FundersOhio

Kulas Foundation

Cleveland, OH · EIN 34-0770687. Reported 190 grants totalling $6,948,520 to 77 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$15,000median grant
$6,948,520granted, 2021-2024
77organizations funded
73%of grantees funded again the next year
$46.4Massets, 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. Kulas 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.

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 $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $7,500 and $35,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $325,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
18 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
34 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
60 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
41 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
17 grants
$100,000 and Up
20 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
Cleveland Institute of MusicCleveland, OH$820,000442024
The Musical Arts AssociationCleveland, OH$720,000442024
Case Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, OH$623,000442024
Rock & Roll Hall of FameCleveland, OH$380,000222023
Baldwin Wallace UniversityBerea, OH$338,000442024
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and MuseumCleveland, OH$310,000112021
University Hospitals Health SystemShaker Heights, OH$295,000332024
Great Lakes Theater FestivalCleveland, OH$210,000442024
Kent State University FoundationKent, OH$198,000442024
Cleveland BalletCleveland Heights, OH$190,000442024
The Salvation ArmyCleveland, OH$169,000332024
University of Akron FoundationAkron, OH$165,000442024
Playhouse Square FoundationCleveland, OH$150,000112024
Beck Center for the ArtsLakewood, OH$145,000222022
Apollo's Fire Cleveland Baroque OrchestraCleveland Heights, OH$130,000442024
Friends of Breakthrough SchoolsCleveland, OH$100,000442024
Cleveland International Film FestivalCleveland, OH$90,000442024
Cleveland State University FoundationCleveland, OH$90,000442024
Cuyahoga Community College FoundationCleveland, OH$90,000442024
Piano International Assn No OhioShaker Heights, OH$90,000332024
Karamu HouseCleveland, OH$83,500332024
Cleveland Play HouseCleveland, OH$80,000332024
Cleveland Public TheatreCleveland, OH$80,000222023
Great Lakes Science CenterCleveland, OH$75,000112023
The Musical Theater ProjectIndependence, OH$75,000222023
The City Club of ClevelandCleveland, OH$73,000222024
Cleveland Pops OrchestraCleveland, OH$65,000442024
Cleveland School of Arts Bd of TrusteesCleveland, OH$60,000442024
Groundworks Dance TheaterCleveland, OH$60,000332023
Cleveland Music School SettlementCleveland, OH$55,000332024
Near West TheatreCleveland, OH$50,000442024
Cleveland Modern Dance AssociationCleveland, OH$45,000442024
Philanthropy OhioOberlin, OH$45,000442024
Roots of American MusicCleveland, OH$45,000222024
Bluewater Chamber OrchestraCleveland, OH$40,000222024
Children's Hospital Medical Ctr of AkronAkron, OH$40,000112021
University Circle IncorporatedCleveland, OH$35,000442024
Chamberfest ClevelandCleveland, OH$32,000442024
Greater Akron Musical AssociationAkron, OH$30,000332024
Julie Billiart SchoolsLyndhurst, OH$30,000332023
Rock and Roll Hall of FameCleveland, OH$30,000112024
Cleveland Jazz OrchestraCleveland, OH$26,000332023
Cleveland Council on World AffairsCleveland, OH$25,000332024
First Church of Christ Scientist RrRocky River, OH$25,000112024
Julie Billiart SchoolLyndhurst, OH$25,000112024
Our Lady of Peace ChurchCleveland, OH$25,000112022
St John Cantius ChurchChicago, IL$25,000112021
Center for Arts-Inspired LearningCleveland, OH$22,500332024
John Carroll UniversityUniversity Heights, OH$22,500442024
Borderlight Int Theatre FestivalCleveland, OH$20,000112023
Cleveland OperaCleveland, OH$20,000332023
IdeastreamCleveland, OH$20,000112021
Professional Flair IncCleveland, OH$20,000222024
Tuesday MusicalAkron, OH$20,000222023
Youth ChallengeWestlake, OH$20,000442024
Oberlin CollegeOberlin, OH$18,000442024
The City MissionCleveland, OH$17,500112021
Edwin's Leadership & Restaurant InstituteCleveland, OH$15,000332024
Citymusic ClevelandCleveland, OH$14,000332023
Cleveland Leadership CenterCleveland, OH$12,500222024
Assembly for the ArtsCleveland, OH$10,000112023
Cleveland Rape Crisis CenterCleveland, OH$10,000222022
Contemporary Youth OrchestraCleveland, OH$10,000112024
Cleveland Clinic FoundationCleveland, OH$10,000112021
Cleveland Hearing & Speech CenterCleveland, OH$10,000112021
Jewish Federation of ClevelandBeachwood, OH$10,000112022
Legal Aid Society of ClevelandCleveland, OH$10,000222024
Modern Warrior LiveCleveland, OH$10,000222022
Lawrence SchoolBroadview Heights, OH$9,520222024
Cleveland Opera TheaterCleveland, OH$7,500112022
Business Volunteers UnlimitedCleveland, OH$5,000112024
Dobama TheatreCleveland Heights, OH$5,000112022
Saint Joseph ParishCuyahoga Falls, OH$5,000112021
West Shore Unitarian Univ ChurchRocky River, OH$5,000112021
Lake View Cemetary FoundationCleveland, OH$3,500112023
Friendly Inn Settlement IncCleveland, OH$2,500112024
Spelman CollegeAtlanta, GA$1,000112022

52 of 77 (68%) 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 73%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 134 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
61 grants
Education
46 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
5 grants
Health Care
5 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants
International Affairs
3 grants
Mental Health
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202150$1,618,520$16,250
202244$1,565,500$12,500
202349$1,831,000$15,000
202447$1,933,500$20,000

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. 100% 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.

Ohio
$6.9M
Illinois
$25K
Georgia
$1K

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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.

The Cleveland Foundation51 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund43 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc41 shared recipientsJohn P Murphy Foundation38 shared recipientsThe George Gund Foundation36 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc33 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,000. 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 Ohio.
  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 education in OhioEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Kulas 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: 1660 West 2ND St Suite 800, Cleveland, OH, 44113. 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 34-0770687 · 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.