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Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation at a glance

· Public charity

Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation

Further the charitable, educational and religious purposes of the jewish federation of cleveland ("federation").

$1.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$492k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

64% of Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Jewish Federation Of Cleveland, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 17 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2024, the last year Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 18 organizations, $2M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

12
’18
13
’19
18
’20
19
’21
19
’22
20
’23
18
’24
17
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Philanthropy$2.0MHuman Services$882kHealth$783kArts & Culture$592kReligion$574kFood & Nutrition$369kPublic Safety & Disaster$290kCivil Rights$257kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 19 grants below total $1,689,500, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,817,000 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $127,500 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $144k
  • $250k+5 grants · $1.5M
$12,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$7.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND$492,000
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC$262,500
HILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE$262,500
CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION$250,000
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS HEALTH SYSTEMS INC$250,000
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO$26,500
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN INCORPORATED$24,000
AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE$17,500
JEWISH FAMILY EXPERIENCE$12,000
GREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC$12,000
PARK SYNAGOGUE$12,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER OHIO$10,000
MENORAH PARK FOUNDATION$10,000
COLLEGE NOW GREATER CLEVELAND INC$10,000
MALTZ MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $109k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%MENORAH PARK CENTER FOR SENIOR LIVING: $20k → 17%MANDEL JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CLEVELAND: $10k → 17%MANDEL JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CLEVELAND: $9k → 17%MANDEL JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CLEVELAND: $6k → 17%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $6k → 17%MANDEL JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CLEVELAND: $6k → 17%UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT INC: $25k → 17%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $8k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 8% of Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 97% of the giving stays in OH; by stated purpose, 86%.

Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 13% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 23 repeat orgs$389k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against -29% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call). Read against FY2024, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
4

Total granted

$3.3M
$115k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
-29%

Still filing today

96%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesArts & CulturePhilanthropyCivil RightsReligionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • JF
    JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO
    8× · 2018–2025 · $707k · revenue +30%
  • TR
    THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $443k · revenue +50%
  • UH
    UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS HEALTH SYSTEM INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $370k · revenue +58%

Funded once

  • FT
    FAIRMOUNT TEMPLE ANSHE CHESED CONGREGATION
    one grant, 2018 · $50k
  • US
    UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT INC
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue -29%
  • MP
    MENORAH PARK CENTER FOR SENIOR LIVING
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue -94%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati
Philanthropy
2
Hebrew Academy of Cleveland

The mission of the hebrew academy is to imbue all students with a love of god, torah and eretz yisroel and to prepare them to achieve excellence in torah and general knowledge based on successful cooperation among family, judaic and…

—
3
Foundation for Cincinnati Jewish Seniors formerly Jewish Home of Cincinnati Inc
Health
4
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Group Return

Caring for life, researching for health and educating those who serve.

Health
5
Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati develops and connects leaders, contributors, organizations, and ideas to build an inclusive Jewish community that helps people in need, supports Israel, and assures a vibrant Jewish future.

Philanthropy
6
Jewish Education Center of Cleveland

The mission is to inspire transformative Jewish educational experiences that add meaning to the lives of Jewish children and their families in Cleveland. The vision of the agency is to instill a lifelong love of Jewish learning to further…

Religion
7
Metropolitan Jewish Health System Inc

Mjhs health system is a charitable not-for-profit established to support the activities of affiliated organizations. mjhs is built on the core values of compassion, dignity and respect, first established by the four brooklyn ladies in…

Health
8
Clal-the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership Inc

A leading advocate for pluralism and diversity, clal offers jewish wisdom that enhances public life, deepens civic engagement and cultivates personal growth.

Religion
9
Mt Sinai Health Care Foundation

The Mt. Sinai Health Foundation improves the health of Greater Cleveland by investing resources, convening, and collaborating - with a focus on: - Equitable health outcomes- Health of the Jewish community- Academic medicine and bioscience…

Health
10
Chelsea Jewish Lifecare Inc

The organization's mission is to manage a continuum of senior care business lines that consistently provide high-quality compassionate care while focusing on the development of innovative programs and services that enable individuals to…

Health
11
Mount Carmel Health System

We, mount carmel health system and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities. mount carmel health system is a member of trinity health.

—
12
The Musical Arts Association

The Cleveland Orchestra inspires and enriches lives by creating extraordinary musical experiences at the highest level of artistic excellence.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Greater Cleveland; the most unlike its peers is Hillel Foundation at Miami University. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

30 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 30 of the 33 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/30
Grantees still filing
20/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $2,309,500 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND+4 more: $49,500 · PhilanthropyUNIVERSITY HOSPITALS HEALTH SYSTEM INC: $370,000 · HealthUNIVERSITY HOS…THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION: $250,000 · HealthTHE CLEVELAND …PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER OHIO: $77,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENT…MENORAH PARK FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Health+2 more: $42,500 · Health+2 moreHillel Foundation at Miami University: $272,500 · OtherHillel Foundation a…PARK SYNAGOGUE: $183,500 · OtherPARK SYNAGOGUEORT AMERICA INC: $60,500 · OtherORT AMERICA INCFOUR COMMUNITY HILLEL HOUSE DBA HILLEL AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · OtherFAIRMOUNT TEMPLE ANSHE CHESED CONGREGATION: $50,000 · OtherYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO: $42,000 · OtherLEGAL AID SOCIETY OF CLEVELAND: $36,000 · OtherAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $116,000 · OtherAMERICAN JEWISH COM…COLLEGE NOW GREATER CLEVELAND INC: $80,000 · OtherCOLLEGE NOW GREATER…+7 more: $156,500 · Other+7 moreJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO: $707,000 · ReligionJEWISH FAMILY…THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC: $442,500 · Arts & CultureTHE ROCK A…The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage: $75,000 · Arts & CultureThe Maltz …FACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $60,000 · Arts & CultureFACING HIS…GREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $369,000 · Food & NutritionNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN - CLEVELAND: $138,000 · Community Improvement
Philanthropy$2,359,000Health$779,500Other$1,047,000Religion$707,000Arts & Culture$577,500Food & Nutrition$369,000Community Improvement$138,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $2,309,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO: $707,000 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetTHE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC: $442,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY HOSPITALS HEALTH SYSTEM INC: $370,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $369,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetHillel Foundation at Miami University: $272,500 over 2y, 44% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN - CLEVELAND: $138,000 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $116,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLEGE NOW GREATER CLEVELAND INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER OHIO: $77,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetThe Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage: $75,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetORT AMERICA INC: $60,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetFACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $60,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFOUR COMMUNITY HILLEL HOUSE DBA HILLEL AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND OHIO: $42,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMENORAH PARK FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetLEGAL AID SOCIETY OF CLEVELAND: $36,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC: $33,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Mandel Jewish Community Center of Cleveland: $30,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMONTEFIORE FOUNDATION: $27,500 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetELEANOR B RAINEY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE: $23,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetRECOVERY RESOURCES: $22,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMENORAH PARK CENTER FOR SENIOR LIVING: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTELLA MARIS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $12,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND HILLEL FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Jewish Federation of …The Cleveland Foundat…Jack Joseph & Morton …Higley Fund of the Cl…David & Inez Myers Fo…Woodruff FoundationMurphy Family Foundat…United Way of Greater…The Lozick Family Fou…Akron Community Found…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…
Jewish Federation of ClevelandOH23.9× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Federation of Cleveland · The Cleveland Foundation · Jack Joseph & Morton Mandel Foundation · Higley Fund of the Cleveland Foundation · David & Inez Myers Foundation · Woodruff Foundation · Murphy Family Foundation · United Way of Greater Cleveland · The Lozick Family Foundation · Akron Community Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 33 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Dan and Ellen Zelman Family’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home