Funders › Maryland

Sweetser Foundation Inc

Annapolis, MD · EIN 54-2062016. Reported 117 grants totalling $1,175,900 to 50 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,175,900granted, 2021-2025
50recipients, as named on its returns
63%of grantees funded again the next year
$7,849,569assets, 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. Sweetser Foundation Inc 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $10,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $100,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
2 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
40 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
38 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
28 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants
$100,000 and Up
2 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Archbishop Carroll High SchoolWashington, DC$215,000442024
Worcester Polytechnic InstituteWorcester, MA$160,000332025
Seeds 4 SuccessAnnapolis, MD$105,000552025
Arcs FoundationPotomac, MD$70,000552025
Catholic Schools FoundationBoston, MA$62,000552025
CASA of New HampshireManchester, NH$60,000332023
Start the Adventure in ReadingAnnapolis, MD$60,000442024
St Mary's ChurchAnnapolis, MD$59,000332025
University of MaineOrono, ME$47,000222025
Thomas Jefferson FoundationCharlottesville, VA$32,500552025
Construction Education FoundationDulles, VA$20,000442025
Coast Guard FoundationStonington, CT$15,100552025
Rosie's PlaceBoston, MA$15,000222022
Saint Mary of the Hills SchoolMilton, MA$15,000332025
St Agatha SchoolMilton, MA$15,000332023
StairAnnapolis, MD$15,000112025
Share OutreachMilford, NH$13,000332023
Annapolis Symphony OrchestraAnnapolis, MD$12,500552025
Feeding AmericaChicago, IL$10,750442025
Clark UniversityWorcester, MA$10,000222025
Elon UniversityElon, NC$10,000112022
Mary Hitchcock Memorial HospitalLebanon, NH$10,000112022
Rollins CollegeWinter Park, FL$10,000222025
St Mary of the Hills SchoolMilton, MA$10,000222022
St Mary's Parishcapital CampaignAnnapolis, MD$10,000112024
University of Southern MaineGorham, ME$10,000222025
Spa Creek ConservancyAnnapolis, MD$7,000552025
International Rett Syndrome FoundationCincinnati, OH$6,000332025
University of New England Financial ServicesBiddeford, ME$6,000112025
School of the CathedralBaltimore, MD$5,500112022
Compassionate Care Als (ccals)Falmouth, MA$5,000112025
Interfaith Social ServicesQuincy, MA$5,000112025
Maine Maritime AcademyCastine, ME$5,000112024
Milford Lions CharitiesMilford, NH$5,000112022
Serve the ChildrenFircrest, WA$5,000112022
Southern Maine Community CollegePortland, ME$5,000112025
St Agatha SchoolMiami, FL$5,000112025
St Agatha SchoolUpper Arlington, OH$5,000112024
The Als AssociationArlington, VA$5,000112025
William S Baer SchoolBaltimore, MD$5,000442025
Greater Boston Food BankBoston, MA$4,250332023
Archdiocese of BaltimoreBaltimore, MD$4,000222022
Assumption UniversityWorcester, MA$4,000112025
Husson UniversityBangor, ME$3,000112021
Rivier UniversityNashua, NH$3,000112024
Saint Mary's ChurchAnnapolis, MD$3,000112023
Paws for Purple HeartsRuther Glen, VA$2,800112023
Erik's RanchEdina, MN$2,000112022
Save the ChildrenFairfield, CT$2,000112025
Milton Community Food PantryMilton, MA$1,500222022

28 of 50 (56%) 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 63%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

Plus 29 grants to individuals totalling $125,500 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 63 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.

Education
17 grants
Arts & Culture
10 grants
Food & Nutrition
9 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
7 grants
Youth Development
5 grants
Environment
5 grants
Civil Rights
3 grants
Medical Research
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202122$164,500$4,000
202229$231,000$5,000
202318$205,900$5,000
202421$241,000$5,000
202527$333,500$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

30% of its giving went to organizations in Maryland. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Maryland
$356K
Massachusetts
$307K
District of Columbia
$215K
New Hampshire
$91K
Maine
$76K
Virginia
$60K
Connecticut
$17K
Florida
$15K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund22 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc19 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc19 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc16 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc16 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust16 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. 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.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Maryland.
  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 groupFoundations funding arts & culture in MassachusettsEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding arts & culture in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Sweetser Foundation Inc'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: 5 Shipwright Harbor, Annapolis, MD, 21401. 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 54-2062016 · 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.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.