Joseph & Helen Skilken Foundation
Columbus, OH · EIN 31-6050827. Reported 157 grants totalling $664,750 to 60 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. Joseph & Helen Skilken 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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $2,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $60,000. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Albany Pet Rescue | New Albany, OH | $151,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ohio State University Hospital | Columbus, OH | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Columbus Zoo | Powell, OH | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lifetown | New Albany, OH | $63,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ohio State University - Diving | Columbus, OH | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ohio Regional Training Center | Columbus, OH | $27,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ohio State University - Wrestling | Columbus, OH | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Ohio State University Foundation | Columbus, OH | $16,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The University of Texas | Austin, TX | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| World Central Kitchen | Washington, DC | $8,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Temple Beth Shalom | New Albany, OH | $8,300 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Schottenstein Chabad House - Levi Andrusier | Columbus, OH | $8,250 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Chabad of Downtown Columbus | Columbus, OH | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Lighthouse Youth & Family | Cincinnati, OH | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ohio State University - Men's Basketball | Columbus, OH | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| National Center for Transgender Equality | Washington, DC | $6,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ohio State University - Swimming | Columbus, OH | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Against Malaria Foundation | Kansas, MO | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Freestore Foodbank | Cincinnati, OH | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gigi's | Canal Winchester, OH | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| International Midwife Assistance | Boulder, CO | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Isaac M Wise Temple | Cincinnati, OH | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| New Alternatives for Children | New York, NY | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wolf | Laporte, CO | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Tufts University | Medford, MA | $2,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Doctor's Without Borders USA | New York, NY | $2,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| America Gives | New York, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Arts Business Collaborative Inc | Long Island City, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Colorado College | Colorado Springs, CO | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Jewish Community Center | Columbus, OH | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mountain Rescue Aspen | Aspen, CO | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Nationwide Childrens Hospital | Columbus, OH | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| New Paradigm Theatre Company Inc | Stamford, CT | $2,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University Nc Diving Discretionary Fund | Chapel Hill, NC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Beantown Rfc | Watertown, MA | $1,600 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen | New Haven, CT | $1,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The OSU Hillel Foundation | Columbus, OH | $1,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Friends of Harvard Women's Rugby | Cambridge, MA | $1,200 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Andrew J Kitaeff Thomas Jefferson University | Philadelphia, PA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Colorado College Office | Colorado Springs, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Equal Justice Initiative | Montgomery, AL | $1,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Equality Ohio Education Fund | Columbus, OH | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Office for Advancement- Colorado College | Colorado Springs, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pawsco | Denver, CO | $1,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Saving Our Underprivileged Lives | Reading, PA | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Rose Theater | Columbus, OH | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| USA Diving | Indianapolis, IN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Xv Foundation | New Haven, CT | $1,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Mccormick Divers Booster Club | Huntington Beach, CA | $800 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Bexley High School Alumni | Bexley, OH | $500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Soul | Columbus, OH | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wosu Public Media | Columbus, OH | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The National Multiple Sclerosis Society | New York, NY | $400 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Greensburg Community Bread of Life | Greensburg, IN | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Family Life Center of Fayette | Fayette, OH | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Franklin Park Conservatory | Columbus, OH | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Maryhaven Inc | Columbus, OH | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Francis of Assisi Church | Columbus, OH | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Jude Children's Research Hospital | Memphis, TN | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Jude Childrens Research Hospital | Columbus, OH | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
43 of 60 (72%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 76%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 55 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | $148,150 | $1,000 |
| 2022 | 44 | $168,900 | $1,000 |
| 2023 | 45 | $192,850 | $1,000 |
| 2024 | 35 | $154,850 | $1,000 |
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. 88% of this one's giving went to organizations in Ohio. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
Find more foundations like Joseph & Helen Skilken Foundation
We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.
No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.
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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Ohio.
- 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 Joseph & Helen Skilken Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 1148, Columbus, OH, 43216. 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 31-6050827 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.