Norman & Elaine Polsky Family
Overland Park, KS · EIN 48-1232337. Reported 143 grants totalling $719,000 to 56 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. Norman & Elaine Polsky Family 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 $3,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $58,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charities Aid Foundation of America | Alexandria, VA | $134,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Village Shalom | Overland Park, KS | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Congregation Beth Shalom | Overland Park, KS | $46,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Family Services of Greater Kansas City | Overland Park, KS | $44,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City | Overland Park, KS | $38,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Community Foundation | Overland Park, KS | $24,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Aspen Country Day School | Aspen, CO | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Brothers for Life | Seattle, WA | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Burns Recovered Support Group | St Louis, MO | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wonderscope | Kansas City, MO | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Rose Brooks Center | Kansas City, MO | $19,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy | Overland Park, KS | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Groupmuse Foundation | Brooklyn, NY | $12,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Oasis Legal Services | Berkeley, CA | $12,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Family & Children's Services of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $11,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Congregation Sha'ar Zahav-the Rainbow Fund | San Francisco, CA | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jordan Thomas Foundation | Brentwood, TN | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Dumb Friends League | Denver, CO | $9,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Horizons Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $9,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Richmond Community Foundation | Richmond, CA | $9,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ridhwan Foundationn | Berkeley, CA | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy | San Pablo, CA | $8,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Spahr Center | Corte Madera, CA | $8,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Judaism Alivejewish Rock Radio | Chesterfield, MO | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sheps Place Senior Dog Sanctuary | Independence, MO | $8,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Southern Poverty Law Center | Montgomery, AL | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hadassah of Greater Kansas City | Overland Park, KS | $7,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Rock Radio | Chesterfield, MO | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Midwest Center for Holocaust Education | Overland Park, KS | $7,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Kansas Hillel | Lawrence, KS | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Reach Out and Read Kansas City | Kansas City, KS | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Stageworx | Olathe, KS | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Denver Dumb Friends League Colorado | Denver, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Metropolitan Ensemble Theater | Kansas City, MO | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Maddie's Mission | Prairie Village, KS | $4,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Lyric Center for Lgbtq Youth | San Francisco, CA | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| National Council of Jewish Women | Prairie Village, KS | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Our Family Coalition | San Francisco, CA | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Reaching Out From Within | Prairie Village, KS | $4,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Jordon Thomas Foundation | Nashville, TN | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Happy Bottoms | Kansas City, MO | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Jewish Community Relations Bureau | Overland Park, KS | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Wayside Waifs | Kansas City, MO | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Jewish Community Center | Overland Park, KS | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Camp Sabra | St Louis, MO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Encircle | Salt Lake City, UT | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pawsperity (formerly the Grooming Project) | Kansas City, MO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Producers Association Inc (woodminster Summer Muscials) | Oakland, CA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sol Theatre Company | Carbondale, CA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Farm Collabortive | Aspen, CO | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Coterie Theatre | Kansas City, MO | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Colorado Professional Fire Fighters Foundation | Denver, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Family Visitor Program | Glenwood Springs, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jewish Braille Institute | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pawsperity | Kansas City, MO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Shul - Chabad of Leawood | Overland Park, KS | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
40 of 56 (71%) 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 87%, 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.
- Charities Aid Foundation of America
PROVIDE GRANTS TO CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS - Village Shalom
BRING DIGNITY, CHOICE, COMPASSION AND CARE TO ELDERS DURING THEIR LIVES AND LIFE TRANSITIONS. - Congregation Beth Shalom
RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL AND CHARITABLE PURPOSE OF TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATION - Jewish Family Services of Greater Kansas City
JEWISH CHAPLAINCY PROGRAM AND FOOD PANTRY - Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City
RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL AND CHARITABLE PURPOSE OF TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONRELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL AND CHARITABLE PURPOSE OF TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATION - Brothers for Life
TO EMPOWER INJURED COMBAT SOLDIERS TO HELP RECENTLY INJURED COMBAT SOLDIERS RECLAIM THEIR LIVES, FULFULL THEIR DREAMS AND CONTINUE TO SERVE AND INSPIRE THE JEWISH NATION
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 71 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | $139,000 | $2,000 |
| 2022 | 40 | $213,000 | $3,500 |
| 2023 | 31 | $145,000 | $2,000 |
| 2024 | 41 | $222,000 | $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
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 42% of this one's giving went to organizations in Kansas. 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 $3,000. 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 Kansas.
- 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 Norman & Elaine Polsky Family'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: 4801 West 110TH Street 150, Overland Park, KS, 66211. 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 48-1232337 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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