Mcchord Foundation

The McChord Foundation is a newly established family private foundation, formed in May 2022 and almost certainly capitalized by proceeds from the acquisition of Datto Inc., the Norwalk-based data backup and cybersecurity company co-founded by Austin McChord. The foundation's 2022 Form 990 shows $173 million in contributions received in a single year — consistent with a founder liquidity event — transforming a zero-balance entity into a $173 million philanthropy in one filing cycle.

The foundation operates with a lean, three-person board (Austin McChord, Holt McChord, and Kendall Horch, all uncompensated directors) and is formally classified as invitation-only in IRS grantmaker databases, with application instructions marked as none. There is no public-facing grants portal, RFP process, or stated eligibility criteria. The domain mcchord.org resolves to an unrelated Civil Air Patrol ribbon-builder tool — the foundation has no public web presence for grantmaking whatsoever. This structure is characteristic of a first-generation founder-led family foundation: grantees are selected through personal relationships and the founders' existing networks rather than open competitions.

For grant seekers, the practical implication is unambiguous: unsolicited cold applications are not accepted. The pathway to funding runs through personal connection to the McChord family or their professional networks in Connecticut's Fairfield County, the Boston-area educational technology community, and STEM robotics ecosystems nationally. Organizations already in these networks should prioritize warm introductions through mutual contacts at DonorsChoose, Fraser Woods Montessori School, or other established grantees from the foundation's public 990 record.

The foundation's giving trajectory — $559K in 2022, $5.5M in 2023, $6.63M in 2024 — reflects founders actively scaling up charitable giving as their philanthropic priorities crystallize. With $182 million in assets, the McChord Foundation is in an active portfolio-building phase. New relationships remain plausible, particularly for organizations delivering measurable impact in STEM education, community resilience, or healthcare access. Framing proposals around technology-enabled outcomes and founder-community connections will resonate with a leadership team rooted in enterprise software and Connecticut civic life. The IRS-listed contact, Angie Mecham at (617) 548-2089, is the only known channel for direct foundation outreach.

The McChord Foundation's grant data reveals a foundation still defining its giving shape. Across 57 tracked grants totaling $4.83 million in the available 990 dataset, the average grant size is $84,737 — but this average masks a highly bifurcated portfolio with two distinct funding tiers.

At the top end, seven grants exceeded $100,000: DonorsChoose received $1,020,000 across two grants (the single largest grantee relationship in the portfolio); Fraser Woods Montessori School in Newtown received $1,000,000 plus two additional grants totaling $195,000; Medical Debt Resolution Inc received $500,000; the Pittsburgh Chapter of the NTMF Foundation received $400,000; Southern California Attack Robotics received $265,000; and Beth Israel Lahey Health Inc received $250,000. These large grants represent the foundation's deepest programmatic commitments — education access, debt relief, and healthcare.

At the bottom end, approximately 30 grants clustered at exactly $5,000, predominantly to high school robotics teams, makerspaces, and STEM clubs scattered nationally. Recipients include Revolution Robotics Foundation, Nova Labs, Tinkermill, Protohaven, Hartford Hackerspace, Brooklyn Boatworks, and Engineers Without Borders USA, spread across CT, MA, NY, TX, CA, CO, and NH.

By geography: Connecticut anchors the portfolio with 13 of the 50 tracked grants, concentrated in Newtown (Hook and Ladder: $200,000; Historical Society: $100,000; Bridle Lands Association: $75,000 and $50,000; Forest Association: $25,000) and Norwalk (Friends of Norwalk River Valley: $75,000). Massachusetts follows with 10 grants, New York with 6, Texas and California with 4 each, and Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Maryland with 3 each.

By focus area (estimated dollar share): STEM education and robotics account for roughly 38-40% of tracked dollars; community anchor institutions in CT represent approximately 14%; healthcare and human services (Medical Debt, Beth Israel, ABC of Wilton) approximately 18%; environmental conservation roughly 5%; and general education (school PTOs, district foundations) approximately 10%.

In 2024, the portfolio consolidated to 20 grants with an average of approximately $331,000 each — a roughly 4x increase from the 2023 average — with the top grant reaching $1.2 million. Full 2024 giving totaled $6.63 million on total revenue of $15.5 million, driven by asset sales ($10.7M) and dividends ($4.3M).

The McChord Foundation occupies a distinctive position among similarly sized Human Services foundations: a Connecticut-based, founder-led technology philanthropy with unusually concentrated community ties and a STEM focus uncommon in the Human Services NTEE classification.

McChord is the youngest of these five organizations by decades, having formed in 2022 versus peers with 20- to 50-year operating histories. Its effective payout rate of approximately 3.7% ($6.6M on $182M assets) sits near the legal minimum of 5% of average assets — typical for a foundation in early years that counts operating expenses toward the payout floor. More established peers like Sea Change and ILCHF often give at higher effective rates. For grant seekers, the most important distinction is accessibility: Sea Change and ILCHF maintain public application portals and stated deadlines, while McChord, like Shear, operates entirely through relationship-driven selection.

No press releases, foundation website announcements, or substantive news coverage of the McChord Foundation were found in web research for 2025 or 2026. The foundation maintains no public web presence for grantmaking; the domain mcchord.org resolves to an unrelated Civil Air Patrol ribbon-arrangement tool.

The most recent publicly available filing is the FY2023 Form 990-PF, submitted to the IRS on November 17, 2025. That document discloses $4,405,000 in grants paid, total giving of $5,496,860 across 52 awards, net investment income of $5,240,255, and total assets of $174,212,938. Officer compensation was $0 across all three directors.

2024 activity, reflected in Instrumentl's 990 database, shows 20 grants totaling approximately $6,620,000 — a 20% increase in total dollars delivered through 61% fewer grants. The top 2024 grant reached $1.2 million, slightly above the largest 2023 commitment. Total 2024 revenue of $15.5 million significantly exceeded 2023 revenue of $6.3 million, driven by asset sales of $10.7 million and dividends of $4.3 million, growing total assets to $182.0 million.

Leadership has remained entirely stable since formation: Austin McChord, Holt McChord, and Kendall Horch are listed as directors in every available filing without compensation. No program officer hires, new program announcements, or advisory committee additions have been identified. The administrative contact, Angie Mecham, continues as listed IRS contact at the Norwalk address. The (617) area code on the foundation's phone number is consistent with Massachusetts, aligning with the foundation's significant Boston-area giving pattern.

Given the McChord Foundation's invitation-only structure and complete absence of a formal application process, conventional grant-seeking tactics are ineffective. The following tips are grounded specifically in what the grantee record, IRS filings, and foundation structure reveal.

Relationship-first, always. Every grant in the portfolio appears to stem from personal or professional connections to Austin McChord, Holt McChord, or Kendall Horch. DonorsChoose — the top grantee at $1.02M — is widely used by tech founders as an accessible philanthropic vehicle; Fraser Woods Montessori in Newtown clearly connects to the founders' local community. Map your board and leadership against these touchpoints before any outreach.

Lead with Connecticut community ties. Newtown and Norwalk CT organizations have received disproportionately large support — at least 6 Newtown-specific grants averaging over $100,000 each. If your organization serves Fairfield County or the greater Norwalk-Newtown corridor, make that geographic connection explicit in any correspondence.

STEM and robotics are the clearest programmatic signals. More than 30 of 57 tracked grants went to robotics teams, makerspaces, or STEM education organizations. Organizations delivering hands-on engineering education, school maker programs, or technology access for underserved students should frame their work in these terms and reference specific programmatic outcomes.

Contact Angie Mecham directly by mail or phone. With no online portal, the IRS-listed contact — Angie Mecham, 50 Day Street, Norwalk, CT 06854, phone (617) 548-2089 — is the appropriate first-touch channel. A brief, professional letter of inquiry (1-2 pages) is more appropriate than email, which is not publicly listed.

Calibrate your first ask conservatively. The portfolio median is approximately $5,000-$10,000 for new relationships based on the large number of micro-grants; larger commitments ($100K+) reflect sustained, trust-based relationships. A first ask in the $10,000-$25,000 range is more likely to succeed than an anchor request from an unknown organization.