FundersMassachusetts

The Perkin Fund

South Hamilton, MA · EIN 13-6222498. Reported 133 grants totalling $5,559,500 to 79 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$25,000median grant
$5,559,500granted, 2021-2024
79organizations funded
45%of grantees funded again the next year
$32.1Massets, 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. The Perkin Fund 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 $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $15,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $2,500 and the largest $250,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
1 grant
$5,000 - $10,000
3 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
38 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
42 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
33 grants
$100,000 and Up
16 grants

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
Pingree SchoolHamilton, MA$370,000442024
George Pocock Rowing FoundationSeattle, WA$325,000442024
Children's Hospital BostonBoston, MA$275,000442024
Dublin SchoolDublin, NH$250,000112023
Special Forces Charitable TrustSouthern Pines, NC$250,000442024
Children's Hospital New OrleansNew Orleans, LA$200,000222024
Fort TiconderogaTiconderoga, NY$200,000222023
Rectory SchoolPomfret, CT$200,000112024
Harvard UniversityBoston, MA$175,000222022
Massachusetts General HospitalBoston, MA$175,000222022
Boston Children's MuseumBoston, MA$150,000332024
Boys Club of New YorkNew York, NY$130,000332024
Convent of the Sacred HeartNew York, NY$130,000222023
The Buckley SchoolNew York, NY$130,000332024
Kelly Brush FoundationBurlington, VT$125,000332024
Colgate UniversityHamilton, NY$120,000332024
The Society of Memorial Sloan CcNew York, NY$120,000332024
Harvard University AlumniBoston, MA$110,000222024
The National D-Day Memorial FoundationBedford, VA$100,000112021
Newport Festivals FoundationNewport, RI$95,000222023
Friends AcademyLocust Valley, NY$85,000442024
East Hampton Healthcare FoundationEast Hampton, NY$75,000222024
The Chapin SchoolNew York, NY$75,000222023
Brookwood SchoolManchester, MA$70,000442024
Peter Westbrook FoundationNew York, NY$70,000332024
University of Vermont FoundationBurlington, VT$60,000222024
Aaaai FoundationMilwaukee, WI$50,000112023
Ap Gardner Post 194Wenham, MA$50,000332024
Connecticut's Beardsley ZooBridgeport, CT$50,000222024
Fairfield Police UnionFairfield, CT$50,000112023
Fairfield Police Union ScholarshipFairfield, CT$50,000112021
Nantucket Historical AssociationNantucket, MA$50,000112021
New Orleans PoliceNew Orleans, LA$50,000112023
New York PresbyterianNew York, NY$50,000112022
New York Presbyterian Fund IncNew York, NY$50,000112024
Norwalk Hospital FoundationNorwalk, CT$50,000112022
Columbia Business SchoolNew York, NY$45,000332024
Wenham MuseumWenham, MA$45,000222022
Episcopal High SchoolAlexandria, VA$40,000112024
HwaficHamilton, MA$40,000112023
Southport Congregational ChurchSouthport, CT$40,000222023
Trinity Parish Nursery SchoolSouthport, CT$40,000112023
Dana Hall SchoolWellesley, MA$35,000112024
Wellspring HouseGloucester, MA$35,000222024
The Connecticut Audubon SocietyFairfield, CT$32,500332024
Hamilton Wenham Little LeagueSouth Hamilton, MA$32,000222024
Westminister SchoolSimsbury, CT$30,000112021
Westminster SchoolSimsbury, CT$30,000112023
Blue Ocean Society for Marine ConsePortsmouth, NH$25,000112021
Central Park ConservancyNew York, NY$25,000112022
Connecticuit's Beardsley ZooBridgeport, CT$25,000112022
East Hampton LibraryEast Hampton, NY$25,000112022
New England AquariumBoston, MA$25,000112021
Nuvance Health FoundationNew York, NY$25,000112024
Oak Neck Athletic CouncilBayville, NY$25,000112024
Sentinel FoundationDavidson, NC$25,000112024
The Episcopal SchoolNew York, NY$25,000112021
Trinity Episcopal SchoolNew Orleans, LA$25,000112021
Vero Beach Museum of ArtVero Beach, FL$25,000112021
Wildlife ConservationBronx, NY$25,000112023
Fairfield Country DayFairfield, CT$20,000112023
Fairfield Theatre CompanyFairfield, CT$20,000112021
The Sports Institute at Uw MedicineSeattle, WA$20,000112021
The Trustees of ReservationBoston, MA$20,000222024
Adam J Lewis AcademyBridgeport, CT$15,000112024
Fairfield MuseumFairfield, CT$15,000112024
Frick CollectionNew York, NY$15,000112024
St Bernard's SchoolNew York, NY$15,000112023
US Rowing FoundationWest Windsor, NJ$15,000112024
Animal Medical CenterNew York, NY$10,000112023
Droste Mental Health ServicesNew York, NY$10,000112024
Military Service DayWenham, MA$10,000112021
Odyssey OperaMalden, MA$10,000112021
St John's of Lattingtown Episcopal ChurchLocust Valley, NY$10,000112024
St Luke's Episcopal ChurchEast Hampton, NY$10,000112023
University of St Andrew American FFife, St Andrews, Fife$10,000112022
WfuvBronx, NY$10,000112021
Wfuv Fordham UniversityNew York, NY$10,000112022
East Hampton HistoricalEast Hampton, NY$5,000112023

32 of 79 (41%) 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 45%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 81 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
29 grants
Arts & Culture
13 grants
Recreation & Sports
10 grants
Health Care
9 grants
Animal Welfare
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Youth Development
3 grants
Human Services
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202133$1,352,000$25,000
202230$1,185,000$25,000
202333$1,530,000$40,000
202437$1,492,500$25,000

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. 30% 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
$1.7M
New York
$1.5M
Connecticut
$668K
Washington
$345K
New Hampshire
$275K
Louisiana
$275K
North Carolina
$275K
Vermont
$185K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund40 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc38 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust31 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program31 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc28 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc28 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $25,000. 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 arts & culture in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Perkin Fund'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: 176 Bay Road Po Box 2220, South Hamilton, MA, 01982. 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 13-6222498 · 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.