Felicity House Inc.

Felicity House Inc. operates at the intersection of two identities: it is primarily an operating nonprofit running a community space for autistic women in New York City, and secondarily a small-scale grantmaker that strategically funds aligned organizations in the autism services field. Understanding this dual identity is essential before pursuing funding.

Felicity House's giving philosophy is mission extension rather than broad philanthropic grantmaking. Every documented external grant has gone to organizations that directly serve autistic women and nonbinary people — the Asperger/Autism Network (AANE), the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network (AWN), and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). These are not general health or disability funders: they are narrowly targeted partners whose missions operationally complement Felicity House's own programming. No grant has gone outside this tight ecosystem.

The relationship between Felicity House and its grantees is sustained and repeated. AANE received 6 grants totaling $75,000 across multiple years; AWN received 3 grants totaling $35,000; ASAN received 4 gala sponsorships totaling $10,000. This multi-year, repeat-funding pattern signals a preference for trusted partnerships over competitive grant cycles. No formal RFP or open application portal exists. First-time applicants should not expect a structured submission process.

Organizations best positioned for funding fill a geographic or service gap that Felicity House cannot address from its New York base. AANE's virtual support groups for women diagnosed with autism later in life received explicit COVID-era support — indicating Felicity House values technology-enabled national reach. AWN's advocacy infrastructure received multi-year general support, reflecting respect for movement-building in the autistic women's community.

Typical grant size runs $2,500 to $15,000, with a median of $7,500 and an average of $8,125. These are capacity-building or partnership-level awards, not major project grants. With $94.6 million in assets as of FY2024 — up from $4.7M in FY2021 — the organization may be approaching a threshold at which it formalizes or expands its external grantmaking. Applicants who establish relationships now, before any formal program launches, will be best positioned.

Felicity House's external grantmaking is modest in dollar terms but highly concentrated and consistent. Across all available 990 data, the organization has made 20 external grants totaling $129,232, with an average grant of $6,462. The documented typical grant range is $2,500 (minimum) to $15,000 (maximum), with a median of $7,500 and a calculated average of $8,125 based on the four most recent discrete grant events.

Annual external grantmaking totals: $15,000 (FY2019), $32,500 (FY2020), $22,500 (FY2021), $25,100 (FY2022), $24,032 (FY2023). FY2024 figures were not yet available in IRS filings. These represent grants paid to external organizations only, separate from the organization's program service expenses of $2.3M+ annually for operating the Flatiron community space.

By program area: Approximately 86% of external grantmaking supports autism services for women and nonbinary people — $75,000 to AANE (virtual groups, emergency COVID response, ongoing consultation services), $35,000 to AWN (general support, board retreat/training), and $10,000 to ASAN (bronze gala sponsorships). The remaining 14% (~$9,232) consists of employee matching gifts to unrelated organizations including Memorial Sloan Kettering ($4,000), NYC Firefighters Hockey Club ($2,800), Summertime Gallery ($2,000), and The Dinner Party Labs ($432).

Geographically, primary grantees cluster outside New York: Massachusetts (AANE, headquartered in Watertown), Washington DC (ASAN), and Nebraska (AWN) — matching the foundation's stated geographic focus. This spread suggests intentional support of a national autism infrastructure rather than local New York partners.

Important caveat for researchers: The IRS 990 'total giving' figures for Felicity House ($2.9M–$6.4M annually) represent total program service expenditures — the cost of running the community space itself — not external grants. External grants paid are the much smaller figures cited above. The dramatic asset growth (from $3.2M in FY2020 to $94.6M in FY2024, including a $52M contribution in FY2023) has not yet translated into proportionally larger external grantmaking. This gap between asset size and grantmaking activity is the defining financial characteristic of this organization.

Felicity House's database peer group is drawn from Health-category foundations (NTEE major G) with comparable asset sizes. The table below reflects asset data from the most recent available 990 filings.

The critical differentiator: despite holding the second-largest asset base in this peer group at $94.6M, Felicity House's external grantmaking is by far the smallest (~$24,000 in FY2023). This reflects its primary identity as an operating nonprofit that spends most of its resources running its own programs, not as a traditional grant-making foundation. The Jain Foundation is the closest structural peer — both organizations focus narrowly on a specific disability population and make targeted, relationship-driven grants to aligned researchers and service providers rather than accepting open applications. Grant seekers should not assume Felicity House behaves like a typical private foundation of its asset size. Applicants targeting larger, more conventional health foundations should evaluate Bower Foundation and Daftuar Family Foundation as alternatives, though those organizations' application processes are also largely non-public.

The most significant recent development is Felicity House's recognition by the Autism Society of America. On January 15, 2026, ASA announced Felicity House as the 2025 recipient of the Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Leader in Adult Autism Award, given to organizations championing autonomy for autistic adults. ASA President and CEO Joe Joyce stated that Felicity House's focus on 'empowering adult Autistic women through a safe and welcoming community space directly aligns with the Autism Society of America's mission.' Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Founder Linda J. Walder cited the organization's 'commitment to providing a community space in New York City.' This is the highest-profile recognition Felicity House has received to date and substantially raises its national profile in the adult autism services sector.

The second major development is a significant physical expansion to a renovated building in Manhattan's Flatiron District, where Felicity House now occupies 25,000 square feet across three floors at 25 E 22nd Street. This expansion, facilitated by L&K Partners, reflects the organization's growing operational scale and community footprint.

Financially, the most striking recent activity is a $52 million contribution received in FY2023 that drove total assets from $25.1M to $73.1M in a single year, reaching $94.6M by FY2024. This represents a 20-fold increase from the $4.7M in assets recorded in FY2021. Despite this capital infusion, no new external grantmaking programs or formal RFPs were publicly announced as of April 2026. Leadership remains unchanged: Audrey Cappell (President, uncompensated) and directors Rabbi Kenneth Stern, Barbara Scheiner Silber, Sharna Goldseker, Kady Safar, and Patricia Weisenfeld (each compensated at $14,000/year). Marina Shmoukler is listed as the primary contact.

Pursuing funding from Felicity House requires a fundamentally different approach than applying to a traditional grantmaking foundation. No RFP exists, no application portal exists, and no stated grant cycle exists. All documented external grantmaking has been conducted through direct organizational relationships. Relationship cultivation is the only viable path.

Confirm mission alignment first. Every external grant in Felicity House's history has gone to organizations that serve autistic women and nonbinary people or advocate for autistic self-determination. If your organization's primary population is not autistic women or AFAB autistic individuals, Felicity House is not a viable funder regardless of broader health or disability focus. This is a hard filter — no exceptions exist in the historical record.

Identify the right entry point. Audrey Cappell (President) is the most likely strategic decision-maker. Marina Shmoukler is the listed operational contact. The contact page at felicity-house.org/contact/ is the appropriate first outreach channel. Frame initial contact as a peer relationship — Felicity House thinks of itself as a community member in the autism services ecosystem, not a traditional philanthropist. Language that acknowledges their non-clinical, community-space model will resonate better than grant-seeker framing.

Use their values language. Grantee purpose descriptions reference "women diagnosed with autism later in life," "virtual groups and individual consultations," "online support groups," and "board development/training." Proposals should emphasize adult autism services, self-determination, accessibility, and the capacity to reach beyond New York City. Avoid clinical or medical-model framing.

Calibrate your ask correctly. Historical grants range $2,500–$15,000, with a median of $7,500. Do not propose more than $15,000 in an initial inquiry. Anchor your ask at $7,500–$12,500 and position it explicitly as the start of a multi-year relationship, consistent with how AANE and AWN have been funded.

Monitor for program formalization. With $94.6M in assets and no formal grant program, Felicity House may be approaching the regulatory or strategic threshold at which it establishes a structured giving program. Checking ProPublica (EIN 46-3990624) annually for new 990 filings will reveal whether grantmaking has increased.