Liberty Hall Foundation

Liberty Hall Foundation is not a general-purpose grantmaker, and grant seekers should approach it with that understanding front and center. IRS Form 990-PF data available to us covers grant activity in the most recent filing years, and 100% of it — two grants totaling $1,070,410, averaging $535,205 each — went to a single recipient: Liberty Hall Museum Inc, the 1772 historic house museum in Union, NJ that the Foundation was established to support. The Foundation's own mission statement confirms this narrow mandate: 'funding Liberty Hall Museum, whose purpose is the ongoing restoration and preservation of historic house and grounds and use of same as a museum.' Its ruling date (November 1968) and multi-decade filing history show no diversification beyond this single beneficiary. The trustee roster reinforces this: every listed officer and trustee carries a Kean, Haack, Raynolds, O'Neill, or Dashevsky surname — the Livingston-Kean family that occupied Liberty Hall for eight generations — plus Joel D. Siegel, Esq. as President, functioning as family counsel. All serve without compensation, which is typical of a closed family/supporting foundation rather than a staffed grantmaking institution. For first-time applicants: there is no LOI process, no RFP cycle, and no public grant guidelines to follow, because the Foundation does not solicit or fund outside proposals in any way visible in the public record. Organizations researching this funder are almost certainly better served redirecting effort toward peer NJ historic-preservation funders with actual open programs (e.g., the NJ Historic Trust, county historic preservation trust funds, or the National Trust for Historic Preservation's grant programs). The one legitimate path to engagement is indirect: if your organization partners programmatically with Liberty Hall Museum itself (joint exhibits, shared preservation trades expertise, America250 programming, or accessibility-improvement contracting), approach Kean University's advancement office, which administers the museum, rather than the Foundation directly. A cold LOI to the Foundation's registered address (1003 Morris Ave, Union, NJ) should be expected to go unanswered given the total absence of any non-museum grant history.

Total giving has been remarkably stable across the available record: annual giving ranged from a low of $435,101 (FY2014) to a high of $662,640 (FY2012), with a median across nine tracked fiscal years (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) of $625,782. Grants paid specifically (as distinct from total qualifying distributions) ranged from $352,463 (FY2014) to $589,634 (FY2012), typically landing in the $510,000-$570,000 band in most years — FY2023 grants paid were $511,010 against $580,909 in total giving. Total assets have grown steadily from $8.55M (FY2012) to $10.89M (FY2024), a roughly 27% increase over 12 years, driven mostly by net investment income rather than new contributions: FY2023 contributions received were just $7,370 against $273,201 in net investment income, and FY2022 shows the same pattern ($7,559 in contributions vs. $630,806 in investment income). This is an endowment-funded, not a donor-replenished, foundation — new gifts in are negligible and giving out is financed by the portfolio. Geographically, 100% of tracked grant dollars stayed in New Jersey (the sole recipient is based in Union, NJ). By program area, 100% of giving is classified as 'Operating Support' for museum restoration, preservation, and operations — there is no breakdown by education, health, or other causes because none exists in this Foundation's giving history. Officer compensation has been $0 in every fiscal year reported (2012-2024), meaning essentially all charitable distributions flow to the museum with minimal administrative drag — FY2023's $580,909 in total giving against $338,875 in total revenue that year (giving exceeded revenue, drawing down reserves in leaner investment-income years) illustrates a foundation willing to run at a modest deficit in weak market years to keep the museum's operating support consistent.

The database returned no algorithmically matched peer foundations for Liberty Hall Foundation, consistent with its unusual structure: most comparable New Jersey historic-house museums are supported by direct 'friends of' nonprofits rather than a separate 501(c)(3) grantmaking private foundation layered on top. We identified the closest structural analogues through manual research; neither publishes a comparable grants program, which itself is the key data point.

The pattern across all three is consistent: New Jersey's historic house museums are typically self-operating nonprofits or are supported by dedicated 'friends' organizations that fund their own site directly rather than running competitive grant programs for outside applicants. Liberty Hall Foundation fits this same mold — it is best understood as an endowment vehicle dedicated to one museum, not as a philanthropy peer-comparable to broad-purpose community or family foundations that fund external nonprofits.

No news specifically about Liberty Hall Foundation (the grantmaking entity) surfaced in web search — its public footprint is limited to its IRS Form 990-PF filings, the most recent of which was filed in November 2025 covering fiscal year 2024 (per CauseIQ). All identifiable recent activity concerns its sole beneficiary, Liberty Hall Museum, now affiliated with Kean University. Notable recent developments: museum staff uncovered one of the largest known collections of 18th-century Madeira wine in the United States during a wine-cellar restoration project, generating regional press coverage. Separately, as of May 2026 the museum had secured funding for accessible-pathway improvements across its 23-acre grounds, though construction had not yet begun as of that reporting; it is not confirmed from public sources whether the Foundation itself financed this specific accessibility project or whether it came through Kean University or a separate grant. The museum is also positioning itself for higher visibility during New Jersey's 2026 commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, given the site's construction in 1772 by NJ's first governor, William Livingston, and its role in Revolutionary-era history. No leadership changes at the Foundation itself were found — the trustee roster (Kean, Haack, Raynolds, O'Neill, and Dashevsky family members, with Joel D. Siegel, Esq. as President) appears stable across the multi-year 990 record reviewed, with all serving without compensation.

There is no evidence this Foundation accepts, reviews, or responds to unsolicited grant applications, so standard grant-writing advice does not apply in the usual sense. What we can say concretely, based on its full public giving record: every tracked dollar has gone to Liberty Hall Museum Inc, the Foundation has zero contributions-received relative to its investment income (meaning it is not soliciting outside donors either), and its trustees are entirely family members serving without compensation — hallmarks of a closed family foundation built around one institution. If your organization believes it has a legitimate claim on this Foundation's attention, the only credible entry points are: (1) direct, documented partnership with Liberty Hall Museum itself — for example, co-developing America250 programming, contributing preservation trades expertise to the ongoing wine-cellar or accessibility-path restoration work, or supporting Kean University's stewardship of the site; (2) a warm introduction through a trustee or through Kean University's advancement office, since the trustee family (Kean, Haack, Raynolds) has deep, multi-generational ties to both the museum and the university; (3) positioning any ask as directly reducing the museum's own operating costs, since 100% of this Foundation's historical purpose is operating support for that single site, not general community grantmaking. The most common mistake an outside applicant would make is treating this like a typical private foundation with unstated-but-discoverable guidelines — the correct read of the public record is that no such guidelines exist because the Foundation was never designed to fund a portfolio of grantees. Organizations working in NJ historic preservation, museum studies, or Revolutionary War-era public history who want funding from a comparable source should instead research New Jersey Historic Trust grants, County Historic Preservation Trust Fund programs (Union County's own trust fund is a realistic alternative given geographic overlap), or National Trust for Historic Preservation grant programs — all of which run actual competitive application cycles.