Connecticut · Private foundation
Shames Family Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $367k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 52
- Grants FY2025
- 38
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 13%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $3,125
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $95,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 27 to 43
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 11
- Total assets, FY2025
- $4.4M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 13% of the organizations Shames Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 4% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $17k 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 51 | $362k | 37% |
| FY2024 | 38 | $389k | 13% |
| FY2023 | 43 | $248k | 19% |
| FY2022 | 42 | $280k | 14% |
| FY2021 | 39 | $242k | 15% |
| FY2020 | 40 | $243k | 30% |
| FY2019 | 32 | $152k | 19% |
| FY2018 | 27 | $158k | 15% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson College | $260,500 | 8 | 0% |
| Nuvance Health Medical Practice CT Inc | $180,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Norwalk Acts Inc | $175,100 | 6 | 3% |
| Norwalk Hospital Foundation | $135,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Family & Children's Agency Inc | $117,500 | 7 | 0% |
| A Better Chance of Wilton Inc | $93,932 | 9 | 14% |
| Wilton Library Association Inc | $83,500 | 8 | 1% |
| The Campaign Legal Center Inc | $82,500 | 8 | 0% |
| Carleton College | $66,000 | 8 | 0% |
| Congregation Rodeph Sholom | $55,050 | 9 | n/a |
Show all 68 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 27 recipients with no EIN on record ($291k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Shames Family Foundation supplied at peak.
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: Charlottesville Area Community Foundation · Alexander Family Foundation Inc · S&P Global Foundation Fka the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · Perakis Foundation James Perakis Trustee · The Charles Fund Inc · Caplin Foundation · The Rimora Foundation · Elizabeth Raymond Ambler Trust · Manning Family Foundation · The Oak Hill Fund · The Dawn and Jeff Padovan Family Foundation
How this is measured
About Shames Family Foundation
- How much does Shames Family Foundation give?
- Shames Family Foundation reported 52 grants totaling $366,905 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 27 and 43 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Shames Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (28%), Health (18%), Human Services (11%).
- Who are Shames Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Davidson College ($261k), Nuvance Health Medical Practice CT Inc ($180k), Norwalk Acts Inc ($175k).
- Does Shames Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 13% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Shames Family 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 Shames Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Alexander Family Foundation Inc, S&P Global Foundation Fka the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation.
- Where is Shames Family Foundation based?
- Shames Family Foundation is based in CT.
Play a game based on Shames Family’s filings →