The Wenden Foundation
Washington Depot, CT · EIN 45-5548749. Reported 219 grants totalling $973,258 to 103 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 Wenden Foundation 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
3 of the organizations The Wenden Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 6 grants totalling $25,100 to them. That is 3% of the $793,510 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? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Connecticut Community | community foundation | Connecticut | $14,100 | 2 | 2 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| Santa Barbara Foundation | community foundation | California | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 | Its form does not ask |
| The New York Times Communities Fund | grantmaking organization | New York | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 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 $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $230 and the largest $77,500.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Relief | Santa Barbara, CA | $202,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Globalgiving | Washington, DC | $54,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Washington Ambulance Association | Washington Depot, CT | $33,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gunn Memorial Library & Museum | Washington, CT | $30,850 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| City Meals on Wheels | New York, NY | $28,708 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jasa | New York, NY | $28,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Connecticut Food Bank | Wallingford, CT | $22,900 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Publicolor | New York, NY | $21,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| World Central Kitchen Incorporated | Washington DC, DC | $21,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| International Rescue Committee | New York, NY | $20,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| A Brightfocus Foundation | Clarksburg, MD | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Asap Ministries | Berrien Springs, MI | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| City Harvest | New York, NY | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Enterprise Community Partners | Columbia, MD | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bryn Mawr College | Bryn Mawr, PA | $16,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Brightfocus Foundation | Clarksburg, MD | $16,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Team Rubicon | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Dalton School | New York, NY | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Northwest Ct Land Conservatory | Kent, CT | $14,600 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Steep Rock Association Inc | Washington Depot, CT | $14,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation Inc | Torrington, CT | $14,100 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Americares | Stamford, CT | $13,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ackerman Institute for the Family | New York, NY | $12,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Four Freedoms Park Conservancy | Roosevelt Island, NY | $12,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Fresh Air Fund | New York, NY | $11,250 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Washington Park Foundation Inc | Washington, CT | $11,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Washington Scholarship Fund | Washington Depot, CT | $10,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Greenwoods Consulting Referrals Inc | Litchfield, CT | $10,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Heart to Heart International | Lenexa, KS | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Washington Community Fund | Washington, CT | $9,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Himalayan Cataract Project | Waterbury, VT | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Employee Holiday Fund | Palm Coast, FL | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Southern Poverty Law Center | Montgomery, AL | $7,400 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Saint Judes Childrens Hospital | Memphis, TN | $7,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Washington Art Association | Washington Depot, CT | $7,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Washington Volunteer Fire Department | Washington Dt, CT | $7,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| New Milford Refugee Resettlement | New Milford, CT | $6,600 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Cure Blindness Project | Waterbury, VT | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Santa Barbara Foundation | Santa Barbara, CA | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Sacramento Public Library | Sacremento, CA | $5,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| NAACP Legal Defense Fund | New York, NY | $5,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| After School Arts Program Inc | Washington Depot, CT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Cancer Society | Kennesaw, GA | $5,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Common Ground | Bloomfld Hls, MI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cure Alzehimer's Fund | Wellesley Hills, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Doctors Without Borders | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ferrodonna Features | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends Without Borders | Carrollton, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| India Development Relief Fund | North Bethesda, MD | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Lets Win Pancreatic Cancer Foundation | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mackool Eye Institute Research Foundation Inc | Sarasota, FL | $5,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| New York Times Communities Fund | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Nouveau Health | Poughkeepsie, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Project Sanctuary | Granby, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Razom for Ukraine | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Stamford Hospital Health Foundation Inc | Stamford, CT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| National Cancer Research Center | Washington, DC | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Amnesty International | New York, NY | $4,250 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Pilobolus Inc | Washington Depot, CT | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| American Macular Degeneration Foundation | Northampton, MA | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Heard Museum | Phoenix, AZ | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nuvance Health | Lagrangeville, NY | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Housatonic Valley Association | Cornwall Bridge, CT | $2,950 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Coalition for the Homless | New York, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Conversations on the Green | Washington, CT | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lake Waramaug Task Force | Warren, CT | $2,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Carnegie Hill Neighbors | New York, NY | $2,250 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hollister House Garden | Washington, CT | $2,250 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| 92ND St Y | New York, NY | $2,110 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Danbury Hospital & New Milford Hospital Foundation | Danbury, CT | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Farm Table Foundation | N Amery, WI | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Foundation of Health | Evanston, IL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Greenwood Consulting Referrals Inc | Litchfield, CT | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Planned Parenthood | New York, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| After School Arts Program Inc | Washington, DC | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Habitat for Humanity New York City | New York, NY | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| National Breast Cancer Research | Houston, TX | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Washington Environmental Council | Washington Depot, CT | $1,250 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| New York Youth Symphony | New York, NY | $1,100 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc | Washington DC, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Charity Navigator | Bellmawr, NJ | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Columbia University | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Feeding America | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mount Sinai School of Medicine | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nextgen Climate America Inc | San Francisco, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc | Needham, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| S Javed Shahid Endowed Fund | Poughkeepsie, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St John's Episcopal Church (new Milford) | New Milford, CT | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The First Congregational Church of Long Beach | Long Beach, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Village Center for the Arts | New Milford, CT | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Words Without Borders | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fund for Park Avenue | New York, NY | $750 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hunts Point Alliance for Children | Bronx, NY | $750 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Covenant House | York, PA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Austrian Fund | New York, NY | $400 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Project Hope | Washington DC, DC | $300 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Guggenheim Museum | New York, NY | $260 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Salvation Army Connecticut | New London, CT | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Garden Conservancy | Garrison, NY | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Santa Barbara Botanical Garden | Santa Barbara, CA | $230 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
55 of 103 (53%) 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 64%, across 3 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, 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.
- Direct Relief
UNRESTRICTED CHARITABLE GRANT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 156 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 | 47 | $144,158 | $2,000 |
| 2022 | 55 | $238,660 | $2,500 |
| 2023 | 61 | $254,300 | $2,500 |
| 2024 | 56 | $336,140 | $4,250 |
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
24% of its giving went to organizations in New York.
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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 Wenden Foundation'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: 68 Lower Church Hill Road, Washington Depot, CT, 06794. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 45-5548749 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.