FundersNew York

The Meryl & Christopher Lewis Foundation

Hastings on Hudson, NY · EIN 13-3369933. Reported 70 grants totalling $56,350 to 45 organizations across tax years 2021-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500median grant
$56,350granted, 2021-2023
45organizations funded
51%of grantees funded again the next year
$459,691assets, 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. The Meryl & Christopher Lewis 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 $500. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $1,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $2,100. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
45 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
25 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
St Judes Childrens HospitalMemphis, TN$6,000332023
American Jewish World ServiceNew York, NY$5,000332023
Woodlands TempleWhite Plains, NY$3,600332023
Michael J Fox FoundationNew York, NY$3,000332023
Mpn Research FoundationChicago, IL$3,000332023
Uja Neediest CasesNew York, NY$3,000332023
Gilda's ClubWhite Plains, NY$2,500332023
JdcNew York, NY$2,000112021
Blue Path Service DogsHopewell Junction, NY$1,500332023
DorotNew York, NY$1,500332023
Hastings Youth CouncilHastingsonhudson, NY$1,500332023
Heifer InternationalAlbert Lea, MN$1,250112021
Anti Defamation LeagueNew York, NY$1,000112023
Compassion & ChoicesCarol Stream, IL$1,000112023
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$1,000112022
Feeding WestchesterElmsford, NY$1,000222022
Greenburgh Nature CenterScarsdale, NY$1,000222023
IrcNew York, NY$1,000112022
Magen David AdomNew York, NY$1,000112023
Ocd FoundationBoston, MA$1,000222023
Paws Crossed Animal RescueElmsford, NY$1,000222023
PetaNorfolk, VA$1,000112022
Planned ParenthoodDallas, TX$1,000112021
The Heart FoundationWestlake Village, CA$1,000222022
AARP FoundationLong Beach, CA$500112021
Animal Education & RescueLibertyville, IL$500112023
Animal KindHudson, NY$500112023
Animal RescueShrewsbury, MA$500112022
Family to FamilyHastingsonhudson, NY$500112021
Friends of Weinberg Nature CenterScarsdale, NY$500112022
Furniture SharehouseLarchmont, NY$500112021
Hastings Fire DeptHastings on Hudson, NY$500112021
Hastings on Hudson Fire DepartmentHastingsonhudson, NY$500112023
Kids Kicking CancerSouthfield, MI$500112022
Miss FoundationAustin, TX$500112021
Partners in HealthBoston, MA$500112022
Ronald Mcdonald HouseValhalla, NY$500112021
Salvation ArmyHarlan, IA$500112021
Sandy Hook Promise FoundationNewtown, CT$500112023
SPCA Westchester IncBriarcliff Manor, NY$500112023
The Jonah Maccabee FoundationArdsley, NY$500112023
Untermyer Gardens ConservancyYonkers, NY$500112021
World Central KitchenWashington, DC$500112022
WyncNew York, NY$500112022
Yonkers Animal ShelterYonkers, NY$500112023

15 of 45 (33%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 51%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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.

Plus 1 grants to individuals totalling $1,000 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 38 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Medical Research
6 grants
International Affairs
6 grants
Health Care
6 grants
Human Services
6 grants
Animal Welfare
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Environment
2 grants
Crime & Legal
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202124$19,050$500
202223$19,100$500
202323$18,200$500

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. 65% of this one's giving went to organizations in New York. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

New York
$37K
Tennessee
$6K
Illinois
$4K
Massachusetts
$2K
California
$2K
Texas
$2K
Minnesota
$1K
Virginia
$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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund18 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc14 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program11 shared recipientsPaypal Charitable Giving Fund11 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc11 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $500. 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 New York.
  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 international affairs in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in TennesseeEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Meryl & Christopher Lewis Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 3 returns (tax years 2021-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 14 Hastings Landing, Hastings on Hudson, NY, 10706. 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 13-3369933 · 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.