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The Mel & Ruth Wolzinger Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Mel & Ruth Wolzinger 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.

$2.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$2.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$11MRecreation & Sports$2.5MHealth$248kReligion$138kHuman Services$72kInternational$28kFood & Nutrition$27kYouth Development$26kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.5M
$2,500,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNLV - Little Rebel Expansion$2,500,000
Three Square$15,000
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 (FY17–22, $21k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Guiding Eyes for the Blind: $500 → 9%Freedom Service Dogs of America: $1k → 15%Coventant House New Jersey: $500 → 16%Partnership with Native Americans: $250 → 14%Canine Companions for Independence: $500 → 11%The Lustgarten Foundation: $1k → 6%Puppies Behind Bars: $500 → 17%Blinded Veterans Association: $500 → 14%Puppies Behind Bars: $500 → 17%Covenant House: $500 → 17%Nathan Aldeson Hospice: $1k → 13%Nathan Aldeson Hospice: $1k → 13%Nathan Aldeson Hospice: $750 → 13%Help of Southern Nevada: $500 → 13%Las Vegas Rescue Mission: $1k → 13%Las Vegas Rescue Mission: $500 → 13%Las Vegas Rescue Mission: $500 → 13%Las Vegas Rescue Mission: $500 → 13%Helping Hand of VegasValley: $500 → 13%Make a Wish Southern Nevada: $500 → 13%Las Vegas Rescue Mission: $500 → 13%Helping Hands of Vegas Valley: $500 → 13%Make a Wish Southern Nevada: $500 → 13%Project 150: $700 → 13%Project 150: $700 → 13%Nevada Paralized Veterans: $500 → 13%Project 150: $500 → 13%Project 150: $250 → 13%Nevada Blind Childrens Foundation: $500 → 13%Nevada Blind Children's Foundation: $700 → 13%St Jude's Ranch for Children: $1k → 13%St Jude's Ranch for Children: $500 → 13%St Jude's Ranch for Children: $500 → 13%Communities in Schools of Nevada: $1k → 13%Communities in Schools of Nevada: $500 → 13%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

ID
IL
MI
NY
MA
NV
IA
OH
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
VA
MD
AZ
TN
SC
DC
OK
LA
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.
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 69% of The Mel & Ruth Wolzinger Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 98% of the giving stays in NV; by stated purpose, 30%.

The Mel & Ruth Wolzinger Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 49 repeat orgs$2.7M to everyone else

49 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 48 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

49
162

Total granted

$12M
$184k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+51%

Still filing today

69%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 1% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.5M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesInternationalAnimalsEducationEnvironmentOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION
    7× · 2017–2024 · $11M · revenue +18%
  • TS
    THREE SQUARE
    6× · 2017–2025 · $24k · revenue +9%
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA
    7× · 2017–2024 · $23k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • UM
    UNLV Medical School
    one grant, 2017 · $21k
  • FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCESgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $21k · revenue +53%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
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
Target Als Foundation Inc

Our mission is to break down barriers to als research to find effective treatments. by uniting academia, the pharma and biotech industry, government, venture capital, related nonprofits, and the als community, we aim to overcome the…

Education
2
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The aspca's mission, as stated by founder henry bergh in 1866, is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the united states." the aspca was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and…

Animals
3
The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Fdn Group

Susan g. komen 's mission is to save lives by meeting the most critical needs in our communities & investing in breakthrough research to prevent & cure breast cancer.

—
4
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
5
Gavi Alliance

To save lives and protect people's health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines.

International
6
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
7
Access to Advanced Health Institute

Aahi is a nonprofit biotech research institute, bringing together the best experts, technologies, and platforms to create accessible, high-quality products and solutions for harnessing the immune system to alleviate disease.

Health
8
The Translational Genomics Research Institute

Please see schedule o

Health
9
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
10
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
11
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc

The mission of dfci is to provide expert, compassionate, and equitable care to children, adults, and their families, while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. we train new…

Health
12
Brightfocus Foundation

Brightfocus foundation funds exceptional research worldwide to defeat alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma and provides expert information on these heartbreaking diseases. please refer to schedule o for a complete…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Nevada; the most unlike its peers is St Judes Ranch for Children Inc. 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

146 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 146 of the 213 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)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
145/146
Grantees still filing
121/146
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION: $11,413,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION+10 more: $16,150 · EducationUNLV - Little Rebel Expansion: $2,500,000 · OtherUNLV - Little Rebel Exp…Cleveland Clinic: $148,000 · OtherTemple Beth Sholom: $104,550 · Other+109 more: $276,450 · Other+109 moreCHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthADAMS PLACE: $9,200 · HealthALLIANCE FOR CHILDHOOD DISEASES: $9,000 · HealthGLAUCOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthUMC FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · HealthNATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH: $2,500 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,000 · HealthOklahoma Medical Research Foundation: $2,000 · Health+22 more: $19,500 · HealthFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $20,500 · InternationalAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $3,000 · InternationalDIRECT RELIEF: $1,500 · InternationalGlobal Charity Foundation: $1,200 · International+14 more: $7,000 · InternationalTHREE SQUARE: $24,000 · Food & Nutrition+2 more: $1,000 · Food & NutritionBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA: $23,000 · Youth Development+3 more: $1,455 · Youth DevelopmentLAS VEGAS RESCUE MISSION: $3,000 · Human ServicesNathan Adelson Hospice Inc: $2,750 · Human ServicesPROJECT 150: $2,150 · Human ServicesST JUDES RANCH FOR CHILDREN INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF NEVADA INC: $1,500 · Human ServicesNEVADA BLIND CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $1,200 · Human ServicesMAKE-A-WISH NEVADA: $1,000 · Human ServicesMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Human ServicesHELPING HANDS OF VEGAS VALLEY: $1,000 · Human ServicesPUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesFREEDOM SERVICE DOGS INC: $1,000 · Human Services+11 more: $5,250 · Human Services
Education$11,429,150Other$3,029,000Health$59,700International$33,200Food & Nutrition$25,000Youth Development$24,455Human Services$22,850

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION: $11,413,000 over 7y, 17% of budgetTHREE SQUARE: $24,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA: $23,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $20,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetADAMS PLACE: $9,200 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetTHE ANIMAL FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR CHILDHOOD DISEASES: $9,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SHADE TREE INC: $8,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFEAT of Southern Nevada: $7,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $3,650 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLAS VEGAS RESCUE MISSION: $3,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGLAUCOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNEVADA CHILD SEEKERS: $3,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNathan Adelson Hospice Inc: $2,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCLARK COUNTY PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUMC FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT 150: $2,150 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDES RANCH FOR CHILDREN INC: $2,000 over 3y, 95% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTOURO UNIVERSITY NEVADA: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOklahoma Medical Research Foundation: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Smith Center for the Performing Arts: $1,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOLIVE CREST: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCURESEARCH FOR CHILDREN'S CANCER: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF NEVADA INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INC: $1,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSUNRISE CHILDRENS FOUNDATION: $1,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEVADA BLIND CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $1,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGlobal Charity Foundation: $1,200 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEZER MIZION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONQUER CANCER FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TECHNION ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEAVEN CAN WAIT ANIMAL SOCIETY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCure Childhood Cancer Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSARCOMA FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEARTS ALIVE VILLAGE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH NEVADA: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THREE SQUARE ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ADAMS PLACE ↗
  • Who funds THE ANIMAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ALLIANCE FOR CHILDHOOD DISEASES ↗
  • Who funds THE SHADE TREE INC ↗
  • Who funds SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE INC ↗
  • Who funds FEAT of Southern Nevada ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds LAS VEGAS RESCUE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds GLAUCOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NEVADA CHILD SEEKERS ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds Nathan Adelson Hospice Inc ↗
  • Who funds CLARK COUNTY PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UMC FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT 150 ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDES RANCH FOR CHILDREN INC ↗

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.

Mgm Resorts FoundationNevada Community Foun…NV Energy Charitable …Wynn Resorts Foundati…Vegas Golden Knights …Canarelli Family Foun…United Way of Souther…Engelstad Family Foun…The Boyd Family Found…America's CharitiesSpeedway Children's C…Mondays Dark
Mgm Resorts FoundationNV56.1× affinity25 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mgm Resorts Foundation · Nevada Community Foundation Inc · NV Energy Charitable Foundation · Wynn Resorts Foundation · Vegas Golden Knights Foundation Inc · Canarelli Family Foundation · United Way of Southern Nevada · Engelstad Family Foundation · The Boyd Family Foundation · America's Charities · Speedway Children's Charities · Mondays Dark

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 The Mel & Ruth Wolzinger Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Mel & Ruth Wolzinger Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Covenant House New Jersey Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation: 31% of income from government
  • Perkins School for the Blind: 7% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
  • Food for the Poor Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
30report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 213 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Mel & Ruth Wolzinger’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