This family foundation appears to channel its philanthropic activity through a donor-advised vehicle rather than making direct grants to operating nonprofits. Its single recorded grant is a large, unrestricted contribution to Fidelity Charitable to support donor-identified grants, which suggests the donors prefer flexible, discretionary giving handled through a DAF. There is no evidence of issue-area targeting or geographic focus in the disclosed grants.
Barry Matthew and Caroline Kelly Davis Family Foundation Inc’s largest recorded grant in 2023 was a $660,000 contribution to Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund for donor identified grants, which makes donor-directed giving the defining feature of the foundation’s disclosed activity. The remaining grants were much smaller and were spread across education, health, media, historic preservation, animal services, arts, and community support. That pattern suggests a vehicle built for flexible philanthropy rather than a tightly programmed grant portfolio. Among the named recipients, Yonkers Partners in Education received $3,500 to support college access and completion for students in a low-income urban school district. WNYC received $3,000 for rigorous journalism and free music programming. Other 2023 grants included support for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, POTS Annual Appeal, Mass MoCA, The Clark, Cheshire Academy, and AOPA Foundation. The foundation also gave $1,000 to Lost Tree Foundation for strengthening surrounding communities and helping neighbors in need. Across the disclosed grants, the foundation’s role is visible more through flexible support and donor-identified funding than through a narrow thematic mandate.
Education appears in the foundation’s disclosed grants through support for Yonkers Partners in Education, which received $3,500 for college readiness and completion work with students in a low-income urban school district. A separate $1,000 grant to Cheshire Academy supported character development grounded in the school’s eight pillars of conduct. Public media is another clear line of giving: WNYC received $3,000 to support journalism and free music programming. Arts and culture organizations also appear in the 2023 list, including $1,500 to Mass MoCA for visual and performing arts presentation and $1,000 to The Clark for its art institute and public collection. Community services are represented as well. POTS Annual Appeal received $2,000 for food and community lifeline services in the Bronx, while Guiding Eyes for the Blind received $2,000 for guide dog-related support for people with vision loss.
The foundation’s 2023 grant sizes were small at the program level, with a p25 of $1,000, a median of $2,000, and a p75 of $3,000. One much larger $660,000 grant to Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund sits apart from the rest of the portfolio and indicates that most disclosed activity flowed through donor-directed giving rather than through a broad set of operating grants. The recent record shows one year on file, so recurring recipient patterns cannot be established from the disclosed grants. The foundation is a family foundation, and it does not fund individuals or make program-related investments.
$683K
$29K
$19K
$690K
Most grants fall between $1K and $3K, with a median of $2K.
25th Percentile
$1K
Median
$2K
75th Percentile
$3K
About 8% of grants go to recipients in NY.
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Concentrated, single large pass-through contribution to a donor-advised fund; no direct or repeated grantee relationships recorded.
Notable grantees: Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
The disclosed grants are all to U.S. recipients. New York appears most often, with grants to Yonkers, Harrison, New York City, Rye, Yorktown Heights, and North Palm Beach among the recipient locations. Massachusetts is another recurring destination, with grants in Chestnut Hill, North Adams, and Williamstown. Other recipient cities include Cincinnati, Red Boiling Springs, Cheshire, and Frederick. Eight percent of grants were made to recipients in Florida, the foundation’s headquarters state, but the broader giving footprint is national.
The clearest pattern is donor-directed giving. In 2023, the foundation made a $660,000 grant to Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund for donor identified grants, while the rest of the recorded grants were much smaller operating gifts to named organizations.
The disclosed distribution is small on the operating-grant side: p25 is $1,000, median grant size is $2,000, and p75 is $3,000. The 2023 record also includes one $660,000 grant that is structurally different from the rest.
The 2023 grants touch education, public media, arts and culture, community food support, guide dog services, historic preservation, and character education. Examples include college access, journalism and free music programming, food access in the Bronx, and support for people with vision loss.
Giving is national, and the recorded recipients are all in the United States. New York is the most frequent recipient state by grant count, followed by Massachusetts, with additional grants in Ohio, Tennessee, Connecticut, and Maryland.
The available record shows one year on file, 2023, so repeat patterns are limited. The disclosed grants are mostly one-off awards to different organizations, alongside the large donor-advised transfer to Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund.
2023
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2023.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund | Cincinnati, OH | $660,000 | 2023 | for donor identified grants |
| Yonkers Partners in Education | Yonkers, NY | $3,500 | 2023 | Yonkers Partners in Education YPIE partners with students to ensure they are ready for enroll in and complete college. We confront the challenges of a low-income urban school district by providing families with equitable access to the critical tools and services necessary for college success. |
| St Vincents Hospital | Harrison, NY | $3,000 | 2023 | Support fundraising |
| WNYC | New York, NY | $3,000 | 2023 | Support rigorous journalism inspiring storytelling and extraordinary music free and accessible to all. |
| WTF | Red Boiling Springs, TN | $2,000 | 2023 | Support simulation of interest and awareness of town's history appreciation of the attributes of the community preservation of historic resources |
| POTS Annual Appeal | Rye, NY | $2,000 | 2023 | POTS is an organization that provides food and a community lifeline to people in the Bronx. POTS believes that every person should have access to the essentials of life and the support necessary to achieve stability and ultimately self-sufficiency. |
| Trustees of Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA | $2,000 | 2023 | It is the purpose of Boston College to cultivate the attitudes and to provide the means essential to achieve: respect for truth as the primary concern of the academic community; freedom of inquiry as indispensable for attaining truth; a faculty of competent scholars and teachers to direct the process of student development; a curriculum that presents the content and the spirit of the liberal arts in conjunction with academic specialization and professional education; an intellectual reflection on religious experience and a respect for its value within the educational enterprise. |
| Guiding Eyes for the Blind | Yorktown Heights, NY | $2,000 | 2023 | Since 1954 Guiding Eyes has managed to thrive on goodness even in the most difficult of times. We relied on the goodness of our loyal base of generous supporters passionate staff and dedicated volunteers to come together to meet the growing needs of our diverse community of people with vision loss. Through this unwavering support and dedication Guiding Eyes has graduated more than 10,000 guide dog teams. We believe in the powerful meaningful change that our beautiful dogs bring to the lives of people facing the daily challenges that blindness and vision loss present. |
| Mass MoCA | North Adams, MA | $1,500 | 2023 | Helping to create and present provocative visual and performing arts and works. |
| The Clark | Williamstown, MA | $1,000 | 2023 | In 1950 Sterling and Francine Clark chartered the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute as a home for their extensive art collection. Opened to the public in 1955 the Clark has built upon this extraordinary group of works to become one of the most beloved and respected art museums in the world known for its intimate galleries and stunning natural environment. One of the few institutions in the United States that combines a public art museum with research and academic programs including a major art history library the Clark is now a leading international center for research and discussion on the nature of art and art history. |
| Cheshire Academy | Cheshire, CT | $1,000 | 2023 | Developing citizens of strong character is at the heart of what we do and is based upon the eight Pillars of Bowden: respect responsibility caring citizenship civility morality fairness and trustworthiness. |
| Lost Tree Foundation | North Palm Beach, FL | $1,000 | 2023 | Support strengthening the surrounding communities by significantly improving the lives of neighbors in need. |
| AOPA Foundation | Frederick, MD | $1,000 | 2023 | Support safety and training initiatives |
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
$660,000for donor identified grants
Yonkers Partners in Education
$3,500Yonkers Partners in Education YPIE partners with students to ensure they are ready for enroll in and complete college. We confront the challenges of a low-income urban school district by providing families with equitable access to the critical tools and services necessary for college success.
St Vincents Hospital
$3,000Support fundraising
WNYC
$3,000Support rigorous journalism inspiring storytelling and extraordinary music free and accessible to all.
WTF
$2,000Support simulation of interest and awareness of town's history appreciation of the attributes of the community preservation of historic resources
POTS Annual Appeal
POTS is an organization that provides food and a community lifeline to people in the Bronx. POTS believes that every person should have access to the essentials of life and the support necessary to achieve stability and ultimately self-sufficiency.
Trustees of Boston College
$2,000It is the purpose of Boston College to cultivate the attitudes and to provide the means essential to achieve: respect for truth as the primary concern of the academic community; freedom of inquiry as indispensable for attaining truth; a faculty of competent scholars and teachers to direct the process of student development; a curriculum that presents the content and the spirit of the liberal arts in conjunction with academic specialization and professional education; an intellectual reflection on religious experience and a respect for its value within the educational enterprise.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind
$2,000Since 1954 Guiding Eyes has managed to thrive on goodness even in the most difficult of times. We relied on the goodness of our loyal base of generous supporters passionate staff and dedicated volunteers to come together to meet the growing needs of our diverse community of people with vision loss. Through this unwavering support and dedication Guiding Eyes has graduated more than 10,000 guide dog teams. We believe in the powerful meaningful change that our beautiful dogs bring to the lives of people facing the daily challenges that blindness and vision loss present.
Mass MoCA
$1,500Helping to create and present provocative visual and performing arts and works.
The Clark
$1,000In 1950 Sterling and Francine Clark chartered the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute as a home for their extensive art collection. Opened to the public in 1955 the Clark has built upon this extraordinary group of works to become one of the most beloved and respected art museums in the world known for its intimate galleries and stunning natural environment. One of the few institutions in the United States that combines a public art museum with research and academic programs including a major art history library the Clark is now a leading international center for research and discussion on the nature of art and art history.
Cheshire Academy
$1,000Developing citizens of strong character is at the heart of what we do and is based upon the eight Pillars of Bowden: respect responsibility caring citizenship civility morality fairness and trustworthiness.
Lost Tree Foundation
$1,000Support strengthening the surrounding communities by significantly improving the lives of neighbors in need.
AOPA Foundation
$1,000Support safety and training initiatives