How much does Sam L Cohen Foundation give?

Sam L Cohen Foundation reported 94 grants totaling $2,482,100 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 81 and 114 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.

What does Sam L Cohen Foundation fund?

By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Health (31%), Human Services (10%), Youth Development (8%).

Who are Sam L Cohen Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: MaineHealth ($3.3M), Jewish Community Alliance Southern Maine ($808k), Cedars Nursing Care Center ($500k).

Does Sam L Cohen Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2023, 21% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Does Sam L Cohen Foundation accept unsolicited applications?

Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.

Which funders back the same organizations as Sam L Cohen Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Maine Community Foundation Inc, Elmina B Sewall Foundation, John T Gorman Foundation.

Where is Sam L Cohen Foundation based?

Sam L Cohen Foundation is based in ME.

Foundation Dossiers

Maine · Private foundation

Sam L Cohen Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.5M
Granted FY2024(still arriving): 94
Grants FY2024: 104
Organizations funded FY2023: 21%
First-time grantees FY2023

Read the full brief

Median grant, FY2024: $15,000
Largest grant, FY2024: $250,000
Organizations funded a year: 81 to 114; FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024: 3
Total assets, FY2024: $28M
Applications: Takes unsolicited applications; Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 21% of the organizations Sam L Cohen Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 13% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $282k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

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

Arts & CultureHealthEducationHuman ServicesFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentOther

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.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2024still arriving	84	$2.5M	20%
FY2023	104	$2.2M	21%
FY2022	87	$3.3M	21%
FY2021	89	$3.7M	33%
FY2020	114	$2.5M	25%
FY2019	86	$2.1M	31%
FY2018	88	$1.5M	89%
FY2017	81	$1.6M	n/a

98% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$6.1MHuman Services$1.9MYouth Development$1.6MArts & Culture$1.5MEducation$1.5MPhilanthropy$1.4MCivil Rights$1.1MHousing & Shelter$1.0MOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
MaineHealth	$3,330,000	8	0%
Jewish Community Alliance Southern Maine	$807,600	7	6%
Cedars Nursing Care Center	$500,000	1	4%
Preble Street	$492,500	5	1%
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine	$380,000	4	3%
University of Maine School of Law Foundation	$380,000	3	23%
Maine Children's Alliance	$365,000	6	12%
Good Shepherd Food Bank	$305,000	4	0%
My Place Teen Center Inc	$305,000	4	10%
The Opportunity Alliance	$272,500	7	0%

Show all 234 grantees

All grantees of Sam L Cohen Foundation by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
MaineHealth	$3,330,000	8	0%
Jewish Community Alliance Southern Maine	$807,600	7	6%
Cedars Nursing Care Center	$500,000	1	4%
Preble Street	$492,500	5	1%
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine	$380,000	4	3%
University of Maine School of Law Foundation	$380,000	3	23%
Maine Children's Alliance	$365,000	6	12%
Good Shepherd Food Bank	$305,000	4	0%
My Place Teen Center Inc	$305,000	4	10%
The Opportunity Alliance	$272,500	7	0%
Portland Stage Company	$265,000	5	8%
Youth and Family Outreach	$250,000	1	17%
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project	$230,000	6	2%
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Inc	$185,000	4	0%
The Foundation for Maine's Community Colleges	$175,000	2	4%
Hospice of Southern Maine	$165,000	5	0%
Maine Equal Justice Partners	$160,000	5	2%
Southern Maine Agency on Aging	$155,000	5	1%
Prosperityme	$155,000	5	5%
York County Community Action Corporation	$152,500	7	0%
Gulf of Maine Research Institute	$150,000	3	0%
Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation	$145,000	2	1%
Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition	$140,000	4	14%
Maine Center for Economic Policy	$135,000	4	3%
Community Dental	$130,000	4	1%
Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center	$130,000	4	13%
Spurwink Services Inc	$125,000	5	0%
Tree of Life Foundation	$120,000	5	13%
Maine Jewish Film Festival	$118,333	8	12%
Foundation for Portland Public Schools	$118,000	4	3%
Wayside Food Programs	$115,000	4	4%
United Way Inc	$112,500	4	0%
Milestone Recovery	$105,000	4	1%
Maine Behavioral Healthcare	$100,000	1	n/a
Tedford Housing	$100,000	5	2%
American Civil Liberties Union of Maine Foundation	$100,000	4	2%
Locker Project	$100,000	5	3%
Oasis Health Network Inc	$95,000	5	5%
EqualityMaine Foundation	$95,000	4	7%
Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine	$95,000	3	11%
Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center	$91,000	5	9%
Portland Maine Symphony Orchestra	$90,000	4	1%
Commonspace	$90,000	4	2%
Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program	$85,500	4	1%
Caring Unlimited	$85,000	4	1%
Intercultural Community Center	$85,000	4	7%
Catholic Charities Maine	$82,500	4	0%
Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine	$81,800	4	2%
Family Planning Association of Maine Inc	$81,600	4	0%
Frannie Peabody Center	$80,000	4	1%
Council for a Strong America	$80,000	2	1%
Through These Doors	$80,000	4	1%
Maine Women's Lobby Education Fund	$78,000	4	9%
Hope Acts	$77,000	5	8%
Jobs for Maine's Graduates Inc	$75,000	3	0%
University of Hawaii Foundation	$75,000	5	0%
Apex Youth Connection	$75,000	4	6%
The Center for Grieving Children	$73,000	4	2%
Youth Full Maine	$70,000	3	6%
Habitat for Humanity York County Maine	$70,000	7	1%
Learningworks	$70,000	5	1%
Northern Light Health Foundation	$70,000	2	0%
Portland Ovations	$65,000	4	1%
Furniture Friends	$65,000	4	8%
Greater Portland Family Promise	$65,000	5	11%
Mayo Street Arts	$65,000	5	9%
Biddeford Food Pantry	$63,500	4	11%
Maine Association for the Education of Young Children	$62,700	3	4%
SPACE Gallery	$60,500	4	2%
Count Me In	$60,000	4	9%
Portland Recovery Community Center	$60,000	3	2%
Olympia Snowe Women's Leadership Institute	$60,000	4	1%
Consumers for Affordable Health Care	$60,000	3	20%
Dempsey Center for Quality Cancer Care	$60,000	3	1%
The Telling Room	$60,000	4	2%
Maine Access Immigrant Network	$60,000	2	7%
York County Shelter Programs Inc	$60,000	2	1%
Goodwill Industries of Northern NE	$60,000	4	0%
Maine Boys to Men	$60,000	4	5%
United Way of York County	$55,000	2	3%
Friends of Portland Adult Education	$55,000	3	11%
Ecology Education Inc	$55,000	3	1%
University of Southern Maine Foundation	$55,000	2	1%
Portland Public Library	$50,000	2	1%
Pine Tree Legal Assistance Inc	$50,000	2	0%
Shalom House Inc	$50,000	5	0%
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern ME	$50,000	4	3%
Sweetser	$50,000	3	0%
Heart of Biddeford	$48,000	5	6%
Hardy Girls Healthy Women Inc	$45,000	5	7%
Foundation for a Strong Maine Economy	$45,000	2	1%
Cultivating Community	$45,000	3	1%
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy Inc	$45,000	3	0%
Grahamtastic Connection	$45,000	5	5%
The Window Dressers Inc	$45,000	6	13%
Coastal Enterprises Inc	$45,000	2	0%
Maine Coast Fishermens Assn	$45,000	2	1%
317 Main St Community Center Inc	$45,000	4	1%
Levey Day School	$42,500	3	3%
Engine Inc	$42,500	4	7%
Maine Audubon Society	$40,400	3	0%
The Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness	$40,023	4	13%
Freeport Community Services	$40,000	4	2%
Maine Academy of Modern Music	$40,000	4	3%
Portland Chamber Music Festival	$40,000	4	6%
Kids First Center	$40,000	4	3%
A Company of Girls	$37,500	3	8%
Chabad Lubavitch of Maine Inc	$36,000	6	2%
Lake Region Senior Service Inc	$36,000	3	18%
In Her Presence	$35,000	2	2%
Catherine Morrill Day Nursery	$35,000	3	1%
Morrison Center	$35,000	2	0%
Portland Museum of Art	$35,000	3	0%
Seeds of Peace Inc	$35,000	2	0%
Woodfords Family Services	$32,500	3	0%
Camp Sunshine at Sebago Lake Inc	$32,500	2	0%
Avesta Housing Development Corporation	$30,000	2	0%
Senator George J Mitchell Scholarship Research Institute	$30,000	2	0%
Ladder to the Moon Network	$30,000	2	7%
Maine Historical Society	$30,000	2	1%
Cross Cultural Community Services	$30,000	1	2%
Common Threads of Maine	$30,000	2	8%
Junior Achievement of Maine Inc	$30,000	3	2%
Elder Abuse Institute of Maine	$30,000	2	2%
Maine Inside Out	$30,000	3	1%
Midcoast Literacy	$30,000	3	5%
Artvan	$30,000	5	6%
Maine Youth Thriving	$30,000	2	14%
Restorative Justice Institute of Maine	$30,000	2	4%
Port Resources Inc	$28,805	3	0%
Robbie Foundation	$27,500	2	13%
Girl Scouts of Maine	$27,500	3	0%
Volunteers of America Northern New England	$26,000	3	0%
University of Maine System Inc	$25,000	2	n/a
VNA Home Health & Hospice Northern Light Home Care & Hospice	$25,000	1	0%
Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine	$25,000	2	3%
Full Plates Full Potential	$25,000	1	2%
Southern Maine Jewish Cemetery Association	$25,000	1	35%
The Iris Network	$25,000	3	0%
Maine Humanities Council	$22,840	2	1%
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland	$22,500	2	1%
The Gathering Place	$22,500	3	4%
Rippleffect Inc	$22,500	2	1%
Disability Rights Maine	$20,000	1	0%
Portland Trails	$20,000	1	3%
Friends of the Portland Community Free Clinic	$20,000	1	12%
Cancer Community Center	$20,000	1	n/a
Maine Association of Nonprofits	$20,000	2	1%
Mainely Teeth LLC	$20,000	1	n/a
Maine Federation of Farmers Markets	$20,000	2	1%
State of Maine	$20,000	1	n/a
Friends of the St Lawrence Church	$17,500	3	6%
Maine Philanthropy Center	$17,000	5	2%
United Way of Androscoggin County Inc	$15,000	1	1%
Portland School of Ballet	$15,000	3	1%
Palaver Strings Inc	$15,000	2	2%
Mainely Smiles	$15,000	1	3%
Partners for World Health	$15,000	1	1%
Ketcha Outdoors	$15,000	1	1%
Side x Side Inc	$15,000	1	3%
Day One	$15,000	1	0%
Kids Free to Grow	$15,000	3	2%
City of Portland	$15,000	1	n/a
Trustees of Thornton Academy	$15,000	1	0%
Indigo Arts Alliance	$15,000	2	1%
South Portland Food Cupboard	$15,000	2	1%
Portland Community Squash	$15,000	1	1%
Cumberland County Food Security Council	$15,000	1	2%
Pine Tree Society Inc	$12,500	1	0%
Society for the Preservation of New Engl	$12,500	2	0%
United Recovery Fund	$12,500	1	2%
Acorn Productions	$12,250	3	n/a
Nami Maine	$12,000	1	0%
Maine Council of Churches	$11,522	1	n/a
Children's Odyssey	$10,500	1	1%
Gateway Community Services Maine	$10,000	1	3%
Maine Access Points	$10,000	1	1%
Finding Our Voices	$10,000	1	6%
Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition	$10,000	1	5%
Maine Council on Aging	$10,000	1	0%
People Plus	$10,000	1	1%
Daniel Hanley Center for Health Lea	$10,000	1	1%
Valo	$10,000	1	2%
The Family Restored	$10,000	1	2%
Maine State Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation	$10,000	1	17%
Safe Space Radio	$10,000	1	8%
Senior Needs Committee of Wells and Ogunquit	$10,000	1	3%
Black Owned Maine	$10,000	1	n/a
Upstander Project Inc	$10,000	1	1%
Finding Our Voices	$10,000	1	n/a
Hope Squad Maine	$10,000	1	9%
Great Bay Services Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Farms for Food Equity	$10,000	1	8%
Sail Maine	$10,000	1	1%
Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program	$10,000	1	1%
Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education	$10,000	1	4%
Let's Get Ready Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Maine Womens Fund	$10,000	1	3%
Family & Community Mediation	$10,000	1	n/a
Maine Quality Counts	$10,000	1	0%
Youth-Led Justice	$10,000	1	n/a
Pinetree Institute	$10,000	1	9%
Beth Israel Congregation	$10,000	1	n/a
Biddeford Mills Museum	$10,000	1	n/a
The Susan L Curtis Foundation	$10,000	1	1%
Classical Uprising	$9,500	2	2%
Portland Housing Service Corporation	$8,000	1	n/a
Vigorous Tenderness	$8,000	1	n/a
Kieve Wavus Education Inc	$7,820	1	0%
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine Inc	$7,500	2	0%
Friendship House	$7,500	3	2%
Maine State Ballet	$7,500	1	1%
Community Organizing Alliance	$7,500	1	n/a
Growsmart Maine	$7,500	1	4%
The Summer Camp Inc	$7,500	1	1%
Community Change Inc	$7,500	1	3%
Congregation Beth Israel	$6,000	1	n/a
Brick Store Museum Inc	$5,200	1	1%
Waynflete School	$5,000	1	0%
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ba Brunswick	$5,000	1	n/a
The President and Trustees of Colby College	$5,000	1	0%
Adept Educational Institute of Maine Inc	$5,000	1	0%
Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation	$5,000	1	1%
Camden Conference	$5,000	1	1%
Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center	$5,000	1	n/a
Portland Public Schools	$5,000	1	n/a
Maine State Music Theatre	$5,000	1	0%
Winterkids Education Foundation	$5,000	1	1%
Omar Bin Al Khattab Masjid	$5,000	1	n/a
Falmouth Food Pantry Inc	$5,000	1	n/a
United Way of Mid Coast Maine Inc	$5,000	1	0%
Good Theater Inc	$5,000	1	n/a
The Yellow Tulip Project	$2,500	1	n/a
Inquiring Systems Inc	$1,000	1	0%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 66 recipients with no EIN on record ($2.0M), not named here.

Sam L Cohen Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 200 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 200.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Maine Community Foundation IncME200.2× affinity187 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · John T Gorman Foundation · United Way Inc · Saco & Biddeford Savings Charitable Foundation · Simmons Foundation - PerkinsThompson · Fisher Charitable Foundation · Virginia Hodgkins Somers Foundation Inc · Maine Health Access Foundation Inc · Davis Family Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · Onion Foundation

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.

Compare Sam L Cohen Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Sam L Cohen Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Sam L Cohen Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

About Sam L Cohen Foundation

How much does Sam L Cohen Foundation give?: Sam L Cohen Foundation reported 94 grants totaling $2,482,100 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 81 and 114 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Sam L Cohen Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Health (31%), Human Services (10%), Youth Development (8%).
Who are Sam L Cohen Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: MaineHealth ($3.3M), Jewish Community Alliance Southern Maine ($808k), Cedars Nursing Care Center ($500k).
Does Sam L Cohen Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2023, 21% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Sam L Cohen Foundation accept unsolicited applications?: Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as Sam L Cohen Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Maine Community Foundation Inc, Elmina B Sewall Foundation, John T Gorman Foundation.
Where is Sam L Cohen Foundation based?: Sam L Cohen Foundation is based in ME.