FundersConnecticut

The Putnam Area Foundation

Putnam, CT · EIN 20-1716876. Reported 97 grants totalling $298,740 to 53 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,000median grant
$298,740granted, 2021-2024
53organizations funded
58%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,362,875assets, 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 Putnam Area 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 $2,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $800 and $5,000; the smallest was $120 and the largest $15,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
25 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
44 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
21 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
7 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
Hale YMCA Youth & Family CenterPutnam, CT$31,000442024
Trustees of Roseland ParkWoodstock, CT$25,000322024
Town of PutnamPutnam, CT$23,400532024
Jolly John's Keep on Truckin FundColumbia, CT$16,000442024
Aspinock Historical SocietyPutnam, CT$15,000112024
The Last Green ValleyDanielson, CT$12,000332023
Woodstock Agricultural SocietyWoodstock, CT$11,992332024
Qvcc Foundation IncDanielson, CT$11,500442024
Community Cultural Committee NectPomfret, CT$10,700332024
Town of Putnam Veterans AdvisoryPutnam, CT$10,300222023
Theater of Northeastern CtPutnam, CT$10,000112024
Town of Putnam (mural Art Project)Putnam, CT$10,000112024
Daily Bread Food PantryPutnam, CT$9,700442024
Northeast Opportunities WellnessPutnam, CT$8,975332023
Aspinock Historical Society PutnamPutnam, CT$8,700222022
TeegN Grosvenordale, CT$8,500112023
Quiet Corner Garden ClubWoodstock, CT$7,500332024
Northeast Placement ServicesWoodstock, CT$6,500112021
Community Foundation of Eastern CtNew London, CT$5,000222023
Project Pin Food PantryMoosup, CT$5,000112021
Teeg PafN Grosvenor Dale, CT$5,000112021
Town of Putnam (recreational Dept)Putnam, CT$5,000112024
United Community & Family ServicesNorwich, CT$5,000112021
Day Kimball HealthcarePutnam, CT$3,250332023
Town of Putnam Recreation DeptPutnam, CT$3,000112021
Northeast Ct Education FoundationPutnam, CT$2,500112024
Woodstock AcademyWoodstock, CT$2,500112023
American Legion Post 13Putnam, CT$2,300332024
Northeast Ct Cancer CrusadersPutnam, CT$2,250332023
Town of Putnam (arts Council)Putnam, CT$2,000112024
Veterans of Foreign WarsPutnam, CT$2,000222024
Quiet Corner CaresPutnam, CT$1,603222022
Arc EmporiumWoodstock, CT$1,500112024
Putnam RotaryPutnam, CT$1,500112024
The Arc Eastern CtDanielson, CT$1,500112021
Bungay Fire BrigadeWoodstock, CT$1,400112023
Danielson Veterans Cofee HouseDanielson, CT$1,250332024
Day Kimball Hospital FoundationPutnam, CT$1,250112024
Make a Wish FoundationPhoenix, AZ$1,000112021
Northeast Ct Cancer CrusadersfundPutnam, CT$1,000112024
Teeg (thompson Ecumenical Empowerm)Thompson, CT$1,000112024
The Putnam Lions FoundationPutnam, CT$750332024
Ct Audubon SocietyPomfret, CT$600112024
Womans Board Day Kimball HospitalPutnam, CT$500222024
YMCA Hale Youth & Family CenterPutnam, CT$500112024
Killingly Business AssociationKillingly, CT$300112023
Town of WoodstockWoodstock, CT$250112023
Town of Woodstock (recreation Dept)Woodstock, CT$250112024
Womens Board of Day Kimball HospitaPutnam, CT$250112021
Worcester County Poetry AssociationWorcester, MA$250112022
Paws Cat ShelterPutnam, CT$200112024
Windham Area Arts ColaborativeWillimantic, CT$200112024
Putnam Business AssociationPutnam, CT$120112024

22 of 53 (42%) 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. 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 19 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Health Care
4 grants
Environment
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
3 grants
Arts & Culture
2 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants
Public Safety & Disaster Relief
1 grant
Youth Development
1 grant
Animal Welfare
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202119$65,634$2,000
202222$54,986$2,350
202325$82,450$2,500
202431$95,670$1,500

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 Connecticut. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Connecticut
$297K
Arizona
$1K
Massachusetts
$250

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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 Fund5 shared recipientsCentreville Savings Bank Charitable5 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc4 shared recipientsJewett City Savings Bank Foundation Inc4 shared recipientsConnecticut Humanities Council Inc3 shared recipientsHometown Bank Community Foundation Inc3 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,000. 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 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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Putnam Area Foundation'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: 155 Providence Street, Putnam, CT, 06260. 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 20-1716876 · 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.