Jane and Michael Strauss Family
Northbrook, IL · EIN 26-3839762. Reported 149 grants totalling $583,700 to 54 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". Jane and Michael Strauss Family checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations Jane and Michael Strauss Family funded make grants themselves, and it reported 13 grants totalling $77,000 to them. That is 26% of the $292,650 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago | federated giving programme | Illinois | $69,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Highland Park Community Foundation | community foundation | Illinois | $4,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 | Its form does not ask |
| Minneapolis Jewish Federation | federated giving programme | Minnesota | $3,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $750 and $5,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $50,000.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Musc | Charleston, SC | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Mayo Clinic | Rochester, MN | $80,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Jewish United Fund of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $69,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Cancer Awareness Through Research | Carefree, AZ | $51,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| National Council of Jewish Women | Washington, DC | $33,450 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Ravinia Festival Association | Highland Park, IL | $27,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Congregation Solel | Highland Park, IL | $26,400 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Briarwood Scholarship Foundation | Deerfield, IL | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Joyce Theater Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Congregation Makom Solel | Highland Park, IL | $13,450 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Ballet Arizona | Phoenix, AZ | $12,100 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| A Safe Place | Zion, IL | $11,100 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Arizona Community Fdn-Desert Mtn Fdn | Phoenix, AZ | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Washington, DC | $9,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Global Lyme Alliance | Stamford, CT | $7,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Be Kind People Project | Phoenix, AZ | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Arizona Community Fdn | Phoenix, AZ | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center | Skokie, IL | $5,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Jude Children's Hospital | Memphis, TN | $5,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish Child and Family Services | Chicago, IL | $4,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Cancer Wellness Center | Northbrook, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Highland Park Community Foundation | Highland Park, IL | $4,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Honor Health Foundation | Scottsdale, AZ | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Les Turner Als Foundation | Skokie, IL | $4,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Anti-Defamation League | New York, NY | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Minneapolis Jewish Federation | Minnetonka, MN | $3,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Bottom Line | Chicago, IL | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Special Kids Network - Keshet | Deerfield, IL | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Desert Botanical Garden | Phoenix, AZ | $2,700 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish Family & Children Service - Az | Phoenix, AZ | $2,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital | Chicago, IL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Arizona PBS | Phoenix, AZ | $2,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| First Tee of Chicago Foundation | Chicago, IL | $2,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ptsd Now | Incline Village, NV | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Share Our Strength Dba No Kid Hungry | Washington, DC | $2,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Tourette Association of America | Bayside, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Foothills Food Bank and Resource Center | Cave Creek, AZ | $1,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Northern Illinois Food Bank | Geneva, IL | $1,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Blood Cancer United | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities | Glenview, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Chicago International Film Festival Inc | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Crohns & Colitis Fdn | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival Inc | Scottsdale, AZ | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Helping Hands Network | Northbrook, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Keshet | Northbrook, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Musical Instrument Museum | Phoenix, AZ | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Rock Island Milan Education Fdn | Rock Island, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Storycatchers Theatre | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Congregation Kehillah | Cave Creek, AZ | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Feed the Children Inc | Oklahoma City, OK | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Lookingglass Theatre Company | Chicago, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Phoenix Youth Theatre | Scottsdale, AZ | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Second Round Foundation Inc | Annandale, NJ | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wttw | Chicago, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
36 of 54 (67%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 80%, across 4 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, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Musc
GENERAL OPERATION SUPPORT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 93 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | $96,950 | $1,000 |
| 2022 | 32 | $79,450 | $1,000 |
| 2023 | 31 | $107,400 | $1,000 |
| 2024 | 27 | $151,800 | $1,000 |
| 2025 | 35 | $148,100 | $1,000 |
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
36% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois.
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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. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Jane and Michael Strauss Family's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: 500 Skokie Blvd 650, Northbrook, IL, 60062. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 26-3839762 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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