Funders › Illinois

D a O Foundation

Loves Park, IL · EIN 36-6101712. Reported 84 grants totalling $698,474 to 40 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$4,750median grant
$698,474granted, 2021-2025
40recipients, as named on its returns
57%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,350,707assets, 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. D a O 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.

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 $4,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $10,300; the smallest was $100 and the largest $55,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
12 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
30 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
9 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
28 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
3 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Samaritan FundMetairie, LA$110,000222025
Klehm ArboretumRockford, IL$107,900332023
RamRockford, IL$70,500552025
Burpee MuseumRockford, IL$56,650442024
Laurent HouseRockford, IL$55,800442025
Rockford Symphony OrchestraRockford, IL$32,524332025
University of Illinois Chicago College of MedicineRockford, IL$30,000332025
Go RockfordRockford, IL$28,000222025
Boylan Catholic HsRockford, IL$25,000222023
Boys & Girls ClubRockford, IL$20,000222023
Rock House KidsRockford, IL$17,500222024
Rosecrance FoundationRockford, IL$15,000332023
Northern Illinois HospiceRockford, IL$12,500112023
Boy and Girls ClubRockford, IL$10,000112025
Midway VillageRockford, IL$10,000112023
RacvbRockford, IL$10,000112023
Rockford SymphonyRockford, IL$10,000112021
Severson Dells Nature CenterRockford, IL$10,000112025
United WayRockford, IL$7,000552025
Junior League RockfordRockford, IL$6,000442024
MilestoneRockford, IL$6,000112022
Music AcademyRockford, IL$6,000442024
Patriot's GatewayRockford, IL$5,200112022
Rosecrance Behavior HealthRockford, IL$5,000112025
The Haven NetworkRockford, IL$5,000442025
Midway Village MuseumRockford, IL$4,500112025
Rockford Marlins Swim ClubRockford, IL$3,750332025
Rockford Area Arts CouncilRockford, IL$3,500222024
Remedies Renewing LivesRockford, IL$2,500112025
Rockford Christian SchoolsRockford, IL$2,500112025
St Anthony'sRockford, IL$2,000222022
St PetersRockford, IL$2,000222022
Women's Art BoardRockford, IL$1,500332024
Klehm Arboretum & Botanic GardenRockford, IL$1,000112025
Osf Saint Anthony Medical CenterRockford, IL$1,000112024
RemediesRockford, IL$1,000112023
Ethnic Heritage MuseumRockford, IL$600112024
Eagle Nature FoundationApple River, IL$550112021
Rockford Day NurseryRockford, IL$250222022
Shelter Care MinistriesRockford, IL$250112021

22 of 40 (55%) 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 57%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 37 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.

Human Services
11 grants
Arts & Culture
9 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants
Environment
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Youth Development
2 grants
Health Care
1 grant
Recreation & Sports
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202115$133,200$1,500
202218$152,900$5,100
202319$130,870$7,120
202416$128,304$2,000
202516$153,200$5,750

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

84% 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.

Illinois
$588K
Louisiana
$110K

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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.

Community Foundation of Northern Il13 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc11 shared recipientsThe Kjellstrom Family Foundation10 shared recipientsBergstrom Inc Charitable Foundation XXXXX20089 shared recipientsUnited Way of Rock River Valley8 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $4,750. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Illinois.
  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.

Related guides

Foundations funding human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from D a O Foundation'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: 611 Beacon Street, Loves Park, IL, 61111. 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 36-6101712 · 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.

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