Melling Family Foundation
Holladay, UT · EIN 87-0663843. Reported 77 grants totalling $387,000 to 25 recipients 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. Melling 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 $4,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $20,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Defense Fund | Washington, DC | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Natural Resources Defense Council | New York, NY | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ocean Conservancy | Washington, DC | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America | Washington, DC | $36,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wildlife Rehabilitaion Center of Northern Utah | Far West, UT | $22,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Protect Democracy Project | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Big Life Foundation | Ridgefield, WA | $16,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Madre | New York, NY | $16,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wildlife Conservation Network | San Francisco, CA | $16,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Utah Food Bank | Salt Lake City, UT | $14,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Utah Open Lands | Salt Lake City, UT | $13,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| African Wildlife Federation | Washington, DC | $12,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Sageland Collaborative (wild Utah Project) | Salt Lake City, UT | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Road Home | Salt Lake City, UT | $9,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Save Our Canyons | Cottonwood Heights, UT | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Fourth Street Clinic | Salt Lake City, UT | $6,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hawkwatch International | Salt Lake City, UT | $6,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Green America | Washington, DC | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| African Wildlife Foundation | Washington, DC | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Elephant Family USA Inc | New York, NY | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Feeding America | Salt Lake City, UT | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Tracy Aviary | Salt Lake City, UT | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Food Bank of the Rockies (co) | Denver, CO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Forgotten Harvest (detroit Mi) | Oak Park, MI | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Wilflife Rehabilitaion Center of Northern Utah | Far West, UT | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
19 of 25 (76%) 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 94%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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.
- Environmental Defense Fund
SUPPORT THE WORK OF SUPPORTING NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS BENEFITING AIR QUALITY, WATER AND HABITAT RESTORATION. - Natural Resources Defense Council
SUPPORT THE MISSION OF PROGRAMS TO SAFEGUARD THE EARTH: ITS PEOPLE, ITS PLANTS AND ANIMALS AND THE NATURAL SYSTEMS ON WHICH ALL LIFE DEPENDS. - Ocean Conservancy
SUPPORT THE WORK OF CREATING SCIENCE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR A HEALTHY OCEAN AND THE WILDLIFE AND COMMUNITIES THAT DEPEND ON IT. - Protect Democracy Project
SUPPORT THE MISSION TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY FROM DECLINING INTO A MORE AUTHORITARIAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT. - Planned Parenthood Federation of America
SUPPORT THE PROGRAMS AND WORK OF PPFA, PROVIDING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE AND SERVICES. - Wildlife Rehabilitaion Center of Northern Utah
SUPPORT THE MISSION: "THROUGH WILDLIFE REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION WE WILL EMPOWER THE COMMUNITY TO ENGAGE IN EDUCATION AND RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP OF WILDLIFE AND HABITAT."
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 51 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 | 21 | $74,000 | $2,500 |
| 2022 | 18 | $74,000 | $3,500 |
| 2023 | 18 | $102,000 | $4,000 |
| 2024 | 20 | $137,000 | $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
46% of its giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. 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 $4,000. 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 District of Columbia.
- 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 Melling Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 3081 Whitewater Drive, Holladay, UT, 84121. 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 87-0663843 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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