Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family
Burlington, VT · EIN 04-3359381. Reported 62 grants totalling $15.1M to 25 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family 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 $3,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $2,000 and the largest $2,000,000. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont Community Foundation | Middlebury, VT | $10.6M | 11 | 3 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Burlington Inc | Burlington, VT | $1,710,000 | 3 | 2 | 2022 |
| Champlain College | Burlington, VT | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Uvm Medical Center Foundation | Burlington, VT | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boys and Girls Club of Burlington Inc | Burlington, VT | $510,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Community Sailing Center | Burlington, VT | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| King Street Center | Burlington, VT | $28,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Neighbors in Action | Cabot, VT | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Vermont Works for Women | Winooski, VT | $18,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Resource | Williston, VT | $15,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Spectrum Youth Center | Burlington, VT | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Inclusive Arts Vermont | Essex Jct, VT | $14,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Partners in Adventure Inc | Essex, VT | $14,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Brain Injury Association | Waterbury, VT | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Camp Ta Kum Ta | South Hero, VT | $11,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community College of Vt | Winooski, VT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| John Graham Housing & Services | Vergennes, VT | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Essex Chips | Essex Jct, VT | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Flynn Center | Burlington, VT | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Green Mountain Mobile Therapy | Burlington, VT | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ronald Mcdonald House Charities | Burlington, VT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Janet Munt Family Room | Burlington, VT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Faith in Action | Cabot, VT | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Janet S Munt Family Room | Burlington, VT | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Steps to End Domestic Violence | Burlington, VT | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
16 of 25 (64%) 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 71%, 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.
- Vermont Community Foundation
To create an endowmentsupporting people withbrain injuries. - Boys & Girls Club of Burlington Inc
To help the Club reach its$5 million goal for the"Early Promise Program." - Uvm Medical Center Foundation
To create an endowment establishing the "Patty O'Brien, MDWomen's Health & Cancer Fund." - Champlain College
To help endow the "Single Mother'sScholarship Program." - Boys and Girls Club of Burlington Inc
EARLY PROMISE ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM INTO THE SUMMER AND CREAT LIFE GAP ENDOWMENT - Community College of Vt
LIFE GAP GRANTS FOR STUDENTS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 49 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | $46,500 | $3,000 |
| 2022 | 18 | $9,750,000 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 14 | $3,690,000 | $7,500 |
| 2024 | 16 | $1,621,000 | $5,000 |
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
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Vermont.
- 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.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family'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: Po Box 638 40 George Street, Burlington, VT, 05402. 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 04-3359381 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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