Cheryl Spencer Memorial Foundation
Newburyport, MA · EIN 04-6360057. Reported 85 grants totalling $4,367,201 to 40 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. 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. Cheryl Spencer Memorial 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 $22,597. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $100,000; the smallest was $36 and the largest $430,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aforam - American Friendsrambam Hospital | New York, NY | $1,236,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc | Boston, MA | $620,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Asuh - American Society of the University of Haifa | New York, NY | $595,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Maimonides School | Brookline, MA | $500,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| American Jewish Committee | New York, NY | $303,150 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Birthright Israel Foundation | New York, NY | $200,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Brigham and Women's Hospital | Boston, MA | $175,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Hebrew College | Newton Center, MA | $125,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| American Society for Technion Israel Institute of Technology Inc | Newton, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brandies University - Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program | Waltham, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hadassah | New York City, NY | $72,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Temple Emanuel | Newton Centre, MA | $67,391 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Other Amounts Not Detailed | Dedham, MA | $46,808 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Brandies University | Waltham, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Habitat for Humanity | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| New Israel Fund | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Planned Parenthood | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Rotary Foundation of Rotary International | Evvanston, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| To Keren Or Inc (ray of Light) | New York City, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Jewish Theological Seminary (jts) | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Gann Acadamy | Waltham, MA | $10,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Rainforest Alliance | Nyc, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| World Jewish Congress - Wjc | New York, NY | $5,600 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| American Technion Society | Newton, MA | $5,516 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Massachusetts General Hospital | Boston, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Solomon Schechter Day School of Boston | Newton, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Holocaust Museum | Washington, DC | $3,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hillel of Umass | Amherst, MA | $3,100 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Bais Yaakou | Brighton, MA | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Alzheimers Research | Wellesley, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of Israel Defense Forces | Newton, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Shaloh House Jewish Day School | Brighton, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Simon Wiesenthal Center | Los Angeles, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Gann Israel | Newton Centre, MA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sisters of St Joseph | Brighton, MA | $200 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Chabad at Chestnut Hill | Newton, MA | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | Boston, MA | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Shriners Hospital | Boston, MA | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wounded Warrior Project | Jacksonville, FL | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jewish Community Center - Jcc - Newton | Newton, MA | $36 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
18 of 40 (45%) 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 60%, 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.
- Aforam - American Friendsrambam Hospital
To support the charity's mission
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 26 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 | 20 | $956,515 | $7,500 |
| 2022 | 18 | $682,878 | $5,050 |
| 2023 | 14 | $690,308 | $19,692 |
| 2024 | 16 | $874,900 | $75,000 |
| 2025 | 17 | $1,162,600 | $25,000 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Cheryl Spencer Memorial Foundation has 14 of them, worth $2,190,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Aforam - American Friendsrambam Hospital | New York, NY | $600,000 |
| Aforam - American Friendsrambam Hospital | New York, NY | $400,000 |
| Massachusetts General Hospital | Boston, MA | $200,000 |
| Asuh - American Society of the University of Haifa | New York, NY | $115,000 |
| Aforam - American Friendsrambam Hospital | New York, NY | $100,000 |
| American Society for Technion Israel Institute of Technology Inc | Newton, MA | $100,000 |
| Asuh - American Society of the University of Haifa | New York, NY | $100,000 |
| Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc | Boston, MA | $100,000 |
| Maimonides School | Brookline, MA | $100,000 |
| Aforam - American Friendsrambam Hospital | New York, NY | $100,000 |
| Asuh - American Society of the University of Haifa | New York, NY | $100,000 |
| Jewish Federations of North America | Nyc, NY | $100,000 |
| Brigham and Women's Hospital | Boston, MA | $50,000 |
| Hebrew College | Newton Center, MA | $25,000 |
Where its money goes
57% of its giving went to organizations in New York. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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 $22,597. 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 New York.
- 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 Cheryl Spencer Memorial Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: 15 Barton Road, Newburyport, MA, 01950. 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 04-6360057 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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