Connecticut · Private foundation
Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation
Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $2.5M
- Granted FY2026(still arriving)
- 109
- Grants FY2026
- 103
- Organizations funded FY2025
- 7%
- First-time grantees FY2025
- Median grant, FY2026
- $7,000
- Largest grant, FY2026
- $377,337
- Organizations funded a year
- 85 to 103
- FY2019 to FY2025
- States reached, FY2026
- 3
- Total assets, FY2026
- $9.2M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2025, 7% of the organizations Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 2% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $61k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026still arriving | 108 | $2.5M | 30% |
| FY2025 | 103 | $2.5M | 7% |
| FY2024 | 96 | $2.4M | 1% |
| FY2023 | 96 | $2.3M | 0% |
| FY2022 | 98 | $2.0M | 9% |
| FY2021 | 91 | $2.0M | 8% |
| FY2020 | 87 | $1.8M | 6% |
| FY2019 | 85 | $1.8M | 11% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2026, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norwalk Hospital Foundation | $1,080,000 | 10 | 2% |
| St Vincent's Medical Center Foundation Inc | $1,042,817 | 10 | 8% |
| Bridgeport Hospital Foundation Inc | $820,000 | 10 | 1% |
| Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut Inc | $656,000 | 10 | 6% |
| Ronald McDonald House at the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital Inc | $652,000 | 10 | 3% |
| Wakeman Boys and Girls Club Corp | $520,000 | 6 | 8% |
| Housatonic Community College Foundation Inc | $360,000 | 10 | 4% |
| Kids & Clays Foundation | $350,200 | 9 | 2% |
| Fairfield University | $300,000 | 10 | 0% |
| Trumbull Congregational Church | $237,000 | 10 | n/a |
Show all 87 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 67 recipients with no EIN on record ($10M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 70 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · The Near and Far Association Inc · Peoples United Community Foundation · David and Eunice Bigelow Foundation · William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund · The Inner-City Foundation for Charity & Education Inc · The Aiello Charitable Foundation Inc · The Pitney Bowes Foundation · New Canaan Community Foundation Inc · Newman's Own Foundation · The Bridgeport Rotary Club Foundation Inc · Synchrony Foundation
How this is measured
About Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation
- How much does Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation give?
- Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation reported 109 grants totaling $2,493,654 in its FY2026 IRS filing. It funded between 85 and 103 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2025.
- What does Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2026, its largest causes are Education (40%), Health (26%), Human Services (11%).
- Who are Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2026: Norwalk Hospital Foundation ($1.1M), St Vincent's Medical Center Foundation Inc ($1.0M), Bridgeport Hospital Foundation Inc ($820k).
- Does Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2025, 7% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc, The Near and Far Association Inc, Peoples United Community Foundation.
- Where is Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation based?
- Ernest and Joan Trefz Foundation is based in CT.
Play a game based on Ernest and Joan Trefz’s filings →