Quick Stats
- Annual Giving: $1,600,000 (grants paid, tax year 2023)
- Geographic Focus: National (based on recent 990-PF records, grants concentrated in major research universities across the United States including Massachusetts, New York, California, Illinois, and Michigan)
- Application Method: Invitation-only
- Number of Grants: 12 grants in 2023
- Average Grant: $133,333
- Total Assets: $2,068,445
Contact Details
The foundation does not maintain a public website for grant applications. Administrative contact through registered address: 695 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111-2623.
Funding Priorities
The foundation's mission is to promote a more knowledgeable and inclusive society, with specific emphasis on:
- Research on wealth inequality, concentration, and economic inequality
- Study of the causes and consequences of wealth accumulation at the top of the wealth distribution
- Academic research on wealth distribution, inequality, and social policy
- Education and science initiatives related to economic inequality
- Environmental sustainability (secondary focus)
The foundation primarily operates by establishing and funding "Stone Centers" at major universities, which serve as research hubs for studying socio-economic inequality.
Recent Grant Pattern
Based on most recent 990-PF grant records and public announcements, the foundation has provided substantial support to:
- Graduate Center of the City University of New York (total support exceeds $24 million, including a $10 million gift)
- Harvard Kennedy School (for the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Programme in Wealth Distribution, Inequality, and Social Policy)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (for the Shaping the Future of Work Initiative in the MIT Economics Department)
- Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, Boston ($12 million gift)
- The Boston Foundation
Other universities with Stone Centers include: Brown University, INSEAD, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, University College London, University of Michigan, UBC Vancouver School of Economics, Paris School of Economics, University of Munich, and University of Hong Kong.
What They Don't Fund
Information on specific exclusions is not publicly available. The foundation's highly focused strategy on establishing university-based research centres suggests they do not fund:
- General operating support for organisations outside their established network
- Projects unrelated to wealth inequality research or education
- Individual grants or scholarships (research centres may offer their own programmes)
Application Process & Timeline
The foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications. Funding decisions are made at the discretion of the trustees, primarily supporting the establishment and operation of Stone Centers at selected major research universities. Organisations seeking funding should not submit applications, as grants are made by invitation only to institutions with which the foundation has established relationships.
References
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer - James M And Cathleen D Stone Foundation
- The Stone Foundation
- InfluenceWatch - James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Family Foundation
- CUNY Graduate Center - $10 Million Gift
- MIT News - Stone Center on Inequality
- Harvard Alumni - Tackling the Causes and Consequences of Wealth Inequality
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