Data / Foundation grants / Bess Family Foundation
Bess Family Foundation: 52 grants to organizations, $1.3 million (tax year ended December 2024)
Bess Family Foundation, a private foundation in Wilmington, DE, paid 52 grants to organizations totaling $1,348,832 in its tax year ended December 2024, according to its Form 990-PF filed with the IRS on November 17, 2025. The largest was $100,000 to Inquiring Systems Inc in Santa Rosa, CA for one earth sangha.
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- EIN
- 270284495
- Based in
- Wilmington, DE
- Assets
- $1,964,625
- Grants paid
- $1,348,832
- Tax year ended
- December 2024
Grants paid, tax year ended December 2024
From the Form 990-PF filed November 17, 2025, IRS object ID 202523219349107562. It reported $1,348,832 in grants paid; 52 grants to organizations are listed.
| Recipient | Location | Purpose | Cause | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inquiring Systems Inc | Santa Rosa, CA | One Earth Sangha | Community improvement and capacity building | $100,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| University of Wisconsin | Green Bay, WI | the Loka Initiative | $100,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Garrison Institute | Garrison, NY | a project to map and grow the field of interconnected people and organizations leading Earth-based mindfulness and meditation practices | Education | $50,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Insight Meditation Society Inc | Barre, MA | integrating earth awareness practices into new and existing programs | $50,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Inward Bound Mindfulness Education Inc | Attleboro, MA | integration of earth awareness practices into existing programs | Human services | $50,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery Inc C O Ben | Cold Springs, NY | Capital improvements fund | $50,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Sati Center for Buddist Studies | Redwood City, CA | the Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy Program | Education | $50,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| University of California San Francisco Foundation | San Francisco, CA | Climate Resilience course/Epel | Education | $50,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Beloved Community Circles | Belmont, MA | General & Unrestricted | Civil rights, social action and advocacy | $40,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Barre Center for Buddhist Studies Inc | Barre, MA | General & Unrestricted | Religion-related | $35,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Barre Center for Buddhist Studies Inc | Barre, MA | a series of three ecodharma retreats to be held at BCBS | Religion-related | $33,333 | apps.irs.gov |
| Big Springs Garden Retreat Center Inc | Sierra City, CA | a series of three ecodharma retreats | $33,333 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Insight Meditation Community of Washington | Montgomry VLG, MD | a series of three ecodharma retreats to be held at the seven oaks retreat center | Religion-related | $33,333 | apps.irs.gov |
| Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center | Niwot, CO | a series of three Ecodharma nature retreats to be held at RMERC | Religion-related | $33,333 | apps.irs.gov |
| Brown University | Providence, RI | travel expenses associated with the 2024 Indigenous mindfulness coalition retreat led by Dr Jeffrey Proulx | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Cambridge Insight Meditation Center Inc | Cambridge, MA | General & Unrestricted | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Dharmadatta Community | Peekskill, NY | Damcho and Karya's project on earth awareness practices | Religion-related | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Inquiring Systems Inc | Santa Rosa, CA | Mindful of Nature Fund | Community improvement and capacity building | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Inquiring Systems Inc | Santa Rosa, CA | Work that Reconnects Network | Community improvement and capacity building | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Lotus Institute Inc | Pataskala, OH | Integrating earth awareness practices into new and existing programs | Human services | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Mindful Living Revolution | Los Angeles, CA | General & Unrestricted | Public and societal benefit | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Mindful Living Revolution | Los Angeles, CA | Hurricane Relief | Public and societal benefit | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Mountain Cloud Zen Center Inc | Santa Fe, NM | 2024 Indigenous Mindfulness Coalition retreat | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Natural Dharma Fellowship | Springfield, NH | General & Unrestricted | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center | Niwot, CO | General & Unrestricted | Religion-related | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Saranaloka Foundation | San Rafael, CA | the work led by Ayya Santacitta at the Aloka Earth room | Religion-related | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Shambhala USA | Camden, CT | Touching the Earth's Hivemind Eco Assembly Project | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Upaya Zen Center Inc | Santa Fe, NM | reviewing, indexing and cataloging teachings on eco-dharma in the vast Upaya audio and video archives | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Upaya Zen Center Inc | Santa Fe, NM | General & Unrestricted | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Zen Peacemakers Inc | Sunderland, MA | program offerings focused on climate, environment, and Earth care | $25,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Barre Center for Buddhist Studies Inc | Barre, MA | September, 2024 ecodharma retreat | Religion-related | $22,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Boundless in Motion | Boulder, CO | Indigenous Women's Retreat at Rocky Mountain Ecodharma retreat center | Religion-related | $15,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Dharma Gates Inc | Brooklyn, NY | an eight-week online series "How to Love In A Damaged World" | Education | $15,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Insight Meditation Center of the Mid-Peninsula | Redwood City, CA | a BIPOC retreat at Big Springs | Religion-related | $15,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Durango Sangha | Durango, CO | establishing a new practice group that will gather in nature, on the land, particularly in the Durango community and surrounding areas | Religion-related | $12,500 | apps.irs.gov |
| Braided Wisdom Inc | San Francisco, CA | General & Unrestricted | Human services | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Firefighters United for Safety Ethics and Ecology | Eugene, OR | Great Vow Wildland Firefighter Mindfulness Retreat | Public safety, disaster preparedness and relief | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Fractured Atlas Inc | Hartsdale, NY | Triptych Journey | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Inquiring Systems Inc | Santa Rosa, CA | One Earth Sangha - website for Earth Awareness Community retreat program | Community improvement and capacity building | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachuse | Easthampton, MA | Rebecca Bradshaw's retreat "Down to Earth Dharma: healing our relationship with ourselves and the Earth" | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Interdependence Project | Brooklyn, NY | a year long ecodharma project with 6 outdoor events | Human services | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Myriad USA Inc | New York, NY | the Wellbeing Project | International, foreign affairs and national security | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Northwest Zen Sangha | Portland, OR | coordinating across Buddhist sanghas for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements to temple buildings and offerings events that focus on ecological awareness | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| San Francisco Zen Center | San Francisco, CA | Tassajara Wildland Firefighter Retreat | Religion-related | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Sky Mind Retreats | Moab, UT | General & Unrestricted | Education | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Sounds True Foundation | Lafayette, CO | "We Are The Great Turning" podcast | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Spirit Rock Meditation Center | Woodacre, CA | General & Unrestricted | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Tergar International | Minneapolis, MN | integrating ecodharma into programming | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov | |
| Tricycle Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 2024 Buddhism and Ecology Gathering | Arts, culture and humanities | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Vallecitos Mountain Refuge | Durango, CO | General & Unrestricted | Education | $10,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Saranaloka Foundation | San Rafael, CA | translation of Fang einfach an! to English | Religion-related | $6,000 | apps.irs.gov |
| Genx Buddhist Teachers Sangha | Boston, MA | a plenary session to explore the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on GenX Buddhist teachers, as well as on students with a focus on what support could help cope with those effects | Religion-related | $5,000 | apps.irs.gov |
Causes funded
From grants whose recipient has a cause.
| Cause | Granted |
|---|---|
| Religion-related | $295,499 |
| Education | $185,000 |
| Community improvement and capacity building | $160,000 |
| Human services | $95,000 |
| Public and societal benefit | $50,000 |
| Civil rights, social action and advocacy | $40,000 |
| Public safety, disaster preparedness and relief | $10,000 |
| International, foreign affairs and national security | $10,000 |
States funded
| Recipient state | Granted |
|---|---|
| California | $419,333 |
| Massachusetts | $295,333 |
| New York | $180,000 |
| Colorado | $105,833 |
| Wisconsin | $100,000 |
| New Mexico | $75,000 |
| Maryland | $33,333 |
| Rhode Island | $25,000 |
Also on SpecStream
- Who funds community improvement and capacity building in California
- Who funds education in California
- Who funds religion-related in Massachusetts
- Who funds religion-related in Colorado
- Who funds education in New York
- Who funds religion-related in California
Updated November 17, 2025. Read from IRS Form 990-PF e-file data. Public domain (U.S. government work). Grants are as each foundation reported them to the IRS on its Form 990-PF. Grants to individuals are left out. A grant has a cause only where the recipient's name and city match one organization in the IRS Business Master File, and the cause is that organization's NTEE major group. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0. Spot a wrong value? Write to [email protected] with the link to this page.