Berkshire Life Charitable Foundation
Pittsfield, MA · EIN 04-3566439. Reported 57 grants totalling $568,465 to 28 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. Berkshire Life Charitable 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $12,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $6,000 and $12,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $22,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire County Arc | Pittsfield, MA | $56,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Blue Rider Stables | Great Barrington, MA | $55,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Access to the Arts | Great Barrington, MA | $51,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Berkshire Music School | Pittsfield, MA | $41,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Life Needs Coop Inc Dba Stanton Home | Great Barrington, MA | $36,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Community Legal Aid Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $34,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority | Pittsfield, MA | $32,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| United Cerebal Palsy Association of Berkshire County | Pittsfield, MA | $29,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Berkshire South Regional Community Center | Great Barrington, MA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Elizabeth Freeman Center Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $24,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $24,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Pediatric Development Center | Pittsfield, MA | $22,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Branches School of the Berkshires Inc | Dalton, MA | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Extraspecialteas | Great Barrington, MA | $16,050 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Dalton Cra | Dalton, MA | $16,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ucp of Western Ma | Pittsfield, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| UPSIDE413 | Pittsfield, MA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Words Unspoken | Westfield, MA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Elder Services of Berkshire County Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires and Southern Vermont Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Guidewire Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $5,800 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Guidewirem Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $5,700 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Berkshire Center for Justice Inc | Great Barrington, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| National Alliance on Mental Illness (nami) of Berkshire County | Pittsfield, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hillcrest Educational Centers Inc | Pittsfield, MA | $4,465 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Berkshire Community College Foundation | Pittsfield, MA | $3,950 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pathlight | Springfield, MA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Citivan Club of the Berkshires | Pittsfield, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
15 of 28 (54%) 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 60%, across 3 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.
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.
- Blue Rider Stables
BLUE RIDER STABLES' ADAPTIVE RIDING PROGRAMS SERVE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS THROUGHOUT BERKSHIRE COUNT AND THE TRI-STATE AREA. PROGRAMS SUCH AS OURS HAVE PROVEN TO BE EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE IN REACHING THOSE WITH DISABILITIES WHO ARE OTHERWISE UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SPORTS OR MANY OTHER PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES. WE ARE REQUESTING FUNDING THIS YEAR TO SUPPORT SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS WHO LIVE IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY FULL TIME AND REQUIRE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN THERAPEUTIC LESSONS. ADAPTIVE HORSEBACK RIDING SUPPORTS EACH CLIENT'S INDIVIDUALIZED GOALS. THESE INCLUDE THE IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIAL, PHYSICAL, VOCATIONAL, SAFETY, COMMUNITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS. THE PROPOSED SCHOLARSHIPS WILL BENEFIT APPROXIMATELY TWENTY SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS AGES TWO TO SEVENTY SIX TO PARTICIPATE IN AGE APPROPRIATE PROGRAMS SUITED TO THEIR NEEDS. - Berkshire County Arc
BCARC TRANSITIONAL ENRICHMENT PROGRAM PROVIDES IN PERSON LEANING FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES - Berkshire Music School
TO FUND THE SCHOOL'S CREATIVE COLLABORATION PROGRAM DEDICATED TO PROVIDING QUALITY MUSICAL ENRICHMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH INTELLECTUAL OR PHYSCIAL DISABILITIES AT BCARC RESIDENCES AND DAY CENTERS - United Cerebal Palsy Association of Berkshire County
CHILDERN'S PROGRAMMING, EARLY INTERVENTION, NEONATAL ABSTINENCE SYNDROME, FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES. - Extraspecialteas
THE PROGRAM EST IS REQUESTING FUNDING FOR IS AN EXPANSION OF TEA BLENDING, BAKING, PRODUCT .DEVELOPMENT, AND FOOD SERVICE IN THE NEW EST HOUSATONIC LOCATION. THE PROGRAM IS GROWING TO MEET THE NEEDS OF EST'S WORKING PARTICIPANTS BY FULFILLING THE MANY COMMUNITY REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTS AND A LOCAL RESTAURANT VENUE. AS THE NUMBER OF EST PARTICIPANTS GROWS, THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL STAFF AND ACTIVE DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMS GROWS. THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR FUNDING. - Berkshire South Regional Community Center
WE RESPECTFULLY REQUEST SUPPORT FROM THE BERKSHIRE LIFE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,000 FOR OUR SWIM WITH US ADAPTIVE SWIM LESSONS AND AQUA THRILLS CLASSES, AQUATICS PROGRAMS SERVING THOSE WHO MIGHT HAVE DIFFICULTIES PARTICIPATING IN TRADITIONAL LESSONS AND AQUATICS EXPERIENCES.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 42 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 | 17 | $141,615 | $6,000 |
| 2022 | 15 | $141,000 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 13 | $138,850 | $12,000 |
| 2024 | 12 | $147,000 | $13,500 |
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
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $12,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Massachusetts.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Berkshire Life Charitable Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 700 South Street, Pittsfield, MA, 01201. 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 04-3566439 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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