Funders › Massachusetts

Sawyer Parks Charitable Foundation

Boston, MA · EIN 04-6088774. Reported 334 grants totalling $1,242,740 to 79 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$1,242,740granted, 2021-2025
79recipients, as named on its returns
96%of grantees funded again the next year
$5,340,012assets, 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. Sawyer Parks 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.

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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $250 and $1,500; the smallest was $100 and the largest $66,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
143 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
133 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
16 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
30 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
6 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
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
Suffolk UniversityBoston, MA$308,000552025
Rosie's PlaceBoston, MA$165,000552025
Mass Eye & Ear InfirmaryBoston, MA$127,500552025
MspcaBoston, MA$81,000552025
Family Reach FoundationBoston, MA$80,000552025
National Braille PressBoston, MA$54,000552025
Greater Boston Food BankBoston, MA$50,000552025
The Hundred Club of MaBoston, MA$41,000552025
Pine Street InnBoston, MA$34,000552025
Boys & Girls Club of BostonBoston, MA$31,000552025
Haitian Health FoundationNorwich, CT$30,000552025
Lawrence Catholic AcademyLawrence, MA$25,000442024
Boca Regional HospitalBoca Raton, FL$13,000552025
Foster ParrotsRockland, MA$12,500552025
Elizabeth Stone HouseRoxbury, MA$10,000552025
Heifer Project InternationalLittle Rock, AR$10,000552025
Cor UnumLawrence, MA$8,000442025
Home for Little WanderersBoston, MA$7,500552025
Morgan Memorial GoodwillBoston, MA$7,500552025
Children IncRichmond, VA$6,540552025
St Lawrence ChurchChestnut Hill, MA$6,500112025
Boston Rescue Mission-Kingston HouseBoston, MA$5,200552025
Saint Francis HouseBoston, MA$5,200552025
Boys & Girls TownBoys Town, NE$5,000552025
Brigham & Women's HospitalBoston, MA$5,000552025
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$5,000552025
Dorchester BayDorchester, MA$5,000552025
Globe SantaBoston, MA$5,000552025
Newton Country Day SchoolNewton, MA$5,000552025
Shriners HospitalTampa, FL$5,000552025
St Jude Children's HospitalMemphis, TN$5,000552025
Valley Settlement ProjectCarbondale, CO$5,000552025
WGBHBoston, MA$5,000552025
Woman's Lunch PlaceBoston, MA$5,000552025
Salvation ArmyCanton, MA$4,500552025
Wounded Warrior ProjectTopeka, KS$4,500552025
Crossroads for KidsDuxbury, MA$4,000442025
Habitiat for HumanityAmericus, GA$4,000442024
Four Paws InternationalBoston, MA$3,000332025
Boston Public LibraryBoston, MA$2,500552025
Bridge Over Troubled WatersBoston, MA$2,500552025
Dana Farber - Perini Family Survivors CenterBoston, MA$2,500442025
Fidelco Guide Dog FoundationBloomfield, CT$2,500552025
Larz Anderson Auto MuseumBrookline, MA$2,500552025
Museum of Fine ArtsBoston, MA$2,500552025
New England AquariumBoston, MA$2,500552025
Booth Hill FarmsScituate, MA$2,000222022
Massachusetts Vest DogsWalpole, MA$2,000442025
Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionWoods Hole, MA$2,000442025
Hoffman Insitute FoundationSan Rafael, CA$1,500332024
Saint Joseph Indian SchoolChamberlain, SD$1,500552025
Saint Labre Indian SchoolAshland, MT$1,500552025
Boston Children's HospitalBoston, MA$1,250552025
Marathon DaffodilsCharlestown, MA$1,250112024
Mass Audubon SocietyBoston, MA$1,250552025
The Nature ConservancyMerrifield, VA$1,250552025
Animal Rescue League of BostonBoston, MA$1,000552025
ASPCAWashington, DC$1,000552025
Associated Alumni of the Sacred HeartSt Louis, MO$1,000552025
Black Beauty Ranch-Fund for AnimalsNew York, NY$1,000552025
Crossroads Urban CampfireDuxbury, MA$1,000112021
Generation SosMaspeth, NY$1,000112025
Habitat for HumanityAmericus, GA$1,000112025
Hospice of the Good ShepherdNewton, MA$1,000552025
Northeast Animal ShelterSalem, MA$1,000552025
Samaritans OrganizationBoston, MA$1,000112022
World Wildlife FundWashington, DC$1,000552025
Boston Raiders YfcDorchester, MA$750332025
Service StarsWest Newton, MA$750332025
Brookline Firefighter AssociationBrookline, MA$500222025
Brookline Library FoundationBrookline, MA$500552025
Brookline Mental Health CenterBrookline, MA$500552025
Friends of Highland Beach LibraryHighland Beach, FL$500552025
Gumbo LimboBoca Raton, FL$500552025
Hoffman Institute FoundationSan Rafael, CA$500112025
Poodle RescueSomerville, MA$400442024
Brookline Police Mutual Aid AssociationBrookline, MA$200222025
Mercy ShipsLindale, TX$100112024
St Francis HouseBoston, MA$100112022

70 of 79 (89%) 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 96%, 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 152 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.

Animal Welfare
28 grants
Human Services
25 grants
International Affairs
20 grants
Education
16 grants
Health Care
15 grants
Arts & Culture
10 grants
Youth Development
8 grants
Environment
6 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202161$245,108$1,000
202266$214,208$1,000
202367$250,558$1,000
202471$275,158$1,000
202569$257,708$1,000

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

91% 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
$1.1M
Connecticut
$32K
Florida
$19K
Arkansas
$10K
Virginia
$8K
New York
$7K
Nebraska
$5K
Georgia
$5K

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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 Inc29 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program27 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc25 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust21 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc20 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

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

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Sawyer Parks Charitable 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: 200 Newbury Street 4TH Floor, Boston, MA, 02116. 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 04-6088774 · 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.