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Melamed Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Melamed Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$67k
Granted FY2020
55
Grants FY2020
14
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

99% of Melamed Foundation’s FY2021 grant dollars went to Greater Washington Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 13 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year Melamed Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 38 organizations, $67k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

21
’17
22
’18
38
’19
38
’20
13
’21

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

01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Philanthropy$1.5MEducation$25kCrime & Legal$25kFood & Nutrition$25kArts & Culture$20kHealth$17kEmployment$15kInternational$15kOther$0
02FY2020 · 55 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OAR$5,000
DC CENTRAL KITCHEN$3,500
FOOD RECOVERY NETWORK$3,500
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE$3,000
FEEDING AMERICA$3,000
MANNA FOOD CENTER$2,500
MONTGOMERY COUNTY FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER$2,500
A WIDER CIRCLE$2,500
N STREET VILLAGE$1,500
ST JOSEPH'S INDIAN SCHOOL$1,500
FOOD & FRIENDS$1,500
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$1,500
FAMILIES AGAINST MANDATORY MINIMUMS$1,500
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE$1,500
VERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE$1,500
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 (FY17–20, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 58% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SAMUEL'S HOUSE: $5k → 13%HOUSE INTO HOMES: $500 → 15%LEARNING WORKS: $2k → 7%LEARNING WORKS: $1k → 7%LEARNING WORKS: $1k → 7%MARY'S CENTER: $500 → 8%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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
SD
IA
CA
CO
VA
MD
DC
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$170k · 50 repeat orgs$38k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +46% since the first grant, against +44% for those funded once.

50 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2020, 7 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, 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

50
31

Total granted

$170k
$29k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+44%

Still filing today

68%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21
Arts & CultureInternationalHealthEducationFood & NutritionHuman ServicesOther
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

  • FA
    FAMILIES AGAINST MANDATORY MINIMUMS
    4× · 2017–2020 · $14k · revenue +745%
  • TD
    THE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $13k · revenue +96%
  • MF
    MANNA FOOD CENTER INC
    4× · 2017–2021 · $7k · revenue +82%

Funded once

  • SH
    SAMUEL'S HOUSE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +44%
  • TM
    THE MEDSTAR-GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $3k · revenue +57%
  • FP
    Friendship Placegraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $2k · revenue +138%
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
3
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
4
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Create a more accessible, sustainable, prosperous and livable national capital region by being a discussion forum, expert resource, issue advocate, and catalyst for action.

Public Benefit
5
Counterpart International Inc

For over 60 years, counterpart international has partnered with communities worldwide to turn local ideas into lasting solutions, connecting local vision with global opportunity. (continued on schedule o)we believe people closest to the…

International
6
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
7
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
8
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
9
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
10
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
11
University of Maryland Facultyphysicians Inc

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland, school of medicine, administrative support services are provided to the physician practices of the university of maryland, including but not limited to information technology,…

Health
12
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Washington Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

60 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. 60 of the 95 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
59/60
Grantees still filing
49/60
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER WASHINGTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,530,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER WASHINGTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION+1 more: $250 · PhilanthropyFAMILIES AGAINST MANDATORY MINIMUMS: $14,000 · OtherTHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $12,500 · OtherOAR: $12,000 · OtherMONTGOMERY COUNTY FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER: $6,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $6,000 · OtherSAMUEL'S HOUSE INC: $5,000 · Other+58 more: $74,100 · OtherInternational Rescue Committee INC: $5,500 · InternationalSave The Children Federation Inc: $4,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $4,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 · InternationalOPERATION SMILE INC: $3,000 · International+1 more: $500 · InternationalMANNA FOOD CENTER INC: $6,500 · Food & NutritionFOOD RECOVERY NETWORK INC: $6,000 · Food & NutritionFeeding America: $4,000 · Food & NutritionCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $1,000 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $500 · Food & NutritionThe Studio Theatre Inc: $4,000 · Arts & CultureSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $4,000 · Arts & CultureROUND HOUSE THEATRE INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureTHE THEATRE LAB INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureMINNETONKA CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $500 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $250 · Arts & CultureA WIDER CIRCLE INC: $5,000 · EducationTHE FOUNDATION SCHOOLS: $3,500 · EducationCOLLEGETRACKS INC: $2,000 · EducationCAPE ELIZABETH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $1,000 · EducationAMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $1,000 · Education+1 more: $250 · EducationFOOD & FRIENDS INC: $3,500 · HealthTHE MEDSTAR-GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER INC: $2,500 · HealthLewy Body Dementia Association Inc: $2,000 · HealthTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $1,500 · HealthMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $1,500 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $1,000 · Health
Philanthropy$1,530,250Other$129,600International$21,000Food & Nutrition$18,000Arts & Culture$14,750Education$12,750Health$12,000

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 budgetGREATER WASHINGTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,530,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFAMILIES AGAINST MANDATORY MINIMUMS: $14,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetTHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $12,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMANNA FOOD CENTER INC: $6,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD RECOVERY NETWORK INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSAMUEL'S HOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetA WIDER CIRCLE INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Studio Theatre Inc: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $4,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD & FRIENDS INC: $3,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLEARNINGWORKS: $3,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION SCHOOLS: $3,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetROUND HOUSE THEATRE INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE THEATRE LAB INC: $3,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTSIC INC DBA/TAKE STOCK IN CHILDREN: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION SMILE INC: $3,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MEDSTAR-GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONHEGAN ASSOCIATES INC: $2,250 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetDOORWAYS FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLewy Body Dementia Association Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJUBILEE JOBS INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLEGETRACKS INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $1,850 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINTEGRITY FIRST FOR AMERICA INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFriendship Place: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetN STREET VILLAGE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTGOMERY HOUSING PARTNERSHIP INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE ELIZABETH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCape Elizabeth Land Trust: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEAM RUBICON INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPEN FAULKNER FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSEEDS OF PEACE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMMIGRANT LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT: $500 over 2y, 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.

The Morris and Gwendo…Greater Washington Co…Clark-Winchcole Found…William S Abell Found…United Way of the Nat…Nora Roberts Foundati…John Edward Fowler Me…Dimick Foundation Joh…Philip L Graham Fund …Td Charitable Foundat…Maine Community Found…Morgan Stanley Global…
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz FoundationDC27.6× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation · Greater Washington Community Foundation · Clark-Winchcole Foundation · William S Abell Foundation Inc · United Way of the National Capital Area · Nora Roberts Foundation · John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation · Dimick Foundation John M Lynham Jr Trustee · Philip L Graham Fund co Graham Holdings Company · Td Charitable Foundation · Maine Community Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 Melamed Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Melamed Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • A Wider Circle Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Round House Theatre Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Manna Food Center Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Tsic Inc Dba/Take Stock in Children: 0% of income from government
  • Samuel's House Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 95 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2020, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Melamed’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