The Poduska Family Foundation makes a small number of moderately sized, targeted gifts focused on cultural, medical, and local religious/community institutions in the Boston area. Their grants show a clear preference for funding classical theatre programming, cancer research at a major medical center, and support for an Episcopal parish’s community activities, suggesting donors who value arts, health research, and faith-based local engagement.
Poduska Family Foundation Inc co Susan M Poduska has given repeated support to three clear lines of work: Shakespeare-focused performing arts, cancer research, and Episcopal parish programs in Greater Boston. The largest recent grant in the record is $55,000 to Dana Farber Cancer Institute for medical research on cancer, alongside $54,200 to Commonwealth Shakespeare Co for plays of William Shakespeare. Those two gifts show how the foundation balances medical research with cultural programming. The grant record also shows long-running local support for St Peter's Episcopal Church in Weston, with gifts in 2023, 2024, and 2025 for religious and community activities. Other awards extend the same local pattern into museums, arts education, and community services in Massachusetts. The foundation’s gifts are concentrated in a small circle of Boston-area institutions, with most grants staying in Massachusetts and many awards landing in Boston, Cambridge, Weston, and nearby communities. Across the recent list, the foundation favors targeted project support rather than broad, unfocused giving. Its grants are often modest to moderate in size, but the largest awards indicate a willingness to back particular institutions year after year when they align with the funder’s interests in science, arts, and faith-based community life.
In cancer research, the foundation gave $55,000 to Dana Farber Cancer Institute for medical research on cancer, and later another $1,973 to the same institution for the same purpose. That pairing points to support for a major Boston medical research center rather than a one-time gift. In performing arts, they awarded $54,200 to Commonwealth Shakespeare Co for plays of William Shakespeare, after giving $11,657 in 2023 and $10,000 in 2024 for the same work. The repetition suggests sustained support for Shakespeare programming in Boston. The arts portfolio also reaches beyond stage performance. Gifts include $5,000 to MIT Council for the Arts for arts programs at MIT, $3,000 to Cultivating Creativity - MIT Media for a multi-discipline approach to creativity, and $2,000 to MIT - List Visual Arts Center for museum and education programs. Together these grants show a preference for institutional arts support across performance, media, and museum education.
$76K
$61K
$213K
$110K
Most grants fall between $500 and $9K, with a median of $2K.
25th Percentile
$500
Median
$2K
75th Percentile
$9K
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Concentrated giving: a small portfolio of mid-sized grants with repeat support for select beneficiaries (two organizations received multiple grants), split among arts, medical research, and religious/community causes.
Notable grantees: Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, St. Peter's Episcopal Church
The typical grant size is small to moderate, with a p25 of $500, a median of $1,986, and a p75 of $9,400. The record also includes a much larger outlier of $55,000. Giving is not a one-off pattern: several recipients appear across multiple years, including Commonwealth Shakespeare Co, St Peter's Episcopal Church, MIT Council for the Arts, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and St Andrew's Episcopal Church. The foundation is a private family foundation, not a donor-advised fund, and it does not fund individuals or make program-related investments. The recent record shows direct project and program support rather than open application-based grantmaking.
Grantmaking is overwhelmingly Massachusetts-centered, with 96% of grants going to recipients in the HQ state. Boston appears often, including awards to Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Commonwealth Shakespeare Co, The Lenny Zakim Fund, and the Boch Center for Performing Arts. Cambridge is another recurring recipient city through MIT-related grants, while Weston anchors support for St Peter's Episcopal Church and St Andrew's Episcopal Church in Wellesley. Outside Massachusetts, the recent list includes one grant to Planned Parenthood Federation in New York, NY; the recipient-country distribution is otherwise entirely US-based.
The recent grants point to cultural institutions, cancer research, and Episcopal parish/community activities. Examples include Commonwealth Shakespeare Co for Shakespeare programming, Dana Farber Cancer Institute for cancer research, and St Peter's Episcopal Church for religious and community activities.
The foundation’s grant-size distribution is small to moderate: p25 is $500, median is $1,986, and p75 is $9,400. The recent record also includes a larger $55,000 grant, showing that occasional awards are much bigger than the typical gift.
Yes. Several recipients appear in multiple years, including Commonwealth Shakespeare Co in 2023, 2024, and 2025; St Peter's Episcopal Church in 2023, 2024, and 2025; MIT Council for the Arts in 2023 and 2024; and Dana Farber Cancer Institute in 2023 and 2024.
The giving record is highly local. 96% of grants go to recipients in Massachusetts, with repeated awards in Boston, Cambridge, Weston, and Wellesley. The recipient-country distribution is entirely US-based.
No. The foundation does not fund individuals and does not make program-related investments. Its recent grants are direct awards to organizations for specific programs, research, and community activities.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Shakespeare Co | Boston, MA | $22,400 | 2026 | Plays of William Shakespeare |
| St Peter's Episcopal Church | Weston, MA | $21,750 | 2026 | Religious and Community Activities |
| MIT Council for the Arts | Cambridge, MA | $13,800 | 2026 | Support musuem and education programs |
| Lam Dance Works | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 2026 | Performing arts and cultural education |
| Boston Lyric Opera | Boston, MA | $6,462 | 2026 | Performing arts and cultural education |
| Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trus | Edgartown, MA | $1,200 | 2026 | Conservation |
| Commonwealth Shakespeare Co | Boston, MA | $54,200 | 2025 | Plays of William Shakespeare |
| St Peter's Episcopal Church | Weston, MA | $23,500 | 2025 | Religious and Community Activities |
| MIT - List Visual Arts Center | Cambridge, MA | $2,000 | 2025 | Support musuem and education programs |
| Boch Center for Performing Arts | Boston, MA | $1,300 | 2025 | Performing arts and cultural education |
| The Lenny Zakim Fund | Boston, MA | $500 | 2025 | Advocate for social justice |
| Fine Arts Work Center | Provincetown, MA | $500 | 2025 | Support artists and writers with time and space |
| St Peter's Episcopal Church | Weston, MA | $13,250 | 2024 | Religious and Community Activities |
| Commonwealth Shakespeare Co | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 2024 | Plays of William Shakespeare |
| MIT Council for the Arts | Cambridge, MA | $5,000 | 2024 | Arts Programs at MIT |
| Cultivating Creativity - MIT Media | Cambridge, MA | $3,000 | 2024 | Multi-discipline approach to creativity |
| Dana Faber Cancer Institute | Boston, MA | $1,973 | 2024 | Medical Research - Cancer |
| Dignity Matters Inc | Framingham, MA | $1,000 | 2024 | Women's Health Products |
| St Andrew's Episcopal Church | Wellesley, MA | $500 | 2024 | Religious and Community Activities |
| Trinity Oak Bluffs Episcopal Church | Oak Bluffs, MA | $300 | 2024 | Religious and Community Activities |
| Planned Parenthood Federation | New York, NY | $200 | 2024 | Sexual and Reproductive Health Care |
| Christ Church Episcopal | Waltham, MA | $200 | 2024 | Distribution of Diapers |
| Dana Farber Cancer Institute | Boston, MA | $55,000 | 2023 | Medical Research - Cancer |
| Commonwealth Shakespeare Co | Boston, MA | $11,657 | 2023 | Plays of William Shakespeare |
| St Peter's Episcopal Church | Weston, MA | $7,600 | 2023 | Religious and Community Activities |
| MIT Council for the Arts | Cambridge, MA | $5,000 | 2023 | Arts Programs at MIT |
| Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum | Boston, MA | $1,000 | 2023 | Support museum activities |
| St Andrew's Espiscopal Church | Wellesley, MA | $500 | 2023 | Religious and Community Activities |
St Peter's Episcopal Church
$21,750Religious and Community Activities
MIT Council for the Arts
$13,800Support musuem and education programs
Lam Dance Works
$10,000Performing arts and cultural education
Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trus
Conservation
St Peter's Episcopal Church
$23,500Religious and Community Activities
MIT - List Visual Arts Center
$2,000Support musuem and education programs
Boch Center for Performing Arts
$1,300Performing arts and cultural education
Fine Arts Work Center
$500Support artists and writers with time and space
St Peter's Episcopal Church
$13,250Religious and Community Activities
MIT Council for the Arts
$5,000Arts Programs at MIT
Cultivating Creativity - MIT Media
$3,000Multi-discipline approach to creativity
St Andrew's Episcopal Church
$500Religious and Community Activities
Trinity Oak Bluffs Episcopal Church
$300Religious and Community Activities
Christ Church Episcopal
$200Distribution of Diapers
St Peter's Episcopal Church
$7,600Religious and Community Activities
MIT Council for the Arts
$5,000Arts Programs at MIT
St Andrew's Espiscopal Church
$500Religious and Community Activities