Kiwanis Foundation of New England

What Kiwanis Foundation of New England does

The Kiwanis Foundation of New England (KFNE) is a Massachusetts-incorporated private nonprofit foundation established in 1953 to serve as the official fundraising arm of the New England and Bermuda District of Kiwanis. Its membership comprises all members in good standing of every Kiwanis Club across the district, giving it structural coverage of six New England states plus Bermuda. The foundation's flagship asset is the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI) at Tufts Medical Center in Boston — the first research hospital-based program dedicated to the treatment of traumatic injuries to infants and children — which houses the Hap Gerrish Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Registry and supports an updated Pediatric Trauma Management course for emergency medical personnel.

KFNE's programmatic portfolio is built around three grant vehicles and three donor-recognition tiers. Club Grants (up to $1,000 per award, limited to one per club per three-year period) and End Hunger Grants (up to $2,500 from KFNE per division with matching requirements, funding roughly 10,000 meals per project via partner The Outreach Program) support Kiwanis club service projects, while K-Kids and Builders Club Service Project Fund Grants channel resources to youth-led service. Donor recognition runs from the Sustaining Member pin tier ($50 annual unrestricted gift) through a ten-level Red Jacket cumulative giving program ($1,000-$10,000) up to the Morton Medal ($5,000 outright or planned gift), with planned-gift provisions via the John D. Morton Society established in August 2003.

The revenue model is donation-dominant with a small ancillary merchandise line. Core inflows come from individual sustaining memberships, annual club gifts (typically $12 per member, floor of $150), Red Jacket crest upgrades, and planned bequests. A direct e-commerce storefront sells rosewood pen sets at $25 plus $5 New England shipping and red-jacket name badges at $10. Distribution is fully direct through kfne.org grant applications, district conventions, and email communications, with no external VC/PE ownership and no headcount or financial disclosures available on public-facing channels. Governance is via an elected and appointed board of directors comprising the President, President-elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and immediate past president, currently led (2025-2026) by President Denis Murphy II.

Name

Kiwanis Foundation of New England

Legal name

Kiwanis Foundation of New England

Website

https://kfne.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Regional nonprofit foundation established in 1953 as the fundraising arm of the Kiwanis New England and Bermuda District. Funds pediatric trauma research via KPTI at Tufts Medical Center and distributes grants plus donor recognition programs to district clubs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAKAA

Private Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

SECONDARYBPAGAKAB

Community Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

SECONDARYBPAGAKAK

Education Grantmaking Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

Keywords

• Charitable foundation services
• Pediatric trauma research
• Community grant programs
• Donor recognition programs
• Child safety programs

Headquarters

HQ city

New Bedford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sustaining Member Donations: Annual unrestricted donations of $50 or more from individual members supporting ongoing projects and new initiatives.
2. Club Gifts: Annual club gifts generally at $12 per member (starting at $150) from Kiwanis clubs in the district.
3. Red Jackets and Crest Upgrades: One-time or installment gifts starting at $1,000 for red jackets, with crest upgrades at $1,000 increments up to $10,000 cumulative for Level 10 recognition.
4. KFNE Pen Gift Set Sales: Sale of rosewood pen and gift box sets at $25 each, with $5 shipping in New England.
5. Name Badge Sales: Name badges sold at $10 each plus shipping for red jacket holders.
6. Morton Society Planned Gifts: Future gift provisions through wills, IRAs, trusts, and other estate planning instruments for legacy giving.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Kiwanis Foundation of New England (KFNE) is a nonprofit charitable foundation established in 1953 as the official fundraising arm of the New England and Bermuda District of Kiwanis. It raises donations from individual members and clubs, distributes grants to Kiwanis clubs for community service projects (including End Hunger meal packing projects), sustains the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI) at Tufts Medical Center, and offers tiered donor recognition programs including Red Jackets and the Morton Medal.

Product overview

The Kiwanis Foundation of New England operates as a charitable foundation with a portfolio of grant programs and recognition offerings. The core programs include Club Grants, End Hunger Grants, and Youth Club Grants for service projects. The foundation's signature initiative is the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI) at Tufts Medical Center, which provides pediatric trauma training and safety resources. Recognition programs include Red Jackets & Crest Upgrades (ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 cumulative), the Morton Medal ($5,000 threshold), and Sustaining Member Pins ($50 annual donation). Merchandise offerings include KFNE Rosewood Pen & Gift Boxes ($25) and name badges for Red Jacket holders ($10).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Club Grants A grant program open to any Kiwanis Club in the New England and Bermuda District in good standing. Awards are limited to no more than $1,000 per club, with no club receiving more than $1,000 in grants within a three-year period.
• End Hunger Grants Grants supporting The Outreach Program and End Hunger New England meal packing projects. Each Kiwanis Division must contribute at least $1,500 to receive $2,500 from KFNE, providing approximately 10,000 meals per project at a total cost of about $4,000.
• Youth Club Grants (K-Kids & Builders Club) Service Project Fund Grants helping youth leaders run service projects they identify for K-Kids and Builders Club programs.
• Red Jackets & Crest Upgrades Donor recognition program with Foundation Red Jackets starting at $1,000 as one-time gift or paid over time. Cumulative goal is Level 10 at $10,000 with crest upgrades at each $1,000 increment across Levels 2-10 (Trauma, Cantor, Esteemed, District Fellow/Lady, Kiwanis Fellow/Lady, Founding Fellow/Lady, President's Council, Leadership Council, Honor Council).
• Morton Medal A numbered medallion awarded for outright gifts of $5,000 or more, or planned gift commitments of $5,000 or more, recognizing exceptional donors. Pledges can be paid over up to five years.
• Sustaining Member Program Annual recognition program for individual donors contributing $50 or more in unrestricted donations, with annual pins of different designs released each year (2015-2016 through 2025-2026).
• Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI) A research hospital-based program at Tufts Medical Center in Boston dedicated to pediatric trauma treatment. Provides safety information and items (car seat stickers, Bike Safety Day kits), training for emergency medical personnel (Pediatric Trauma Management course), and operates the Hap Gerrish Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Registry making pediatric trauma case information available to medical professionals worldwide.
• KFNE Rosewood Pen & Gift Box A handcrafted twist-style ballpoint pen with black ink cartridge, presented in a natural wood single-well gift box. Sold for $25 with $5 shipping in New England.
• KFNE Name Badges Personalized name badges available in three varieties (full pocket badge, magnetic back, fold-over) issued exclusively to Red Jacket holders, costing $10 each plus shipping.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of lives saved through emergency treatment at KPTI
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Tufts Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKFNE continues its work with KPTI at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, supporting research, treatment and injury prevention programs. The foundation created the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute, the first research hospital-based program dedicated to the treatment of traumatic injuries to infants and children.
• Kiwanis InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKFNE serves as the official fundraising arm of the New England District of Kiwanis, which is part of Kiwanis International. The foundation's mission aligns with Kiwanis International's focus on serving the children of the world.
• The Outreach ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Outreach Program supplies materials for End Hunger meal packing projects. Contact: Matthew Martin at [email protected], 93 Whiffletree Ln, Marshfield, MA 02050. Divisions work with this partner to execute meal packing events.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Community Foundation of New England: A regional community foundation operating in the same New England geography. Comparable as a same-region grantmaking vehicle competing for the same donor base and grant applicants, though with broader thematic scope.
• United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley: Regional United Way affiliate covering parts of KFNE's service area. Comparable as a New England-based fundraising-and-grantmaking entity with overlapping community and youth funding priorities.

Emerging players

• Children's Safety Network: A national resource center for injury prevention at children with comparable focus on pediatric trauma data, EMT training, and child safety materials overlapping KFNE's KPTI mission.

Broad incumbents

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Major national health-focused philanthropy. Comparable as a substantially larger grantmaker with overlapping interest in pediatric health and injury prevention research that KFNE's KPTI program touches.
• Rotary Foundation: The global grantmaking arm of Rotary International. Comparable as a far larger, internationally scoped service-club foundation with similar grant programs, sustaining-member recognition, and youth leadership focus.
• Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF): The philanthropic arm of Lions Clubs International. Highly comparable as a service-club foundation distributing grants through district networks, with comparable member recognition and pediatric/youth health programs.

Direct peers

• Kiwanis International Foundation: The global fundraising and grantmaking arm of Kiwanis International. Directly comparable as the parent-tier counterpart to KFNE, which operates at the district level; both share mission, programs, and member-driven fundraising model.
• Other Kiwanis District Foundations: Sister district-level Kiwanis foundations (e.g., New York, Florida, Pacific Northwest districts) that replicate KFNE's grantmaking, sustaining-member, and red-jacket recognition structure for their own geographies.

Others

• Tufts Medical Center Floating Hospital for Children: Host institution for KPTI. Comparable as the operational partner that delivers pediatric trauma research, training, and the Hap Gerrish Registry — the programmatic vehicle through which KFNE funds flow.
• The Outreach Program: Partner organization that supplies meal-packing materials for KFNE's End Hunger Grants. Comparable as the operational supplier/distributor through which KFNE delivers hunger-relief outcomes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Kiwanis Foundation of New England