Cabot-Kjellerup Foundation

Cabot-Kjellerup Foundation is a small, uncompensated-trustee family foundation established in July 2014 by Peter Kjellerup, Mette Kjellerup, and Amanda C. Cabot, joined by directors Nina Bulich and Ted Piotrowicz. It is explicitly invitation-only: its own Grant Guidelines page states the foundation "only accepts grant applications from organizations that have been invited to apply." There is no cold-LOI path in.

The grant history reveals a barbell, relationship-driven model: a handful of anchor partners receive large, recurring, six-figure commitments, while a long tail of local nonprofits receive modest general-support checks. Kennett Library alone has received $1,505,000 across 6 grants, and the Silk Grass Wildlife Preserve/Preservation entries (Belize conservation) total $1,650,000 across 3 grants - together nearly 69% of the $4,609,000 in tracked grant dollars. The remaining ~31% spreads across 25+ smaller organizations at $2,500-$328,000 each.

First-time applicants should understand that visibility and warm introduction matter more than proposal polish. The trustees are locally embedded in the Chester County, PA philanthropic community (listed with Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia), and the foundation's nine named "partners in caring" cluster tightly around southeastern Pennsylvania human-services and environmental causes, plus a few higher-profile national/international commitments (Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Project C.U.R.E., Southern Environmental Association in Belize, Water is Life Kenya). Organizations sharing that geography or cause area have the clearest realistic path to an invitation.

Once invited, expect a full due-diligence package rather than a short LOI: mission-alignment narrative, organizational history and accomplishments, current program/beneficiary description, a project narrative covering team roles and short/long-term goals, other funding sources, success metrics, board list, IRS determination letter, recent audit or Form 990, and both organizational and project budgets. The foundation's stated mission - fostering "a healthy planet" through "responsible stewardship of our natural and human resources" - combined with its values of integrity, personal responsibility, and adaptability, should be reflected explicitly in any narrative once an invitation is extended.

Total assets stood at $10,102,229 as of the most recent record, with income of $2,941,389. Assets grew from just $170,846 in the foundation's 2014 founding year to $7,590,639 by 2019 (aided by a $2,582,856 contribution that year), then $7,089,599 (2020), $8,745,899 (2021), $9,358,916 (2022), and $9,735,992 (2023) - steady, contribution-fueled growth from the Kjellerup/Cabot family rather than reliance on investment returns alone.

Grants paid nearly tripled in four years: $442,500 (2019) to $635,000 (2020) to $610,000 (2021) to $729,000 (2022) to $1,296,000 (2023). Total giving (which includes grants plus related expenses) reached $1,369,206 in 2023, a payout rate of roughly 14.1% of assets - well above the IRS 5% minimum and up from about 7.6% in 2021, signaling an increasingly generous distribution pace.

Across 89 tracked grants totaling $4,609,000 (average $51,787), the foundation's own typical_grant_size record shows a median individual grant of just $5,000 but an average of $60,750, with a range of $2,000 to $400,000 - a barbell pattern of many small checks pulled upward by a few large anchor commitments. Kennett Library ($1,505,000/6 grants, 32.7% of tracked dollars) and the combined Silk Grass Wildlife Preserve/Preservation entries in Belize ($1,650,000/3 grants, 35.8%) together account for nearly 69% of all tracked giving. The remaining share supports Stroud Water Research Center ($328,000/4 grants), Chester County Food Bank ($300,000/3), Chester County Hospital Foundation ($150,000/3), Protect Our Winters ($125,000/5), Wild Earth Allies ($100,000/1), and roughly 25 smaller organizations at $2,500-$75,000 each.

Geographically, 65 of 89 tracked grants (73%) went to Pennsylvania organizations, concentrated around Chester County/Kennett Square, with secondary clusters in Colorado (8), New York (5), DC (4), and Delaware (3), plus unlisted international grants to Belize and Kenya. By theme, environment/conservation (Stroud, Land Conservancy, Protect Our Winters, Silk Grass, Chesapeake Bay Foundation) is the largest cluster, human services/health (food bank, hospital foundation, La Comunidad Hispana, Camp Dreamcatcher, Project C.U.R.E.) is a close second, and education/literacy is concentrated almost entirely in the single large Kennett Library relationship.

All six foundations sit within a narrow $10.0-10.1M asset band, meaning this is an asset-matched cohort rather than a programmatically similar one - most peer foundations' focus areas and application processes were not resolvable from available filings and no independent websites were located for the majority. Cabot-Kjellerup is the only one of the six with a confirmed, explicit invitation-only policy and a payout rate (~14.1% of assets in FY2023) that is well documented and well above the 5% federal floor, giving it materially more transparency than its peer set - but that same invitation-only structure means grant seekers without an existing relationship or geographic/cause overlap face a harder path in than at a foundation with an open process.

No dedicated press or news coverage specific to 2025-2026 was found; the foundation does not maintain a public newsroom, and its own "Application Process" web page remains an unpopulated placeholder ("Add Content Here") as of this research. Third-party grant databases (Instrumentl, Candid) reference roughly 20 awards in 2024, consistent with the FY2023 IRS filing showing $1,296,000 paid across 13 grants and an upward trend from prior years.

Governance appears stable: the same three uncompensated trustees - Peter Kjellerup, Mette Kjellerup, and Amanda C. Cabot - and two directors, Nina Bulich and Ted Piotrowicz, recur across the filings sampled from 2020-2023, with no leadership turnover surfaced in this research.

The clearest recent-activity signal is financial rather than editorial: grants paid nearly tripled from $442,500 (FY2019) to $1,296,000 (FY2023), and total assets crossed the $10M mark for the first time, indicating the foundation is in a growth phase rather than winding down. Given the absence of a maintained newsroom, prospective applicants should not expect to track this funder through press releases. The most reliable signals of any shift in priorities will be changes to the "What We Fund" or "Grant Guidelines" pages, or direct contact with foundation staff at info@cabotkjellerupfoundation.org.

This is a closed, invitation-only funder - the Grant Guidelines page states in plain language that the foundation "only accepts grant applications from organizations that have been invited to apply." Submitting an unsolicited proposal is very unlikely to be reviewed.

The realistic path in is cultivation, not application: the foundation's nine named "partners in caring" cluster around Chester County/southeastern Pennsylvania (Camp Dreamcatcher, Chester County Food Bank, La Comunidad Hispana, Stroud Water Research Center, The Land Conservancy of Southern Chester County) plus a small set of higher-profile causes (Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Project C.U.R.E., Southern Environmental Association in Belize, Water is Life Kenya). Organizations working in these same geographies or causes - especially Chester County human-services or environmental groups - have the clearest fit.

Two phone numbers appear across public sources for the foundation - 610-869-3300 and 610-742-2476 - alongside the email info@cabotkjellerupfoundation.org; confirm the current number before calling, and lead with a short email introducing your organization's mission rather than a full proposal.

Once invited, be ready to move quickly with a complete due-diligence package: mission-alignment narrative, organizational history and accomplishments, current program/beneficiary description, a project narrative covering team roles, short- and long-term goals, other funding sources, and success metrics, current board list, IRS determination letter, recent audit or Form 990, and both organizational and project budgets. Organizations actively cultivating this funder should have these materials prepared in advance.

Use the foundation's own language: its stated mission is fostering "a healthy planet" through "responsible stewardship of our natural and human resources," built on values of integrity, personal responsibility, and adaptability. Frame outcomes in concrete, realistic, measurable terms - the guidelines explicitly flag proposals where "outcomes are not realistic or clearly described" as a rejection reason. Avoid for-profit structures, political or religious framing, and anything that could read as excluding groups by gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, or physical ability - all explicitly screened out.

A common mistake would be treating this like a typical mid-size foundation with an open RFP cycle or online portal; there is no visible deadline or portal, and the site's own Application Process page is an empty placeholder. Finally, expect to start small: given the barbell distribution of grant sizes (median $5,000, many grants in the $2,500-$40,000 range versus a few $250,000+ anchor commitments), first-time invitees should expect a modest initial grant and view it as the opening of a multi-year relationship rather than a one-time transaction.