Fenwick Foundation

Fenwick Foundation is a ~$6.4M private independent foundation (NTEE: Philanthropy / Private Independent Foundations) based in Pennington, NJ, tax-exempt since July 2019 (EIN 56-2150323). Its most recent Form 990-PF (fiscal year ending April 2025) reports $445K in revenue against $1.01M in expenses, indicating a foundation that is intentionally distributing faster than it earns — a pattern consistent with a steady-state giving posture rather than corpus growth. Cause IQ describes its grantmaking as primarily "unrestricted general grants" across roughly 75 grantees in a recent year, with Zeffy summarizing total giving of ~$937K. Public-facing materials for the NJ-registered entity are limited, and there is easy confusion with an unrelated but similarly named "Fenwick Foundation" in another region that focuses on mental-health arts programming — applicants should confirm they are targeting the Pennington, NJ EIN (56-2150323) when building a prospect file. The strategic signal from the 990 data is a mid-sized, trustee-directed family foundation making many relatively modest unrestricted grants rather than large named initiatives.

Based on Form 990-PF data aggregated by ProPublica, Zeffy, and Cause IQ, Fenwick Foundation has sustained annual expenses in the $900K–$1.03M range across FY2019–FY2025 while assets have drifted down from a 2016 peak of roughly $9.1M to $6.36M in 2025 — consistent with a ~5% minimum-distribution discipline and modest investment recovery. Zeffy reports total giving of $937,537 in the most recent filing; Cause IQ attributes approximately 75 grants in that same window, which implies a typical award size in the low-teens of thousands of dollars with most grants landing below $25K. The foundation favors unrestricted general-support grants rather than project-specific funding, which is an important signal for applicants: you should not plan to write a tightly-scoped deliverables-based proposal, but rather demonstrate that general support of your mission aligns with the foundation priorities. Grantees include the YMCA of the Triangle per Cause IQ, suggesting comfort with large mainstream youth/education intermediaries. Multi-year or renewed grants cannot be confirmed from public filings alone.

Among peer-sized $5M–$7M family/private-independent foundations, Fenwick distributes more dollars per year and writes more grants per year than Zeldin, Margolis, or Dry Creek — making it one of the more active small foundations in its tier. However, its average grant is mid-range, not outsized; applicants should anchor budget asks in the $5K–$25K band rather than six-figure requests.

As of the FY ending April 2025 (published on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer in mid-2025), Fenwick Foundation reported $1,199,518 in revenue, $982,450 in expenses, and $6,796,097 in total assets — a year-over-year asset jump versus the FY2024 filing that suggests either a new contribution from the donor family or strong market returns. The most recent IRS-digitized filing is FY ending April 2025, meaning the next 990-PF (FY2026) will likely become public in late 2026 or 2027. Cause IQ most recent data snapshot (2024-04-01) shows the foundation still active and making approximately 75 grants per annual cycle. There is no public announcement of new strategic priorities, staff changes, or RFPs visible through Google News, Philanthropy News Digest, or the foundation own site as of April 2026. Applicants should treat the foundation as a steady, trustee-operated giver — not a foundation running open cycles with published deadlines.

Because Fenwick Foundation does not publish an open application portal and is governed as a traditional trustee-directed family foundation, the realistic path in is relationship-based rather than RFP-based. 1) Confirm you are targeting the Pennington, NJ EIN 56-2150323 (not the separately branded "Fenwick Foundation" in another region focused on arts/mental health) — mixing them up is the single most common applicant error. 2) Anchor your ask in the $5K–$25K range; the 990-PF data shows typical grants at that level rather than $50K+. 3) Lead with general operating support needs, because the foundation filings skew toward unrestricted general grants — a project-specific budget narrative is likely a poor fit. 4) Use the Zeffy foundation profile (www.zeffy.com/foundations/56-2150323) and Cause IQ page to identify grantees already in your network; a warm introduction from an existing grantee is the highest-yield path. 5) Submit a crisp 1–2 page letter of inquiry with your 501(c)(3) determination letter, latest 990, and a one-paragraph mission alignment statement before sending a full proposal. 6) Expect a long decision cycle and no automatic response to cold inquiries.