FundersIllinois

Ideal Industries Foundation

Sycamore, IL · EIN 36-3449960. Reported 102 grants totalling $1,143,975 to 65 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,143,975granted, 2021-2024
65organizations funded
38%of grantees funded again the next year
$6,736,288assets, 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. Ideal Industries 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 $1,580 and $16,000; the smallest was $51 and the largest $125,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
13 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
28 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
20 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
34 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
3 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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
Family Services AgencyDekalb, IL$140,631332023
Philadelphia Youth Basketball IncPhiladelphia, PA$125,000112024
Safe PassageDekalb, IL$73,910442024
Hope Haven of Dekalb CountyDekalb, IL$72,795442024
Family Service AgencyDekalb, IL$68,867112024
Kishwaukee Family YMCASycamore, IL$67,318442024
Adventure WorksDekalb, IL$64,715442024
CASASycamore, IL$64,715442024
Dekalb County Community GardensDekalb, IL$59,715442024
Junior Achievement of ChicagoChicago, IL$50,000112021
Dekalb County Youth Service BureauDekalb, IL$31,000222022
American Red CrossWashington, DC$25,770112022
Cassandra Banks FoundationPlantation, FL$25,000112023
United Way of RacineRacine, WI$22,598332023
Northern Illinois Food BankGeneva, IL$22,500222022
Urban Ventures Leadership FoundationMinneapolis, MN$20,000112024
Youth OutlookNaperville, IL$15,000222022
Cradles to CrayonsNewton, MA$13,000112024
Dekalb County History CenterSycamore, IL$12,500222022
Habitat for Humanity Dekalb CountySycamore, IL$12,000112024
Habitat for Humanity of Dekalb CountySycamore, IL$10,072112023
Chicago Women in the TradesChicago, IL$10,000222023
Northern Illinois University Foundation (niu Stem)Dekalb, IL$10,000112024
Children's Home & AidChicago, IL$9,000222022
Dekalb County Community FoundationSycamore, IL$8,750222022
Equine DreamsNewark, IL$7,500222022
Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb, IL$7,500112021
Voluntary Action Center of Dekalb CountySycamore, IL$6,250112022
Kishwaukee Symphony OrchestraDekalb, IL$6,000222022
Future Construction Leaders FoundationLa Mesa, CA$5,408222024
Regional Access & Mobilization ProjectRockford, IL$5,020332024
AnewTukwila, WA$5,000112022
Metropolitan Family ServicesChicago, IL$5,000112021
Niu STEMDekalb, IL$5,000112023
Opportunity HouseReading, PA$5,000112021
Opportunity House IncSycamore, IL$5,000112024
Philadelphia Works IncPhiladelphia, PA$5,000112022
RampDekalb, IL$5,000112021
Special Olympics IllinoisNormal, IL$5,000112021
Sycamore Education FoundationSycamore, IL$3,750222022
Three Fires Council Boy Scouts of AmericaSt Charles, IL$3,750222022
Niu Society of Woman EngineersDekalb, IL$3,000112023
Society of Women EngineersChicago, IL$3,000112024
United Way of IllinoisChicago, IL$2,500112021
Hawaii Community FoundationHonolulu, HI$1,884112023
Sycamore Park DistrictSycamore, IL$1,650222022
Dekalb County Nursing Home FoundationDekalb, IL$1,630112024
Sycamore Chamber of CommerceSycamore, IL$1,580112023
Heifer InternationalLittle Rock, AR$1,520112023
Northern Public RadioDekalb, IL$1,300112023
Cystic Fibrosis FoundationWilsonville, OR$1,020112023
Dave Krache FoundationKennesaw, GA$1,000112024
Susan G Komen FoundationDallas, TX$1,000112024
Ibew Local 701 Needy Members FundWarrenville, IL$500112024
Pay It Forward HouseSycamore, IL$500112022
Naperville Humane SocietyNaperville, IL$408112023
Tails Humane SocietyDekalb, IL$408112023
Joliet Catholic AcademyJoliet, IL$204112023
World Central KitchenWashington, DC$204112023
Macon County Humane SocietyDecatur, IL$171112023
Brooks ElementaryAurora, IL$125112023
Humane Animal Welfare Society Waukesh CountyWaukesha, WI$102112023
Worcester County Food BankShrewsbury, MA$102112023
Friends of the Wissahickon IncPhiladelphia, PA$82112023
Cleveland ClinicCleveland, OH$51112023

22 of 65 (34%) 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 38%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 52 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
15 grants
Community Improvement
6 grants
Youth Development
6 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
5 grants
Housing & Shelter
5 grants
Food & Nutrition
3 grants
Diseases & Disorders
2 grants
Employment
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202126$295,504$7,500
202226$221,452$5,000
202330$251,422$1,550
202420$375,597$12,500

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. 77% of this one's giving went to organizations in Illinois. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Illinois
$885K
Pennsylvania
$135K
District of Columbia
$26K
Florida
$25K
Wisconsin
$23K
Minnesota
$20K
Massachusetts
$13K
California
$5K

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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.

Charities Aid Foundation America22 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund20 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc19 shared recipientsDekalb County Community Foundation19 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc18 shared recipientsNorthwestern Memorial Healthcare Group15 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 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, rankedFoundations funding human services in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Ideal Industries Foundation'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: Becker Place, Sycamore, IL, 60178. 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 36-3449960 · 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.