The Marion and Herbert Hess Charitable Trust concentrates its giving on a small number of repeat recipients, with major support for higher education and direct service organizations addressing disability and housing needs. Most dollars go to a handful of longstanding grantees, suggesting relationship-driven, mission-focused philanthropy rather than broad exploratory giving. Grants tend to be general operating in nature, indicating trust in grantees' priorities and flexible support.
Concentrated giving to a very small roster of repeat grantees (multiple grants each), with large, general-operating awards rather than many small or exploratory gifts.
The Marion and Herbert Hess Charitable Trust C/o Gregory Pond shows a clear pattern of sustained, repeat support for a small set of organizations, with Skidmore College receiving the largest grants across 2023, 2024, and 2025. That multi-year sequence points to a funder that builds around longstanding relationships rather than one-time awards. Alongside higher education, the trust backs direct service organizations serving people who are blind or visually impaired and groups tied to shelter and homelessness prevention. Recent grants also show support for organizations working in New York and beyond, including The Seeing Eye and The Shelter Connection, both of which appear repeatedly in the grant list. The trust’s giving is largely general support, which suggests flexibility in how recipients use the funds. With annual giving of $719,918 and assets of $4,742,056, the foundation operates at a modest scale but with concentrated follow-through on a few mission areas. The pattern is steady across years, with several recipients reappearing in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
In higher education, the trust gave $96,045 in 2025 to Skidmore College for general support, following larger general grants in prior years. For disability-related work, it supported The Seeing Eye with $37,972 in 2025, continuing a three-year sequence of general grants to the organization. The trust also backed homelessness prevention and shelter services through The Shelter Connection, which received $26,804 in 2025 for general support after similar awards in 2023 and 2024. Beyond those core areas, the grant list includes support for Helen Keller National Center in Port Washington, New York, also given general support in multiple years. Together, these grants show a portfolio built around education, blindness services, and shelter-related community support rather than a wide mix of unrelated causes.
Typical grant size sits in a narrow band: p25 is $16,765, median is $18,608, and p75 is $37,392. The grant list shows repeated awards to the same organizations over multiple years, which points to ongoing support rather than isolated project funding. Every listed grant is marked general, indicating flexible operating-style support. The trust is a charitable trust rather than a foundation with a visible application process in the data, and there is no indication that it funds individuals or program-related investments. The distribution suggests a concentrated portfolio with a few larger anchor grants and several mid-sized recurring awards.
$720K
$4.7M
$417K
$320K
Most grants fall between $17K and $37K, with a median of $19K.
25th Percentile
$17K
Median
$19K
75th Percentile
$37K
About 71% of grants go to recipients in NY.
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Notable grantees: Skidmore College, The Seeing Eye, Inc., The Shelter Connection
All listed grants go to U.S. recipients, and 71% of grants land in the trust’s HQ state of New York. Within that, recipient cities include Saratoga Springs, Greenvale, Port Washington, and New York City. Outside New York, the grant list reaches Morristown, New Jersey, and Memphis, Tennessee. The geography is regional rather than national, with most activity clustered in New York and a smaller number of awards extending to nearby or related organizations elsewhere in the United States.
The grant list points to four recurring areas: undergraduate liberal arts college support, services for people who are blind or visually impaired, homelessness prevention and shelter services, and local shelter network capacity. Those themes appear through repeated general grants to education, disability-services, and shelter organizations.
Yes. Several recipients appear in 2023, 2024, and 2025, including Skidmore College, The Seeing Eye Inc, The Shelter Connection, Helen Keller National Center, City Meals on Wheels, and Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. That pattern shows recurring support rather than isolated one-time gifts.
The distribution is fairly tight. The p25 grant size is $16,765, the median is $18,608, and the p75 is $37,392. Most awards cluster around those mid-sized amounts, with a few larger grants standing out for college and disability-related support.
Most grants go to New York recipients: 71% of grants are to organizations in the HQ state. Recipient cities in the recent list include Saratoga Springs, Greenvale, Port Washington, and New York City, with additional grants going to Morristown, New Jersey, and Memphis, Tennessee.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SKIDMORE COLLEGE | SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY | $96,045 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| THE SEEING EYE INC | MORRISTOWN, NJ | $37,972 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| THE SHELTER CONNECTION | GREENVALE, NY | $26,804 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES | NEW YORK, NY | $15,635 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| CITY MEALS ON WHEELS | NEW YORK, NY | $15,635 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| AMERICAN FRIENDS OF DURRELL | MEMPHIS, TN | $15,635 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| HELEN KELLER NATIONAL CENTER | PORT WASHINGTON, NY | $15,635 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| SKIDMORE COLLEGE | SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY | $99,211 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| THE SEEING EYE INC | MORRISTOWN, NJ | $39,223 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| THE SHELTER CONNECTION | GREENVALE, NY | $27,687 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES | NEW YORK, NY | $16,151 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| HELEN KELLER NATIONAL CENTER | PORT WASHINGTON, NY | $16,151 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| CITY MEALS ON WHEELS | NEW YORK, NY | $16,151 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| AMERICAN FRIENDS OF DURRELL | MEMPHIS, TN | $16,151 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| SKIDMORE COLLEGE | SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY | $114,308 | 2023 | GENERAL |
| THE SEEING EYE INC | MORRISTOWN, NJ | $45,192 | 2023 | GENERAL |
| THE SHELTER CONNECTION | GREENVALE, NY | $31,900 | 2023 | GENERAL |
| HELEN KELLER NATIONAL CENTER | PORT WASHINGTON, NY | $18,608 | 2023 | GENERAL |
| CITY MEALS ON WHEELS | NEW YORK, NY | $18,608 | 2023 | GENERAL |
| FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES | NEW YORK, NY | $18,608 | 2023 | GENERAL |
| AMERICAN FRIENDS OF DURRELL | MEMPHIS, TN | $18,608 | 2023 | GENERAL |
SKIDMORE COLLEGE
$96,045GENERAL
THE SEEING EYE INC
$37,972GENERAL
THE SHELTER CONNECTION
$26,804GENERAL
FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES
$15,635GENERAL
CITY MEALS ON WHEELS
$15,635GENERAL
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF DURRELL
$15,635GENERAL
HELEN KELLER NATIONAL CENTER
GENERAL
SKIDMORE COLLEGE
$99,211GENERAL
THE SEEING EYE INC
$39,223GENERAL
THE SHELTER CONNECTION
$27,687GENERAL
FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES
$16,151GENERAL
HELEN KELLER NATIONAL CENTER
$16,151GENERAL
CITY MEALS ON WHEELS
$16,151GENERAL
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF DURRELL
$16,151GENERAL
SKIDMORE COLLEGE
$114,308GENERAL
THE SEEING EYE INC
$45,192GENERAL
THE SHELTER CONNECTION
$31,900GENERAL
HELEN KELLER NATIONAL CENTER
$18,608GENERAL
CITY MEALS ON WHEELS
$18,608GENERAL
FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES
$18,608GENERAL
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF DURRELL
$18,608GENERAL