Funders › Pennsylvania

Bird Charles Sumner Fdn Tr Udecl

Pittsburgh, PA · EIN 04-6093505. Reported 142 grants totalling $692,000 to 58 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$3,000median grant
$692,000granted, 2020-2024
58recipients, as named on its returns
65%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,469,750assets, 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. Bird Charles Sumner Fdn Tr Udecl 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 $3,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,500 and $6,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $34,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
14 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
75 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
32 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
18 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
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
The Trustees of ReservationsBoston, MA$96,500552024
Conway School of Landscape DesignNorthampton, MA$56,000552024
Fractured AtlasNew York, NY$46,000222021
Newport Hospital FoundationNewport, RI$46,000332024
Eaglebrook SchoolDeerfield, MA$38,000552024
The Public's RadioProvidence, RI$32,000222022
Fresh EnergySaint Paul, MN$31,000552024
Newport HospitalNewport, RI$30,000222022
Manitou Art CenterManitou Spgs, CO$28,500552024
Weer AfricaHarrisburg, PA$27,000552024
Ccn Historic Preservation Building FdnNewport, RI$20,000222024
Saint Joseph's Arts FoundationSan Francisco, CA$18,000442024
Art and NewportMiddletown, RI$17,000332024
Provincetown Art AssociationProvincetown, MA$17,000442023
Institue of Noetic SciencesPetaluma, CA$11,000442024
Open Gate Sangha IncSanta Cruz, CA$10,000222021
Ripr the Public's RadioProvidence, RI$10,000112020
Massachusetts Audubon SocietyLincoln, MA$9,000552024
The Cape Coast and Islands NPR StationWoods Hole, MA$9,000442024
Solstice ProjectSanta Fe, NM$8,000332024
Truro Center for the ArtsTruro, MA$8,000442024
Tibet Mongalom IncMiami, FL$7,500332023
Provincetown Public Art FoundationProvincetown, MA$7,000222023
Wellfleet Historical Society IncWellfleet, MA$7,000442024
NPR - KrccColorado Springs, CO$6,500332024
Putney SchoolPutney, VT$6,000222023
American Friends of GeorgiaTruro, MA$5,000332022
Newport Art MuseumNewport, RI$5,000112022
Newport Historic SpringNewport, RI$5,000112023
Norman Bird SanctuaryMiddletown, RI$5,000112023
Norman Bird Sanctuary TrustMiddletown, RI$5,000112021
Potter League for AnimalsMiddletown, RI$5,000112024
White BisonColorado Springs, CO$4,500332024
Kaweah Waters Birthright FoundationColorado Springs, CO$4,000112020
Neponset Choral Society IncEast Walpole, MA$4,000332022
Redwood Library and AthenaeumNewport, RI$4,000112022
ManometManomet, MA$3,750552024
18TH Street Arts CenterSanta Monica, CA$3,000112020
18TH Street Arts ComplexSanta Monica, CA$3,000332024
Provincetown Art Association and MuseumProvincetown, MA$3,000112024
Trails and Open Space CoalitionColorado Springs, CO$3,000112020
Truro Historical SocietyTruro, MA$3,000332022
West End Racing ClubTruro, MA$3,000112024
Allens Neck Friends MeetingDartmouth, MA$2,000442024
Bon Shen LingWoodside, NY$2,000112022
Institute of Noetic SciencesPetaluma, CA$2,000112020
Manitou Springs Chamber of CommerceManitou Springs, CO$2,000112021
Outer Cape ChoraleS Wellfleet, MA$2,000222024
Truro Center for the Arts at Castle HillTruro, MA$2,000112020
Wcai the Cape and Islands NPR StationWoods Hole, MA$2,000112020
Pikes Peak PermacultureManitou Springs, CO$1,500222024
Lloyd Center for the EnvironmentDartmouth, MA$1,250332022
Cape Cod Museum of ArtDennis, MA$1,000112024
Fountain Creek WatershedColorado Springs, CO$1,000112024
Stonington Community RowingStonington, CT$1,000112023
The Wellfleet Historical Society & MuseuWellfleet, MA$1,000112020
18TH Streets Arts CenterSanta Monica, CA$500112022
Allen's Neck Friends MeetingSouth Dartmouth, MA$500112020

35 of 58 (60%) 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 65%, 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.

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 85 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.

Arts & Culture
27 grants
Environment
22 grants
Education
10 grants
Health Care
5 grants
Human Services
5 grants
International Affairs
3 grants
Mental Health
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202028$159,000$2,500
202130$170,000$3,500
202229$120,000$2,000
202327$123,000$4,000
202428$120,000$2,500

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

41% of its giving went to organizations in Massachusetts. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Massachusetts
$281K
Rhode Island
$184K
Colorado
$51K
New York
$48K
California
$48K
Minnesota
$31K
Pennsylvania
$27K
New Mexico
$8K

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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 Fund29 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc21 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust15 shared recipientsGs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund14 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program13 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,000. 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 Massachusetts.
  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 MassachusettsEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Bird Charles Sumner Fdn Tr Udecl's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). 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: Po Box 185, Pittsburgh, PA, 15230. 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 04-6093505 · 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.