G L Connolly Foundation concentrates its giving on Catholic and faith-based education, religious institutions, and conservative public-policy organizations. The foundation regularly funds Catholic colleges, monasteries and orders, faith-based social service providers and religious media, while also supporting immigration restriction groups and conservative policy research institutes. Grants are often repeated to the same organizations, indicating long-term relationships with a mix of higher-education, religious, and policy-focused grantees.
A $30,000 grant to Carmel of Jesus Mary and Joseph in 2025 sits at the top of G L Connolly Foundation’s recent giving and points to the foundation’s steady support for Catholic religious life. Across the most recent grants, the foundation backs Catholic colleges, campus ministries, religious orders, faith-based social service providers, and a smaller set of policy and legal organizations tied to its priorities. Recent education grants include repeated support for Wyoming Catholic College, St Josephs College, Thomas Aquinas College, and Kolbe Academy, showing an ongoing pattern rather than one-off gifts. The foundation also funds religious communities directly, including Little Sisters of the Poor and other monasteries or orders, alongside organizations that publish, teach, or defend religious ideas in public life. In the policy space, it has supported groups such as Maine Policy Institute and Becket, and its grant list also includes media and educational ministries like Keep the Faith and Sophia Institute Press. The overall picture is of a funder that uses relatively modest grants to sustain institutions over multiple years, especially within Catholic education and faith-based service.
Catholic education is one of the clearest strands in the foundation’s grantmaking. It gave $25,000 to Buckley Institute Yale in 2024 and again in 2025, and $25,000 to Wyoming Catholic College in 2023 and 2024, with additional $22,000 grants to Wyoming Catholic College in 2024 and 2025. The foundation also supported St Josephs College with multiple $25,000 grants across 2023 to 2025. Faith-based instruction extends beyond colleges: Kolbe Academy received $22,000 in 2023 and 2024, plus $12,900 in 2025. Religious publishing and formation also appear in the record, including $10,000 to Sophia Institute Press in 2024 and $15,000 to Keep the Faith in 2025, after earlier grants of $13,000 and $12,000.
Typical awards are modest: the grant-size distribution runs from a $3,000 first quartile to a $5,000 median and $10,000 at the third quartile. The recent record also shows repeated gifts to the same organizations across multiple years, including several Catholic colleges, a policy institute, and religious or service organizations. That pattern suggests ongoing relationships rather than isolated awards. The foundation is a grantmaking foundation, not a funder of individuals, and it does not make program-related investments.
$491K
$12.1M
$1.7M
$573K
Most grants fall between $3K and $10K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$3K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$10K
About 14% of grants go to recipients in NY.
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Concentrated portfolio with many repeat grants to a core set of grantees; typically moderate-sized gifts distributed across education, religious, and policy recipients rather than one-off large multi-million commitments. Frequent 2–4 grants per grantee suggest sustained, relationship-driven support focused on mission-aligned institutions.
Notable grantees: Wyoming Catholic College, Becket (public interest law firm for religious liberty), Center for Immigration Studies, Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), Maine Policy Institute
G L Connolly Foundation gives nationally, with recipients in 201 U.S. grants in the record. California is the top state by grant count, though only 11% of grants go to recipients in the HQ state. Recent recipients include Napa, Santa Paula, New Haven, and Lander, showing a reach that extends well beyond the Bay Area. The recent grant list also includes recipients in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC.
Its grantmaking centers on Catholic and faith-based education, religious institutions, and conservative public-policy organizations. The recent record includes colleges, campus ministries, religious orders, faith-based service providers, religious media, and public-policy research groups.
Yes. Several recipients appear in multiple years, including Wyoming Catholic College, St Josephs College, Buckley Institute Yale, Kolbe Academy, Maine Policy Institute, Keep the Faith, Thomas Aquinas College, and Ministry of Caring.
The distribution is relatively modest: p25 is $3,000, median is $5,000, and p75 is $10,000. Even many of the larger recent awards stay within the $12,000 to $30,000 range.
It gives nationally. The recent grant data shows recipients across the United States, with the highest grant count in California and recipients also appearing in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, and other states.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmel of Jesus Mary and Joseph | Fairfield, PA | $30,000 | 2025 | Religion |
| Buckley Institute Yale | New Haven, CT | $25,000 | 2025 | Education |
| St Josephs College | Standish, ME | $25,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Wyoming Catholic College | Lander, WY | $22,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Keep the Faith | Saddle River, NJ | $15,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Ministry of Caring | Wilmington, DE | $15,000 | 2025 | Social Services |
| Thomas Aquinas College | Santa Paula, CA | $15,000 | 2025 | Higher Education |
| United Way of Central Maryland | Baltimore, MD | $15,000 | 2025 | Social Services |
| Kolbe Academy | Napa, CA | $12,900 | 2025 | Education |
| Little Sisters of the Poor | Bronx, NY | $12,000 | 2025 | Care for the Elderly |
| Lakes Environmental Association | Bridgton, ME | $12,000 | 2025 | Environmental |
| Little Sisters of the Poor Qn Peace | Queens Village, NY | $12,000 | 2025 | Care for the Elderly |
| Maine Policy Institute | Portland, ME | $10,000 | 2025 | Public Policy Research and Education |
| Cristo Rey Network | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Augustine Institute | Greenwood Village, CO | $10,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Calvary Hospital | Bronx, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Health Care |
| Becket | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 2025 | Public Interest Law |
| Ethics and Public Policy Center | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 2025 | Public Policy Research Education |
| Manhattan Institute | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Public Policy Research Education |
| Institute on Rel and Public Life | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Social Cultural Policy Education Publishing |
| Thomas More College of Liberal Arts | Merrimack, NH | $8,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Center for Immigration Studies | Washington, DC | $8,000 | 2025 | US Immigration Policy Research Education |
| National Association of Scholars | New York, NY | $7,000 | 2025 | Education Policy |
| Life Legal Defense Foundation | Napa, CA | $7,000 | 2025 | Pro-Life Related Public Interest Law Firm |
| Fed American Immigration Reform | Washington, DC | $7,000 | 2025 | US Immigration Policy Education |
| Divine Mercy University | Sterling, VA | $7,000 | 2025 | Education |
| St Thomas More at Yale | New Haven, CT | $7,000 | 2025 | Campus Religious Life Education |
| Capuchin Province | Union City, NJ | $7,000 | 2025 | Catholic Religious Order Retirement Funding |
| National Catholic Bioethics Center | Broomall, PA | $6,000 | 2025 | Health Care Biomedical Research |
| St Marys Center | Oakland, CA | $6,000 | 2025 | Social Welfare |
| Eternal Word Television Network | Irondale, AL | $6,000 | 2025 | Catholic Broadcasting Education |
| Christendom College | Front Royal, VA | $6,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Visitation Monastery | Tyringham, MA | $6,000 | 2025 | Catholic Monastery |
| Oblates of St Francis de Salles | Wilmington, DE | $6,000 | 2025 | Education Catholic Religious Order |
| Intercollegiate Studies Institute | Wilmington, DE | $5,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Society St Vincent de Paul Contra C | Pittsburgh, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | Social Services |
| Aid to the Church in Need | Brooklyn, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | Pastoral humanitarian assistance to persecuted Churches around world |
| The Hawthorn School Foundation | Bedford, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | Education |
| St Agnes Church | Concord, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | Catholic Church |
| Real CLear Foundation | Northbrook, IL | $5,000 | 2025 | Investigative Journalism |
| Assumption Abbey | Ava, MO | $5,000 | 2025 | Roman Catholic Monastery |
| The International Dominican Found | Metairie, LA | $5,000 | 2025 | Catholic Education Rome |
| Ursuline Academy | Wilmington, DE | $5,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Catholic Near East Welfare Assoc | New York, NY | $4,000 | 2025 | Religion Social Services |
| Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey | Dubuque, IA | $4,000 | 2025 | Catholic Monastery |
| Human Life International | Front Royal, VA | $4,000 | 2025 | Pro-Life Education Support |
| Ave Maria University | Ave Maria, FL | $3,000 | 2025 | Education |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $3,000 | 2025 | Fine Arts Museum |
| Merton College Oxford Char Corp | Vienna, VA | $3,000 | 2025 | Higher Education |
| Rachels Vineyard Ministries | King of Prussia, PA | $3,000 | 2025 | Pro-Life Support |
Carmel of Jesus Mary and Joseph
$30,000Religion
Buckley Institute Yale
$25,000Education
St Josephs College
$25,000Education
Wyoming Catholic College
$22,000Education
Keep the Faith
$15,000Education
Ministry of Caring
$15,000Social Services
Thomas Aquinas College
Higher Education
Kolbe Academy
$12,900Education
Little Sisters of the Poor
$12,000Care for the Elderly
Lakes Environmental Association
$12,000Environmental
Little Sisters of the Poor Qn Peace
$12,000Care for the Elderly
Maine Policy Institute
$10,000Public Policy Research and Education
Calvary Hospital
$10,000Health Care
Becket
$10,000Public Interest Law
Institute on Rel and Public Life
$10,000Social Cultural Policy Education Publishing
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
$8,000Education
National Association of Scholars
$7,000Education Policy
Divine Mercy University
$7,000Education
St Thomas More at Yale
$7,000Campus Religious Life Education
Capuchin Province
$7,000Catholic Religious Order Retirement Funding
National Catholic Bioethics Center
$6,000Health Care Biomedical Research
Christendom College
$6,000Education
Visitation Monastery
$6,000Catholic Monastery
Oblates of St Francis de Salles
$6,000Education Catholic Religious Order
Society St Vincent de Paul Contra C
$5,000Social Services
Aid to the Church in Need
$5,000Pastoral humanitarian assistance to persecuted Churches around world
The Hawthorn School Foundation
$5,000Education
St Agnes Church
$5,000Catholic Church
Assumption Abbey
$5,000Roman Catholic Monastery
Ursuline Academy
$5,000Education
Catholic Near East Welfare Assoc
$4,000Religion Social Services
Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey
$4,000Catholic Monastery
Merton College Oxford Char Corp
$3,000Higher Education
Rachels Vineyard Ministries
$3,000Pro-Life Support