Funders › Connecticut

Charter Oak Foundation

West Simsbury, CT · EIN 95-2264158. Reported 64 grants totalling $350,500 to 42 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$350,500granted, 2021-2024
42recipients, as named on its returns
38%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,354,618assets, 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. Charter Oak 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,500 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
5 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
53 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
6 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
Youth OutlookNaperville, IL$25,000442024
Family Matters IncChicago, IL$20,000442024
Healing Meals FoundationBloomfield, CT$20,000332023
Sg United FoundationYork, ME$20,000332024
Trinity Academy of HartfordHartford, CT$16,000332024
Laurel House Inc Dba Hope HarborTustin, CA$15,000222023
The Network Against Domestic AbuseEnfield, CT$15,000332023
The Social & Emotional Wellness InitiativeCulver City, CA$11,000222023
A Promise to JordanSimsbury, CT$10,000222022
Compass for Kids IncSpringfield, IL$10,000222024
Innovators for PurposeActon, MA$10,000222022
Kitchen Garden Project Inc Garden-Raised BountyOlympia, WA$10,000112024
Laurel House IncStamford, CT$10,000222024
Queerspace CollectiveMinneapolis, MN$10,000112024
Vera Court Neighborhood CenterMadison, WI$10,000222024
Your Move MkeMilwaukee, WI$10,000222024
The Lucy ProjectMiami, FL$7,500112022
Apna Ghar IncChicago, IL$6,000112021
Love Unity & Values InstituteChicago, IL$6,000112021
The Advot ProjectLos Angeles, CA$6,000112021
Abc House IncAlbany, OR$5,000112024
All 4 Kidz IncMilwaukee, WI$5,000112023
Chicago Abortion FundChicago, IL$5,000112022
Chicago Hopes for KidsChicago, IL$5,000112021
College Bound OpportunitiesRiverwoods, IL$5,000112021
Erins Angels of Cny IncPhoenix, NY$5,000112024
Heart Women & GirlsChicago, IL$5,000112021
Heavenward Farm Horsemanship IncMorrow, OH$5,000112024
Helping Others Prepare for EternityGarden Grove, CA$5,000112021
Mean Girls EmpowermentSouth Holland, IL$5,000112021
Minnesota Transportation Museum IncSt Paul, MN$5,000112024
Mission Edge San DiegoSan Diego, CA$5,000112023
Nehemiah GroupChicago, IL$5,000112023
Norwalkstamford Grassroots Tennis & Education IncNorwalk, CT$5,000112023
Read to AchieveNashville, TN$5,000112024
Seneca Family of AgenciesOakland, CA$5,000112022
Urban CompassLos Angeles, CA$5,000112021
Winning Ways IncBranford, CT$5,000112024
With HopeDallas, TX$5,000112022
Hands for HopeNorth Hollywood, CA$4,500112023
Soar and ElevateRichmond, VA$2,000112024
Heal Through Food IncQueens, NY$1,500112023

14 of 42 (33%) 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 38%, across 3 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 52 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.

Human Services
14 grants
Youth Development
13 grants
Education
6 grants
Community Improvement
5 grants
Food & Nutrition
5 grants
Mental Health
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
1 grant
Environment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202119$102,000$5,000
202212$72,500$5,000
202316$75,000$5,000
202417$101,000$5,000

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

28% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Illinois
$97K
Connecticut
$81K
California
$56K
Wisconsin
$25K
Maine
$20K
Minnesota
$15K
Washington
$10K
Massachusetts
$10K

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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 Fund21 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc17 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc14 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust8 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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 Illinois.
  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 human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in ConnecticutEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Charter Oak 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: 48 Fox Den Road, West Simsbury, CT, 06092. 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 95-2264158 · 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.