FundersMassachusetts

Josephine G Russell Trust

Andover, MA · EIN 04-2136910. Reported 168 grants totalling $1,855,000 to 58 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$8,750median grant
$1,855,000granted, 2021-2024
58organizations funded
91%of grantees funded again the next year
$10.1Massets, 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. Josephine G Russell Trust 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 $8,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $15,000; the smallest was $25 and the largest $50,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
8 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
17 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
63 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
67 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
12 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
1 grant

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
Lawrence General HospitalLawrence, MA$170,000442024
Lazarus HouseLawrence, MA$140,000442024
Notre Dame Cristo Rey High SchoolMethuen, MA$100,000442024
Food for the World IncLawrence, MA$87,000442024
Greater Lawrence Community Boating ProgramLawrence, MA$80,000442024
Groundwork LawrenceLawrence, MA$80,000442024
Boys & Girls Club of LawrenceLawrence, MA$60,000442024
Central Catholic High SchoolLawrence, MA$60,000442024
Neighbors in NeedLawrence, MA$60,000332024
Bread & RosesLawrence, MA$59,500442024
Brooks SchoolNorth Andover, MA$48,000442024
Bread & Roses HousingLawrence, MA$45,000442024
Appalachian Mountain ClubBoston, MA$40,000442024
Esperanza AcademyLawrence, MA$40,000442024
Merrimack Valley Food Bank IncLowell, MA$40,000442024
Professional Center for Child DevelopmentLawrence, MA$40,000332023
Communities Together IncLawrence, MA$38,000442024
Bellesini Osa AcademyLawrence, MA$37,500332023
Notre Dame Education CenterLawrence, MA$37,500442024
Teach for America MassachusettsBoston, MA$36,000332024
Lawrence ProsperaLawrence, MA$35,000442024
Greater Lawrence Family Health CenterMethuen, MA$34,000442024
Windrush Farm Therapertic Equitation IncBoxford, MA$30,000442024
Community in RoadsNorth Andover, MA$28,000442024
Mary Immaculate Healthcare ServicesLawrence, MA$27,500332024
Lawrence Catholic AcademyLawrence, MA$25,000222024
St George Eastern Orthodox ChurchLawrence, MA$24,000332023
Community Giving TreeBoxford, MA$23,000442024
Lawrence Community WorksLawrence, MA$22,500332023
Easter Seals MassachusettsWorcester, MA$20,000442024
Essex Art CenterLawrence, MA$20,000112021
Family Service Inc (samaritans)Lawrence, MA$20,000442024
Merrimack Valley Immigrant Education CenterLawrence, MA$19,500442024
Essex County Habitat for HumanityDanvers, MA$17,500332023
Family Service Inc (arise)Lawrence, MA$16,000222022
Phillips AcademyAndover, MA$16,000222022
Catie's ClosetDracut, MA$15,000332024
Partners in Child DevelopmentLawrence, MA$15,000112024
The Joey Fournier Services IncNorth Andover, MA$15,000332023
Project Home AgainLawrence, MA$13,500332024
Blessed Stephen Bellesini Osa AcademyLawrence, MA$12,500112024
Lawrence History CenterLawrence, MA$12,000442024
Bread & Roses Heritage CommitteeLawrence, MA$10,000442024
Family Service Inc (esteem)Lawrence, MA$8,000112024
Family Service Inc (youth Development)Lawrence, MA$8,000112023
St George Antiochian Orthodox ChurchLawrence, MA$8,000112024
Teach for AmericaBoston, MA$8,000112021
Phillips AcademyAndover, ME$7,500112024
Psychological Center IncLawrence, MA$7,500112023
Merrimack Valley YMCALawrence, MA$6,000112023
Merrimack Valley YMCA Adelante Education CenterLawrence, MA$6,000112021
YMCA Merrimack ValleyLawrence, MA$6,000112024
Beyond SoccerLawrence, MA$5,000112024
Merrimack Valley Dream CenterLawrence, MA$5,000222024
The Community GroupLawrence, MA$5,000112022
The Joey Fournier FoundationNorth Andover, MA$5,000112024
Ttes of Weare Public LibraryWeare, NH$400442024
Hillside Cemetry AssnWeare, NH$100442024

43 of 58 (74%) 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 91%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 82 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
20 grants
Health Care
12 grants
Food & Nutrition
11 grants
Human Services
9 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
7 grants
Youth Development
5 grants
Environment
4 grants
Religion
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202139$418,625$8,000
202243$492,125$10,000
202343$475,125$9,500
202443$469,125$8,000

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
$1.8M
Maine
$8K
New Hampshire
$500

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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.

Essex County Community Foundation Inc27 shared recipientsRogers Family Foundation26 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund24 shared recipientsArtemas W Stearns Trust23 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc19 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc19 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $8,750. 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 education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Josephine G Russell Trust'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: 9 Bartlet Street 343, Andover, MA, 01810. 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 04-2136910 · 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.