Funders › Connecticut

The Laboiteaux - Sharp Family Foundation

Essex, CT · EIN 31-1346390. Reported 59 grants totalling $2,677,455 to 30 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$2,677,455granted, 2021-2024
30recipients, as named on its returns
58%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,929,490assets, 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. The Laboiteaux - Sharp 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $30,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $500,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
3 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
16 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
5 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
17 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
6 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
4 grants
$100,000 and Up
8 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
Miss Porters's SchoolFarmington, CT$1,085,000442024
The Lawrenceville SchoolLawrenceville, NJ$510,000442024
Harriet U Allyn Testamentary TrustNew London, CT$500,000112022
Lyman Allyn Art MuseumNew London, CT$105,000442024
The Diplomat Reception Rooms US Department of State Attn J BrooksWashington, DC$60,000222024
Historic Downtown Sikeston Attn Mari Ann MoyersSikeston, MO$53,100112023
US Department of State FoundationWashington, DC$50,000112022
Pripet Riding ProgramIslesboro, ME$47,850442024
The Country SchoolMadison, CT$40,000222022
The Seven Hills SchoolCincinnati, OH$40,000222022
Weston Art Gallery Attn Dennis Harrington Glry DirCincinnati, OH$40,000222022
Town of IslesboroIslesboro, ME$25,000112023
Lyme Acadamy of Fine ArtsOld Lyme, CT$22,000222024
Islesboro Affordable PropertyIslesboro, ME$20,000332023
Cincinnati Zoo Foundation IncCincinnati, OH$10,000112021
Islesboro Community FundIslesboro, ME$10,000112024
National Employment Lawyers AssociationConcord, CA$10,000112021
Wise TempleCincinnati, OH$10,000112021
High Hopes Therapeutic Riding IncOld Lyme, CT$7,500112021
Windermere Island Foundation IncGrosse Pointe Farms, MI$7,500222024
Cincinnati Parks FoundationCincinnati, OH$5,000112021
Maccurdy Salisbury Educational Foundation IncOld Lyme, CT$5,000442024
Islesbro Islands TrustIslesboro, ME$3,000332024
Islesboro AmbulanceIslesboro, ME$2,505332023
Christ Church Dark HarborIslesboro, ME$2,500112024
Lyme Ambulance Association IncHadlyme, CT$2,000222022
Lifeflight FoundationCamden, ME$1,500222024
Lyme Fire DepartmentOld Lyme, CT$1,000112021
Lyme Land Conservation TrustLyme, CT$1,000112023
Saint Ann's Episcopal ChurchOld Lyme, CT$1,000112021

16 of 30 (53%) 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 58%, across 3 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 27 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
10 grants
Arts & Culture
5 grants
Human Services
4 grants
Housing & Shelter
3 grants
Health Care
2 grants
Environment
1 grant
Animal Welfare
1 grant
Recreation & Sports
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202120$433,850$8,750
202215$942,005$20,000
202312$747,100$20,000
202412$554,500$10,000

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

66% of its giving went to organizations in Connecticut. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Connecticut
$1.8M
New Jersey
$510K
Maine
$112K
District of Columbia
$110K
Ohio
$105K
Missouri
$53K
California
$10K
Michigan
$8K

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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 Fund12 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc8 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust7 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc6 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program5 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. 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 Connecticut.
  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 ConnecticutEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in New JerseyEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in New JerseyEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Laboiteaux - Sharp Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: C/O Essex Trust 176 Westbrook Road, Essex, CT, 06426. 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 31-1346390 · 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.