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The Griffin-Cole Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Griffin-Cole Fund

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.

$4.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
56
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$1.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02Its granteesRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$3.3MEnvironment$1.7MHealth$283kScience & Tech$100kArts & Culture$86kHuman Services$49kFood & Nutrition$21kHousing & Shelter$15kOther$0
02FY2024 · 56 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k23 grants · $62k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $334k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.0M
  • $250k+3 grants · $3.0M
$10,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$113M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
President And Fellows Of Middlebury College$1,500,000
President And Fellows Of Middlebury College$1,000,000
Environmental Defense Fund$500,000
Trustees of Phillips Academy$200,000
Sheriff's Meadow Foundation$200,000
Boston Medical Center Corporation$150,000
Trustees of Princeton University$100,000
Princeton Day School$100,000
The Watershed Institute$57,000
The Watershed Institute$50,000
President And Fellows Of Middlebury College$50,000
Princeton Day School$50,000
Institute For Advanced Study$50,000
Trustees of Princeton University$43,000
Trustees of Princeton University$42,000
02Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 19 repeat orgs$907k to everyone else

19 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
14

Total granted

$4.7M
$256k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+40%

Still filing today

79%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $651k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’21’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationHealthHuman ServicesScience & TechOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • PA
    President and Fellows of Middlebury College
    2× · 2021–2024 · $2.6M · revenue +32%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    2× · 2021–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +21%
  • BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION
    2× · 2021–2024 · $200k · revenue +51%

Funded once

  • The Trustees of Princeton University
    one grant, 2021 · $139k · revenue -34%
  • PD
    Princeton Day School Annual Fund
    one grant, 2021 · $45k
  • CORNER HOUSE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $30k · revenue -84%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

03Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
4
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
5
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
6
Rhode Island School of Design

The mission of rhode island school of design, through its college and museum,is to educate its students and the public in the creation and (see schedule o)appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to…

Education
7
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
8
The Norman Bird Sanctuary Trust

Our mission is to spark people's curiosity to explore, steward, and find peace and joy in nature. in service to this, norman bird sanctuary inspires, builds, and engages a community of stewards who preserve, protect, enjoy, and learn from…

Animals
9
Public Media Nj Inc

To bring quality public television programs and resources to communities throughout new jersey and its tri-state neighbors. its content, both on-air and online, aims to reflect the diverse

Arts & Culture
10
Phillips Exeter Academy

Unite goodness and knowledge and inspire youth from every quarter to lead purposeful lives. [text in quotations is taken from the academy's deed of gift, drafted in 1781] knowledge and goodness "above all, it is expected that the attention…

Education
11
Harvard Conservation Trust

To preserve the unique character and natural resources of harvard.

Environment
12
Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science Inc

The purpose of the school is to promote, advance and sponsor charitable and educational activities.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Princeton Day School Inc; the most unlike its peers is Chappaquiddick Community Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

40 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 40 of the 56 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
40/40
Grantees still filing
21/40
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

President and Fellows of Middlebury College: $2,600,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Middlebury CollegeTRUSTEES OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY: $200,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF PHILLIPS ACADEMYPRINCETON DAY SCHOOL INC: $150,000 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton University: $139,000 · Education+2 more: $16,000 · EducationENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,000,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORP…SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $373,750 · EnvironmentSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATIONTHE WATERSHED INSTITUTE INC: $257,000 · EnvironmentTHE WATERSHED INSTITUTE INC+5 more: $35,000 · EnvironmentTrustees of Princeton University: $185,000 · OtherPrinceton Day School Annual Fund: $45,000 · OtherCORNER HOUSE FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherMcCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts: $15,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $12,500 · OtherISLES INC: $20,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF MVYRADIO INC: $12,500 · Other+17 more: $49,750 · OtherBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $200,000 · HealthPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $10,000 · Health+2 more: $2,000 · HealthINSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY - LOUIS BAMBERGER & MRS FELIX FULD FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Science & TechCENTER AT 353 INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesKieve Wavus Education Inc: $30,000 · Human ServicesMERCER STREET FRIENDS CENTER: $10,000 · Human Services+1 more: $2,500 · Human ServicesHISTORIC MORVEN INC: $11,000 · Arts & CulturePrinceton Symphony Orchestra Inc: $10,500 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMCCARTER THEATRE COMPANY: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM INC: $6,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PRINCETON: $2,500 · Arts & CultureARTS COUNCIL OF PRINCETON: $2,500 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $2,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$3,105,000Environment$1,665,750Other$369,750Health$212,000Science & Tech$100,000Human Services$82,500Arts & Culture$54,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $2,600,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,000,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $373,750 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetTHE WATERSHED INSTITUTE INC: $257,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY: $200,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $200,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPRINCETON DAY SCHOOL INC: $150,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $139,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY - LOUIS BAMBERGER & MRS FELIX FULD FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER AT 353 INC: $40,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCORNER HOUSE FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetKieve Wavus Education Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetISLES INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF MVYRADIO INC: $12,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHISTORIC MORVEN INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPrinceton Symphony Orchestra Inc: $10,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMERCER STREET FRIENDS CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetD&R GREENWAY LAND TRUST INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHUBBYS PROJECT A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetNEW JERSEY SEEDS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMCCARTER THEATRE COMPANY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBIODIVERSITY WORKS: $5,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetBIODIVERSITYWORKS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPOLLY HILL ARBORETUM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetORKEESWA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PRINCETON: $2,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetARTS COUNCIL OF PRINCETON: $2,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCapital Harmony Works Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPRINCETON FIRST AID AND RESCUE SQUAD: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHITOPS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD ART ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHAPPAQUIDDICK COMMUNITY CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE EDGARTOWN FIREMEN'S ASSOCIATIONINC: $500 over 1y, 0.4% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

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.

Princeton Area Commun…Curtis W McGraw Found…Bristol-Myers Squibb …The Robert Wood Johns…Educational Ventures …George H and Estelle …The Frank J Ryan and …The Snyder Family FundMargaret and Marshall…Runestone Family Foun…Pheasant Hill Foundat…The J Robert & Barbar…
Princeton Area Community Foundation IncNJ33× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Princeton Area Community Foundation Inc · Curtis W McGraw Foundation · Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Inc · The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · Educational Ventures Inc · George H and Estelle M Sands Foundation · The Frank J Ryan and Jane E Ryan Family Foundation · The Snyder Family Fund · Margaret and Marshall Bartlett Family Foundation Inc C/O John Bartlet · Runestone Family Foundation · Pheasant Hill Foundation Inc · The J Robert & Barbara A Hillier Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 56 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $5.3M of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Griffin-Cole’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home