The Fledgling Fund
Hyannis, MA · EIN 20-2450707. Reported 109 grants totalling $5,507,428 to 76 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. 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. The Fledgling Fund 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $25,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $1,761,272. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acumen Fund (see Attached Schedule) | New York, NY | $1,761,272 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Schedule Attached | Hyannis, MA | $998,058 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Acumen Fund (schedule Attached) | New York, NY | $851,395 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Girl Rising | New York, NY | $151,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Lord's Place | West Palm Beach, FL | $140,174 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Harvard School of Public Health | Boston, MA | $135,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Miracle Feet | Chapel Hill, NC | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Martha's Vineyard Hospital | Oaks Bluffs, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| King Baudouin Foundation United States | New York, NY | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $82,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Everglades Foundation | Palmetto Bay, FL | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| National Trust for Historic Preservation | Washington, DC | $58,350 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sheriff's Meadow Foundation | Vineyard Haven, MA | $54,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hispanic Society of America | New York, NY | $53,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Martha's Vineyard Youth Inc | Chilmark, MA | $51,900 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Circuit Arts | Vineyard Haven, MA | $51,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Acumen Fund Inc | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| International Documentary Association | Los Angeles, CA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Island Housing Trust Corporation | Vineyard Haven, MA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Families First of Palm Beach County | West Palm Beach, FL | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Pbc | West Palm Beach, FL | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| International Center for Journalist | Washington, DC | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County | West Palm Beach, FL | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Palm Beach Civic Association | Palm Beach, FL | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Phyiscal Plant Theatre | Austin, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Finca Vigia Foundation | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Marshall Project | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Urban Communitications Group | Huntington Woods, MI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Utah Film Center | Salt Lake City, UT | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Kaiser Family Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $22,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Society of the Four Arts | Palm Beach, FL | $22,300 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Adopt-a-Family | Lake Worth Beach, FL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brain Chemistry Lab | Jackson, WY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Martha's Vineyard Donor Collaborative | Edgartown, MA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Town of Palm Beach United Way | Palm Beach, FL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Redford Center | San Francisco, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Documentary Producers Alliance | Dover, DE | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sanarte Films LLC | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Women Donor Network | San Francisco, CA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Forward Global | Washington, DC | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Vineyard Preservation Trust | Edgartown, MA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society | West Palm Beach, FL | $5,094 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Friends of Caritas Cubana Corporation | Cambridge, MA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Friends of Chilmark Preschool | Chilmark, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Her Justice Nyc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hospital Albert Schweitzer Haiti | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hospital for Special Surgery | West Palm Beach, FL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Martha's Vineyard Film Society | Vineyard Haven, MA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach | Palm Beach, FL | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Stillpoint | Vineyard Haven, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute | Woods Hole, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Palm Beach Dramaworks | West Palm Beach, FL | $4,420 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Peggy Adams Animal Rescue | West Palm Beach, FL | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Musuem of Modern Art | New York, NY | $2,850 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Childrens Movement of Florida | Miami, FL | $2,603 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Martha's Vineyard Museum | Vineyard Haven, MA | $2,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| South Florida Science Center and Aquarium | West Palm Beach, FL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Aperture Foundation | New York, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Small Contributions | Hyannis, MA | $2,450 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Mounts Botanical Garden Inc | West Palm Beach, FL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Martha's Vineyard Author Series | Chilmark, MA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Martha's Vineyard Community Services | Oaks Bluffs, MA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Martha's Vineyard Playhouse | Vineyard Haven, MA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The 1909 Foundation | West Palm Beach, FL | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Argosy Foundation | Milwaukee, WI | $1,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Center for Creative Education | West Palm Beach, FL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Island Health Care | Edgartown, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rosarian Fund | West Palm Beach, FL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of Chilmark Library | Chilmark, MA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Habitat for Humanity New York City | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Habitat for Humantiry New York City and Westchester County | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Post-Polio Institute | St Louis, MO | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Southern Poverty Law Center | Montgomery, AL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sundance Institute | Park City, UT | $362 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| South Florida PBS | Boynton Beach, FL | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| WGBH Educational Foundation | Boston, MA | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
33 of 76 (43%) 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 65%, across 1 year-to-year transition. 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.
- Acumen Fund (see Attached Schedule)
LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAM (SEE SCH.) - Schedule Attached
SUPPORT CHARITABLE ACTIVITY
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 56 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | $1,761,272 | $1,761,272 |
| 2021 | 1 | $851,395 | $851,395 |
| 2022 | 1 | $998,058 | $998,058 |
| 2023 | 51 | $910,875 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 55 | $985,828 | $10,000 |
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
56% 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 $10,000. 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 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 The Fledgling Fund's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). 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: 500 Ocean Street 26, Hyannis, MA, 02601. 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 20-2450707 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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