FundersNew York

Joseph and Martha Melohn Tzedaka Fund

New York, NY · EIN 13-3395219. Reported 43 grants totalling $2,540,344 to 39 organizations across tax years 2021-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$800median grant
$2,540,344granted, 2021-2023
39organizations funded
13%of grantees funded again the next year
$6,287,558assets, latest filing

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. Joseph and Martha Melohn Tzedaka Fund did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $800. Half of everything it gave fell between $250 and $10,000; the smallest was $2 and the largest $900,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
22 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
7 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
1 grant
$10,000 - $25,000
5 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
1 grant
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants
$100,000 and Up
4 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
The Ojc FundBrooklyn, NY$900,000112023
Bas MikrohSpring Valley, NY$750,000112023
Agudath Israel of AmericaNew York, NY$355,000112023
Yeshiva of Spring Valley IncSuffern, NY$275,000112023
Cong Yeshiva of Greater MonseySpring Valley, NY$68,000222023
Cong Tiferes TzviLakewood, NJ$50,000112021
West Side KollelNew York, NY$50,000112021
Bais MikrohSpring Valley, NY$25,000112021
Yeshiva Darchei TorahFar Rockaway, NY$13,000222023
Yeshiva Ketana of ManhattanNew York, NY$13,000112022
Bais Medrash of HaverstrawPomona, NY$10,000112022
Cong Yetev LevBrooklyn, NY$10,000112021
Khal Zachor L'avrahamMonsey, NY$5,000112023
RccsBrooklyn, NY$3,000112023
Chabad of the West SideNew York, NY$2,500112022
Congregation Bnai Israel ChaimNew York, NY$2,100222023
Kehilas Bais AvrahamMonsey, NY$1,000112022
Westside KollelNew York, NY$1,000112023
Young Israel of the West SideNew York, NY$1,000112022
Y I of Bedford BayBrooklyn, NY$800112021
Cong Beis ShmeilBrooklyn, NY$750112021
Congregation Ohav ShalomNew York, NY$600112023
Tomchei ShabbosBrooklyn, NY$600222023
Gemach Zichron MoshePassaic, NJ$500112021
Jewish Womens ClubNew York, NY$500112022
Cong Adas Yerein VienBrooklyn, NY$400112022
Cong Heichal MosheNew York, NY$300112023
Kupat RambanBrooklyn, NY$300112022
American Friends of Peace of MindEdison, NJ$250112022
Cong Avodas YisraelMonroe, NY$200112022
Koznitz Congregation Avodas Yisroel IncBrooklyn, NY$200112023
Ezras TorahPomona, NY$180112022
ChamolBrooklyn, NY$36112021
Rabbi Meir Baal HanesBrooklyn, NY$36112021
Refua VyeshuaBrooklyn, NY$36112021
Uja FederationNew York, NY$18112021
YachadNew York, NY$18112021
ZakaBrooklyn, NY$18112021
Guardian of the SickBrooklyn, NY$2112021

4 of 39 (10%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 13%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 11 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Religion
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
International Affairs
1 grant
Education
1 grant
Community Improvement
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202114$137,214$268
202215$51,930$1,000
202314$2,351,200$4,000

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 98% of this one's giving went to organizations in New York. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

New York
$2.5M
New Jersey
$51K

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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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund14 shared recipientsJewish Communal Fund11 shared recipientsThe Ojc Fund11 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc10 shared recipientsJewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles8 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $800. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Related guides

Foundations funding religion in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding international affairs in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Joseph and Martha Melohn Tzedaka Fund's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: Co Melohn 250 West 55TH St 13TH F, New York, NY, 10019. 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 13-3395219 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.