Bicknell Fund
Cleveland, OH · EIN 34-6513799. Reported 114 grants totalling $1,304,000 to 54 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. Bicknell Fund 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 $7,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $15,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $50,500. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Cleveland Food Bank | Cleveland, OH | $105,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Archbold Foundation | Thomasville, GA | $100,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Western Reserve Land Conservancy | Moreland Hills, OH | $75,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Salvation Army | Cleveland, OH | $75,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Team Rubicon | Los Angeles, CA | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Denison University | Granville, OH | $52,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts | Blue Mountain Lake, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cleveland Museum of Natural History | Cleveland, OH | $43,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Holden Forests & Garden | Kirtland, OH | $40,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| American Red Cross | Cleveland, OH | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Cleveland Zoological Society | Cleveland, OH | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| True Freedom Enterprises | Cleveland, OH | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Planned Parenthood of Greater Oh | Columbus, OH | $37,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Playhouse Square Foundation | Cleveland, OH | $30,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Thomasville Center for the Arts | Thomasville, GA | $30,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Brookwood School | Thomasville, GA | $28,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Cleveland Sight Center | Cleveland, OH | $28,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Judson Foundation | Chagrin Falls Oh, OH | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| University School | Hunting Valley, OH | $24,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center | Chagrin Falls, OH | $23,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Miss Hall's School | Pittsfield, MA | $22,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| South Kent | South Kent, CT | $22,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Americares | Stamford, CT | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chn Housing Partners | Cleveland, OH | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Food Strong | Cleveland, OH | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fostering Hope | Solon, OH | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| World Central Kitchen | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hillsdale College | Hillsdale, MI | $19,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute | Cleveland, OH | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Lakeview Cemetery Foundation | Cleveland, OH | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Lawrence School | Broadview Hts, OH | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development | Shaker Hts, OH | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| All Hands and Hearts | Mattapoisett, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Appalachian Trail Resiliecy Fund | Harpers Ferry, WV | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cleveland Transformation Alliance | Cleveland, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Eden Inc | Cleveland, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Medwish International | Cleveland, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Red Wine & Blue Education Fund | Shaker Hts, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The City Mission | Cleveland, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Two Foundation | Chagrin Falls, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| First Tee Cleveland | Newburgh Hts, OH | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio | Columbus, OH | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Hanna Perkins Center | Shaker Heights, OH | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Blue Mountain Lake Fire Department | Blue Mountain Lake, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Camp Ho Mita Koda Foundation | Newbury, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chair-Ity Inc | Cleveland, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hathaway Brown | Shaker Heights, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Leukemia Lymphoma Society | Independence, OH | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Manufacturing Works | Cleveland, OH | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Gathering Place | Beachwood, OH | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Empowering Epilepsy | Beachwood, OH | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Empowing Epilepsy | Beachwood, OH | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Humble Design Cleveland | Solon, OH | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Candid Midwest | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
28 of 54 (52%) 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 62%, 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 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.
- Archbold Foundation
INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY PROGRAM - Holden Forests & Garden
PEOPLE FOR TREES CAMPAING - Food Strong
URBAN AGRICULTURE EDUCATION HUB CAPITAL CAMPAIGN - Cleveland Museum of Natural History
PERKINS NEW WASH BARN PROJECT - Judson Foundation
JUDSON PARK MANSION GARDEN PROJECT - Red Wine & Blue Education Fund
NON-PARTISAN VOTER EDUCATION ON THE ISSUE OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 78 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 | $363,000 | $7,500 |
| 2022 | 26 | $339,000 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 29 | $290,000 | $6,000 |
| 2024 | 28 | $312,000 | $7,250 |
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. 69% 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.
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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 $7,500. 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 Ohio.
- 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 Bicknell Fund'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: 1111 Superior Avenue 700, Cleveland, OH, 44114. 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 34-6513799 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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