Funders › Massachusetts

The Dicenso Family Charitable Trust

Hull, MA · EIN 04-6869215. Reported 147 grants totalling $230,575 to 59 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$750median grant
$230,575granted, 2021-2025
59recipients, as named on its returns
73%of grantees funded again the next year
$848,634assets, 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. The Dicenso Family Charitable 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.

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 $750. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $1,500; the smallest was $200 and the largest $17,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
80 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
55 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
9 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
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
Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA$54,900552025
International Institute of New EnglandBoston, MA$31,500552025
Glastonbury AbbeyHingham, MA$23,675552025
Alpha ProjectSan Diego, CA$8,250332025
The Women's Lunch PlaceBoston, MA$8,000332025
Boston College High SchoolBoston, MA$7,500552025
Saint Francis HouseBoston, MA$6,250222025
Providence CollegeProvidence, RI$6,000442025
Sisters of Charity of Saint ElizabethConvent Station, NJ$5,750552025
CareAtlanta, GA$5,000112022
Girls Inc of LynnLynn, MA$4,500442024
Wellspring Multi-Service CenterHull, MA$4,500552025
My Brother's TableLynn, MA$3,700332023
Cradles to CrayonsNewtonville, MA$3,500332025
Marshfield Food PantryMansfield, MA$3,250552025
Scituate Animal ShelterScituate, MA$3,250552025
Asu FoundationTempe, AZ$3,000552025
New England Center for VeteransBoston, MA$3,000332025
Great Dog Rescue of NeAndover, MA$2,750552025
The Jimmy FundBrookline, MA$2,500442025
The Mgh FundBoston, MA$2,500552025
The Trustees of the ReservationBoston, MA$2,500222023
National Alliance of Mental Illness-PlymouthMarshfield, MA$2,250442025
Greater Boston Food BankBoston, MA$2,100442024
Saint Anselm CollegeManchester, NH$2,050552025
Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteBoston, MA$2,000112024
National Alliance of Mental IllnessBaltimore, MD$2,000442024
The Jeb FoundationNew York, NY$2,000222025
The Jed FoundationNew York, NY$2,000222023
Best Friends Animal Society of LaLos Angeles, CA$1,500222025
Boy's & Girl's Club of BostonBoston, MA$1,500112025
Pine Street InnBoston, MA$1,500222024
152 Commonwealth FoundationBoston, MA$1,300332024
Boston Partners in EducationBoston, MA$1,000112021
Focus Ian MccarronGolden, CO$1,000112025
Huntington's Disease Society of AmericaNew York, NY$1,000222023
Massachusetts Wonderfund IncBoston, MA$1,000112023
Planned Parenthood of MassBoston, MA$1,000112024
The Womens Lunch PlaceBoston, MA$1,000112021
Society of Women's Health ResearchWashington, DC$750112024
15-10 FoundationCharleston, WV$500112025
Covenant HouseTopeka, KS$500222025
Covenant HouseNew York, NY$500222022
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$500222022
MspcaBoston, MA$500112023
No Kid HungryWashington, DC$500112021
Operation Stand Down Rhode IslandJohnston, RI$500112021
St Jude's Children Research HospitalMemphis, TN$500112024
SteppingstoneBoston, MA$500112025
Sudbury Food PantryWayland, MA$500112025
The Boys & Girls Club of MarshfieldMarshfield, MA$500112021
The Salvation ArmySacramento, CA$500112021
Buddy Dog Humane Society SudburySudbury, MA$300112025
Charity Water OrganizationHagerstown, MD$300112022
Animal Rescue League of BostonBoston, MA$250112024
Cooper's Dream Animal RescueSunnyvale, CA$250112021
Father Bills and MainspringBrockton, MA$250112021
Salvation ArmyBrookhaven, GA$250112023
Silicon Valley Humane SocietyMilpitas, CA$250112024

34 of 59 (58%) 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 73%, 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 74 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
17 grants
Education
15 grants
Youth Development
10 grants
Civil Rights
5 grants
Food & Nutrition
5 grants
Animal Welfare
5 grants
Medical Research
5 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202126$37,950$500
202227$45,800$500
202331$41,750$500
202434$43,650$875
202529$61,425$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

80% 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
$185K
California
$11K
Rhode Island
$6K
New York
$6K
New Jersey
$6K
Georgia
$5K
Arizona
$3K
Maryland
$2K

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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 Inc26 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc25 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program21 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust17 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc17 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $750. 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 The Dicenso Family Charitable 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: 1 Long Beach Ave Apt 401, Hull, MA, 02045. 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 04-6869215 · 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.