Illinois · Private foundation
Richard & Martha Melman Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $365k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 10
- Grants FY2025
- 9
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 11%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $15,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $210,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 9 to 25
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 3
- Total assets, FY2025
- $3.8M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 11% of the organizations Richard & Martha Melman Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 1% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 10 | $365k | 20% |
| FY2024 | 9 | $394k | 11% |
| FY2023 | 15 | $302k | 27% |
| FY2022 | 18 | $224k | 44% |
| FY2021 | 25 | $566k | 52% |
| FY2020 | 18 | $656k | 56% |
| FY2019 | 22 | $676k | 64% |
| FY2018 | 16 | $716k | 69% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Family Services | $930,000 | 8 | 1% |
| Endeavor Health Clinical Operations | $185,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago | $138,000 | 4 | 0% |
| The Joffrey Ballet | $58,500 | 8 | 0% |
| The Harold and Carole Pump Foundation (Fka the Harold Pump Foundation) | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Navy Pier Inc | $35,000 | 2 | 0% |
| University of Chicago | $32,500 | 2 | 0% |
| Digestive Health Foundation | $30,000 | 4 | 6% |
| The 100 Club of Illinois | $25,000 | 4 | 1% |
| College Possible Inc | $20,000 | 2 | 0% |
Show all 37 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 33 recipients with no EIN on record ($2.9M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Richard & Martha Melman Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Lavin Family Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · AbbVie Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
Compare Richard & Martha Melman Foundation with peer funders
About Richard & Martha Melman Foundation
- How much does Richard & Martha Melman Foundation give?
- Richard & Martha Melman Foundation reported 10 grants totaling $365,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 9 and 25 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Richard & Martha Melman Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Philanthropy (53%), Human Services (23%), Health (8%).
- Who are Richard & Martha Melman Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Metropolitan Family Services ($930k), Endeavor Health Clinical Operations ($185k), Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago ($138k).
- Does Richard & Martha Melman Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 11% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Richard & Martha Melman Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Richard & Martha Melman Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Lavin Family Foundation.
- Where is Richard & Martha Melman Foundation based?
- Richard & Martha Melman Foundation is based in IL.
Play a game based on Richard & Martha Melman’s filings →