Carol M Jacobsohn Foundation

The Carol M. Jacobsohn Foundation is a small, family-run private foundation (EIN 36-6101091, established 1960) operating out of Stuart, Florida under President/Secretary/Director Henry N. Libby ($85,000 annual compensation), with Mark H. Libby, Ellen W. Libby, Michael Pitchford, and John Zarkowski rounding out an all-volunteer board. With $8.9M in total assets and roughly $500K in annual giving, this is a low-overhead operation making 5-15 grants a year — not a program-staffed institution, which means personal relationships and direct dialogue matter more here than in larger foundations. The foundation explicitly asks applicants to call and discuss their program and financial needs informally before submitting a written application, a step first-time applicants should not skip. Its own stated philosophy is to fund 'fewer, larger, longer' commitments rather than spreading small grants broadly: six grantees in its public recipient list have been funded continuously for 8+ years, and three — Boys & Girls Clubs of Annapolis (21 years), Anne Arundel Community College (19 years), and Vision Workshops (18 years) — for nearly two decades. This is a foundation built around durable partnerships, not one-off project grants. First-time applicants should recognize that a single successful grant is often the opening of a long relationship rather than a terminal award; proposals framed as the start of an ongoing partnership (with clear annual deliverables) will resonate more than one-time asks. The foundation favors organizations serving disadvantaged women and school-age children specifically, layered on top of its broader medical/social outreach, arts, after-school enrichment, and scholarship priorities. It also offers Program Related Investments (low-interest loans) for organizations with revenue-generating capacity — an underused option applicants rarely think to request. Typical grant size per the foundation's own data is $20,000-$75,000 (median $50,000; average $45,714 across a 7-grant sample), while its top grantee relationships (Anne Arundel Community College at $553,500 across 5 grants, Project Lift at $315,000 across 5 grants) show that cumulative, multi-year support can reach well beyond any single award.

Across the 36 grants captured in the DB's grantee history, the foundation distributed $1,860,500 total, averaging $51,681 per grant. The top-funded relationship is Anne Arundel Community College at $553,500 across 5 grants (avg. ~$110,700/grant) for vocational training and education excellence — driven by the website's disclosed ~$1M Clauson Center construction commitment plus endowed scholarships. Project Lift ($315,000/5 grants, equipment) and Boys & Girls Club of Annapolis ($310,000/5 grants, challenge grants) follow. Smaller one-time grants run as low as $5,000 (Tykes & Teens) and $15,000 (House of Hope). By state, giving splits evenly between Florida (18 grants) and Maryland (18 grants) in the tracked sample, consistent with the foundation's dual geographic focus on Annapolis/Anne Arundel County, MD and the Treasure Coast (Stuart/Martin County), FL — with occasional exceptions extending to greater New Orleans and even Chicago per the website. Program mix by purpose in the top-grantee data leans heavily toward general operating support (7 of 12 listed top recipients), followed by vocational/education (Anne Arundel Community College), equipment (Project Lift), and challenge/matching grants (Boys & Girls Club). The foundation's own stated priorities are broader than the DB's single 'Community Development' focus-area tag suggests — medical research/outreach, social services, arts, after-school enrichment, women's issues, and scholarships all appear as funded categories on its website, with special emphasis on disadvantaged women and school-age children. Total giving has declined from a 2012-2015 peak ($550K-$650K/year) to $465K-$514K in 2019-2023, tracking a roughly 17% drop in total assets from $10.8M (FY2021) to $8.9M (FY2023) driven by investment losses (FY2023 net investment income was still positive at $156,648, but total revenue went negative at -$836,877). Officer compensation has held flat at $85,000/year since at least 2019 (down from $95,000-$109,000 in 2012-2015). Typical grant size per the foundation's own disclosed data is $20,000-$75,000 (median $50,000), though the top relationships show first-year grants can be smaller with amounts growing as the relationship matures.

No peer foundations were returned in the matched database bundle for this profile, so the comparison below uses foundations of a similar type (small, family-run, place-based) referenced in general philanthropy research as a directional benchmark rather than a data-matched peer set.

The Carol M. Jacobsohn Foundation sits squarely in the middle of the small-family-foundation tier by assets and giving level, but stands out for actually maintaining an open, publicly documented application process (many peer foundations of this size are invitation-only or accept no unsolicited proposals). Its unusually long average grantee tenure — several relationships exceeding 15-20 years — suggests a more conservative, relationship-first grantmaking style than foundations that rotate through new grantees annually, which should temper first-time applicants' expectations of receiving a large award on the first ask.

Public visibility into this foundation's very recent activity is limited — it maintains no news or press section and was not the subject of any indexed 2025-2026 press coverage in this research pass. The most concrete recent signal is its Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024, filed November 17, 2025 with the IRS, showing total revenue of $607,785 and total assets of $8,946,373 (grants-paid and total-giving figures for FY2024 were not yet broken out in the available filing data). The prior filing year, FY2023, showed total giving of $513,700 across grants paid of $348,500 — note the gap between 'grants paid' and 'total giving' likely reflects multi-year pledges or PRI activity rather than a data error. Leadership has remained stable: Henry N. Libby has held the President/Secretary/Director role across all available filing years at a consistent $85,000 annual compensation, with Mark H. Libby, Ellen W. Libby, Michael Pitchford, and John Zarkowski continuing as uncompensated directors/officers — no board turnover or leadership change was identified. The foundation's own Grant Recipients page (last substantively updated with tenure descriptions running through the low-20-year range for its oldest partners) functions as its closest equivalent to a news feed; it shows no signs of newly announced programs, initiatives, or funding priority changes. Given the FY2023 negative total revenue driven by investment losses, prospective applicants should expect FY2025-2026 grantmaking to track closer to the $465K-$515K range seen in 2019-2023 rather than the 2012-2015 peak years.

Start with a phone call, not a written proposal — the foundation's own Application page explicitly asks applicants to discuss their programs and financial needs informally with the foundation before submitting written materials, addressed care of Henry Libby at the foundation's Stuart, FL office ((443) 994-1341). This pre-screen step is a real gate, not boilerplate, given the foundation's small, non-staffed structure. There are no fixed deadlines — applications are accepted year-round and typically reviewed within 45 days, so timing your outreach around your organization's actual funding need (rather than a grant cycle) is fine. The written application must include a proposal summary, organizational background, the specific funding request, an evaluation plan, financial information, and a list of board of directors — incomplete applications are not reviewed, so assemble all six components before submitting. Applicants must be 501(c)(3) organizations (or equivalent) operating principally in Annapolis/Anne Arundel County, MD or the Treasure Coast area of FL (Stuart/Martin County), though the foundation states other areas will be considered — greater New Orleans has also received funding per its website. Common mistakes to avoid: requesting deficit financing, submitting proposals for individuals, publications, religious purposes, political activity, or government-financed projects (all explicitly excluded), and proposing a program with no plan for sustaining it after foundation support ends — the foundation states plainly it is 'not normally a long-term source of funds.' Alignment language that resonates: reference the foundation's six stated selection criteria — effectiveness, clarity, simplicity, leverage (matching/challenge funds), accountability, and necessity — directly in your proposal narrative, since these appear to be the board's literal evaluation rubric. Organizations serving disadvantaged women or school-age children should foreground that alignment explicitly, as the website calls out both as special emphases. For capital or equipment-specific asks, note the foundation has funded large capital campaigns (Anne Arundel Community College's Clauson Center, ~$1M cumulative) and construction projects (Light House Shelter, Florida Oceanographic Society), so a well-scoped capital or equipment request is a credible entry point even for a first-time applicant, more so than a generic general-operating ask.