Melvin S Cohen Foundation Inc
Eau Claire, WI · EIN 39-6075009. Reported 95 grants totalling $8,288,000 to 52 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. Melvin S Cohen Foundation Inc 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 $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $125,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $500,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyes New Orleans | New Orleans, LA | $1,775,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Mayo Clinic | Rochester, MN | $1,447,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Center for Independent Thought | Philadelphia, PA | $840,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Free to Choose Network Inc | Erie, PA | $825,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Middle East Media Research Insitute | Washington, DC | $600,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Foundation for Individual Rights | Philadelphia, PA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Young America's Foundation | Reston, VA | $367,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of the Greater Chippewa Valley | Eau Claire, WI | $275,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Prager Univversity Foundation | Sherman Oaks, CA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Le Phillips Senior Center | Eau Claire, WI | $174,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Donors Trust Inc | Alexandria, VA | $160,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| America Gives | New York, NY | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Veritas Classical Academy Inc | Chippewa Falls, WI | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Zaka Tel-Aviv | Jackson Township, NJ | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Torah Academy of Minneapolis | St Louis Park, MN | $120,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| America-Israel Democracy Coalition | Bryn Mawr, PA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hillsdale College | Hillsdale, MI | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Children's Museum of Eau Claire | Eau Claire, WI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Commentary Inc | New York, NY | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Fund for American Studies | Washington, DC | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Cafe Momentum | Dallas, TX | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| State Policy Network | Arlington, VA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| New Civil Liberties Alliance | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The College Fix | Hillsdale, MI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Prager University Foundation | Sherman Oaks, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Temple Sholom | Eau Claire, WI | $16,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish Family & Childrens Serv Mpls | Golden Valley, MN | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Legal Insurrection Foundation | Barrington, RI | $12,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Global Academy | New Brighton, MN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mercatus Center-George Mason Univ | Arlington, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pef Israel Endowment Funds | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| United Charitable | Tysons, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Legion Auxilliary Fdn Inc | Indianapolis, IN | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Eau Claire Babe Ruth League Inc | Eau Claire, WI | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sacred Heart-St Patrick Parish | Eau Claire, WI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Minnesota Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| YMCA of the Chippewa Valley | Eau Claire, WI | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Literacy Chippewa Valley | Eau Claire, WI | $2,200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Christians United for Israel | San Antonio, TX | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Pro Musica Hebraica | Washington, DC | $1,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Eau Claire YMCA | Eau Claire, WI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Le Phillips Career Development Ctr | Eau Claire, WI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Spirit of America | Arlington, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of California | Oakland, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Wsu Foundation | Pullman, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Le Phillips Memorial Public Library | Eau Claire, WI | $600 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Isaiah's Rock | Chino, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Redeemer Lutheran Church | Winona, MN | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Providence Hospice of Seattle | Tukwila, WA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bright Focus Foundation | Clarksburg, MD | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Nra Civil Rights Defense Fund | Fairfax, VA | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Univ of Wisconsin Eau Claire Fdn | Eau Claire, WI | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
21 of 52 (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 52%, 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 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.
- Free to Choose Network Inc
SCHOLARSHIPS AND OPERATING FUNDS - Le Phillips Senior Center
OPERATING FUNDS, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT - Torah Academy of Minneapolis
SECURITY UPGRADES, SCHOLARSHIPS - Bright Focus Foundation
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 51 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | $2,277,100 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 27 | $2,105,500 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 28 | $1,981,300 | $15,000 |
| 2024 | 15 | $1,924,100 | $15,000 |
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. 27% of this one's giving went to organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 $15,000. 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 Pennsylvania.
- 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 Melvin S Cohen Foundation Inc'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: 3925 N Hastings Way, Eau Claire, WI, 54703. 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 39-6075009 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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