Jacob Marley Foundation Inc.

Jacob Marley Foundation Inc. is a small, closely held family foundation established in 1993 by Chris and Traci Quackenbush, organized around the mission of 'improving people's lives through education.' Governance is entirely family- and friend-based: the board is composed almost exclusively of Quackenbush and Viklund family members (Kelsey/CJ Quackenbush as President, Whitney Quackenbush as Treasurer, Gail, Andrea, and Michael A. Quackenbush and Traci Viklund in other officer roles) plus three outside directors (Carlton D. Brown, William Hickey, Mark Viklund, Thomas M. O'Brien). The sole paid staff is Executive Director Diana L. Holden, an independent contractor compensated $48,000-$64,000 across recent years — there is no program officer, no grants department, and no public application infrastructure (the foundation's own record lists application_instructions as none, and no LOI form, portal, or deadline appears anywhere on jacobmarley.org or in third-party databases).

The grantee ledger reinforces this: of 24 tracked grants, the same roughly eight organizations recur three times each in the dataset, indicating durable, personally-maintained relationships rather than competitive annual review. Geographically, giving is hyper-local — 21 of 24 grants (87.5%) go to New York recipients clustered in two specific communities, Bay Shore and Manhasset on Long Island, with the remaining three grants supporting a University of North Carolina scholarship, almost certainly tied to a family or alumni connection rather than an open geographic program.

For grant seekers, the practical implication is stark: this is not a fundable target for a cold LOI. The realistic path in is a warm introduction — through Diana L. Holden, a sitting board member, or an existing grantee such as Adventures In Learning or Mercy Haven — combined with a direct programmatic and geographic match (youth education/after-school enrichment, local public schools, human services/housing, or a Bay Shore/Manhasset church). Organizations without any connection to those two towns, or to the family's UNC tie, should not expect a response. First-time applicants who do have a plausible connection should lead with a short, personal letter rather than a formal proposal packet, given the foundation's all-volunteer, single-contractor operating model.

The foundation's own typical-grant-size record puts the median grant at $32,500 with a range of $5,000 to $115,000 (average $44,375) across the 8 distinct grant sizes it has published. The fuller multi-year grantee ledger (24 grants, $1.1 million total) shows a similar average of $45,833 per grant. Giving is heavily concentrated: Adventures In Learning Inc., an after-school enrichment program serving roughly 70 students daily, is the top recipient at $345,000 across 3 grants (31% of all tracked dollars, implying roughly $115,000/grant — the top of the observed range). Mercy Haven Inc., a housing and mental-health services nonprofit, is second at $285,000 (26%). Together these two recipients absorb 57% of all tracked giving. The remainder splits among Congregational Church of Manhasset ($135,000), Bayshore Public Schools ($130,000), Manhasset Public Schools ($90,000), Bay Shore High School ($60,000), University of North Carolina ($30,000), and Riverhead Central School District ($25,000) — all unrestricted grants.

At the organizational level, Form 990-PF filings show total charitable giving growing steadily from $150,000 (FY2012) to a peak of $468,351 (FY2022), then pulling back for two consecutive years to $429,252 (FY2023) and an estimated $351,000 (FY2024, per CauseIQ's read of the FY2024 filing; grants paid alone were $340,000 in FY2023 and $380,000 in FY2022). Total assets have stayed essentially flat for over a decade, ranging $3.3 million to $3.9 million, funded almost entirely by net investment income (which itself swung from $64,544 in FY2020 to $696,291 in FY2022) rather than new contributions — direct contributions received have never exceeded $30,000 in any year on record. FY2023 and FY2024 both closed with net operating losses (-$78,393 and -$90,490 respectively), meaning the foundation is currently paying out more than its investment returns generate — consistent with a mature, steady-state legacy foundation rather than one in growth mode.

The data bundle for this foundation returned no matched peer-foundation records, and no directly comparable, similarly sized Long Island family foundation with public financials surfaced in web research. The table below therefore contrasts Jacob Marley against two sourced reference points and one general category benchmark, flagged accordingly, rather than fabricated named peers.

*Category benchmark based on typical small private family foundation patterns, not a single named entity — included because no size-matched peer data was available.

Jacob Marley sits at the very small end of institutional philanthropy: its asset base and annual giving are roughly three orders of magnitude smaller than a community-foundation aggregator like the Long Island Community Foundation, and unlike that open, RFP-driven vehicle, Jacob Marley operates with zero public application infrastructure. Its closest functional peers are not large foundations at all but individual family giving circles — the appropriate comparison is less 'competing for a grant' and more 'being known to the family.'

Public information on recent (2025-2026) activity is thin. The foundation's own website's most recently dated content (scholarship receptions, holiday programs) runs only through 2018, and no news release, social media presence, or press coverage for 2025 or 2026 surfaced in web search. The most concrete recent data point is administrative: the FY2024 Form 990-PF was filed November 16, 2025, reporting $306,732 in revenue, $397,222 in expenses, $351,000 in charitable disbursements, and $3,687,520 in net assets, following a similarly loss-making FY2023 ($350,859 revenue against $429,252 in total giving). The platform's own record shows the foundation's profile was last web-enriched February 22, 2026, and last verified July 25, 2026, with no indication of a website change, leadership transition, or new program in that window.

The one notable named initiative found is the Jacob Marley Foundation Scholarship in Memory of Christopher Quackenbush '82, established within NYU School of Law's AnBryce Program — an endowed, named scholarship tied to a Quackenbush family member's NYU Law class year. This, combined with the University of North Carolina scholarship line in the grantee ledger, suggests the family's giving outside its core Long Island footprint is driven by personal and educational alumni ties rather than a programmatic expansion. Absent any new public announcements, grant seekers should treat this foundation as operating in steady continuation of its decades-long pattern — the same core recipients, the same two Long Island communities, and a pullback in total dollars over the last two fiscal years tied to investment performance rather than a strategic shift.

There is no formal application process to optimize for — no LOI form, portal, published deadline, or grant guidelines exist for this foundation, and its own record explicitly lists application instructions as none. Practical guidance therefore centers on positioning and access rather than proposal mechanics.

• Geographic and programmatic fit is the gatekeeping factor. 87.5% of tracked grant dollars go to organizations serving Bay Shore or Manhasset, NY specifically. A youth education, after-school enrichment, local public school, human-services/housing, or faith-based organization serving one of those two communities is a plausible fit; anything outside that footprint (absent a University of North Carolina or NYU Law alumni tie) is a very long shot.
• Use the foundation's own language. Frame any outreach around 'improving people's lives through education' — its stated mission verbatim since 1993 — rather than generic capacity-building or general-operating-support boilerplate.
• Find a warm connection before writing anything. The board is entirely Quackenbush/Viklund family members plus three outside directors (Carlton D. Brown, William Hickey, Thomas M. O'Brien); the only paid staff is Executive Director Diana L. Holden. A referral from an existing grantee (Adventures In Learning, Mercy Haven, Congregational Church of Manhasset, or one of the four school-district recipients) or a personal connection to a board member is far more likely to get a response than a cold letter.
• Keep it short and personal, not a formal packet. With an all-volunteer board and a single part-time contractor running operations, an elaborate multi-year budget or logic-model-heavy proposal will read as a mismatch. A one-to-two page letter describing a specific, local need — and how it fits programs the foundation already funds — matches its operating style.

• Expect repeat funding over new funding. The grantee data shows the same organizations funded three times running; this foundation behaves more like a sustaining funder of long-term relationships than a competitive grantmaker seeking new projects. A realistic first goal for a new relationship is a modest, one-time gift in the $5,000-$32,500 median range, not the $115,000 top-tier amount reserved for its flagship, decades-long partner (Adventures In Learning).
• Common mistake to avoid: submitting a generic national or regional funding request. With contributions received consistently under $30,000/year and giving anchored to two specific towns, this is not a funder positioned to consider proposals outside its established geography.