F Felix Foundation

F Felix Foundation is a small, closed, family-run Massachusetts foundation (EIN 04-3464255, based in Amherst) with roughly $3.76 million in assets and total annual giving in the $115,000-$260,000 range. Every third-party source that reviewed its filings — Instrumentl, Hinchilla, and Foundation Directory listings — agrees on one point: it "does not accept unsolicited requests for funds" and makes contributions only to preselected organizations already known to its trustees, Jesse Mazer (President, $48,000 compensation), Magdalena Mazer (Treasurer/Secretary), and Alma Colburn (Director). There is no LOI process, no open RFP, and no published guidelines because none exist for the public. This is a trustee-network foundation in the truest sense: its 36-grant, $406,300 giving history spans just 18 distinct organizations, several receiving multiple gifts over multiple years (Karuna Center for Peace Building: 3 grants totaling $90,000; Rainforest Foundation: 2 grants totaling $60,000; Clean Air Task Force: 2 grants totaling $40,000). For a first-time, cold applicant, the realistic path to funding is not a proposal — it is relationship-building inside the ecosystems this family already funds: Western Massachusetts environmental and human-services nonprofits (15 of 36 tracked grants went to MA-based organizations), national climate-policy organizations (Carbon180, Earthjustice, Clean Air Task Force), and peace-building/conflict-resolution work (Karuna Center). Organizations that already have a board or staff connection to the Amherst/Pioneer Valley nonprofit community, or to national environmental-justice and carbon-policy networks, stand the best chance of eventually being "preselected." The single large outlier gift — $85,000 to the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts — suggests the family also uses a community foundation as a distribution vehicle, which may be a more accessible on-ramp for smaller regional nonprofits than approaching the Mazers directly. Given the foundation's tiny staff (no paid program officers, a single compensated trustee), do not expect responsiveness to cold emails or calls; patience and third-party introduction matter more than proposal polish here.

Giving has run in a narrow band for over a decade: $201,307 (2010), $153,922 (2011), $182,755 (2012), $196,700 (2013), $136,600 (2014), $111,200 (2018), $157,900 (2019), $154,400 (2020), $124,200 (2021), $115,000 (2022), roughly $115,000 (2023), and an uptick to about $129,000 (2024). Total assets have been essentially flat, moving from $4.4 million (2010) down to $3.2-3.8 million through the 2020s, with the most recent 990-PF (FY2025) showing $3,758,147 in net assets on $259,236 of revenue. The most recent single-year grant-size profile (13 grants) shows a median of $2,000, an average of $9,554, and a range of $200 to $35,000 — meaning a handful of larger grants (in the $20,000-$35,000 band) coexist with many small $500-$4,000 gifts to local and niche organizations. Looking at the fuller 36-grant/$406,300 tracked history across recipients, the largest single commitments are Karuna Center for Peace Building ($90,000 across 3 grants), Community Foundation of Western MA ($85,000, one grant), Rainforest Foundation ($60,000/2 grants), Clean Air Task Force ($40,000/2 grants), and Deep South Center for Environmental Justice ($35,000/1 grant) — together over 75% of tracked dollars despite representing only 5 of 18 recipient organizations. By geography, Massachusetts dominates recipient count (15 of 36 grants) followed by California and New York (5 each), with single or double-digit grants reaching DC, Illinois, Kentucky, Vermont, Louisiana, and Wisconsin — consistent with the foundation's own stated geographic focus of MA, CA, and NY. By cause, environment/climate organizations (Rainforest Foundation, Clean Air Task Force, Carbon180, Earthjustice, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Southerly, Hitchcock Center) capture the largest dollar share, with smaller allocations to animal welfare (Red Rover, Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society), reproductive rights (Chicago Abortion Fund), independent public media (Vermont Public Radio, New England Public Radio, WAMC — small recurring $100-$300 gifts each), and education/peace-building.

All five peers sit within a few thousand dollars of F Felix Foundation's $3.76 million asset base and share its IRS "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" (T-code) classification, marking this as a well-populated tier of small, closely-held family foundations rather than an outlier. Only the Elmar Family Foundation maintains a public website, underscoring how typical F Felix Foundation's closed, no-web-presence, trustee-directed posture is at this asset scale — most peer foundations in this band are similarly invisible to cold applicants and are best approached, if at all, through existing grantee or board relationships rather than direct proposals.

The most concrete recent signal is governance change: the foundation's FY2025 Form 990-PF (filed with the IRS and indexed by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer) lists Jesse Mazer as President at $48,000 in compensation, a shift from earlier filings in which Robert Mazer held the top role (also at $48,000, with a documented $8,000 partial-year figure as "Prior Pres/Dir") and Jesse Mazer appeared as President at a lower $34,000 figure. Magdalena Mazer continues as Treasurer/Secretary ($16,008), and Alma Colburn appears as a new, uncompensated director not present in the foundation's earlier officer listings. Financially, FY2025 revenue was $259,236 against total net assets of $3,758,147, and aggregated third-party data puts 2024 giving at roughly $129,000, up modestly from $115,000 in 2023 — a mild reversal after several years of decline from the $150K-$200K annual range seen 2018-2021. No press releases, grant announcements, or public statements were located for this foundation in 2025 or 2026; it does not appear to issue news, maintain active social media, or publish an annual report. Given the foundation's consistently closed, low-visibility operating model — no dedicated grants staff, no public RFP cycle — the absence of news is itself the expected pattern rather than a gap in research; the leadership succession is the only activity of note this cycle.

F Felix Foundation does not run an open competition, so conventional "how to apply" advice does not directly transfer — but the giving pattern still points to concrete tactics. First, this is a relationship-driven, not portal-driven, funder: cold LOIs or proposals sent to the Amherst address (6 University Dr Ste 206) are very unlikely to be reviewed, since every independent source (Instrumentl, Hinchilla, Foundation Directory) confirms the foundation states it only funds preselected organizations. Second, target the specific niches where it has demonstrated repeat, multi-year commitment rather than one-off gifts: peace-building and conflict resolution (Karuna Center, 3 separate grants), rainforest/climate policy (Rainforest Foundation, Clean Air Task Force, Carbon180, Earthjustice, each funded more than once), and environmental justice specifically in the South (Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Southerly) — repeat funding is the strongest signal of what will resonate if a connection is ever made. Third, use the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts as a potential secondary channel: an $85,000 single gift there suggests the family may use donor-advised or pass-through giving for regional causes, which is sometimes more reachable for local Western MA nonprofits than the family foundation itself. Fourth, do not expect large single grants: even with a $35,000 documented ceiling, the median recent grant was just $2,000, so position any potential future ask modestly and be prepared for it to fund a specific need (equipment, a project, general operating support at a low four-figure level) rather than a multi-year program grant. Fifth, watch the annual Form 990-PF filing (via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer) each year — it is the only reliable, timely source of who the foundation actually funded, since it publishes nothing else. Common mistake to avoid: treating this like a typical small family foundation with a 'contact us' form — there is no functioning public-facing grants operation to contact, and repeated unsolicited outreach is more likely to be ignored than to build goodwill.