The Adams Foundation concentrates its philanthropy on supporting a single local cultural institution, providing repeated operating and project support to the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. Its giving is focused on museum needs—preservation, collections care, and programmatic operations—suggesting a strong interest in preserving regional history and heritage in the Pioneer Valley. The foundation appears to be place-based and mission-focused rather than broadly diversified across causes.
Highly concentrated: repeated, multi-year support to a single local grantee (5 grants totaling $172,000) focused on museum needs rather than distributing many small grants to diverse organizations.
A repeated stream of museum support defines Adams Foundation C/o Russell Adams. Across the most recent grants, the foundation has backed the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in Deerfield in multiple years, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $42,000 for museum needs. That pattern points to a funder centered on local cultural preservation rather than a broad portfolio of causes. The foundation’s work is concentrated in Massachusetts and directed to cultural institutions that serve the Pioneer Valley. In the recent record, it also supported Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation in Hadley, both for museum needs. Those grants place the foundation within a narrow field of history, collections care, and museum operations. The overall scale is modest but steady: annual grants total $183,500, with a total asset base of $394,944. The typical gift profile shows a small number of larger operating or project awards, alongside smaller support grants. The result is a grantmaking pattern built around specific regional museums and their ongoing preservation and education work.
Museum operations are the clearest theme in the foundation’s grantmaking. The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association received $42,000 in 2025 for museum needs, along with additional awards of $40,000 in 2023 and 2024 and $10,000 in 2025 for the same purpose. The foundation also supports other local heritage institutions. Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke received $5,000 in 2025 and $2,500 in 2025, both described as museum needs, showing attention to a second cultural site in the region. A third grant went to the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation in Hadley for $4,000 in 2024, again for museum needs. Taken together, the awards point to a focus on collections care, exhibition support, and the preservation of local history through operating help for small museums.
Typical grant size is $4,000 at the 25th percentile and $40,000 at both the median and 75th percentile, which indicates a pattern of smaller support grants alongside a cluster of larger awards. The recent record also shows repeat support to the same institution across 2023, 2024, and 2025, especially for Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. The foundation appears to make direct grants rather than individuals grants or program-related investments. The grantmaking is place-based and institution-specific rather than broad or competitive.
$55K
$395K
$47K
$65K
Most grants fall between $4K and $40K, with a median of $40K.
25th Percentile
$4K
Median
$40K
75th Percentile
$40K
About 100% of grants go to recipients in MA.
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Notable grantees: Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association
All recent grants in the record went to recipients in Massachusetts, so the recipient-state share is 100% in the foundation’s headquarters state. Deerfield appears repeatedly as the recipient city, with additional grants landing in Holyoke and Hadley. The geographic pattern is tightly local and centered in western Massachusetts, especially the Pioneer Valley.
The recent grants go to museums and historical nonprofits. Recipients include the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in Deerfield, Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke, and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation in Hadley, all funded for museum needs.
The grant-size distribution is concentrated at a few levels: p25 is $4,000, median is $40,000, and p75 is $40,000. That suggests many awards are either small support grants or larger operating/project grants.
In the recent grants list, every grant went to a recipient in Massachusetts. The recipient-country distribution is also entirely U.S.-based, with 8 grants and 100% in the U.S.
Yes. The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association appears multiple times across 2023, 2024, and 2025, with grants of $40,000, $40,000, $42,000, and $10,000 for museum needs.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC | DEERFIELD, MA | $42,000 | 2025 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
| POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC | DEERFIELD, MA | $40,000 | 2025 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
| POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC | DEERFIELD, MA | $10,000 | 2025 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
| WISTARIAHURST MUSEUM | HOLYOKE, MA | $5,000 | 2025 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
| WISTARIAHURST MUSEUM | HOLYOKE, MA | $2,500 | 2025 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
| POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC | DEERFIELD, MA | $40,000 | 2024 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
| PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON FOUNDATION | HADLEY, MA | $4,000 | 2024 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
| POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC | DEERFIELD, MA | $40,000 | 2023 | MUSEUM NEEDS |
POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC
$42,000MUSEUM NEEDS
POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC
$40,000MUSEUM NEEDS
POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC
$10,000MUSEUM NEEDS
WISTARIAHURST MUSEUM
$5,000MUSEUM NEEDS
WISTARIAHURST MUSEUM
$2,500MUSEUM NEEDS
POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC
$40,000MUSEUM NEEDS
PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON FOUNDATION
MUSEUM NEEDS
POCUMTUCK VALLEY MEMORIAL ASSOC
$40,000MUSEUM NEEDS