Fidelity Foundation

The Fidelity Foundation is the private philanthropic arm of the Johnson family, founders of Fidelity Investments, and has operated for more than 50 years from its Boston headquarters at 7 Water Street. It functions as a capacity-building funder — not a conventional program funder — and this distinction shapes everything about how applicants should approach it. Every grant is intended to strengthen organizational infrastructure and long-term self-reliance, and the foundation describes its approach explicitly as an investment in institutions, not a subsidy for services.

The foundation invests across five focus areas: Arts & Culture, Conservation, Education, Health, and Social & Economic Mobility. Its grantee history reveals an unmistakable preference for established, anchor institutions. Trustees of Reservations ($42.8 million, 17 grants), Boston Symphony Orchestra ($20 million, 4 grants), and Maine Coast Heritage Trust ($12.1 million, 13 grants) are emblematic of the foundation's ideal grantee: deeply rooted organizations with decades of track records, strong balance sheets, and sophisticated governance. These are not emerging nonprofits or pilot programs.

Geographic concentration follows Fidelity Investments' employee footprint. Massachusetts accounts for the largest share of grant volume in the foundation's history. New Hampshire is a secondary market. The foundation also funds in Fidelity hub cities — Denver, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Salt Lake City — and accepts applications from national organizations with demonstrably high-impact projects.

First-time applicants must understand one critical reality: the foundation does not frequently fund unsolicited LOIs. Its most productive relationships developed over years of engagement. Trustees — Abigail P. Johnson (CEO of Fidelity Investments), Elizabeth L. Johnson, and Edward C. Johnson IV — are directly involved in final grant decisions, giving the foundation an unusually personal character for an institution of its size. Cultivating relationships with program staff, and ideally leveraging connections within the Fidelity Investments employee network, substantially improves an applicant's chances before any LOI is submitted.

The standard relationship progression: LOI (rolling submission, 4–6 week review) → invited full proposal (3–6 month review) → potential site visit → Trustee approval. The foundation generally does not make successive multi-year grants, so all projects should be designed as one-time, self-sustaining investments.

The Fidelity Foundation has undergone extraordinary expansion over the past five years. Annual grantmaking grew from $54.7 million in 2019 to $156.2 million in 2024 — a 185% increase — while total assets climbed from $1.4 billion to $4.98 billion in the same period. This growth is directly tied to Fidelity Investments' business performance and the Johnson family's accelerating philanthropic commitments, which totaled $1.08 billion in new contributions in FY2024 alone.

The foundation's database contains 24,836 individual grants totaling $785.3 million. However, size distribution is extremely bimodal. Thousands of entries represent small Fidelity employee matching gifts to educational institutions — some as low as $50 to $300 — which compress stated averages. For substantive capacity-building grants, the practical floor is $100,000; meaningful project grants typically start at $250,000. Major capital and endowment commitments run $2.5 million to $10 million per award.

Grant tiers based on grantee history: Flagship endowment and capital grants — $2.5M to $10M (Boston Symphony Orchestra $20M endowment, Hobart and William Smith Colleges $10M general operating, Peabody Essex Museum $10M endowment, Pine Street Inn $5M endowment). Mid-tier technology and planning grants — $500K to $3M (New England Aquarium $3.9M technology, Charter Fund $4M program development). Entry-level project grants — $100K to $500K (planning assessments, small renovation projects).

By sector, conservation and land preservation receive the largest share of major funding: Trustees of Reservations ($42.8M), Northeast Wilderness Trust ($21.8M), Maine Coast Heritage Trust ($12.1M), Appalachian Mountain Club ($5.5M), and Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust ($4.6M) collectively represent roughly 40% of identifiable top-tier grantmaking. Arts and culture rank second, anchored by large endowment grants to Boston Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Essex Museum, and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Human services follow, led by Pine Street Inn and Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. Education (college endowments, charter school development) and health (Partners in Health, Upstream USA) each account for roughly 10–15%.

Geographically, Massachusetts accounts for approximately 65–70% of grant volume, with New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and national organizations comprising the balance.

The table below compares Fidelity Foundation to four peer foundations based on asset size, annual giving, focus areas, and application accessibility:

Fidelity Foundation sits among the largest Boston-based private foundations and rivals national capacity funders like Kresge in scale. Unlike Kresge, which runs open solicitation cycles for some programs, Fidelity's access is relationship-dependent — making it simultaneously one of the best-resourced and least accessible funders in New England. Organizations already in the Barr Foundation's portfolio should view Fidelity as a natural second target given overlapping Massachusetts geography and shared Arts and Conservation priorities. Kresge represents a more accessible entry point for organizations seeking capacity grants without Fidelity's relationship prerequisite. New England Foundation for the Arts is the appropriate starting point for smaller arts organizations that don't yet meet Fidelity's $1M operating budget threshold.

No major announcements specific to Fidelity Foundation's grantmaking program were publicly reported for 2025 or early 2026. The foundation maintains a deliberately low public profile consistent with its character as the private philanthropy of the Johnson family; it does not issue press releases about individual grants and rarely appears in philanthropy trade coverage beyond its grantmaking guidelines.

The most notable recent developments are financial. Total assets surged from $1.9 billion in 2020 to $4.98 billion by 2024, with $1.08 billion in new contributions flowing in during FY2024 alone. Annual grantmaking jumped from $82.2 million in FY2021 to $160.8 million in FY2022 — a single-year increase of nearly $80 million — and has remained above $145 million since.

Maura Marx has served as President throughout the recent filing period, with compensation rising from $301,424 (2019) to $668,576 (most recent year), consistent with the foundation's expanded operational scale. Daniel M. Ardito continues as Treasurer; Kevin Saunders as Secretary.

Grantee-level activity shows sustained commitment to New England conservation, including new land acquisition grants to Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, Kestrel Land Trust, and Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust. A $2.5 million grant to Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County (Florida) suggests selective geographic expansion beyond New England for established grantee networks. Elizabeth B. Johnson departed the board of directors as of December 2023, a minor governance change noted in the most recent filing.

Relationship first, LOI second. The foundation's own website states it 'does not frequently fund unsolicited LOIs.' This is not a boilerplate disclaimer — it reflects the foundation's operating reality. Organizations like Trustees of Reservations (17 grants over multiple cycles) and Northeast Wilderness Trust (26 grants) did not arrive via cold LOI. Identify program staff contact through info@fidelityfoundation.org and open a dialogue about fit before formally submitting. If you have board members, major donors, or staff with Fidelity Investments connections, those relationships are your most valuable asset.

Match the project type precisely. The foundation funds exactly three project types: capital investments (construction, renovations, land acquisition), planning initiatives (strategic planning or business planning consultants), and technology projects (systems that improve organizational efficiency). Do not pitch a program, an event, a clinical service, or general operations. If your project spans multiple years, understand that the foundation does not make successive multi-year grants — structure for a one-time transformative investment.

Lead with institutional strength, not need. The full proposal review explicitly examines operating surplus history, balance sheet quality, and leadership tenure. Organizations that arrive with consistent operating surpluses, strong reserves, and long-tenured senior management and board members will advance. A deficit year in recent financial history requires preemptive explanation. Board commitment to the specific project — not just organizational support — is a named review criterion.

Size the ask ambitiously but appropriately. Inside Philanthropy notes the foundation favors 'bigger projects' with sector-wide impact potential. Major capital grants run $2.5M–$10M; technology and planning grants typically fall between $250K–$2M. Do not undersize the ask in an attempt to appear modest. At the same time, do not position your organization as requiring Fidelity to be the lead donor — they actively avoid majority-funder positioning in capital campaigns.

Mirror the foundation's language throughout. Every proposal element should frame the work as an investment in organizational capacity: 'long-term self-reliance,' 'measurable value,' 'organizational transformation.' Avoid language centered on client counts, program outputs, or pilot testing. This funder evaluates institutions, not interventions.