The Mcknight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience
Minneapolis, MN · EIN 41-1563321. Reported 159 grants totalling $12.8M to 75 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. The Mcknight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience 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 $75,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $75,000 and $100,000; the smallest was $16,500 and the largest $110,310. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regents of the University of California | Berkeley, CA | $766,500 | 10 | 2 | 2024 |
| Columbia University | New York, NY | $616,500 | 9 | 3 | 2023 |
| New York University | New York, NY | $600,000 | 8 | 4 | 2024 |
| Stanford University | Stanford, CA | $450,000 | 6 | 3 | 2023 |
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | $449,913 | 6 | 3 | 2023 |
| Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | New York, NY | $325,000 | 4 | 2 | 2022 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY | $300,000 | 4 | 1 | 2024 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | $300,000 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine | Chicago, IL | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Yale University School of Medicine | New Haven, CT | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT | $250,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Trustees of Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | $241,500 | 4 | 2 | 2024 |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | $237,112 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | $225,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| California Institue of Technology | Pasadena, CA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | Seattle, WA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| St Jude Children's Research Hospital | Memphis, TN | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Stanford University School of Medicine | Palo Alto, CA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Texas State University & Northwestern University | San Marcos, TX | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| UC Berkeley & Nyu | Berkeley, CA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Unc Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | Birmingham, AL | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| University of Colorado School of Medicine | Aurora, CO | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago | Chicago, IL | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| University of Iowa School of Medicine | Iowa City, IA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Mass General Brigham Incorporated | Boston, MA | $175,000 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of California Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | $175,000 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Stanford, CA | $166,500 | 3 | 1 | 2024 |
| Albert Einstein College of Medicine | New York, NY | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Baylor College of Medicine | Houston, TX | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Boston University | Boston, MA | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Harvard Medical School | Boston, MA | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Oregon Health & Science University | Portland, OR | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Scripps Research Institute | La Jolla, CA | $150,000 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ut Southwestern Medical Center | Dallas, TX | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA | $116,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse, NY | $116,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Salk Institute for Biological Studies | La Jolla, CA | $116,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Northwestern University | Chicago, IL | $110,310 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brigham and Women's Hospitalharvard Medical School | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Duke University | Druhan, NC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Duke University Medical Center | Durham, NC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Georgia Tech & Emory | Atlanta, GA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Regents of the University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St Jude's Research Hospital | Memphis, TN | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Syracuse Uninversity | Syracuse, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| UC Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| UC San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| UC Sanf Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Alabama & Mount Sinai Medical Schools | Tuscaloosa, AL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| University of California San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Washington | Seattle, WA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Washington | West Bend, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Washington School of Medicine in St Louis | St Louis, MO | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Massachusetts General Hospital | Boston, MA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Massachusetts General Hospitalharvard Medical School | Boston, MA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Max Planck Florida Corporation | Jupiter, FL | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Max Planck Florida Institute | Jupiter, FL | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nyu School of Medicine | New York, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| UC Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Florida | Gainesville, FL | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of Georgia | Augusta, GA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of New Mexico | Albuquerque, NM | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | Dallas, TX | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Van Andel Research Institute | Grand Rapids, MI | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research | Cambridge, MA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| New York University Grossman School of Medicine | New York, NY | $16,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Regents of the University of Colorado | Aurora, CO | $16,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Texas State University Department of Psychology | San Marcos, TX | $16,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
35 of 75 (47%) 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 48%, 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.
- Northwestern University
Funds Transferred from Van Andel. Regulation mechanism of thermosensitive receptors in nervous system. Principal Investigator: Juan Du, Ph.D. - Brigham and Women's Hospitalharvard Medical School
The Neurobiology of Glioma: Understanding Malignant Neural Circuits Instructing Tumor Growth. Principal Investigator: Humsa Venkatesh,Ph.D. - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Adipocyte-brain mitochondrial signaling and its impacts on brain function. Principal Investigator: Akhila Rajan,Ph.D. - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Dissecting the Gut-brain Dynamics Underlying Anorexia. Principal Investigator: Lisa Beutler - St Jude Children's Research Hospital
Identifying Brain Circuits that Connect Respiration and Cognitive State. Principal Investigator: Lindsey Schwarz - Stanford University School of Medicine
Neuron-to-OPC synapses in adaptive and maladaptive myelination. Principal Investigator: Juliet K. Knowles, MD, PhD
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 65 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | $3,125,000 | $75,000 |
| 2022 | 36 | $3,120,612 | $75,000 |
| 2023 | 42 | $3,207,413 | $75,000 |
| 2024 | 45 | $3,359,310 | $75,000 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Mcknight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience has 56 of them, worth $10.8M. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Brigham and Women's Hospitalharvard Medical School | Boston, MA | $300,000 |
| Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | Seattle, WA | $300,000 |
| Stanford University School of Medicine | Palo Alto, CA | $300,000 |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | $300,000 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | $300,000 |
| Regents of the University of California | Los Angeles, CA | $300,000 |
| Regents of the University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | $300,000 |
| University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT | $300,000 |
| Northwestern University Fineberg School of Medicine | Chicago, IL | $300,000 |
| St Jude's Research Hospital | Memphis, TN | $300,000 |
| U of Alabama & Mount Sinai Medical Schools | Birmingham, AL | $300,000 |
| University of California Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | $300,000 |
| Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | New York, NY | $225,000 |
| Massachusetts General Hospitalharvard Medical School | Boston, MA | $225,000 |
| New York University | New York, NY | $225,000 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 24% of this one's giving went to organizations in California. 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 $75,000. 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 California.
- 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 The Mcknight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience'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: 921 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55415. 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 41-1563321 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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