FundersIllinois

Arthur K Watson Trust XXXXX5001

Chicago, IL · EIN 13-2989468. Reported 128 grants totalling $4,831,500 to 69 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$20,000median grant
$4,831,500granted, 2021-2024
69organizations funded
70%of grantees funded again the next year
$13.2Massets, 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. Arthur K Watson Trust XXXXX5001 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 $20,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $355,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
4 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
11 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
10 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
41 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
23 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
25 grants
$100,000 and Up
14 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
The Jackson LaboratoryBar Harbor, ME$693,500442024
Honorhealth FoundationScottsdale, AZ$515,000332024
Piney Wood SchoolPiney Woods, MS$438,000442024
Pen Bay Waldo HealthcareRockland, ME$225,000112021
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health D-H/Geisel Development OfficeLebanon, NH$190,000442024
Mainehealth Penbay Medical CenterRockport, ME$180,000222024
Maine Medical Center Philanthropy DepartmentPortland, ME$165,000442024
Ethel Walker School IncSimsbury, CT$155,000332024
Olympia Snowe Womens Leadership InstitutePortland, ME$150,000332024
Portland Museum of ArtPortland, ME$150,000442024
Mid-Coast Health Net Inc (knox Clinic) Dba the Knox ClinicRockland, ME$126,000222024
Wild Landscapes IncNaples, AZ$115,000442024
Lifeflight FoundationCamden, ME$105,000222024
Camden National Bank Fao Maine Maritime AcademyCastine, ME$100,000112021
Manufacturers & Traders Trust CoBaltimore, MD$100,000442024
National Kidney FoundationNew York, NY$100,000112024
United States Sailing AssociationBristol, RI$100,000222024
Sail MainePortland, ME$90,000332024
Bank of America Na Fao the Jackson LaboratoryBar Harbor, ME$70,000112021
Coastal Mountains Land TrustCamden, ME$60,000332024
Hands Across the SeaBoston, MA$60,000442024
Hope 4 Kids InternationalPhoenix, AZ$60,000112021
Pen Bay Waldo Healthcare FoundationBelfast, ME$55,000112023
Penobscot Marine MuseumSearsport, ME$55,000332024
Apple Blossom School and Family CenterWilton, CT$50,000222024
Childrens Museum and Theatre of MainePortland, ME$50,000222024
Keybank National Association Fao Olympia Snowe Womens LeadershipPortland, ME$50,000112021
Machias Bay Chamber Concerts IncMachias, ME$50,000112023
Portland Childrens MuseumPortland, ME$50,000222022
William a Farnsworth Library and Art MuseumRockland, ME$50,000112024
Westover SchoolMiddlebury, CT$45,000442024
Maine Maritime AcademyCastine, ME$40,000222022
Anns Place IncDanbury, CT$30,000332024
Finding Our VoicesCamden, ME$25,000112024
Penobscot Bay YMCARockport, ME$25,000112023
The Hotchkiss SchoolLakeville, CT$25,000222024
Ding Darling Wildlife Society IncSanibel, FL$20,000222024
Maine Organic Farmer & Gardeners AssociationUnity, ME$20,000222024
Real Organic Project IncEast Thetford, VT$20,000112023
Staniel Cay St Luke's Foundation IncLighthouse Point, FL$20,000112024
Clinic for the Rehabilitation of WildlifeSanibel, FL$15,000112023
New Canaan Country School IncNew Canaan, CT$15,000332024
Rockland Main Street IncRockland, ME$12,000112023
Peopleplace Cooperative PreschoolCamden, ME$11,000332024
Camden National Bank Fao Peopleplace Coop GrantCamden, ME$10,000112021
Children of Fallen Patriots FoundationReston, VA$10,000112024
Clinic to the Rehabilitation of WildlifeSanibel, FL$10,000112022
Dana- Farber Cancer Institute IncBoston, MA$10,000112022
Fractured Atlas IncHartsdale, NY$10,000112023
Harvard Th Chan School of Public HealthBoston, MA$10,000112024
Keybank National Association Fao Piston Foundation GrantGreenwich, CT$10,000112021
Maine Behavioral HealthcareWestbrook, ME$10,000112024
Maine Organic Farmer AssociationUnity, ME$10,000112022
Piston FoundationStamford, CT$10,000112024
Ronald Mcdonald House Charities MainePortland, ME$10,000112024
The Center for Cartoon Studies IncWhite Riv Jct, VT$8,000112023
Abbe MuseumBar Harbor, ME$5,000112024
Bankwell Bank Fao New Canaan Country SchoolNew Canaan, CT$5,000112021
President and Fellows of Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA$5,000112024
Shelburne FarmsShelburne, VT$5,000112024
Camp SunshineCasco, ME$2,000222024
Maine Family PlanningAugusta, ME$2,000112024
Riley SchoolRockport, ME$2,000222024
Sundog Outdoor ExpeditionsCamden, ME$2,000112024
Childrens House MontessoriCamden, ME$1,000222024
Maine Cancer FoundationFalmouth, ME$1,000112023
Midcoast Outdoor Leadership InitiativeCamden, ME$1,000112023
Partners for World HealthPortland, ME$1,000112023
Watershed SchoolFairbanks, AR$1,000112023

32 of 69 (46%) 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 70%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 75 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
21 grants
Arts & Culture
15 grants
Health Care
10 grants
Human Services
8 grants
Medical Research
6 grants
Environment
5 grants
Animal Welfare
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202119$1,206,000$30,000
202225$1,017,000$25,000
202340$1,180,000$17,500
202444$1,428,500$15,000

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 55% of this one's giving went to organizations in Maine. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Maine
$2.7M
Arizona
$690K
Mississippi
$438K
Connecticut
$345K
New Hampshire
$190K
New York
$110K
Rhode Island
$100K
Maryland
$100K

Find more foundations like Arthur K Watson Trust XXXXX5001

We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.

No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.

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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund34 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc31 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program23 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc19 shared recipientsMaine Community Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust17 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $20,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Maine.
  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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Arthur K Watson Trust XXXXX5001's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 10 S Dearborn IL1-0111, Chicago, IL, 60603. 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 13-2989468 · 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, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.