Connecticut · Private foundation
The Common Sense Fund Inc
Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $3.8M
- Granted FY2024(still arriving)
- 39
- Grants FY2024
- 38
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 13%
- First-time grantees FY2023
- Median grant, FY2024
- $75,000
- Largest grant, FY2024
- $1,018,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 31 to 39
- FY2017 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2024
- 9
- Total assets, FY2024
- $23M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 13% of the organizations The Common Sense Fund Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 7% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $175k 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024still arriving | 37 | $2.6M | 5% |
| FY2023 | 38 | $2.5M | 13% |
| FY2022 | 39 | $2.4M | 18% |
| FY2021 | 36 | $2.1M | 11% |
| FY2020 | 37 | $2.2M | 5% |
| FY2019 | 36 | $2.0M | 11% |
| FY2018 | 34 | $1.9M | 26% |
| FY2017 | 31 | $1.7M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
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 FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Capitalism Solutions Inc | $800,000 | 8 | 8% |
| Inside Climate News Inc | $800,000 | 8 | 9% |
| Sustainable Ct Inc | $690,000 | 7 | 13% |
| Save the Sound | $590,000 | 8 | 2% |
| American Friends of Yedidim | $563,000 | 8 | n/a |
| Music Haven Inc | $523,500 | 8 | 11% |
| Co Lab Theater Group Inc | $502,000 | 8 | 29% |
| Clay Art Center Inc | $500,000 | 8 | 7% |
| Glassroots Inc | $497,000 | 8 | 7% |
| Hartford Performs Inc | $490,000 | 8 | 9% |
Show all 49 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 15 recipients with no EIN on record ($4.1M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
The Common Sense Fund Inc supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 5 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 46 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: The New York Community Trust · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Hartford Foundation for Public Giving · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · The Ford Foundation · J Walton Bissell Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut Inc · Lily Auchincloss Foundation Inc · Connecticut Humanities Council Inc · United States Energy Foundation · Tides Foundation · Hispanic Federation Inc
How this is measured
About The Common Sense Fund Inc
- How much does The Common Sense Fund Inc give?
- The Common Sense Fund Inc reported 39 grants totaling $3,790,000 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 31 and 39 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
- What does The Common Sense Fund Inc fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (37%), Environment (34%), International (13%).
- Who are The Common Sense Fund Inc's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Natural Capitalism Solutions Inc ($800k), Inside Climate News Inc ($800k), Sustainable Ct Inc ($690k).
- Does The Common Sense Fund Inc fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 13% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Common Sense Fund Inc 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 The Common Sense Fund Inc?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The New York Community Trust, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
- Where is The Common Sense Fund Inc based?
- The Common Sense Fund Inc is based in CT.
Play a game based on Common Sense’s filings →