Bergen Family Foundation
Wilmington, DE · EIN 85-3247651. Reported 116 grants totalling $1,078,100 to 54 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". Bergen Family Foundation checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations Bergen Family Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 9 grants totalling $360,500 to them. That is 34% of the $1,068,100 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund for the City of New York Inc | community foundation | New York | $325,000 | 4 | 3 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Brooklyn Community Foundation | grantmaking organization | New York | $21,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| The New York Times Communities Fund | grantmaking organization | New York | $14,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $7,500; the smallest was $500 and the largest $105,000.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund for the City of New York Inc | New York, NY | $325,000 | 4 | 3 | 2025 |
| Fjc | New York, NY | $71,000 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| Musicares Foundation Inc | Santa Monica, CA | $56,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Surfrider Foundation | San Clemente, CA | $48,000 | 6 | 4 | 2025 |
| City Limits News Inc | New York, NY | $46,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Ny Community Fridge Corp | New York, NY | $42,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $32,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Sunflower Network | New York, NY | $31,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Youth Represent Inc | New York, NY | $29,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Make-a-Wish Foundation of Metro New York and Weste | New York, NY | $27,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Trustees of Phillips Academy | Andover, MA | $26,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Childrens Aid Society | New York, NY | $22,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Brooklyn Community Foundation | Brooklyn, NY | $21,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| New Garden Friends School Inc | Greensboro, NC | $17,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| World Central Kitchen Incorporated | Washington, DC | $17,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Dumbo District Management Association Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| National Network of Abortion Funds | Beaverton, OR | $14,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Preservation Hall Foundation Inc | New Orleans, LA | $12,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Navigate the Maze to Achievement | Brooklyn, NY | $11,300 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| West Side Center for Community Life Inc | New York, NY | $11,100 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Coalition for the Homeless Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| New York Cares Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Student Press Law Center Inc | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Environmental Advocates Ny Inc | Albany, NY | $7,700 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Harmony Program | New York, NY | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| New York Times Neediest Cases Fund | New York, NY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Torrey Pines Association | Del Mar, CA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The New York Times Communities Fund | New York, NY | $6,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Nova Hope for Haiti Inc | Emerson, NJ | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Scholarship Fund of Alexandria | Alexandria, VA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Start Lighthouse | New York, NY | $5,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Council on the Environment Inc Dba Grownyc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Farmlink Project | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Forca Foundation Inc | Franklin, NC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Good Food Institute Inc | Arlington, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| International Rescue Committee Inc | Albert Lea, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| News Literacy Project Inc | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Riverside Park Conservancy Inc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| WNET | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Terra Firma National Inc | New York, NY | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Writers Lab Inc | New York, NY | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Little Kids Rock Inc | Montclair, NJ | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Memorial Ambulance Corps Isle Au Haut-Stonington-D | Deer Isle, ME | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Vinegar Hill Food Pantry | Brooklyn, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Youth Communication New York Center Inc | New York, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Focus Forward Project Inc | New York, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Powherful Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Sisterhood Is Global Institute Inc | New York, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Council on the Environment Inc | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| East Carolina University | Greenville, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Feeding Texas | Austin, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Austin Disaster Relief Network | Austin, TX | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rosies Theater Kids Inc | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
28 of 54 (52%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 56%, across 4 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, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
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.
- Surfrider Foundation
Eastern Long Island Chapter - City Limits News Inc
CLARIFY Summer Internship Program - Nova Hope for Haiti Inc
Earthquake relief fund 2021 - Powherful Foundation Inc
The Devil Is Busy Film Project - East Carolina University
Frank Rice Jr. Memorial Scholarship FUND
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 101 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 | $18,600 | $2,500 |
| 2022 | 26 | $222,200 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 23 | $270,500 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 30 | $266,000 | $5,000 |
| 2025 | 30 | $300,800 | $4,500 |
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
76% of its giving went to organizations in New York.
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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. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Bergen Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 6 returns (tax years 2020-2025). 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: Foundation Source 501 Silverside Rd, Wilmington, DE, 19809. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 85-3247651 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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