Supporting the Adirondack Region

The Cloudsplitter Foundation is dedicated to improving the environment, economies, and lives of the people of the Adirondacks through innovative and leveraged philanthropic programs.

Program/Project Support Grants

Program/Project Support Grants

To support a well-defined project or program that has a defined need, budget, and associated supporting documentation.

Mission Support Grants

Mission Support Grants

Annual awards of $5,000 to support a not-for-profit’s operating costs and not specific projects or programs. 

Rapid Response Grants

Rapid Response Grants

Primarily for urgent needs that arise between grant review meetings, Rapid Response Grants are made at the sole discretion of our director.


Child Care Excellence Awards

Child Care Excellence Awards

Awards of $2,000 are available for each step of a five-step childcare quality improvement program administered by QUALITYstarsNY.

Other Grants & Loans

Other Grants & Loans

From one-time emergency sustenance awards to short-term bridge loans and small annual gifts, we provide funding to our local community.

Request a Grant

Request a Grant

Grant requests with strategic purpose, have leverage, and generate maximum environmental or community returns will be given priority.   

Featured Projects

While over 70% of the Foundation’s grants go to institutions in the Adirondacks, our secondary mission, to the extent that funds are available, is to aid other organizations dedicated to humanitarian causes, wilderness preservation, protecting civil liberties, and cultural development. 

Childcare Excellence Awards

The attached paper, produced by an independent research organization, documents how cash awards provided by the Cloudsplitter Foundation…

St. Eustace Church

St. Eustace Church has served the Lake Placid area for 115 years. In 1924 the building was physically…

Our Impact on the Region

Philanthropic Philosophy

We believe that money can be used to change the conditions that caused the need for those funds in the first place. The Cloudsplitter Foundation strives to be a second-order influence on the social and environmental needs of region.

Financial Results

The Foundation ended 2023 with $ $35.8 million in assets and $4 million of portfolio earnings, a 14.1% return on assets. We distributed $1.3 million in 191 grants and in 162 $2,000 Childcare Excellence Awards.

Our Board of Trustees & Staff

Ernest E. [Lee] Keet

Ernest E. [Lee] Keet, Founding Trustee and Chair, is a Saranac Lake-based private equity investor with over thirty…

Chenelle Palyswiat

Chenelle Palyswiat, Director of Grants and Administration, is a native Saranac Laker whose heart belongs to the Adirondacks….

$4M

Portfolio Earnings in 2023

14.1%

Return on Assets in 2023

$1.3M

Distributed in 2023

191

Grants Awarded in 2023

Testimonials

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Sarah Anderson
Sarah Anderson

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George Flavius
George Flavius

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Peter Oliver
Peter Oliver