The Howard B Bernick Foundation
Chicago, IL · EIN 20-8042481. Reported 117 grants totalling $2,962,710 to 62 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. The Howard B Bernick 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $200 and the largest $300,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish United Fund | Chicago, IL | $900,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Cast Water Safety Foundation | Forest Park, IL | $420,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Upper Canada Educational Foundation | Toronto, Ontario | $152,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Town of Palm Beach United Way | Palm Beach, FL | $148,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Field Museum | Chicago, IL | $140,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Palm Beach Police Foundation | Palm Beach, FL | $96,800 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Northwestern Memorial Foundation | Chicago, IL | $95,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Palm Beach Civic Association | Palm Beach, FL | $83,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation | New York, NY | $70,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach | Palm Beach, FL | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Raymond F Kravis Center | West Palm Beach, FL | $51,800 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Friends of the Hebrew University | New York, NY | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Cardinal Newman High School | Santa Rosa, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Birthright Israel Foundation | Hicksville, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation | Alexandria, VA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Morselife Foundation | West Palm Beach, FL | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Oak Park Temple | Oak Park, IL | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Il Holocaust Museum & Education Center | Skokie, IL | $43,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Norton Museum of Art | West Palm Beach, FL | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Sinai Health System | Chicago, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Innovate | Palm Beach, FL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| American Heart Association | Scarborough, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| B'nai B'rith International | Washington, DC | $18,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Brother Rice High School Foundation | Oak Lawn, IL | $18,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Historical Society of Palm Beach County | West Palm Beach, FL | $17,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Teaching Tolerance | Montgomery, AL | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Friends of the Israel Defense Forces | New York, NY | $15,600 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ronald Mcdonald House Charities | Oak Brook, IL | $13,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Recipe for Change | Chicago, IL | $12,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Palm Beach Country Club Foundation | Palm Beach, FL | $12,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| All Stars Project Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| College Possible Foundation | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Foundcare Inc | West Palm Beach, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| National Gallery of Art | Landover, MD | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Washington Institute | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History | Philadelphia, PA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society | Chicago, IL | $8,600 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Live Like Jake Foundation | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | Chicago, IL | $5,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Brain Research Foundation | Chicago, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Chicago Symphony Orchestra Assoc | Chicago, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Navy Seal Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nyu Langone Health | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Partnership Schools | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Cleveland Orchestra | Cleveland, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Philadelphia Orchestra | Philadelphia, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wellness House | Hinsdale, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hospice of Palm Beach County | West Palm Beach, FL | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Afrikids Inc | Carol Gables, FL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Invest for Kids | Chicago, IL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Ireland Funds America | New York, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| U of I Foundation Edgar Fellows | Urbana, IL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute | Miami, FL | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cje Seniorlife | Chicago, IL | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hhp Helping Hand Partners | Cumming, GA | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Torah Institute Chabad Palm Beach | Palm Beach, FL | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wforum | Aspen, CO | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| First Serve | West Palm Beach, FL | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Chautauqua Institution | Chautauqua, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $410 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
28 of 62 (45%) 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 53%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 79 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 | 34 | $632,200 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 28 | $768,800 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 30 | $899,010 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 25 | $662,700 | $10,000 |
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
60% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Illinois.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Howard B Bernick Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 401 N Michigan Ave 1818, Chicago, IL, 60611. 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 20-8042481 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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