DC | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Centrum Foundation | Port Townsend, WA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Savannah Science Museum | Savannah, GA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| US Sailing Association | Bristol, RI | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sail Newport | Newport, RI | $5,836 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Backcountry Medical Guides | Belligham, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Bellingham Bay Communit | Bellingham, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bellingham Bay Community Boating Ct | Bellingham, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Broad Reach Foundation for Youth L | Waterloo | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fins Attached Marine Research and C | Colorado Springs, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maine Coast Fisherman | Brunswick, ME | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Maralliance | San Francisco, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Northwest School of Wood | Port Hadlock, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ocean Research Project | Annapolis, MD | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Oikonos Ecosysterm Knowledge | Kailua, HI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Puget Sound Restoration | Bainbridge, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sawhorse Revolution | Seattle, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Sea Meadow Marine Foundation | Yarmouth, ME | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Washington Yacht Club | Seattle, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Chicago Yacht Club Foundation | Chicago, IL | $4,875 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Northwest Maritime Center | Port Townsand, WA | $4,775 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Community Boating Center Inc | New Bedford, MA | $4,764 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Bigelow Lab for Ocean Science | East Boothbay, ME | $4,695 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Maritime Gloucester | Gloucester, MA | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| New England Science | Stonington, CT | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ocean Alliance | Gloucester, MA | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Sailmaine | Portland, ME | $4,320 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Soundwaters | Stamford, CT | $4,200 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Downtown Sailing Center | Baltimore, MD | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries | Stonington, ME | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Mass Oyster Project | Concord, MA | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Interdistrict Committee for Project | Groton, CT | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Maine Maritime Museum | Bath, ME | $3,350 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Landing School | Arundel, ME | $3,168 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Barry University | Miami, FL | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Marine Mammals of Maine | Bath, ME | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| National Audubon Society | Breman, ME | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sail Africa Youth Development | Durban Marina, Durban | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Seaside Sustainability | Gloucester, MA | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Sustainable Marblehead Inc | Marblehead, MA | $2,269 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| E Inc | Boston, MA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Apex Youth Connections | Biddeford, ME | $1,460 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
20 of 68 (29%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 25%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
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.
- Center for Coastal Studies
ENVIRONMENTAL WHITE SHARK MOVE - Sound Experience
ENVIRONMENTAL & SAFETY AT SEA - Fins Attached Marine Research and C
MARINE RESEARCH AND CONSEVATION - Bellingham Bay Communit
SAFETY AT SEA SAFETY BOAT - Bigelow Lab for Ocean Science
ENVIRONMENTAL & SAFETEY AT SEA
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 57 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | $66,214 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 15 | $89,269 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 19 | $96,919 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 20 | $107,036 | $5,000 |
| 2025 | 30 | $126,474 | $4,410 |
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
22% of its giving went to organizations in Maine. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Maine.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Bonnell Cove Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 47 Front Street, Groton, CT, 06340. 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 13-3556721 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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