FundersPennsylvania

Perlow Family Foundation

Pittsburgh, PA · EIN 23-2894160. Reported 71 grants totalling $644,049 to 34 organizations across tax years 2021-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$644,049granted, 2021-2023
34organizations funded
70%of grantees funded again the next year

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. Perlow 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,200 and $12,000; the smallest was $300 and the largest $58,334. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
6 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
28 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
14 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
17 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
3 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 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
United Jewish Federation of Greater PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$131,668332023
KollelPittsburgh, PA$121,500332023
Classrooms Without BordersPittsburgh, PA$54,000332023
Community Day SchoolPittsburgh, PA$36,000222023
Moving TraditionsJenkintown, PA$35,000332023
Via Art Fund IncBoston, MA$35,000332023
Friendship CirclePittsburgh, PA$34,500332023
Camp RamahNew York, NY$26,000112021
Shaare Torah CongregationPittsburgh, PA$21,280332023
Carnegie Musuem of ArtPittsburgh, PA$20,000112021
Congregation Beth ShalomPittsburgh, PA$15,521332023
Art 21New York, NY$15,000332023
Artists Image ResourcePittsburgh, PA$15,000222022
Uja Foundation of New YorkNew York, NY$13,000222022
Aleph InstitutePittsburgh, PA$12,000332023
Project KesherHarrison, NY$10,400332023
Aperture FoundationNew York, NY$8,500332023
Ner Israel CollegeBaltimore, MD$7,600332023
Stanley M Marks Blood Cancer Research FundPittsburgh, PA$5,000112021
Hadar InstituteNew York, NY$4,600332023
American Friends of Migdal OhrNew York, NY$3,600112022
Pardes Institute of Jewish StudiesJerusalem, Israel$2,800222022
The Andy Warhol MuseumPittsburgh, PA$2,300112021
The Brotherhood SynagogueNew York, NY$2,180222022
Bend the ArcNew York, NY$2,000222022
National Council of Jewish Women New YorkNew York, NY$2,000222023
Pencil IncNew York, NY$2,000222023
Padres Institute of Jewish StudiesJerusalem, Israel$1,800112023
Amudei OhrFar Rockaway, NY$1,200112022
United Institution of Karlin StolinBrooklyn, NY$600222022
Central East NcsySouthfield, MI$500112021
Chasdei Avos IncPassaic, NJ$500112021
Chatham UniversityPittsburgh, PA$500112021
Western Pa School for Blind ChildrenPittsburgh, PA$500112021

23 of 34 (68%) 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 70%, across 2 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 31 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
12 grants
Religion
6 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
6 grants
Human Services
3 grants
Education
2 grants
Youth Development
1 grant
Diseases & Disorders
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202128$268,286$4,046
202225$227,211$5,000
202318$148,552$5,000

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. 78% 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.

Pennsylvania
$505K
New York
$91K
Massachusetts
$35K
Maryland
$8K
Israel
$5K
Michigan
$500
New Jersey
$500

Find more foundations like Perlow Family Foundation

We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.

No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.

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 Inc18 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program13 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc13 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust10 shared recipientsThe Pittsburgh Foundation8 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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 Pennsylvania.
  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 arts & culture in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding religion in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Perlow Family 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: 310 Grant Street 2500, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219. 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 23-2894160 · 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.