The Richard and Clare Lesser Family
Jupiter, FL · EIN 04-6961280. Reported 126 grants totalling $1,231,108 to 56 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". The Richard and Clare Lesser Family checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
4 of the organizations The Richard and Clare Lesser Family funded make grants themselves, and it reported 18 grants totalling $327,375 to them. That is 42% of the $784,700 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admirals Cove Foundation Inc | grantmaking organization | Florida | $290,500 | 9 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County Inc | federated giving programme | Florida | $30,000 | 4 | 3 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| Greater Miami Jewish Federation Inc | federated giving programme | Florida | $3,875 | 3 | 3 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| Fifty Over Fifty Inc | grantmaking organization | Florida | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $2,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $40 and the largest $100,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admiral's Cove Foundation | Jupiter, FL | $290,500 | 9 | 5 | 2025 |
| Northeastern University | Boston, MA | $227,800 | 23 | 5 | 2025 |
| Morse Life Foundation | West Palm Beach, FL | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Brigham and Women's Hospital | Boston, MA | $143,839 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Martha's Vineyard Hospital | Oak Bluffs, MA | $75,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Martha's Vineyard Community Services | Vineyard Haven, MA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Faulli Jupiter | Jupiter, FL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County | West Palm Beach, FL | $30,000 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Anti-Defamation Leauge | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Foundation for Neurological Diseases | Newburyport, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Israel Defense Forces | New York, NY | $24,500 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| Herizon | West Palm Beach, FL | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Temple Judea | Coral Gables, FL | $13,795 | 4 | 2 | 2023 |
| Hebrew Senior Life | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ruby and Lavon Linn Foundation | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sbp | New Orleans, LA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center | Vineyard Haven, MA | $8,800 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Jafco | Sunrise, FL | $6,179 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Jupiter Medical Center Foundation | Jupiter, FL | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| YMCA of Martha's Vineyard | Vineyard Haven, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Greater Miami Jewish Federation | Miami, FL | $3,875 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Barnert Temple | Franklin Lakes, NJ | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Funding Arts Network | Miami, FL | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Eva's Village | Paterson, NJ | $2,600 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mvhc Summer Institute 2022 | Vineyard Haven, MA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mvhc Summer Institute 2021 | Vineyard Haven, MA | $2,400 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Eli J and N Segal Program Fund | Waltham, MA | $2,000 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| Farm Neck Foundation | Oak Bluffs, MA | $2,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Hospice and Palliative Care of Martha's Vineyard | Vineyard Haven, MA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Jewish Women's Foundation | West Palm Beach, FL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jwf | West Palm Beach, FL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| North Bergen Renaissance Corporation | North Bergen, NJ | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pan-Mass Challenge | Needham, MA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The Arnold P Gold Foundation | Englewood Cliffs, NJ | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp | Ashford, CT | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Women's Philanthropy of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation | Miami, FL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Marthas Vineyard Hebrew Center | Vineyard Haven, MA | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Boston, MA | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pmc - Jimmy Fund | Needham, MA | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| West Tisbury Library Annual Appeal | West Tisbury, MA | $1,100 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Griffin Cares Foundation | Tenafly, NJ | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maltz Jupiter Theatre | Jupiter, FL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Miami Beach Jewish Community Center | Miami Beach, FL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Craig School | Mountain Lakes, NJ | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The New England Conservatory | Boston, MA | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Precious Project Inc | Brookline, MA | $800 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Chabad of Jupiter | Jupiter, FL | $680 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Common Threads | Brooklyn, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jewish Heritage Center | Boston, MA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Lord's Place | West Palm Beach, FL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The New England Conservatory of Music | Boston, MA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Camera | Boston, MA | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Shriner's Children's | Tampa, FL | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Berklee College of Music | Boston, MA | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association | West Palm Beach, FL | $40 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
25 of 56 (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 37%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
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.
- Morse Life Foundation
GENERAL FUND, 2021 FINAL PAYMENT - Foundation for Neurological Diseases
DR. SELKOE'S ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH - Northeastern University
IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT AOUN - Admiral's Cove Foundation
JUPITER MEDICAL CTR, ACF GRANTS - Herizon
PURCHASE NEW EQUIPMENT FOR GYM AT ROSLINDALE - Faulli Jupiter
PMT 5 OF 5 OF 2019 PLEDGE
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 73 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 | 40 | $206,865 | $1,900 |
| 2022 | 26 | $250,793 | $3,500 |
| 2023 | 26 | $271,900 | $2,000 |
| 2024 | 15 | $147,800 | $5,000 |
| 2025 | 19 | $353,750 | $5,000 |
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
49% of its giving went to organizations in Massachusetts.
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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. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Richard and Clare Lesser Family'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: 193 Island Drive, Jupiter, FL, 33477. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 04-6961280 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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