FundersIowa

Berenstein Family Foundation

Sioux City, IA · EIN 42-1461615. Reported 83 grants totalling $68,076 to 48 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500median grant
$68,076granted, 2021-2024
48organizations funded
41%of grantees funded again the next year
$376,293assets, 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. Berenstein 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.

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 $100 and $1,000; the smallest was $25 and the largest $6,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
56 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
26 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
1 grant

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
Congregation Beth ShalomSioux City, IA$12,925442024
Sioux City SymphonySioux City, IA$9,000332024
Siouxland Community FoundationSioux City, IA$7,500332023
First Presbyterian ChurchSioux City, IA$7,200442024
Center for SiouxlandSioux City, IA$3,900542024
Safe PlaceSioux City, IA$3,000332024
United WaySioux City, IA$3,000332023
Jewish Federation of SiouxlandSioux City, IA$2,500332023
Community Action of SiouxlandSioux City, IA$2,000222022
Hospice of SiouxlandSioux City, IA$2,000332023
Friendship HouseSioux City, IA$1,486332023
Unity Point FoundationSioux City, IA$1,200332024
Welcome HomeSioux City, IA$1,100112021
June E Nylen Cancer CenterSioux City, IA$1,000222024
Tolerance WeekSioux City, IA$1,000112024
Sioux City Art CenterSioux City, IA$900332023
Siouxland Food BankSioux City, IA$750222023
Siouxland Senior CenterSioux City, IA$600112021
Food Bank of SiouxlandSioux City, IA$500112021
Heartland CounselingSouth Sioux City, NE$500112023
Hope Street HouseSioux City, IA$500112021
Siouxland CaresSioux City, IA$500112021
Special OlympicsGrimes, IA$500112021
St Luke's FoundationSioux City, IA$500112021
Iowa Special OlympicsGrimes, IA$450222023
Kwit - Friends of Fm 90Sioux City, IA$300222022
Siouxland Center for Active GenerationsSioux City, IA$300112022
Siouxland Officials AssnLe Mars, IA$300112021
Alzheimer's of SiouxlandSioux City, IA$250112021
Girls IncSioux City, IA$250112024
Lila Mae's HouseSioux City, IA$250112024
Noah's Hope Animal RescueSioux City, IA$250112021
Siouxland Mental HealthSioux City, IA$250112021
Bike SuxSioux City, IA$200222022
Women AwareSioux City, IA$165222023
Boys and Girls Club of SiouxlandSioux City, IA$100112021
Hope Street of SiouxlandSioux City, IA$100112024
Iowa Public TelevisionJohnston, IA$100112021
KwitSioux City, IA$100112024
Mary TregliaSioux City, IA$100112021
Mid Step ServicesSioux City, IA$100112021
NAACPSioux City, ID$100112021
ProteusFort Dodge, IA$100112021
Sioux City Gospel MissionSioux City, IA$100112021
Rosecrance FoundationSioux City, IA$50112024
Sunrise RetirementSioux City, IA$50112021
Hadassah DonorSioux City, IA$25112021
Sd Parks FoundationPierre, SD$25112022

19 of 48 (40%) 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 41%, across 3 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 27 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
12 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Mental Health
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
2 grants
Diseases & Disorders
2 grants
Youth Development
2 grants
Housing & Shelter
1 grant
Animal Welfare
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202133$17,225$300
202219$16,575$500
202317$17,426$500
202414$16,850$550

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. 99% of this one's giving went to organizations in Iowa. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Iowa
$67K
Nebraska
$500
Idaho
$100
South Dakota
$25

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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.

Missouri River Historical Development15 shared recipientsFood Bank of Siouxland Inc8 shared recipientsSiouxland Community Foundation8 shared recipientsThe Roth & Letch Family Charitable8 shared recipientsUnited Way of Siouxland Inc6 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund5 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 Iowa.
  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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Berenstein Family 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: 310 Pelletier Dr, Sioux City, IA, 51104. 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 42-1461615 · 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 [email protected] and we will correct it.