Skip to content
The Merle S Cahn Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Merle S Cahn Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$675k
Granted FY2026still arriving
17
Grants FY2026still arriving
7
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Health$1.3MReligion$820kEducation$500kInternational$265kCivil Rights$141kArts & Culture$85kPhilanthropy$50kEmployment$48kOther$0
02FY2026 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $145k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $510k
$20,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$7.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY$125,000
CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE$125,000
FISHER CETNER FOR ALZHEIMER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$125,000
AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE$85,000
VALLEY OF THE SUN JCC$50,000
NEW ISRAEL FUND$25,000
T'RUAH$25,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS CIRCLE$25,000
HIAS$20,000
AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE$20,000
NPR FOUNDATION$10,000
WORKERS CIRCLE$10,000
ISRAEL PEF ENDOWMENTS FUNDS$10,000
ENCOUNTER PROGRAMS$5,000
FRIENDS OF ROOTS$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–26) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 96% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%VALLEY OF THE SUN JEWISH COMMUNITY: $50k → 11%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS CIRCLE: $12k → 6%ISRAEL PEF ENDOWMENTS FUNDS: $10k → 8%VALLEY OF THE SUN JCC: $50k → 11%HIAS: $20k → 8%VALLEY OF THE SUN JEWISH COMMUNITY: $50k → 11%TRUAH: $25k → 17%NPR FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%HIAS: $20k → 8%VALLEY OF THE SUN JCC: $50k → 11%T'RUAH: $25k → 17%HIAS: $20k → 8%VALLEY OF THE SUN JEWISH COMMUNITY: $50k → 11%T'RUAH: $17k → 17%NPR FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%HIAS: $20k → 8%JEWICH COMMUNITY ASSOC GREATER PHOE: $50k → 11%T'RUAH: $15k → 17%HIAS: $20k → 8%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSI: $125k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSI: $125k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY: $125k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSI: $125k → 17%AFHU: $125k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSI: $125k → 17%CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $125k → 17%CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $125k → 17%CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $125k → 17%CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $125k → 17%CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $125k → 17%CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $125k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS CIRCLE: $15k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS CIRCLE: $15k → 17%FISCHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER RESEAR: $125k → 17%AM COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INST: $90k → 17%AM COM WEIZMANN INST OF SC: $85k → 17%AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE: $85k → 17%AM COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INST: $80k → 17%AM COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INST: $80k → 17%AM COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INST: $80k → 17%AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DIST COMMITTE: $20k → 17%AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DIST COMMITTE: $20k → 17%AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DIST COMMITTE: $20k → 17%AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE: $20k → 17%AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DIST COMMITTE: $20k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS CIRCLE: $25k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS: $25k → 17%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS CIRCLE: $17k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA
MD
AZ
DC
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.
$3.1M · 20 repeat orgs$670k to everyone else

20 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2026, 7 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
8

Total granted

$3.1M
$440k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-1%
+20%

Still filing today

70%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $230k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24’25’26
InternationalArts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • T
    T'RUAH
    6× · 2021–2026 · $97k · revenue +11%
  • NF
    NPR FOUNDATION
    6× · 2021–2026 · $60k · revenue +2%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF ROOTS
    6× · 2021–2026 · $30k · revenue ×18

Funded once

  • A
    AFHU
    one grant, 2025 · $125k
  • FC
    FISHER CETNER FOR ALZHEIMERS
    one grant, 2025 · $125k
  • AC
    AM COM WEIZMANN INST OF SC
    one grant, 2025 · $85k
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
University of Judaism Foundation
—
2
The Jewish Agency for Israel

The jewish agency binds jews across ideologies and civilizations together in a worldwide jewish family with israel at its center. it provides the global framework for aliyah, ensures global jewish safety, strengthens jewish identity and…

—
3
American Jewish Committee

AJC's mission is to enhance the wellbeing of the Jewish people and Israel, and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. In pursuit of this mission, AJC advances democratic principles, fights…

Civil Rights
4
Yeshiva University

The university is composed of several colleges and schools providing undergraduate, graduate, professional and post-doctoral education and training and research and clinical programs.

Education
5
Connect Israel

Connect israel is a life-long program that aims to strengthen the gap between american jews and israelis through business, creative teamwork, and developing personal relationships.

International
6
Us Middle East Project Inc

The organization's mission is to engage in non partisan analysis of u.s. foreign policy in the middle east, with special emphasis on the middle east peace process, and to present policymakers in the united states, in the region and in the…

International
7
Sherit Isroel
—
8
Weizmann Institute of Science

The weizmann institute of science, located in rehovot, israel, is one of the worlds top-ranking, multidisciplinary research institutions. at any one time, several thousand scientists, staff and students are involved in hundreds of research…

Science & Tech
9
American Israel Public Affairs Committee

Aipac is an american grassroots organization that works to strengthen the u.s.-israel partnership. our mission is to encourage and persuade the u.s. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring, and mutually…

International
10
Delegation of Jewish American Students (Dojas)
—
11
Yeshiva Ohr Yisroel
Philanthropy
12
Foundation for Conservative Judiasm of South Florida
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Friends of Hebrew University Inc; the most unlike its peers is Friends of Roots. 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

20 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. 20 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
10/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FISCHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER RESEAR: $500,000 · OtherFISCHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER RESEARAM COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INST: $330,000 · OtherAM COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTVALLEY OF THE SUN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $250,000 · OtherVALLEY OF THE SUN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER INCFISHER CETNER FOR ALZHEIMER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $125,000 · OtherFISHER CETNER FOR ALZHEIMER RESEARCH FOUNDATIONAFHU: $125,000 · OtherAFHUFISHER CETNER FOR ALZHEIMERS: $125,000 · OtherFISHER CETNER FOR ALZHEIMERSAM COM WEIZMANN INST OF SC: $85,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS OF PARENTS CIRCLE: $84,000 · OtherAMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DIST COMMITTE: $80,000 · Other+6 more: $188,000 · Other+6 moreAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $625,000 · InternationalAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIV…HIAS INC: $120,000 · InternationalHIAS INCNEW ISRAEL FUND: $105,000 · InternationalNEW ISRAEL FUNDT'RUAH: $97,000 · InternationalT'RUAHAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $85,000 · InternationalAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZ…+5 more: $70,000 · International+5 moreCANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $750,000 · HealthCANCER RESEARCH INSTIT…+1 more: $20,000 · HealthJEWISH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION OF GREATER PHOENIX: $50,000 · PhilanthropyPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $40,000 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN MACULAR DEGENERATION GOEHRING: $10,000 · PhilanthropyFRIENDS OF ROOTS: $30,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureREUT USA: $5,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,892,000International$1,102,000Health$770,000Philanthropy$100,000Arts & Culture$45,000

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 budgetCANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $750,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $625,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetVALLEY OF THE SUN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $250,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetHIAS INC: $120,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ISRAEL FUND: $105,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetT'RUAH: $97,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetNPR FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION OF GREATER PHOENIX: $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF ROOTS: $30,000 over 6y, 7.2% of budgetNEW JEWISH NARRATIVE INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GOOD PEOPLE FUND INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN MACULAR DEGENERATION GOEHRING: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetIF NOT NOW EDUCATION FUND: $10,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetENCOUNTER PROGRAMS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREUT USA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds VALLEY OF THE SUN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds HIAS INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW ISRAEL FUND ↗
  • Who funds T'RUAH ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds NPR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION OF GREATER PHOENIX ↗
  • Who funds PEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF ROOTS ↗
  • Who funds The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Inc ↗
  • Who funds NEW JEWISH NARRATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GOOD PEOPLE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN MACULAR DEGENERATION GOEHRING ↗
  • Who funds IF NOT NOW EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds ENCOUNTER PROGRAMS INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM INC ↗
  • Who funds REUT USA ↗

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 Communal FundGs Donor Advised Phil…National Philanthropi…Raymond James Charita…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Jewish Communal FundNY13.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Communal Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Merle S Cahn Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Merle S Cahn Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 88%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
2report 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 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Merle S Cahn’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