28 foundations in Vermont told the IRS on the latest Form 990-PF that giving is not restricted to organizations picked in advance, and each paid at least 5 grants worth $100K or more that year. Together they paid $17.5M. The largest is Ben & Jerrys Foundation in South Burlington, which paid $4.2M across 448 grants in 2024. The ten biggest account for 83% of the state total, so most of this money sits with a small number of funders. 15 of the 28 file a submission deadline; the rest leave that line blank or point to a website. In a typical one, 32% of the year's grant dollars went to organizations it had not funded before.
Analysis by Matthew Hanauer, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Civly, from IRS Form 990-PF filings · All states
Ranked by dollars paid in the foundation's own latest filed year. Click a column heading to sort. Deadlines print exactly as the foundation filed them, including the vague ones.
| # | Foundation | City | Latest year | Grants paid | Grants | Median grant | First-time recipients | Deadline as filed | Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben & Jerrys Foundation | South Burlington | 2024 | $4.2M | 448 | $2K | 42% | APPLICATIONS ARE TYPICALLY ACCEPTED AND REVIEWED ON A MONTHLY BASIS. | $9.2M |
| 2 | National Life Group Charitable Foundation Inc | Montpelier | 2024 | $2.6M | 755 | $1K | 42% | GRANTS- MARCH 31ST; SPONSORSHIPS- REVIEWED ON ROLLING BASIS UNTIL YEARLY FUNDING EXHAUSTED. | $27.4M |
| 3 | Antonio B and Rita M Pomerleau Foundation Inc | Burlington | 2023 | $2.2M | 57 | $20K | 42% | Not stated | $2.1M |
| 4 | Lintilhac Foundation | Shelburne | 2025 | $1.5M | 112 | $10K | 19% | THERE ARE NO DEADLINES. GRANTS WILL BE AWARDED SEMIANNUALLY. | $26.0M |
| 5 | George W Mergens Foundation | Milton | 2024 | $1.0M | 95 | $9K | 18% | Not stated | $16.3M |
| 6 | Onda Foundation | Burlington | 2025 | $906K | 31 | $25K | 33% | Not stated | $2.1M |
| 7 | Rowland Foundation Inc | Burlington | 2024 | $686K | 21 | $8K | 10% | 9/1 APPLIC PERIOD OPENS, 12/31 APPLIC PERIOD CLOSES | $35.4M |
| 8 | Morris and Bessie Altman Foundation | Shelburne | 2024 | $524K | 65 | $1K | 49% | Not stated | $8.0M |
| 9 | Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family Foundation | Burlington | 2025 | $433K | 15 | $9K | 54% | LETTER OF INTEREST SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BETWEEN JANUARY 1 AND MARCH 1. | $1.8M |
| 10 | Liswhit Foundtaion | Woodstock | 2025 | $409K | 21 | $15K | 17% | Not stated | $2.8M |
| 11 | Windham Foundation | Grafton | 2024 | $393K | 124 | $2K | 38% | QUARTERLY ON WEBSITE | $17.3M |
| 12 | Copley Fund | Morrisville | 2024 | $242K | 19 | $4K | 0% | Before the end of the calendar year | $625K |
| 13 | Oakland Foundation | Stowe | 2025 | $228K | 78 | $2K | 26% | FOUNDATION HAS FOUR ANNUAL GRANT APPLICATION DUE DATES, MARCH 1, JUNE 1, SEPTEMBER 1, DECEMEBER 1. S | $2.6M |
| 14 | Eastrise Foundation | Williston | 2024 | $227K | 14 | $13K | 100% | Not stated | $249K |
| 15 | Macleay Foundation | Montpelier | 2025 | $192K | 5 | $25K | 26% | Not stated | $3.9M |
| 16 | Charles P Ferro Foundation | Burlington | 2025 | $192K | 28 | $3K | 77% | Not stated | $4.5M |
| 17 | Lebaron Foundation | Warren | 2025 | $175K | 17 | $5K | 17% | IN GENERAL, FOR GRANTS DURING A CALENDAR YEAR, APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY JUNE 1 OF THAT YEAR. | $3.3M |
| 18 | The@lionheart Charitable Trust | S Burlington | 2025 | $161K | 33 | $2K | 41% | Not stated | $1.0M |
| 19 | Vermont Eastern Star Home Inc | Randolph | 2025 | $153K | 25 | $2K | 7% | Not stated | $2.4M |
| 20 | Richard E and Deborah L Tarrant Foundation Inc | Winooski | 2024 | $143K | 13 | $2K | 22% | LETTERS OF INTEREST ARE ACCEPTED AT ANY TIME. CURRENT GUIDANCE AT WWW.TARRANTFOUNDATION.ORG | $2.1M |
| 21 | Cooper Family Foundation Inc | S Burlington | 2025 | $135K | 23 | $2K | 4% | THERE ARE NO DEADLINES | $1.8M |
| 22 | Alchemist Foundation Inc | Waterbury | 2025 | $122K | 101 | $1K | 62% | SECOND FRIDAY IN MAY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS; ROLLING FOR GRANTS | $45K |
| 23 | The Sid and Cecelia Lance Family Foundation | Northfield | 2025 | $120K | 9 | $10K | 67% | Not stated | $1.5M |
| 24 | Lamson Howell Foundation Inc | Randolph | 2024 | $117K | 27 | $3K | 18% | None None | $59K |
| 25 | Sorg-vogt Charitable Foundation Tr | Brattleboro | 2025 | $110K | 63 | $500 | 53% | December 1 | $1.7M |
| 26 | Osgood-hilles Charitable Trust | West Windsor | 2025 | $102K | 10 | $8K | 6% | Not stated | $1.4M |
| 27 | Eleanor Dillenbeck Scholarship Tr 59-1264600 | Williston | 2025 | $101K | 12 | $10K | 31% | JUNE 6TH OF EACH YEAR | $2.0M |
| 28 | Janelia Foundation | New Haven | 2024 | $100K | 6 | $15K | 100% | Not stated | $2.2M |
The 25 largest by dollars paid have their own page with the application terms as filed, every recipient, and the trustees. The rest are listed here in full. Where a cell says n/a the filing does not carry that figure: a first-time recipient share needs more than one year of grants on record, and the asset figure comes from the IRS business master file, which does not cover every foundation.
Every figure on this page is that foundation's own latest filed year, which is 2022 or later. A foundation is listed because its Form 990-PF says it does not restrict giving to preselected organizations and it paid at least 5 grants totaling $100K or more that year. Latest-year grants and terms per foundation from IRS 990-PF e-file returns; the newest tax year is partial until the IRS finishes releasing it. Grants are de-duplicated on funder, year, recipient and amount, so identical repeat grants collapse into one and totals can run low. Full method.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF e-file releases (public domain). Analysis: Civly.
This page names every foundation in Vermont that will read a request. Civly Grant Matching reads your own filings, matches your programs against millions of paid grants by purpose, geography and grant size, and hands back the funders with the deadline, the restrictions and the named trustees attached.
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