The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust

Private foundation · Grantmaker Skokie, IL EIN: 27-1636169

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust is a private foundation based in Skokie, Illinois. In filing year 2025, it reported giving $98,000 through 13 grants to organizations including schools, congregations, and community-serving nonprofits.

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust at a glance

In short: The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust gave $98K across 13 grants in 2025 (avg $8K), mostly in Illinois. 23% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Annual giving (2025)
$98,000
+10.1% vs 2024
Grants made (2025)
13
+30.0% vs 2024
Average grant
$7,538
-15.3% vs 2024
Median grant
$8,000
Total assets
$1,668,037
+4.2% vs 2024
New grantees (estimate)
23% first-time grantees (3 of 13, 2025; small sample)
Primary geography
Illinois (58% 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 The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust

How to Apply

The 2025 filing lists Rebecca Minkus Lieberman as the contact. It lists forms and materials, deadlines, and award restrictions as N/A.

Contact

Application contact: Rebecca Minkus Lieberman
Mailing address: 85 Mulberry East Rd, Deerfield, IL 60015
Phone: (847) 674-7356

Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.

Who The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

Gabriel Project Mumbai: $15KGabriel Project Mumbai$15KMoriah Congregation: $15KMoriah Congregation$15KThe Ark Chicago: $10KThe Ark Chicago$10KTulane Chabad: $10KTulane Chabad$10KUw Chabad: $10KUw Chabad$10KCamp Ramah in Wisconsin: $8KCamp Ramah in Wisconsin$8KSolomon Schechter Day School: $8KSolomon Schechter Day School$8KChicago Jewish Day School: $5KChicago Jewish Day School$5KRochelle Zell Jewish High School: $5KRochelle Zell Jewish HighSchool$5KLibenu: $3KLibenu$3K

The largest 2025 recipient was Gabriel Project Mumbai ($15K). Together the top 10 received $89K.

Grant Size Distribution

53 grants across all recorded years

53<$50K$50–100K$100–250K$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 53 grants of 53 (100%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

The 2025 grant dollars were distributed among recipients in Illinois (58%), New Jersey (15%), Louisiana (10%), Wisconsin (10%), and Washington, DC (3%).

Grant Distribution by State

8states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 13 itemized grants.

Cities

ChicagoDeerfieldBergenfieldNorthbrookSkokieNew YorkWashingtonLos AngelesMadisonNew OrleansDes PlainesPalo AltoPittsburgh

Is The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust open to new grantees?

23%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 3 of 13 grantees (23%) were first-time recipients. With only 13 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 8 points. First grants averaged $7K; repeat grants $8K. How we count

Medians: $3K first-time, $8K repeat.

  • 77% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving grew 133% 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

$0$50K$100K$150K11 grants2019 8 grants2020 12 grants2021 8 grants2022 10 grants2023 10 grants2024 13 grants2025

From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $42K (2022) to $113K (2021). In 2025 it made 13 grants totaling $98K.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
Gabriel Project Mumbai Bergenfield, NJGeneral$15,000
Moriah Congregation Deerfield, ILGeneral$15,000
The Ark Chicago Chicago, ILGeneral$10,000
Tulane Chabad New Orleans, LAGeneral$10,000
Uw Chabad Madison, WIGeneral$10,000
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin Chicago, ILGeneral$8,000
Solomon Schechter Day School Northbrook, ILEducational Institution$8,000
Chicago Jewish Day School Chicago, ILEducational Institution$5,000
Rochelle Zell Jewish High School Deerfield, ILEducational Institution$5,000
Libenu Skokie, ILGeneral$3,000
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsQualifying DistributionsNet Investment IncomeDistributable Amount
2025$1,668,037$71,747$121,904$98,00013$98,000$47,843$92,117
2024$1,600,372$68,540$101,204$89,00010$89,000$56,336$87,553
2023$1,535,582$62,420$68,934$64,00010$64,000$57,486$79,567
2022$1,476,372$120,055$58,565$42,0008$42,000$103,490$80,220
2021$1,523,053$56,152$115,926$113,00012$113,000$51,226$87,161
2020$1,472,766$416,307$81,740$80,0008—$54,567$64,668
2019$1,138,199$33,061$73,395$70,00011—$48,982$64,975

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust reported a distributable amount of $92K 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 grantees include educational institutions and organizations with varied missions. For example, Chicago Jewish Day School says it provides Jewish and general studies in a nurturing learning environment, while Libenu says it supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Sacred Spaces says it partners with Jewish institutions to prevent and respond to sexual abuse and other abuses of power. These are the grantees’ stated missions, not statements of the foundation’s own mission.

Grantmaking

In 2025, the foundation reported 13 grants totaling $98,000. The grant amounts ranged from $3,000 to $15,000, with a median of $8,000.

Among the reported 2025 grants, Gabriel Project Mumbai and Moriah Congregation each received $15,000; The Ark Chicago, Tulane Chabad, and UW Chabad each received $10,000. Camp Ramah in Wisconsin received $8,000. Chicago Jewish Day School and Rochelle Zell Jewish High School each received $5,000. Libenu, SvivaH, and Hinda Institute each received $3,000. The filing describes most listed grants as general support and identifies the grants to the two Jewish day schools as educational-institution grants.

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

The 2025 filing lists Rebecca Minkus-Lieberman as president and Michael Minkus as vice president.

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust is led by Rebecca Minkus-Lieberman, President since 2021 (on filings since 2019); none of the 2 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Rebecca Minkus-Lieberman

    President

    Co-Trustee → President, 2021

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Michael Minkus

    Vice President

    Co-Trustee → Vice President, 2021

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

Former officers (1)
  • Former: Robert Minkus (2019–2020) — Co-Trustee

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 The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust

How much does The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust give each year?

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust gave $98K across 13 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $89K across 10 grants.

What is The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust's typical grant size?

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust's median grant in 2025 was $8,000, and its average grant was $7,538, across 13 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust that year got $7K on average.

Where does The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust give grants?

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust gives mostly in Illinois: 58% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were New Jersey (15%) and Louisiana (10%). The most frequent recipient cities were Chicago, IL (3 grants) and Deerfield, IL (2 grants).

Does The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust give general operating support?

Yes: 77% of The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (10 of 13) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Recurring purposes include "Educational Institution" (3 grants).

Who are The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust's largest grantees?

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust's largest 2025 grantees include Gabriel Project Mumbai ($15,000), Moriah Congregation ($15,000) and The Ark Chicago ($10,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 41% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

How large is The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust?

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust reported $1.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $98K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $92K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).

What does The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust fund?

No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grantees include educational institutions and organizations with varied missions. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust?

The 2025 filing lists Rebecca Minkus Lieberman as the contact. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑

What is The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust's EIN?

The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 27-1636169. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.

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

  1. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS May 6, 2020)
  2. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS August 20, 2026)
  3. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024

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Cite this profile

Grantable. (2026). The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-wilfred-j-minkus-charitable-trust-morg_d5040f7509214c34a2f7e20727c125ee

BibTeX
@misc{grantable_271636169_2026,
  author       = {{Grantable}},
  title        = {{The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust funder profile}},
  howpublished = {GrantGraph},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-wilfred-j-minkus-charitable-trust-morg_d5040f7509214c34a2f7e20727c125ee},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-12. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}

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Figures come from The Wilfred J Minkus Charitable Trust'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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