Funders › Illinois

Gilmore Foundation

Peoria, IL · EIN 27-1400179. Reported 137 grants totalling $15.9M to 51 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$25,000median grant
$15.9Mgranted, 2021-2025
51recipients, as named on its returns
72%of grantees funded again the next year
$85.3Massets, 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. Gilmore 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 $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $80,000; the smallest was $150 and the largest $2,504,575. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
1 grant
$10,000 - $25,000
64 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
18 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
20 grants
$100,000 and Up
33 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
Greater Peoria Leadership CouncilPeoria, IL$3,144,575222025
University of Illinois College of Medicine - PeoriaPeoria, IL$1,664,289222024
UnityplacePeoria, IL$1,510,500222022
Peoria Riverfront MuseumPeoria, IL$1,314,150552025
Osf Healthcare FoundationPeoria, IL$1,200,000222022
Univ of Ill College of Medicine-PeoriaPeoria, IL$580,785112025
Illinois Central College Educational FoundationEast Peoria, IL$565,000332023
Peoria Symphony OrchestraPeoria, IL$470,000552025
University of Illinois FoundationUrbana, IL$427,000112021
Dream Center PeoriaPeoria, IL$400,000442025
Center for Prevention of AbusePeoria, IL$396,465552025
DAF360 GivingSan Francisco, CA$345,278112025
Illinois Central CollegeEast Peoria, IL$333,333112025
Peoria Playhouse Children's MuseumPeoria, IL$300,000112022
Easter SealsPeoria, IL$285,000552025
Blue Ridge Farm Fbo Picket Fence FoundationChillicothe, IL$250,000112021
Peoria Rescue MinistriesPeoria, IL$250,000222023
South Side MissionPeoria, IL$250,000222023
Peoria Public Schools FoundationPeoria, IL$185,000332025
Bradley UniversityPeoria, IL$160,000222025
Big Picture InitiativePeoria, IL$158,000332025
Hoi Big Brother Big SistersPeoria, IL$138,249442024
Peoria Notre Dame High SchoolPeoria, IL$118,832222025
WtvpPeoria, IL$102,500552025
East Bluff Community CenterPeoria, IL$100,000222022
Midwest Food BankPeoria, IL$100,000112025
Art IncPeoria, IL$95,200222024
Distillery LabsPeoria, IL$80,000112025
Peoria Historical SocietyPeoria, IL$80,000552025
Children's HomePeoria, IL$75,000552025
Peoria Promise FoundationPeoria, IL$75,000222025
Peoria BalletPeoria, IL$60,000112025
First Federated ChurchPeoria, IL$55,000552025
American Red CrossPeoria, IL$50,000552025
EpcPeoria, IL$50,000552025
Heart of Illinois United WayPeoria, IL$50,000552025
Heartland Festival OrchestraPeoria, IL$50,000552025
Impact Central IllinoisPeoria, IL$50,000222022
Lutheran Hillside Village FoundationPeoria, IL$50,000552025
Neighborhood HousePeoria, IL$50,000552025
Moonlight CoalitionPeoria, IL$45,000222024
Advocates for AccessPeoria Heights, IL$41,000112023
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$40,000442024
Peoria Bio-Made FoundationPeoria, IL$40,000112022
Oak Ridge Outdoor Foundation Co Oak Ridge Sportsman's ClubMackinaw, IL$35,000112024
Peoria Park District FoundationPeoria, IL$30,000112024
Quest Charter AcademyPeoria, IL$30,000332023
Junior AchievementEast Peoria, IL$25,000112025
St Philomena Catholic ChurchPeoria, IL$15,564112022
Peoria Area World Affairs CouncilPeoria, IL$1,000112023
Almost Home KidsPeoria, IL$150112021

34 of 51 (67%) 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 72%, 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 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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 69 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.

Arts & Culture
23 grants
Human Services
14 grants
Education
8 grants
Community Improvement
7 grants
International Affairs
5 grants
Employment
5 grants
Religion
4 grants
Health Care
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202130$2,484,315$20,000
202229$3,200,564$20,000
202325$2,275,275$12,500
202425$4,344,484$20,000
202528$3,617,232$50,000

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

98% 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
$15.5M
California
$345K
New York
$40K

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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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc25 shared recipientsPeoria Area Community Foundation22 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund19 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc18 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc12 shared recipientsHeart of Illinois United Way Inc11 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $25,000. 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 groupFoundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Gilmore 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: 5823 N Forest Park Drive, Peoria, IL, 61614. 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 27-1400179 · 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.