Washington Square Fund

Washington Square Fund is a small, historically rooted, all-volunteer family foundation now directing a roughly $4.7 million endowment almost entirely to grassroots New York City nonprofits delivering sexual-health education, teen-pregnancy prevention, and girls'-leadership programming. Its board — Edith L. Morrill (President), Neil E. Botwinoff (Vice President), Jennifer Kimura (Secretary), Theresa Lawrence (Treasurer), and roughly six additional uncompensated directors — personally reviews proposals; IRS filings note grant proposals may be "submitted to a member of the Board of Directors or directly the Board of Directors," signaling this is a relationship-driven funder without program-officer gatekeeping. All 45 grants tracked in foundation records went to New York State organizations serving the five boroughs — geographic and mission fit are non-negotiable filters, not soft preferences. WSF favors direct-service nonprofits already embedded in communities (settlement houses, girls' clubs, community centers, academies) over research or advocacy organizations, and it funds a specific named program within a larger organization's portfolio rather than general operating support. Grantees recur: New Settlement Apartments has received four grants totaling $100,000 and George Jackson Academy three totaling $85,000, indicating the fund builds multi-year relationships rather than rotating through a new cohort each cycle. First-time applicants should expect to start with a modest single award (typically $25,000) and reapply in subsequent cycles rather than seeking a large one-time grant. The foundation's own how-to-apply language explicitly favors "new programs seeking seed funding that can later secure alternative donors" — WSF positions itself as an early-stage or bridge funder, so proposals should articulate a credible path toward diversified funding rather than presenting WSF as a permanent revenue line. With no listed program staff and administration routed through a single contact ("c/o Spiegler"), the 3-5 page proposal submitted via Google Form functions as both LOI and full application — there is no separate staged review process to navigate.

Grants paid have moved in a fairly narrow band over the past decade: $215,000 (2012), $238,000 (2014), $265,000 (2018), $210,000 (2019), $230,000 (2020), $295,000 (2021, the peak year, aided by a one-time $400,000 contribution received that year), $245,000 (2022), and $275,000 (2023, the most recent year with full grants-paid data). Total giving (which includes non-grant program spending) was $376,571 in 2023 against total revenue of just $193,926 and contributions received of only $824 — confirming the fund is almost entirely self-sustaining off its own endowment rather than dependent on new gifts. Total assets have grown steadily from $2.3 million (2014) to $4.74 million (2024), driven by investment returns rather than large new contributions. Per-grant size is consistent and modest: the foundation states awards "generally range from $20,000 to $30,000," and foundation records show a typical single award of $25,000 with organizations sometimes receiving $50,000 in a cycle by way of two separate $25,000 awards (Girls Inc. of NYC, Global Kids, Queens Community House, Red Hook Initiative, Search & Care, Forestdale, and Publicolor all show this pattern) rather than one larger check. Across 45 tracked grants, the average is $24,667 and the total is $1,110,000, with recorded amounts ranging $15,000-$50,000 — WSF essentially never writes a single grant above $25,000. Every tracked grantee (45 of 45) is based in New York — a purely hyperlocal five-borough giving footprint with zero national or out-of-state recipients. By program purpose, roughly 60% of named initiatives skew toward direct sexual/reproductive-health education and pregnancy prevention (Health & Human Sexuality Education, Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy - Latina Program, Dating Abuse and Sexual Assault Prevention), and roughly 40% toward girls' leadership and mentoring (Girls Health Leadership Program, L.O.V.E. Mentoring, Access for Young Women, iChoose). The foundation's own FY2025 grantee page lists $350,000 distributed across 12 named organizations at this same $25,000/$50,000 pattern, while a third-party aggregator separately reports $275,000 across 17 grantees for the same fiscal year — a modest discrepancy likely tied to filing timing rather than a real shift in giving level.

Washington Square Fund's $4.7 million endowment is roughly 2% of Van Ameringen's and about 1% of Heckscher's, and its ~$300,000 annual grants budget is a fraction of the $9.8-15 million these larger NYC youth funders distribute each year. That scale gap is also the fund's competitive advantage for small applicants: its all-volunteer board reviews proposals directly with no program-officer layer, and its $25,000 checks are sized for a single program inside a grassroots nonprofit's budget rather than an institutional grants pipeline. Organizations priced out of the larger funders' minimum grant sizes, or seeking a first, seed-stage funder before approaching Heckscher, Van Ameringen, or Booth Ferris, may find Washington Square Fund a natural early step in an NYC youth-funding sequence — though its narrow programmatic focus (sexual-health education and girls' leadership specifically) means fit matters more than scale.

No major leadership changes, press releases, or new program announcements were identified for 2025-2026 — Washington Square Fund is a low-profile, non-publicizing foundation that does not issue a formal annual report. The most concrete recent activity is the FY2025 grantee list published on the foundation's own site: 12 named organizations sharing $350,000, including returning grantees George Jackson Academy ($25,000), Global Kids ($25,000), New Settlement Apartments ($25,000), Publicolor ($25,000), Queens Community House ($25,000), Red Hook Initiative ($25,000), Search & Care ($25,000), Variety Boys & Girls Club Queens ($25,000), Harlem Academy ($25,000), and Girls Inc. of New York City ($50,000), plus Forestdale and Day One shown at $0 for FY25 (possibly a paused or lapsed grant relationship). A separate third-party 990-derived profile (Impala Digital) independently reports FY2025 giving of $275,000 across 17 grantees, including The Crenulated Company Ltd — the two totals likely reflect different fiscal-year cutoffs rather than a real change in giving level, but applicants should not assume either figure is stale. Board leadership has been stable across the available filing years: Edith L. Morrill continues as President, Theresa Lawrence has succeeded Orquidea Corporan (Treasurer as of June 2023) as Treasurer, and Jennifer Kimura remains Secretary. Officer compensation has been $0 in every year on record, underscoring the fund's fully volunteer governance. The foundation's two program buckets — Youth Health & Sexuality Education and Youth Leadership — remain unchanged, with no evidence of expansion into new focus areas or geographies.

Request $20,000-$30,000 for a single named program — this is the foundation's own stated typical range, and the record shows it essentially never exceeds $25,000 per individual grant (organizations shown at $50,000 in a cycle are receiving two separate $25,000 awards, not one larger check). Lead explicitly with the sexual-health/reproductive-health or girls'-leadership framing: every funded purpose in the grantee record names a specific curriculum or initiative ("iChoose," "Peer Health Educators," "Strong Mothers Program," "Access for Young Women") rather than a generic mission-support ask — proposals for broader youth services without a health or leadership hook are a weaker fit even when NYC-based. Position the request as seed or bridge funding: the how-to-apply page states the fund favors "new programs seeking seed funding that can later secure alternative donors," so applicants should show a credible plan to diversify funding rather than presenting Washington Square Fund as a permanent budget line; the fund also states a preference for 2-3 year pilot/special projects, with emergency funding available for ongoing programs. Assemble all required attachments before starting the Google Form — proposal narrative (3-5 pages), current and prior-year organizational and program budgets, board roster, list of funding sources, audited financial statements, 501(c)(3) determination letter, and most recent annual report; given the lean, board-run structure, an incomplete packet is likely to stall rather than trigger a follow-up request. Because 990 filings note proposals can go "directly to the Board of Directors" or a board member, a warm introduction from a current grantee or a sitting director (Edith L. Morrill, Neil E. Botwinoff, Jennifer Kimura, Theresa Lawrence, or another listed director) is worth pursuing alongside the formal Google Form submission. Confirm New York City five-borough eligibility before applying — 100% of tracked grantees (45 of 45) are New York-based; there is no track record of funding outside NYC. Plan for a multi-year relationship rather than a one-time award: recurring grantees such as New Settlement Apartments (4 grants) and George Jackson Academy (3 grants) suggest the fund renews programs it trusts, so reapplication under the same named program in future cycles is the norm. There is no published deadline (the fund's own data lists no application_deadline), so email apply@washingtonsquarefund.org to confirm current-cycle timing rather than assuming a fixed annual date. Avoid the two most common missteps: requesting general operating support, and requesting an amount meaningfully above $50,000 — neither matches any grant in the observed history.