The Robert and Michelle Cooke Atchinson
Winchester, MA · EIN 04-6875099. Reported 187 grants totalling $18.1M to 76 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. 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 Robert and Michelle Cooke Atchinson 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
5 of the organizations The Robert and Michelle Cooke Atchinson funded make grants themselves, and it reported 13 grants totalling $542,500 to them. That is 3% of the $16.7M 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? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nantucket Golf Club Foundation Inc | grantmaking organization | Massachusetts | $242,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| Boston Foundation Inc | community foundation | Massachusetts | $180,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| Foundation for the Carolinas | community foundation | North Carolina | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| Community Foundation for Nantucket | community foundation | Massachusetts | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
| Golf Fights Cancer Inc | grantmaking organization | Massachusetts | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 | 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 $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $15,000 and $60,000; the smallest was $950 and the largest $2,250,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Eye & Ear | Boston, MA | $5,352,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Campaign for Catholic Schools | Braintree, MA | $2,475,020 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Upstream | Boston, MA | $1,500,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Woods Hole, MA | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Big Brother Big Sister Central Massmetrowest | Worcester, MA | $625,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Camp Harbor View Foundation | Boston, MA | $580,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Share Winter Foundation | Providence, RI | $550,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Year Up | Boston, MA | $500,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ron Burton Training Village | Hubbardston, MA | $460,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nantucket Boys & Girls Club | Nantucket, MA | $438,150 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Boston, MA | $350,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Massachusetts Wonderfund Inc | Newton, MA | $330,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nantucket Cottage Hospital Foundation | Nantucket, MA | $300,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Horizons for Homeless Children | Roxbury, MA | $265,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Catholic Schools Foundation | Boston, MA | $250,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nantucket Golf Club Foundation Inc | Siasconset, MA | $242,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Boston Foundation | Boston, MA | $180,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Health Equity International | Newton, MA | $135,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund Inc | Norton, MA | $135,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Big Brother Big Sister Central Massachusetts Bay | Boston, MA | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Boston Childrens Hospital | Boston, MA | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Boston | Boston, MA | $110,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boston Symphony Orchestra | Boston, MA | $105,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Maranyundo Initiative | Cambridge, MA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The College of the Holy Cross | Worcester, MA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The New England Aquarium | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Boston Bullpen Project Inc | Needham, MA | $95,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gavin Foundation Inc | South Boston, MA | $90,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Massachusetts General Hospital | Boston, MA | $85,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| City Year | Boston, MA | $80,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program | Boston, MA | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Unicef USA | New York, NY | $73,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Greater Boston Food Bank Inc | Boston, MA | $65,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Play Ball | Concord, MA | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boston's Childrens Hospital | Boston, MA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Foundation for the Carolina's | Charlotte, NC | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Harvard College | Cambridge, MA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Pan Mass Challenge | Needham, MA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Esplanade Association | Boston, MA | $46,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Blue Star Families Inc | Encinitas, CA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Saint Cecilia Parish | Boston, MA | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Stanford University | Stanford, CA | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Community Foundation for Nantucket | Nantucket, MA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Golf Fights Cancer | Norton, MA | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Quin House Impact Fund | Boston, MA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Catholic Charities Boston | Boston, MA | $33,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Catholic Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts | Fall River, MA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Corey C Griffin Foundation | Braintree, MA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Medicines for Humanity | Malibu, CA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Natural Resources Defense Council Inc | New York, NY | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| One Summit Inc | North Andover, MA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Honor Foundation | San Diego, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Sisters of St Joseph | Brighton, MA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Big Brother Big Sister of Eastern Massachusetts | Boston, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Clergy Trust | Braintree, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Herren Project | Portsmouth, RI | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Nantucket Partnership for Children Inc - Strong Wings | Nantucket, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Old Colony YMCA | Brockton, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital | Charlestown, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation | Boston, MA | $20,050 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Boston Medflight | Bedford, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Warming Place | Nantucket, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Youth Villages | Woburn, MA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Caitlin Clavette Memorial Foundation | Winchester, MA | $15,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Servings Inc | Jamaica Plain, MA | $12,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation | Nantucket, MA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc | Nantucket, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nativity School of Worcester | Worcester, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Our House Nantucket | Nantucket, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Oneonta Family YMCA | Oneonta, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Park Street Schools Inc | Boston, MA | $7,900 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Home for Little Wanderers | Boston, MA | $5,520 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | Boston, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Catholic Memorial School | West Roxbury, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Nantucket Atheneum | Nantucket, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Children's Own School | Winchester, MA | $1,950 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
52 of 76 (68%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 80%, across 3 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, 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.
- Massachusetts Eye & Ear
INCREASE MEDICAL RESEARCH - Campaign for Catholic Schools
TO STRENGTHEN & SUPPORT CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN BOSTON NEIGHBORHOODS. - Upstream
TO IMPROVE AND CHANGE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE - Ron Burton Training Village
TO ENRICH THE LIVES OF CHALLENGED YOUTH IN AREAS OF CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP - Big Brother Big Sister Central Massmetrowest
SUPPORT MENTORING FOR CHILDREN THROUGHOUT CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS. - Share Winter Foundation
TO SUPPORT THE LIVES, HEALTH AND FITNESS OF YOUTH THROUGH WINTER SPORTS.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 123 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 | 34 | $2,377,400 | $25,000 |
| 2022 | 46 | $4,255,000 | $25,000 |
| 2023 | 49 | $5,212,600 | $25,000 |
| 2024 | 58 | $6,268,790 | $25,000 |
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
95% 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 Robert and Michelle Cooke Atchinson's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 16 Niles Lane, Winchester, MA, 01890. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 04-6875099 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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