The Obadiah Browns Benevolent Fund is a highly Quaker-focused private funder that primarily supports Friends meetings, yearlies, Quaker schools and Quaker-affiliated programs across New England and the Northeast. Grants are aimed at mission-strengthening projects — archives, accessibility and building repairs, leadership and pastoral training, equity/LGBTQ and Indigenous reconciliation work, and Quaker publishing/media — rather than broad secular causes. The foundation favors project and capacity grants that preserve and revitalize Quaker institutions and culture.
Obadiah Browns Benevolent Fund gives most often to Quaker meetings, schools, and related institutions, with a clear emphasis on preserving and strengthening Friends communities. One of the largest recent awards was $32,000 to Wellesley Friends Meeting for the Black Quaker Project, a grant that was repeated in prior years at $20,000 in both 2024 and 2023. Another sizable grant went to Windham Friends Meeting for meeting house repairs, underscoring the fund’s interest in physical upkeep alongside program work. The fund also supports Quaker education and formation: Friends Camp received funding for a new Health Hut, and New England Yearly Meeting received support for a temporary director position. Recent grants show a pattern of project-based support for archives, accessibility, pastoral work, communications, and faith formation rather than broad unrestricted giving. Its recipient list includes meetings, yearly meeting bodies, schools, and Quaker service organizations across New England and beyond, all tied to Quaker life, leadership, and institutional continuity.
The funder’s clearest focus is meetinghouse care and accessibility. It gave $15,000 to Midcoast Friends Meeting for the Meetinghouse Accessibility Project and $10,000 to Concord Friends Meeting to upgrade its meetinghouse heating system. It also supported Windham Friends Meeting with $15,842 for meeting house repairs. A second theme is Quaker formation and leadership. Hanover Friends Meeting received $11,000 for pastoral training, while Beacon Hill Friends House received $15,000 for vocational discernment workshops. Education and youth appear as well: Friends School of Portland was awarded $10,425 for an equity audit project, and Friends Camp received $15,000 to build a new Health Hut. The fund also backs publishing and media work, including $10,000 to Friends Publishing Corporation for the Quakers Today podcast project.
Typical grants are clustered around a narrow band: the 25th percentile is $10,000, the median is $11,000, and the 75th percentile is $15,000. That pattern fits a grantmaker doing many mid-sized project awards rather than very small awards. The recent list shows repeat support across multiple years for several recipients, including Wellesley Friends Meeting, Moses Brown School, Dover Friends Meeting, and Durham Friends Meeting. The fund appears to make grant decisions through a private foundation structure led by Paul C Mangelsdorf III. It does not fund individuals and it does not make program-related investments.
$148K
$6.2M
$95K
$209K
Most grants fall between $10K and $15K, with a median of $11K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$11K
75th Percentile
$15K
About 2% of grants go to recipients in MA.
Paul C Mangelsdorf III
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Concentrated, mission-driven giving with repeat grants to many core Quaker organizations; typical awards are small-to-mid sized project or capacity grants ($5k–$72k), often restricted to specific initiatives rather than unrestricted general operating endowments.
Notable grantees: Wellesley Friends Meeting, New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, Friends Camp / Friends Camp A (New England Yearly Meeting camps), Friends Publishing Corporation, Quaker Voluntary Service
Grantmaking is national in scope, but it is concentrated in New England and the Northeast. New Hampshire appears most often in the recent grants, with recipients including Hanover Friends Meeting, Concord Friends Meeting, and Dover Friends Meeting. Massachusetts is also a frequent destination, with awards in Wellesley, Boston, Worcester, and Providence-area Quaker networks nearby in the region. Maine recipients include Windham Friends Meeting, Midcoast Friends Meeting in Damariscotta, Friends Camp in South China, and Friends School of Portland in Cumberland Foreside. All recent grants listed are to U.S. recipients.
It mainly supports Quaker meetings, yearly meetings, schools, camps, and Quaker-affiliated organizations. Recent grants went to Friends meetings in Wellesley, Windham, Hanover, Concord, Dover, and Durham, as well as New England Yearly Meeting, Friends Camp, and Moses Brown School.
Typical awards cluster between $10,000 and $15,000. The 25th percentile is $10,000, the median is $11,000, and the 75th percentile is $15,000.
Yes. Several recipients appear in multiple years, including Wellesley Friends Meeting, Moses Brown School, Dover Friends Meeting, and Durham Friends Meeting. Wellesley Friends Meeting received $32,000 in 2025 after $20,000 awards in 2024 and 2023.
Recent grants support meetinghouse repairs and accessibility, pastoral training, youth and school revitalization, Quaker communications, and equity-related projects. Examples include a meetinghouse accessibility project, pastoral training, a school equity audit, a podcast project, and a Black Quaker Project.
The fund gives nationally, but the recent grants cluster in New England and the Northeast. New Hampshire has the highest grant count, and recipients also appear in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Oregon, and Georgia.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellesley Friends Meeting | Wellesley, MA | $20,000 | 2026 | Support for Black Quaker Project |
| New England Yearly Meeting of Friends | Worcester, MA | $20,000 | 2026 | Vehicle Purchase |
| Mt Toby Friends Meeting | Leverett, MA | $20,000 | 2026 | Replace Roof on Meetinghouse |
| Vassalboro Friends Meeting | Vassalboro, ME | $15,000 | 2026 | Support for Ministry of the Wild project |
| Thee Quaker Project | Philadelphia, PA | $15,000 | 2026 | Support for ongoing work |
| Moses Brown School | Providence, RI | $10,000 | 2026 | Continuing support for Revitalizing Quakerism at Moses Brown School |
| West Falmouth Friends Meeting | Falmouth, MA | $10,000 | 2026 | Support for the Life and Times of William James Project |
| Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas | Vorhees, NJ | $8,200 | 2026 | Quaker Publication Library project |
| Midcoast Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends | Damariscotta, ME | $7,800 | 2026 | Meeting House Repairs |
| Quaker Voluntary Service | Sanford, NC | $7,575 | 2026 | Video Prodject |
| Mattapoisett Friends Meeting | Mattapoisett, MA | $7,500 | 2026 | Meeting House Repairs |
| Salt Lake Friends Meeting | Murray, UT | $7,200 | 2026 | Support the Ministry of Devon Kurtz |
| Wellesley Friends Meeting | Wellesley, MA | $32,000 | 2025 | Black Quaker Project |
| Windham Friends Meeting | Windham, ME | $15,842 | 2025 | Meeting House Repairs |
| Dover Friends Meeting | Dover, NH | $10,000 | 2025 | Support travelling Ministry to Cuba Friends |
| West Brattleboro Quaker Worship Group | West Brattleboro, VT | $10,000 | 2025 | Support to Ministry |
| Moses Brown School | Providence, RI | $10,000 | 2025 | Revitalizing Quakerism at Moses Brown School |
| Greater Philadelphia Film Office | Philadelphia, PA | $8,050 | 2025 | Production of Documentary on George Lakey |
| Durham Friends Meeting | Durham, ME | $7,000 | 2025 | Social Justice Learning Project |
| MidCoast Friends Meeting | Damariscotta, ME | $7,000 | 2025 | Meetinghouse Repairs |
| Barclay Press | Newberg, OR | $5,500 | 2025 | Support Publication of 'Gospel in the Anthropocene' |
| Beacon Hill Friends House | Boston, MA | $5,400 | 2025 | History of LGBQT+ acceptance in Quakerism Project |
| Friends Camp | South China, ME | $5,110 | 2025 | Archive Project for Friends Campa Sunner camp operated by New England Yearly Meeting |
| Wellesley Friends Meeting | Wellesley, MA | $20,000 | 2024 | Black Quaker Project |
| Friends Camp | South China, ME | $15,000 | 2024 | Build a new Health Hut |
| Beacon Hill Friends House | Boston, MA | $15,000 | 2024 | Support Vocational Discernment Workshops |
| New England Yearly Meeting | worcester, MA | $14,280 | 2024 | Help Fund Temporary Director position |
| Hanover Friends Meeting | Hanover, NH | $11,000 | 2024 | Pastoral Training |
| Friends School of Portland | Cumberland Foreside, ME | $10,425 | 2024 | Equity Audit project |
| Moses Brown School | Providence, RI | $10,000 | 2024 | Revitalizing Quakerism at Moses Brown School Project |
| Concord Friends Meeting | Canterbury, NH | $10,000 | 2024 | Upgrade Meetinghouse Heating System |
| Friends Publishing Corporation | Philadelphia, PA | $10,000 | 2024 | Quakers Today Podcast Project |
| Mt Toby Friends Meeting | Leverett, MA | $10,000 | 2024 | Quaker On-line Library Project |
| Durham Friends Meeting | Durham, ME | $7,000 | 2024 | Teaching Equity and Social Justice Project |
| Wellesley Friends Meeting | Wellesley, MA | $20,000 | 2023 | Black Quaker Project |
| Midcoast Friends Meeting | Damariscotta, ME | $15,000 | 2023 | Meetinghouse Accessibility Project |
| Dover Friends Meeting | Dover, NH | $15,000 | 2023 | Sanctuary Project |
| Quaker Voluntary Service | Atlanta, GA | $13,000 | 2023 | Building a new communications system |
| Friends Peace Teams | Saint Louis, MO | $11,715 | 2023 | 1) Towards Right Relationship with Native People Workshops and 2) Sparklers English Literacy Program |
| Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society Inc | South Dartmouth, MA | $10,000 | 2023 | Publication project of the Historical Minutes of Dartmouth Friends Meeting |
| New England Yearly Meeting of Friends | Worcester, MA | $9,209 | 2023 | 1) Puente de Amigos 2)Nurturing Faithfulness Scholarships |
| Friends Camp | South China, ME | $7,200 | 2023 | New Back-up Generator |
Wellesley Friends Meeting
$20,000Support for Black Quaker Project
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
$20,000Vehicle Purchase
Mt Toby Friends Meeting
$20,000Replace Roof on Meetinghouse
Vassalboro Friends Meeting
$15,000Support for Ministry of the Wild project
Thee Quaker Project
$15,000Support for ongoing work
Moses Brown School
$10,000Continuing support for Revitalizing Quakerism at Moses Brown School
West Falmouth Friends Meeting
$10,000Support for the Life and Times of William James Project
Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas
$8,200Quaker Publication Library project
Midcoast Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
$7,800Meeting House Repairs
Quaker Voluntary Service
$7,575Video Prodject
Mattapoisett Friends Meeting
$7,500Meeting House Repairs
Salt Lake Friends Meeting
$7,200Support the Ministry of Devon Kurtz
Wellesley Friends Meeting
$32,000Black Quaker Project
Windham Friends Meeting
$15,842Meeting House Repairs
Dover Friends Meeting
$10,000Support travelling Ministry to Cuba Friends
West Brattleboro Quaker Worship Group
$10,000Support to Ministry
Moses Brown School
$10,000Revitalizing Quakerism at Moses Brown School
Durham Friends Meeting
$7,000Social Justice Learning Project
MidCoast Friends Meeting
$7,000Meetinghouse Repairs
Barclay Press
$5,500Support Publication of 'Gospel in the Anthropocene'
Beacon Hill Friends House
$5,400History of LGBQT+ acceptance in Quakerism Project
Friends Camp
$5,110Archive Project for Friends Campa Sunner camp operated by New England Yearly Meeting
Wellesley Friends Meeting
$20,000Black Quaker Project
Friends Camp
$15,000Build a new Health Hut
Beacon Hill Friends House
$15,000Support Vocational Discernment Workshops
New England Yearly Meeting
$14,280Help Fund Temporary Director position
Hanover Friends Meeting
$11,000Pastoral Training
Friends School of Portland
$10,425Equity Audit project
Moses Brown School
$10,000Revitalizing Quakerism at Moses Brown School Project
Concord Friends Meeting
$10,000Upgrade Meetinghouse Heating System
Mt Toby Friends Meeting
$10,000Quaker On-line Library Project
Durham Friends Meeting
$7,000Teaching Equity and Social Justice Project
Wellesley Friends Meeting
$20,000Black Quaker Project
Midcoast Friends Meeting
$15,000Meetinghouse Accessibility Project
Dover Friends Meeting
$15,000Sanctuary Project
Quaker Voluntary Service
$13,000Building a new communications system
Friends Peace Teams
$11,7151) Towards Right Relationship with Native People Workshops and 2) Sparklers English Literacy Program
Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society Inc
$10,000Publication project of the Historical Minutes of Dartmouth Friends Meeting
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
$9,2091) Puente de Amigos 2)Nurturing Faithfulness Scholarships
Friends Camp
$7,200New Back-up Generator