Kahn Sovel Mertz Fund
Bethesda, MD · EIN 38-3573217. Reported 136 grants totalling $551,064 to 62 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. Kahn Sovel Mertz 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $1,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $750 and $3,520; the smallest was $100 and the largest $56,267. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adat Shalom Synagogue | Farmington Hills, MI | $107,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Federation of Detroit | Bloomfield Hills, MI | $62,818 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Cure Multiple Myeloma Corp | Novi, MI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of Magen David Adom | New York, NY | $36,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Magen David Adom | New York, NY | $36,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Idf | Walled Lake, MI | $24,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ort America | Bloomfield Hills, MI | $22,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Sanctum House | Royal Oak, MI | $16,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Downtown Sysagogue | Detroit, MI | $15,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Friends of United Hatzalah | New York, NY | $13,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hadassah | West Bloomfield, MI | $11,298 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hias | Washington, DC | $11,180 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Detroit Institute of Arts | Detroit, MI | $11,150 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish National Fund | Rockville Centre, NY | $11,080 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| National Council of Jewish Women | Southfield, MI | $7,793 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| National Museum of Women in the Arts | Washington, DC | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Jewish Community Center | West Bloomfield, MI | $5,865 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Cantors Assembly | Fairlawn, OH | $5,800 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Jarc of Farmington Hills | Farmington Hills, MI | $5,800 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Daily Giving | White Plains, NY | $5,045 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| National Museum of Wimon in the Art | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood | Ann Arbor, MI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jewish Historical Society | West Bloomfield, MI | $4,920 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Temple Beth El | Bloomfield Hills, MI | $4,554 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Planned Parenthood of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | $4,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Grosse Pointe Jewish Council | Grosse Pointe, MI | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Higher Hopes Detroit | Commerce Township, MI | $3,750 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Jewish Theological Seminary | New York, NY | $3,750 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Detroit Jewish News Foundation | Southfield, MI | $3,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Channel 56 Public Television | Wixom, MI | $3,350 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gildas Club | Royal Oak, MI | $3,250 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Scleroderma Foundation | Chicago, IL | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sclerodrma Foundation | Chicago, IL | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jarc | Farmington Hills, MI | $2,625 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cantor's Assembly | Fairlawn, OH | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fins and Feathers Foundation | Grosse Pointe, MI | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jewish Thological Society | New York, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| West Bloomfield Libruary Endowment | West Bloomfield, MI | $2,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Jewish Family Services | West Bloomfield, MI | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| West Bloomfield Library Friends | West Bloomfield, MI | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| World Central Kitchen | Washington, DC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jewish Senior Life | West Bloomfield, MI | $1,850 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Friends of B'nai David Cemetery | Bloomfield Hills, MI | $1,600 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Humble Design | Pontiac, MI | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Scleroderma Fund | Danvers, MD | $1,250 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Yad Ezra | Berkley, MI | $1,250 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Wrcj | Wixom, MI | $1,050 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Emu Foundation | Ypsilanti, MI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friend of B'nai David Cemetery | Bloomfield Hills, MI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jewish Ensemble Theatre | Walled Lake, MI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jewish Women International | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Literacy for Kids | Grosse Pointe Woods, MI | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Naral Foundation | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Guardial Angels Service Dogs | Williston, FL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Midnight Golf Program | Detroit, MI | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Temple Beth El - Alpena | Alpena, MI | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Baltimore Zionist District | Pikesville, MD | $386 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Nicely Theater Group | West Bloomfield, MI | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| B'nai Brith | Washington, DC | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cranbrook Educational Community | Bloomfield Hills, MI | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Liberty Temple Baptist Church | Detroit, MI | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Shelter Island Foundation | Shelter Island, NY | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
37 of 62 (60%) 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 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.
- Adat Shalom Synagogue
GENERAL FUND CONTRIBUTION
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 49 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | $116,391 | $1,000 |
| 2022 | 41 | $116,434 | $1,040 |
| 2023 | 35 | $154,475 | $2,000 |
| 2024 | 24 | $163,764 | $2,692 |
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. 73% of this one's giving went to organizations in Michigan. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,500. 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 Michigan.
- 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.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Kahn Sovel Mertz Fund'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: 8309 River Trail Lane, Bethesda, MD, 20817. 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 38-3573217 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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