Funders › Massachusetts

Barbara Lee Family Foundation Inc

Cambridge, MA · EIN 04-3473585. Reported 26 grants totalling $89,000 to 20 recipients across tax years 2021-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$89,000granted, 2021-2023
20recipients, as named on its returns
24%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,047assets, 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. Barbara Lee Family 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 $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $10,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
18 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
5 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
3 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
19TH NewsAustin, TX$30,000332023
Asian Pacific American InstituteWashington, DC$7,500222022
Voto LatinoWashington, DC$7,500222022
1000 Women StrongTallahassee, FL$5,000112022
Higher Heights Leadership FundWashington, DC$5,000112021
Running StartWashington, DC$5,000222023
She Should RunWashington, DC$5,000222022
University of Massachusetts Boston - Center for Women in PoliticsBoston, MA$5,000112021
Advance Native Political Leadership Education Fund Via Tides FoundationLos Angeles, CA$2,500112023
All in Together Campaign IncHarrison, NY$2,500112021
Higher Heights Leadership FundBrooklyn, NY$2,500112022
Lgbtq Victory InstituteWashington, DC$2,500112021
Netroots FoundationKansas City, MO$2,000112021
Martha's Vinyard Community ServicesNew York, NY$1,000112021
Massachusetts Women's Political CaucusBoston, MA$1,000112023
Mv Community ServicesVineyard Haven, MA$1,000112023
Sanctuary for FamiliesNew York, NY$1,000112021
Social Good FundRichmond, CA$1,000112021
SUFFRAGE100MANewton, MA$1,000112023
Vote Mama FoundationAmityville, NY$1,000112023

5 of 20 (25%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 24%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

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 15 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.

Civil Rights
5 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Human Services
3 grants
Youth Development
2 grants
Education
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202113$42,500$2,500
20226$27,500$3,750
20237$19,000$1,000

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

37% of its giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

District of Columbia
$32K
Texas
$30K
Massachusetts
$8K
New York
$8K
Florida
$5K
California
$4K
Missouri
$2K

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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 Fund8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust6 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc6 shared recipientsThe San Francisco Foundation5 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc5 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. 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 District of Columbia.
  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 arts & culture in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in TexasEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Barbara Lee Family Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 3 returns (tax years 2021-2023). 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: Po Box 4001661953 Massachusetts Av, Cambridge, MA, 02140. 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 04-3473585 · 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 [email protected] and we will correct it.