Diaco Family Foundation Inc.

Diaco Family Foundation Inc. is a small, family-directed private foundation based in Belleville, New Jersey, run entirely by members of the Diaco family and close associates: Theodore F. Diaco (President), Matthew Diaco (Treasurer), and Joseph Manasia (Vice President) serve unpaid, while Valerie Silvestri (Secretary) and Stephanie Emperio (Vice President) are the only compensated staff, each earning $50,000 as of the FY2025 filing. The foundation's own IRS profile marks it as preselected-only, and the application_instructions field on file is blank — confirmed by web research showing the foundation does not accept or review unsolicited requests for funds. This is not a competitive, proposal-driven grantmaker; it is closer to a family giving vehicle that renews a fixed circle of relationships each year. Of the 37 grants in the most recent full grantee dataset, 29 (78%) went to New Jersey organizations, and the recipient list is dominated by Belleville/Essex County Catholic parishes, schools, and religious orders (Archdiocese of Newark, St. Benedict's Prep, Seton Hall Seminary, Mt. Saint Dominick Academy, Sisters of Saint Joseph, Salesian Sisters, Filippini Sisters, Little Sisters of the Poor), alongside regional hospitals (Clara Maass, Valley Hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center, St. Barnabas Burn Foundation) and a short list of well-known national charities (American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Wounded Warriors Project, St. Jude's, Doctors Without Borders). First-time applicants without an existing tie to this network should not expect a formal review process to exist for them. The realistic path in is relationship, not proposal: an organizational connection to the Belleville/Newark Catholic community, to one of the family's alma maters, or to a regional hospital system the family has already supported repeatedly. Absent that kind of tie, this foundation should be treated as a low-probability target and effort redirected toward similarly sized NJ peer funders with a more open posture.

In the most recent full grant-detail year in this dataset (fiscal 2022), the foundation distributed $578,000 across 37 grants — an average of $15,622, though that average is skewed upward by a single outsized gift of $250,000 to The Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament, evidently the family's home parish (a related $5,000 gift also went to the El Salvador Education Fund c/o Most Blessed Sacrament Church). Excluding that outlier, the foundation's typical grant size is far more modest: the foundation's own reported range is $3,000 to $20,000, with a median of $10,000 and an average of $9,111 across 36 typical grants. Most awards land at exactly $5,000 or $10,000, consistent with fixed annual renewals rather than negotiated, proposal-scaled amounts. Geographically, giving is heavily New Jersey-concentrated (29 of 37 grants, 78%), with single grants scattered to FL, MD, NY, SC, TN, and VA and two to PA — almost entirely going to nationally recognized charities (Red Cross, Wounded Warriors, St. Jude's) rather than local peer organizations in those states. By purpose, nearly every grant in the dataset is tagged simply "CHARITABLE," spanning Catholic education and religious orders, hospital/health causes, human services (Salvation Army, Center for Food Action, Eva's Kitchen, Several Sources Shelters, Market Street Mission), and higher education (Rutgers University Foundation, scholarship funds). Total giving has fluctuated with investment performance rather than a defined payout strategy: charitable distributions ranged from $308,750 (FY2011) to $988,939 in total giving (FY2020), with FY2025 disbursements at $448,000 against $778,254 in revenue and roughly $9.1 million in net assets. Net investment income has swung from $90,177 (FY2012) to $742,153 (FY2020), directly driving year-to-year variance in what the foundation has available to give.

All six foundations sit within roughly $7,000 of each other in total assets (~$9.08-9.09M), suggesting they were likely grouped as size-matched peers rather than mission-matched ones — none of the five peer records in this dataset include public giving totals, focus-area detail, or application status, so no comparative claims can be made beyond asset size and shared NTEE classification. Diaco stands out among this peer set as one of the few with a documented, closed (preselected-only) application posture rather than an unknown one; Magistro Foundation Inc., also based in New Jersey and asset-matched almost exactly, is the most useful next foundation to research for organizations that strike out with Diaco given the geographic overlap.

The most recent filing on record (period ending, filed 2026-02-10) shows fiscal 2025 revenue of $778,254 and expenses of $602,915, producing net income of $175,339 and holding net assets at approximately $9.1 million. Charitable disbursements for FY2025 totaled $448,000, representing 74.3% of total expenses — in line with the foundation's historical pattern of directing roughly three-quarters of spending to grants rather than overhead. Compensation for the foundation's two paid officers, Secretary Valerie Silvestri and Vice President Stephanie Emperio, increased to $50,000 each in the FY2025 filing, up from $35,000 each in the prior filing captured in this dataset — the only notable change identified in governance or operations. No press coverage, news announcements, leadership transitions, or new program launches were found for 2025-2026; this foundation does not appear to issue public communications. Most significantly for grant seekers: the foundation's listed website, https://diaco.org/, is not a functioning foundation site as of this research — it currently resolves to what appears to be a compromised or abandoned domain filled with unrelated spam content (gambling links and foreign-language pharmaceutical text) rather than any grantmaking information. There is no working public web presence, no visible grants portal, and no online guidance beyond what appears in IRS Form 990-PF filings.

Because Diaco Family Foundation Inc. self-identifies as preselected-only and its on-file application_instructions field is blank, the single most important tip is: do not submit a cold letter of inquiry expecting a response — no evidence exists that one is reviewed. Its listed website (diaco.org) is non-functional and should not be used to look for guidelines; treat any site purporting to offer an "apply now" flow for this foundation with suspicion, since the real domain has been compromised. The realistic strategy is relationship-based cultivation: research whether your organization already has a tie to the Belleville/Essex County, NJ Catholic community (parishes and schools affiliated with the Archdiocese of Newark), to Seton Hall-affiliated institutions, or to one of the hospital systems the foundation has repeatedly supported (Clara Maass, Valley Hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center). Organizations with an existing personal connection to Theodore F. Diaco, Matthew Diaco, Joseph Manasia, Valerie Silvestri, or Stephanie Emperio — through parish membership, alumni networks, or prior family involvement — are far more likely to be considered than an organization applying cold. If a warm introduction is available, keep the ask modest and aligned with observed norms: the foundation's typical gift is $5,000 to $10,000, with $20,000 as a practical ceiling for renewed relationships (the one $250,000 gift in the dataset went to the family's home parish and should not be treated as a representative ask size). A common mistake would be treating this as a standard institutional funder with published priorities and a competitive review cycle — it is not; it functions more like a family's personal giving fund administered as a private foundation for tax purposes. Rather than crafting a formal proposal, organizations without a direct tie are better served monitoring the foundation's future Form 990-PF filings via ProPublica for any newly added grantees, which would signal an actual opening in the giving circle, and in parallel building the kind of long-term local presence (event sponsorships, shared board members, parish or hospital involvement) that historically appears to precede inclusion on this foundation's list.