Funders › District of Columbia

Howard & Jacqueline Chertkof Foundation

Washington, DC · EIN 52-1489260. Reported 144 grants totalling $111,100 to 62 recipients across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500median grant
$111,100granted, 2020-2023
62recipients, as named on its returns
76%of grantees funded again the next year
$508,933assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Howard & Jacqueline Chertkof Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $500. Half of everything it gave fell between $250 and $700; the smallest was $100 and the largest $11,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
122 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
18 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
4 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Temple SinaiWashington, DC$44,000442023
Anti Defamation LeagueWashington, DC$4,000442023
Friendship PlaceWashington, DC$3,050442023
A Wider CircleSilver Spring, MD$3,000442023
Jewish Federation of Greater WashingtonRockville, MD$2,750442023
Everytown for Gun SafetyNew York, NY$2,500332022
HiasSilver Spring, MD$2,500442023
IfwhenhowBaltimore, MD$2,500332023
Manna Food CenterGaithersburg, MD$2,300442023
So Others Might EatWashington, DC$2,300442023
American Jewish World ServiceNew York, NY$2,000442023
Naral Pro-ChoiceWashington, DC$2,000112020
World Central KitchenWashington, DC$2,000442023
Jewish Social ServicesRockville, MD$1,900442023
Sinai Assisted Living Housing FoundationWashington, DC$1,700442023
Nyu Law SchoolNew York, NY$1,550332023
Jewish Federations of North AmericaNew York, NY$1,500222023
Jewish National FundBaltimore, MD$1,400112021
American Friends of Magan DavidNew York, NY$1,300442023
Doctors Withhout BordersHagerstown, MD$1,300222021
National Council of Jewish WomenWashington, DC$1,300222022
Equal Justice InitiativeMontgomery, AL$1,250332023
Neighbors in Need FundWashington, DC$1,250332022
Baltimore Abortion FundBaltimore, MD$1,200222022
Duke UniversityDurham, NC$1,200442023
Chabad Lubavitch of UtahSalt Lake City, UT$1,100332023
Planned Parenthood FederationNew York, NY$1,000112020
Operation UnderstandingWashington, DC$950442023
Sky's the LimitDundalk, MD$950332023
Tracy's KidsBethesda, MD$950442023
Yale Law SchoolNew Haven, CT$950332023
ACLUWashington, DC$750332022
DC Abortion FundWashington, DC$750112020
The Red Tent FundWashington, DC$750112023
AvodahBaltimore, MD$700332023
Imcw Center for Mindful LivingWashington, DC$700332023
Mobil Medical CareRockville, MD$700332023
Neighborhood Legal Services ProgramWashington, DC$600332023
Avalon Theater FoundationEaston, MD$500112023
Hillel IntlWashington, DC$500112023
Interlochen Ctr for the ArtsInterlochen, MI$500112023
J Street Education FundWashington, DC$500112023
John and Lillian Miles Lewis FdnAtlanta, GA$500112023
Manna Foodbank AshvilleAshville, NC$500112023
People for the American WayWashington, DC$500112023
Sky's the Limit FundMilpitas, CA$500112020
The Ellington FundWashington, DC$500222021
YaleNew Haven, CT$400112020
American TechnionNew York, NY$300112023
Avalon TheaterWashington, DC$300112020
Brown UniversityProvidence, RI$300112020
InterlochenInterlochen, MI$300222021
Penn Law SchoolPhiladelphia, PA$300222021
The Penn FundPhiladelphia, PA$300222021
AvodahNew York, NY$250112020
Hillcrest Children & Family CenterWashington, DC$250112020
Humane Rescue AllianceWashington, DC$250112020
Insight Meditation Community of WashingtonWashington, DC$250112020
Mobile Medical Care IncBethesda, MD$250112020
Washington Animal Rescue LeagueWashington, DC$250112021
NyuNew York, NY$200112020
Avalon Foundation IncEaston, MD$100112021

37 of 62 (60%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 76%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 63 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Education
15 grants
International Affairs
8 grants
Housing & Shelter
8 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
7 grants
Health Care
4 grants
Food & Nutrition
4 grants
Diseases & Disorders
4 grants
Civil Rights
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202039$30,350$500
202138$29,500$500
202231$24,000$400
202336$27,250$500

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

62% of its giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

District of Columbia
$69K
Maryland
$23K
New York
$11K
North Carolina
$2K
Connecticut
$1K
Alabama
$1K
Utah
$1K
Michigan
$800

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund19 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc17 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc15 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program15 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust12 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in District of Columbia.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding education in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding international affairs in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Howard & Jacqueline Chertkof Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 2743 Unicorn Lane Nw, Washington, DC, 20015. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 52-1489260 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.