Josephine G Russell Trust
Andover, MA · EIN 04-2136910. Reported 206 grants totalling $2,261,125 to 60 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. Josephine G Russell Trust 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 $8,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $15,000; the smallest was $25 and the largest $50,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence General Hospital | Lawrence, MA | $210,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Lazarus House | Lawrence, MA | $175,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School | Methuen, MA | $125,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Food for the World Inc | Lawrence, MA | $112,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Greater Lawrence Community Boating Program | Lawrence, MA | $100,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Groundwork Lawrence | Lawrence, MA | $100,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Neighbors in Need | Lawrence, MA | $80,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence | Lawrence, MA | $75,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Central Catholic High School | Lawrence, MA | $75,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Brooks School | North Andover, MA | $60,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Bread & Roses | Lawrence, MA | $59,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Esperanza Academy | Lawrence, MA | $50,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Merrimack Valley Food Bank Inc | Lowell, MA | $50,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Notre Dame Education Center | Lawrence, MA | $47,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Bread & Roses Housing | Lawrence, MA | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Greater Lawrence Family Health Center | Methuen, MA | $42,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Teach for America Massachusetts | Boston, MA | $41,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Appalachian Mountain Club | Boston, MA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Professional Center for Child Development | Lawrence, MA | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Communities Together Inc | Lawrence, MA | $38,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bellesini Osa Academy | Lawrence, MA | $37,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Windrush Farm Therapertic Equitation Inc | Boxford, MA | $37,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Community in Roads | North Andover, MA | $35,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Lawrence Prospera | Lawrence, MA | $35,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Mary Immaculate Healthcare Services | Lawrence, MA | $35,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Community Giving Tree | Boxford, MA | $30,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Lawrence Catholic Academy | Lawrence, MA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Partners in Child Development | Lawrence, MA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Lawrence Community Works | Lawrence, MA | $27,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Blessed Stephen Bellesini Osa Academy | Lawrence, MA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Family Service Inc (samaritans) | Lawrence, MA | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Merrimack Valley Immigrant Education Center | Lawrence, MA | $24,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St George Eastern Orthodox Church | Lawrence, MA | $24,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Easter Seals Massachusetts | Worcester, MA | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Essex Art Center | Lawrence, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St George Antiochian Orthodox Church | Lawrence, MA | $18,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Essex County Habitat for Humanity | Danvers, MA | $17,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Family Service Inc (arise) | Lawrence, MA | $16,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Family Service Inc (esteem) | Lawrence, MA | $16,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Phillips Academy | Andover, MA | $16,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Catie's Closet | Dracut, MA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Lawrence History Center | Lawrence, MA | $15,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Phillips Academy | Andover, ME | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The Joey Fournier Services Inc | North Andover, MA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Project Home Again | Lawrence, MA | $13,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bread & Roses Heritage Committee | Lawrence, MA | $12,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| YMCA Merrimack Valley | Lawrence, MA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Beyond Soccer | Lawrence, MA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The Community Group | Lawrence, MA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The Joey Fournier Foundation | North Andover, MA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Family Service Inc (youth Development) | Lawrence, MA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Teach for America | Boston, MA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Merrimack Valley Dream Center | Lawrence, MA | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Psychological Center Inc | Lawrence, MA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Merrimack Valley YMCA | Lawrence, MA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Merrimack Valley YMCA Adelante Education Center | Lawrence, MA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Si Se Puede | Lawrence, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ttes of Weare Public Library | Weare, NH | $400 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hillside Cemetry Assn | Weare, NH | $125 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Trustees of Weare Public Library | Weare, NH | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
52 of 60 (87%) 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 85%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 98 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 | 39 | $418,625 | $8,000 |
| 2022 | 43 | $492,125 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 43 | $475,125 | $9,500 |
| 2024 | 43 | $469,125 | $8,000 |
| 2025 | 38 | $406,125 | $7,500 |
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
99% 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.
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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 $8,000. 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 Josephine G Russell Trust'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: 9 Bartlet Street 343, Andover, MA, 01810. 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 04-2136910 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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