Mark's Legacy Foundation
Mark's Legacy Foundation is a private foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. In its 2025 filing, it reported 11 grants totaling $130,000 to charitable organizations.
Mark's Legacy Foundation at a glance
In short: Mark's Legacy Foundation gave $130K across 11 grants in 2025 (avg $12K), mostly in California. 9% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $130,000
- +0.0% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 11
- -8.3% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $11,818
- +9.1% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $10,000
- Total assets
- $1,362,993
- +0.0% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 9% first-time grantees (1 of 11, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- California (50% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Mark's Legacy Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.
- Contact
Mailing address: 2 N Lasalle St Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: (312) 476-7574
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Mark's Legacy Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Holocaust Heroes Worldwide ($30K). Together the top 10 received $125K.
Grant Size Distribution
52 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 52 grants of 52 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The 2025 grant dollars were distributed among recipients in California (50%), Florida (23%), New Jersey (19%), Illinois (4%), and Maryland (4%).
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 11 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Mark's Legacy Foundation open to new grantees?
9%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 1 of 11 grantees (9%) were first-time recipients. With only 11 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 9 points. First grants averaged $5K; repeat grants $13K. How we count
Medians: $5K first-time, $10K repeat.
- 91% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving grew 33% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 106% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $94K (2019) to $130K (2025). In 2025 it made 11 grants totaling $130K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Holocaust Heroes Worldwide Aventura, FL | To Further the Charity's Cause | $30,000 |
| New Horizons Foundation North Hills, CA | To Further the Charity's Cause | $20,000 |
| Shalom Institute Westlake Village, CA | To Further the Charity's Cause | $20,000 |
| American Friends of Magen David Adom Newark, NJ | To Further the Charity's Cause | $15,000 |
| One Generation Van Nuys, CA | To Further the Charity's Cause | $10,000 |
| Friends of the Israel Defense Force New York, NJ | To Further the Charity's Cause | $10,000 |
| Jewish Federation Los Angeles, CA | To Further the Charity's Cause | $5,000 |
| Wounded Warriors Chicago, IL | To Further the Charity's Cause | $5,000 |
| Hias Silver Spring, MD | To Further the Charity's Cause | $5,000 |
| SPCA Los Angeles, CA | To Further the Charity's Cause | $5,000 |
Ready to take the next step with Mark's Legacy Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $1,362,993 | $147,124 | $146,622 | $130,000 | 11 | $132,715 | $135,611 | $125,316 |
| 2024 | $1,362,355 | $94,909 | $143,898 | $130,000 | 12 | $132,115 | $84,156 | $119,989 |
| 2023 | $1,416,525 | $77,239 | $128,603 | $115,000 | 13 | $116,980 | $67,134 | $108,174 |
| 2022 | $1,462,485 | $116,504 | $111,993 | $98,000 | 8 | $100,020 | $105,591 | $109,779 |
| 2021 | $1,458,257 | $87,007 | $121,220 | $107,500 | 8 | $109,300 | $75,532 | $106,648 |
| 2020 | $1,492,785 | $35,912 | $104,684 | $94,500 | 7 | — | $32,033 | $86,324 |
| 2019 | $1,561,528 | $55,578 | $104,894 | $93,500 | 7 | — | $47,096 | $97,139 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Mark's Legacy Foundation reported a distributable amount of $125K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grants went to organizations including Shalom Institute and HIAS. Shalom Institute describes its mission as fostering community, leadership, social action, Jewish tradition and culture, and environmental responsibility through experiences grounded in Jewish values. HIAS describes its mission as helping forcibly displaced people find welcome, safety, and opportunity.
Grantmaking
In 2025, the foundation reported 11 grants totaling $130,000. Grant amounts ranged from $5,000 to $30,000, with a median grant of $10,000.
The largest listed grants were $30,000 to Holocaust Heroes Worldwide; $20,000 each to New Horizons Foundation and Shalom Institute; and $15,000 to American Friends of Magen David Adom. Other listed recipients included One Generation and Friends of the Israel Defense Force ($10,000 each), and Jewish Federation, Wounded Warriors, HIAS, SPCA, and The Trevor Project ($5,000 each). The filing lists the purpose of these grants as “to further the charity’s cause.”
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Elona Balyasny as president, Mark Bookman as treasurer, and Sahar Pouyanrad as secretary.
Mark's Legacy Foundation is led by Elona Balyasny, President on every filing since 2019; none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Elona Balyasny
President
On filings since 2019
No compensation reported
Mark Bookman
Treasurer
On filings since 2019
No compensation reported
Sahar Pouyanrad
Secretary
On filings since 2019
No compensation reported
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about Mark's Legacy Foundation
How much does Mark's Legacy Foundation give each year?
Mark's Legacy Foundation gave $130K across 11 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $130K across 12 grants.
What is Mark's Legacy Foundation's typical grant size?
Mark's Legacy Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $10,000, and its average grant was $11,818, across 11 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Mark's Legacy Foundation that year got $5K on average.
Where does Mark's Legacy Foundation give grants?
Mark's Legacy Foundation gives mostly in California: 50% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were Florida (23%) and New Jersey (19%). The most frequent recipient cities were Los Angeles, CA (2 grants).
Does Mark's Legacy Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 11 grants with a stated purpose on Mark's Legacy Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "To Further the Charity's Cause" (11 grants).
Who are Mark's Legacy Foundation's largest grantees?
Mark's Legacy Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Holocaust Heroes Worldwide ($30,000), New Horizons Foundation ($20,000) and Shalom Institute ($20,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 54% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Mark's Legacy Foundation?
Mark's Legacy Foundation reported $1.4M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $133K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $125K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Mark's Legacy Foundation fund?
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grants went to organizations including Shalom Institute and HIAS. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Mark's Legacy Foundation?
The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Mark's Legacy Foundation's EIN?
Mark's Legacy Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 37-1709152. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does Mark's Legacy Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(3)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS July 10, 2020)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS July 23, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Mark's Legacy Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Mark's Legacy Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/mark-s-legacy-foundation-morg_41a4ec3af6854bfca573471dee81449f
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_371709152_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Mark's Legacy Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/mark-s-legacy-foundation-morg_41a4ec3af6854bfca573471dee81449f},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-15. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Mark's Legacy Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
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