About Baker Foundation
The Baker Foundation’s documented giving is centered on Catholic parishes and related religious institutions, with repeated grants to churches, Catholic schools, and faith-based service organizations. Its largest recorded gift in the recent list was $25,000 to Our Lady Star of the Sea in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, followed by additional support there in later years, showing a clear pattern of sustained parish-level backing. The foundation also funded Catholic education and church operations, including $15,000 to Mater Christi School in Burlington, Vermont, and $15,000 to Notre Dame of Easton Church in Easton, Connecticut. Beyond parishes, the recent grants list shows support for religious retirement care, chaplaincy, and community outreach tied to faith communities. The foundation’s giving sits at a modest-to-midscale level overall, with awards commonly clustered in the low-thousands and occasional larger institutional grants. Its 2025 filing shows annual grants of $579,000 against assets of $1,315,323, indicating a relatively compact foundation with consistent charitable distribution.
What Baker Foundation Funds
Catholic parish support is the clearest thread in The Baker Foundation’s recent giving. The foundation awarded $25,000 to Our Lady Star of the Sea in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and also made follow-on grants there in 2023 and 2025. Religious institutions beyond Catholic parishes appear as well: Congregational Church of New Canaan in Connecticut received multiple grants, including $15,000 in 2023 and $10,000 in 2024. The foundation also supported Catholic education, giving $15,000 to Mater Christi School in Burlington, Vermont, and $20,000 to Charleston Collegiate School in Johns Island, South Carolina. Its broader faith-linked giving extends to religious retirement and chaplaincy, including support for the Dominican Foundation in New York and Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, DC.
How Baker Foundation Gives
Typical awards cluster in the low-thousands, with a p25 of $3,000, a median of $5,000, and a p75 of $8,750. The recent grants list also includes repeated $10,000 and $15,000 gifts, along with a small number of $20,000 and $25,000 awards. The pattern looks recurrent rather than one-off: several recipients appear in multiple years, including a parish recipient, a church in Connecticut, and faith-based service organizations. The foundation appears to use direct grantmaking rather than program-related investments, and it does not fund individuals. Some program lines indicate unsolicited applications are accepted for certain capital and program grants, while other listed initiatives do not accept unsolicited requests.
