Cunniffe Family Foundation

Private foundation · EIN 06-1458464 · since 1996·Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, New York·Updated 13 October 2026

At a glance

$1.7M

Annual giving, 2023 tax year

From the Form 990-PF filing

$10,000 to $1.3M

Grant range

From grants in the 990-PF filings

$100k

Typical grant (median)

9 grants in the latest filing

Invitation only

Unsolicited applications are not accepted

This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.

Key takeaways

Cunniffe Family Foundation makes contributions only to organisations it has preselected and does not accept unsolicited requests, so a charity that has not been invited to approach it should not send it a proposal.
Its grants go to higher-education institutions, museums and cultural bodies, marine-science laboratories, a theatre, a festival and a cancer-research institute, with no stated subject focus, and the filing shows grants mainly in New York, Florida, Connecticut and District of Columbia.
About 8 in 10 of its 14 grants to organisations fall between $10,000 and $1,300,000, with a median of $100,000 and a largest of $2,300,000, and half were $100,000 or less, so a request should be sized near the lower end of that range.
Its repeat giving is high, with 92% of its grant dollars to organisations going to ones it had also funded in the earlier filing, which suggests that existing relationships matter a great deal.
The information available gives no timing or deadlines, so there is no set window to plan around.

Overview

Cunniffe Family Foundation is a US private foundation based in Greenwich, CT.

What they fund

Profile based on the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2023, TY2022) only: no website or other web source for the foundation was found. Every statement is checked against the filings. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The filings describe the organisation grants as charitable, without naming a more specific funding field. Recipients include higher-education institutions and a school, museums and other cultural organisations, marine-science laboratories, a theatre, a festival and a cancer-research institute. The record therefore shows support for a varied set of charitable grantees rather than a stated subject-based programme. The application information says contributions go only to preselected charitable organisations and that unsolicited requests are not accepted; it gives no further account of how organisations are chosen or how they can be considered.

Geographic Focus

No geographic focus is stated; the filings show grants mainly in New York, Florida, Connecticut and District of Columbia.

How to apply

The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organisations and does not accept unsolicited requests.

Application success factors

Repeat giving: In its TY2023 filing, 92% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 filing.
Grant size: Across its TY2022 and TY2023 filings, half of its 14 grants to organisations were $100,000 or less.

Where grants go

From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2023.

Grant dollars by state

New York36%

Florida26%

Connecticut23%

District of Columbia15%

The largest single recipient received 36% of grant dollars to organisations.
In tax year 2023, 92% of grant dollars went to organisations Cunniffe Family Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
No grants were paid directly to organisations outside the US.

Grants

9 grants in the latest filing analysed · median $100k

How much do they typically give?

Share of 9 grants in tax year 2023 by size

$5k–$10k11%

$10k–$25k11%

$25k–$50k11%

$50k–$100k11%

$100k–$250k33%

$250k–$500k11%

$500k–$1M0%

$1M and over11%

Median $100k (tax year 2023)

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

Ringling College of Art Design · Charitable
$1,000,0002023 tax year
Smithsonian Institute · Charitable
$349,8522023 tax year
Mote Marine Laboratories · Charitable
$100,0002023 tax year
Bruce Museum · Charitable
$100,0002023 tax year
Avon Theatre · Charitable
$100,0002023 tax year
Fordham University · Charitable
$50,0002023 tax year
Glimmerglass Festival · Charitable
$25,0002023 tax year
Cancer Research Institute · Charitable
$10,0002023 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Officers and directors

Maurice J Cunniffe — De Minimus

From the latest Form 990-PF filing

2 years of tax filings

Year	Total expenses	Grants paid	Assets	Filing document
2022 tax year	$4,831,456	$4,831,456	$1,738,572	Filing for 2022 tax year
2023 tax year	$1,867,148	$1,739,852	$1,266,232	Filing for 2023 tax year

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

Sources

Registers and filings

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