FundersMassachusetts

Wilensky Foundation

Worcester, MA · EIN 04-6111520. Reported 90 grants totalling $233,942 to 35 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,569median grant
$233,942granted, 2021-2024
35organizations funded
78%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,331,803assets, 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. Wilensky 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 $2,569. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,405 and $2,800; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $3,041. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
90 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
Charlie Daniels Journey Home ProjecLebanon, TN$10,815442024
Healing TowersE Naples, FL$10,815442024
Marine Toys for Tots FoundationTriangle, VA$10,815442024
St Jude Children's Research HospitMemphis, TN$10,815442024
The Marine Corps-Law Enforcement FoTuckahoe, NY$10,815442024
Tunnels to TowerStaten Island, NY$10,815442024
Puffy Paws Kitty HavenEnglewood, FL$10,516442024
American Jewish World ServiceNew York, NY$10,515442024
ASPCAWashington, DC$10,515442024
Brylan's FeatScottsdale, AZ$10,515442024
NeadsPrinceton, MA$10,515442024
Ninjas Fighting LymphedemaSt Louis, MO$10,515442024
Folds of HonorTulsa, OK$8,410332024
Womens' Rights Without Frontiers inTowson, MD$8,410332024
Mission K-9 RescueHouston, TX$8,111332024
Paws of HonorWilliamsburg, VA$8,111332024
Little Gld of St Francis for AnimWest Cornwall, CT$8,110332024
Rachel's TableWorcester, MA$7,610332024
Hawaii Comm Found - Maui Strong FHonolulu, HI$5,610222024
St Margaret's ShrineBridgeport, CT$5,610222024
The Cat House O N the KingsParlir, CA$5,610222024
The Leukemia and Lymphoma SocietyNew York, NY$5,610222024
The Leukemia & Lymphoma SocietyRye Brook, NY$5,205222022
The Cat House on the KingsParlier, CA$4,905222022
Kylee's Kare Kits for Kidz IncLeominster, MA$4,500222022
Rotary Club of Worcester - NicuWorcester, MA$2,700112022
Fitchburg Youth Soccer - Utility ShLeominster, MA$2,424112022
Eternal Word Television NetworkIrondale, AL$2,405112021
Little Guild of St Francis for aWest Cornwall, CT$2,405112021
Soliers' AngelsSan Antonio, TX$2,405112021
Womens' Rights Without Frontiers inSan Jose, CA$2,405112021
Woodson CenterWashington, DC$2,405112021
Regional Environmental CouncilWorcester, MA$1,000112021
Rotary Club of WorcesterWorcester, MA$1,000112021
Tenacity WorcesterBoston, MA$1,000112021

25 of 35 (71%) 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 78%, 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 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 35 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Animal Welfare
7 grants
International Affairs
7 grants
Religion
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Human Services
4 grants
Diseases & Disorders
3 grants
Education
3 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202123$50,695$2,405
202223$59,824$2,500
202322$56,521$2,569
202422$66,902$3,041

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. 18% of this one's giving went to organizations in New York. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

New York
$43K
Massachusetts
$31K
Tennessee
$22K
Florida
$21K
Virginia
$19K
Connecticut
$16K
District of Columbia
$13K
California
$13K

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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 Fund10 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsPaypal Charitable Giving Fund6 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program6 shared recipientsThe Blackbaud Giving Fund5 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,569. 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 New York.
  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 animal welfare in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding international affairs in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding religion in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Wilensky 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: 446 Main Street 19TH Floor, Worcester, MA, 01608. 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 04-6111520 · 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.