The Citta Foundation

The Citta Foundation is a small, tightly-controlled family private foundation run entirely by descendants of founders Joseph and Regina Citta — President Kristin Farfalla, Vice Presidents Loriann Erbe and Heather Moffitt (all granddaughters), trustee Joseph A. Citta Jr. (son), trustee Justin Citta (grandson), and Administrator Cheryl Zahn. There is no program staff, no published RFP, and no formal application portal — 'application_instructions' in IRS filings literally reads 'NO REQUIREMENTS DEFINED.' This means the foundation operates on relationship and reputation, not competitive proposals. Of 170 grants in the most recent giving period, nearly all are coded simply 'GENERAL CHARITABLE PURPOSES,' and the recipient list (Jersey Shore Council Boy Scouts, Community Medical Center, Ocean's Harbor House, Fulfill, YMCA, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity) reads like a directory of established, long-tenured Ocean County institutions rather than emerging or out-of-area nonprofits. First-time applicants should understand they are one of many long-standing local relationships this board maintains, often across multiple consecutive years (many grantees show grant_count of 2-3 in the data, indicating repeat annual support rather than one-off awards). The clearest path in is a warm introduction — through a shared board member, a mutual honoree at a Boy Scouts/YMCA/hospital foundation event, or an existing grantee who can vouch for a new organization — followed by a direct phone call to the foundation's Toms River office (732-349-0200) rather than a cold written LOI. Organizations should also be Ocean County-based or serving Ocean County residents; the data shows 159 of 170 grants (93%) went to New Jersey recipients, overwhelmingly in the Toms River/Ocean County area, with only small out-of-state footprints in FL, PA, and VT likely tied to family or historical ties. First gifts tend to be modest (the typical grant size shows a median of just $2,000 against an average of $7,111, reflecting a base of small, symbolic community gifts alongside occasional larger signature grants), so new applicants should expect an initial small grant as a trust-building step before qualifying for the five- and six-figure gifts reserved for flagship partners like Ocean County College Foundation ($500,000 pledged in January 2024) or Jersey Shore Council Boy Scouts ($221,000 across two grants).

Median grant size across the top-50 grantee list is difficult to isolate precisely from IRS-reported typical-grant-size data, which shows a median of $2,000, an average of $7,111, and a range from $500 to $110,000 across 47 tracked awards — confirming this is fundamentally a small-grants funder with occasional large exceptions. Looking at the fuller 170-grant dataset (avg. $7,833, total $1,331,550), the distribution is heavily skewed: the top four recipients alone — Jersey Shore Council Boy Scouts of America ($221,000 across 2 grants), Community Medical Center ($150,000 across 2 grants), a related Jersey Shore Council Boy Scouts entity ($111,500 in 1 grant), and Ocean's Harbor House ($110,000 across 3 grants) — account for roughly $592,500, or about 44% of total tracked giving, while the remaining 46+ organizations split the rest in awards mostly under $20,000. Geographically, giving is almost exclusively New Jersey (159 of 170 grants, 93.5%), with small outliers in Florida (3), Pennsylvania (5), and Vermont (3) presumably tied to family connections rather than programmatic expansion. By cause, the pattern (all coded 'general charitable purposes' rather than formal program buckets) breaks down descriptively as: youth development and scouting (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Big Brothers Big Sisters — several of the largest single grants), health and hospital systems (Community Medical Center and its Foundation, ~$181,500 combined), food security and hunger relief (Fulfill/Fullfill, Hunger Foundation of Southern OC, Your Grandmother's Cupboard, Starve Poverty International), housing and homelessness (Habitat for Humanity, Family Promise, Homes for All, Interfaith Hospitality Network), and community/education institutions (OC College Foundation, YMCA, Salvation Army). On the financial side, total giving has grown steadily from $237,317 in FY2011 to $474,107 in FY2023 (roughly doubling over 12 years), tracking a parallel rise in total assets from $4.87M to $8.5M over the same span, while grants paid specifically rose from $194,500 (2011) to $386,550 (2023) — a compound annual growth rate of about 6%. Officer compensation is consistently $0 across all reported years, underscoring the all-volunteer, family-run structure with no administrative overhead drag on grantmaking capacity.

The Citta Foundation occupies the small end of Ocean County family foundations — modest in assets and giving compared to larger regional players like the Grunin Foundation (also Toms River-area, known for $100K+ school grants) but similar in structure and geographic focus to other single-family Jersey Shore foundations.

The table shows Citta sits mid-pack among small NJ family foundations by assets, but its giving-to-asset payout ratio (roughly 4.8-6.6% across recent years) is healthy and consistent with private foundation minimum-distribution requirements. Unlike bank-affiliated peers such as OceanFirst Foundation, which run open online applications, Citta remains a closed, relationship-first funder — a structural feature grant seekers should weigh heavily when deciding where to spend limited cultivation time and effort.

The most significant recent, dated activity is the January 12, 2024 announcement of a $500,000 pledge over five years to the Ocean County College Foundation's Legacy Campaign, supporting scholarships, endowments, and capital/special projects — the largest single commitment found in current research and a strong signal that OCC remains the foundation's flagship higher-education partner. OCC Foundation executive director Kenneth J. Malagiere publicly thanked 'Kristin and her entire family' (President Kristin Farfalla), reinforcing that the foundation's public identity is closely tied to its named family leadership rather than a program office. Beyond this, no 2025 or 2026 press releases, leadership changes, or new program announcements surfaced in web research — the foundation does not appear to issue regular press releases, and its most visible activity channels are Facebook and Instagram (@thecittafoundation) rather than a news page. Other recent (undated, likely 2023-2025) activity includes a joint $75,000 pledge with Causeway CARes, Habitat for Humanity, and Starve Poverty International to fund home repairs for Ocean County residents in need, and continuation of an annual children's coat drive run with Causeway CARes and OceanFirst Bank. The most recent Form 990 data available (FY2023, filed under EIN 59-2635738) shows total assets of $8.5M, total giving of $474,107, and 386,550 in grants paid, alongside net investment income of $201,717 — indicating the foundation entered FY2024 (the year of the OCC pledge) in a financially strong position relative to its historical asset base. Grant seekers should treat the absence of recent news as normal for this funder rather than a sign of inactivity or wind-down; its data profile confirms 'accepting_applications: true' with an active, ongoing local grants program.

There is no online portal, published RFP, or stated deadline for The Citta Foundation — IRS filings explicitly list application instructions as 'NO REQUIREMENTS DEFINED,' and web research confirms applicants must initiate contact directly by phone (732-349-0200) or mail (201 Hooper Avenue, Suite 5A, Toms River, NJ 08753). Because the five-member board is entirely Citta family (President Kristin Farfalla, VPs Loriann Erbe and Heather Moffitt, trustees Joseph A. Citta Jr. and Justin Citta, plus Administrator Cheryl Zahn), the single biggest lever for a new applicant is a warm introduction — through a mutual connection at an existing grantee (Boy Scouts, YMCA, Community Medical Center, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, or similar), a shared event or gala, or a local Ocean County civic/business network the family is known to be active in. Applicants should lead with mission alignment language around 'compassion,' 'education,' and 'uplifting the local community' — phrasing pulled directly from the foundation's own stated mission — rather than generic grant-speak about innovation or scalability, since this funder's giving pattern shows almost no interest in pilot programs or research; it funds proven, operating local institutions. A common mistake would be submitting a lengthy formal grant proposal package (logic models, multi-year budgets, outcome frameworks) — the data suggests this funder responds better to a concise, personal letter or phone conversation describing a specific community need and the requesting organization's track record, given that the vast majority of its 170 tracked grants are labeled simply 'general charitable purposes' with no restricted-program reporting. Timing-wise, because there's no stated cycle, a good approach is to make contact well before the calendar year-end (the foundation's giving appears to track a standard fiscal year) and to avoid duplicate outreach — several grantees (e.g., 'Fulfill' vs. 'Fullfill,' 'Community Services Inc Of Oc' recorded under two name variants) appear as repeat annual recipients, suggesting once a relationship is established, renewal is far easier than first entry. Given 93% of dollars go to Ocean County/NJ-based recipients, out-of-state or non-local organizations should not prioritize this funder unless they have a direct family or historical connection (the small FL, PA, and VT grants likely reflect exactly that). Finally, given the foundation's very small administrative footprint ($0 officer compensation, no dedicated program staff), applicants should expect a personal, informal review process — patience and persistence in follow-up (a polite call-back after 4-6 weeks) is more likely to succeed than a single unanswered written proposal.