FundersIllinois

Danielson Foundation

Chicago, IL · EIN 36-2540494. Reported 196 grants totalling $1,369,085 to 65 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,369,085granted, 2020-2023
65organizations funded
88%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,127,108assets, 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. Danielson 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $10,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $48,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
96 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
49 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
44 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
7 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
Shawnigan USA FundBothell, WA$136,500442023
Santa Catalina SchoolMonterey, CA$102,000442023
Liberty Hill Foundation - Cassandra FundLos Angeles, CA$82,000442023
Outright Action InternationalNew York, NY$60,000442023
Art Institute of ChicagoChicago, IL$57,000442023
Santa Catalina School - the Idea EndowmentMonterey, CA$55,500332023
Doctors Without BordersHagerstown, MD$53,500442023
Human Rights WatchLos Angeles, CA$52,000442023
Four Winds IncDeer Harbor, WA$42,000442023
University of ChicagoChicago, IL$42,000222023
Barnard CollegeNew York, NY$35,000222023
Wellesley CollegeWellesley, MA$35,000442023
Los Angeles ArtLos Angeles, CA$33,500332022
Astraea FoundationNew York, NY$25,000332022
Vizcayans - General Operating FundMiami, FL$25,000442023
VizcayansMiami, FL$22,500442023
Galapagos Conservancy IncFairfax, VA$20,000442023
Groton School - Annual FundGroton, MA$20,000442023
Groton School - Red JR Scholarship FundGroton, MA$20,000442023
Gulliver SchoolsMiami, FL$20,000222021
Sun Valley Summer SymphonySun Valley, ID$20,000442023
Yale University-Richard E Danielson JR Scholarship FundNew Haven, CT$20,000442023
Robert Louis Stevenson High SchoolPebble Beach, CA$17,500442023
Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL$15,000112021
Portola Valley Theater ConservatoryPortola Valley, CA$14,500332022
Woodside Village ChurchWoodside, CA$13,500332022
Yale University-School of ArtNew Haven, CT$13,500442023
Woodside School FoundationWoodside, CA$12,000442023
Word of Honor FundBellevue, ID$12,000442023
Hospice Palliative Care of the Wood River ValleyKetchum, ID$11,500332023
National Center for Lesbian RightsSan Francisco, CA$11,500442023
Museo Reina Sofia Foundation (usa) IncNew York, NY$11,085112023
The Dawn Redwoods Charitable TrustTiburon, CA$11,000442023
American Red CrossBoone, IA$10,000222021
Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center IncLos Angeles, CA$10,000112020
Artists Space IncNew York, NY$10,000112023
Board of Trustees Leland Stanford JR University - Hoover InstitutionStanford, CA$10,000442023
British Schools & Universities Foundation IncNew York, NY$10,000222022
Deering Estate FoundationMiami, FL$10,000332023
Immaterial IncorporatedBrooklyn, NY$10,000442023
International Ocd FoundationBoston, MA$10,000442023
J Paul Getty Trust Los Angeles CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA$10,000112023
Nature Conservancy of IdahoHailey, ID$10,000442023
Planned Parenthood of the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Area IncWest Palm Beach, FL$10,000442023
Rainbow RailroadNew York, NY$10,000112023
Sawtooth Botanical GardensKetchum, ID$10,000442023
The Thacher School - Art DepartmentOjai, CA$10,000442023
Institute of Contemporary Art Miami IncMiami, FL$8,500332023
Hanley-Hazelden FoundationWest Palm Beach, FL$8,000442023
Hospice Foundation of Palm Beach County IncPalm Beach, FL$8,000442023
Swiftsure Ranch Therapeutic Equestrian CenterBellevue, ID$8,000442023
World Wildlife FundWashington, DC$8,000442023
YMCA Wood River ValleyKetchum, ID$8,000442023
Delta Waterfowl FoundationBismarck, ND$7,500222021
J Paul Getty TrustLos Angeles, CA$7,500112021
Working Artists and the Greater EconomyNew York, NY$7,500442023
Rainbow Railroad USANew York, NY$7,000112022
American RedcrossBoone, IA$5,000112023
Challenge SuccessStanford, CA$5,000222023
Golden State Salmon AssociationSan Francisco, CA$4,500332023
Upward ScholarsRedwood City, CA$4,500222022
The Salvation ArmySanta Rosa, CA$4,000112020
Broadway Caresequity Fights AIDSNew York, NY$2,500112023
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural HistorySanta Barbara, CA$2,000112023
The New SchoolNew York, NY$2,000112020

52 of 65 (80%) 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 88%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 102 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
36 grants
Arts & Culture
22 grants
Human Services
16 grants
International Affairs
6 grants
Recreation & Sports
5 grants
Environment
4 grants
Mental Health
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202048$340,000$5,000
202149$345,000$5,000
202249$342,000$3,500
202350$342,085$5,000

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.

Already committed for future years

Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Danielson Foundation has 3 of them, worth $131,500. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.

OrganizationLocationApproved
Shawnigan USA FundSeattle, WA$90,000
Barnard CollegeNew York, NY$32,500
Woodside Village ChurchWoodside, CA$9,000

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 35% of this one's giving went to organizations in California. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

California
$472K
New York
$190K
Washington
$178K
Illinois
$114K
Florida
$112K
Massachusetts
$85K
Idaho
$80K
Maryland
$54K

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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 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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc35 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund33 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc27 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program27 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation26 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust26 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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 California.
  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 education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding international affairs in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Danielson Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 410 North Michigan Avenue 590, 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 36-2540494 · 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.