Gerson Family Foundation
Olathe, KS · EIN 43-6100486. Reported 146 grants totalling $716,384 to 50 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Gerson Family Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $1,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $400 and $5,000; the smallest was $200 and the largest $61,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish Federation of Kansas City | Overland Park, KS | $286,734 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kc | Overland Park, KS | $112,750 | 8 | 5 | 2025 |
| Kansas City Symphony | Kansas City, MO | $40,104 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish Family Services | Overland Park, KS | $32,604 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Chabad of Ku | Lawrence, KS | $32,000 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| University of Ks Health Systems Endowment | Kansas City, KS | $29,733 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Nelson Gallery Foundation | Kansas City, MO | $18,696 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Jewish Community Relations Bureau | Overland Park, KS | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Temple B'nai Jehudah | Overland Park, KS | $11,836 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| New Reform Temple | Kansas City, MO | $10,543 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Congregation Rodef Shalom | Denver, CO | $10,080 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Anti-Defamation League | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The University of Kansas Health System | Lenexa, KS | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Kansas City Scholars | Kansas City, MO | $9,929 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Nature Conservancy | Arlington, VA | $9,300 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Great Jobs Kansas City | Kansas City, MO | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City | Kansas City, MO | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Operation Breakthrough | Kansas City, MO | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Olathe Medical Center Foundation | Olathe, KS | $5,175 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Harvesters | Kansas City, MO | $5,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Kauffman Center for Performing Arts | Kansas City, MO | $5,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Polly Labs | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Olathe YMCA | Olathe, KS | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Commons Project Foundation | New York, NY | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society | New York, NY | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Center for Practical Bioethics | Kansas City, MO | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy | Overland Park, KS | $2,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Kanbe's Markets | Kansas City, MO | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism | Foxborough, MA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Kellogg School of Management | Evanston, IL | $2,050 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Bridge the Gap College Prep | Kansas City, MO | $1,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Canal Alliance | San Rafael, CA | $1,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Sf Marin Food Bank | San Francisco, CA | $1,250 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Greater Chicago Food Depository | Chicago, IL | $1,150 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Friends of Johnson County | Overland Park, KS | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hands to Heart | Merriam, KS | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Jewish Vocational Services | Kansas City, MO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Kvc Health Systems | Olathe, KS | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Marin Agricultural Land Trust | Point Reyes Station, CA | $1,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| University Academy Foundation | Kansas City, MO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Northern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame | San Francisco, CA | $750 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence | Washington, DC | $500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Halleck Creek | Nicasio, CA | $500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Newhouse Kc | Kansas City, MO | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Northwestern University Foundation | Evanston, IL | $400 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chicago Food Rescue | Chicago, IL | $300 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Hack Club | West Hollywood, CA | $300 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Larkspur Library Foundation | Larkspur, CA | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Brady Center | Washington, DC | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Women for Afghan Women | Fresh Meadows, NY | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
33 of 50 (66%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 74%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Jewish Federation of Kansas City
GENERAL CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION - Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kc
PETER GERSON EDUCATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND - The University of Kansas Health System
KU NURSE NAVIGATOR SURVIVORSHIP PROGRAM
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 83 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | $137,329 | $1,000 |
| 2022 | 26 | $109,962 | $1,250 |
| 2023 | 29 | $147,958 | $2,468 |
| 2024 | 31 | $153,721 | $1,300 |
| 2025 | 30 | $167,414 | $2,370 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
76% of its giving went to organizations in Kansas. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Kansas.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Gerson Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 1450 S Lone Elm, Olathe, KS, 66061. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 43-6100486 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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