FundersIllinois

J Frank Dobie Library Charitable Trust

Chicago, IL · EIN 74-6245335. Reported 24 grants totalling $194,063 to 23 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$8,750median grant
$194,063granted, 2020-2023
23organizations funded
0%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,244,613assets, 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. J Frank Dobie Library Charitable Trust 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 $8,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $7,153 and $9,053; the smallest was $3,610 and the largest $13,803. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
3 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
16 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
5 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
Linden Public LibraryLinden, TX$13,803112020
Jennie Trent Dew LibraryGoldthwaite, TX$12,653222023
Mitchell County Public LibraryColorado City, TX$11,000112020
Alpine Public LibraryAlpine, TX$10,000112021
Lakehills Area LibraryLakehills, TX$10,000112020
Sterling County LibrarySterling City, TX$10,000112021
Chandler Public LibraryChandler, TX$9,053112022
City of Penitas Public LibraryPenitas, TX$9,053112022
Laguna Vista Public LibraryLaguna Vista, TX$9,053112022
Martindale Community LibraryMartindale, TX$9,053112022
Robertson County Carnegie LibraryFranklin, TX$9,053112022
The Maud Public LibraryMartindale, TX$9,053112022
Dublin Public LibraryDublin, TX$9,000112020
Bicentennial City County LibraryPaducah, TX$8,500112023
Gunter Library and MuseumGunter, TX$8,500112023
Motley County LibraryMatador, TX$8,500112023
Coleman Public LibraryColeman, TX$7,153112021
Round Top Family LibraryRound Top, TX$7,153112021
Schulenburg Public LibrarySchulenburg, TX$7,153112021
Meridian Public LibraryMeridian, TX$5,500112023
Honey Grove Library & Learning CenterHoney Grove, TX$3,610112023
Jones Public LibraryDayton, TX$3,610112023
Leon Valley Public LibraryLeon Valley, TX$3,610112023

1 of 23 (4%) 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 0%, 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 7 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
6 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20204$43,803$10,500
20216$48,612$7,153
20226$54,318$9,053
20238$47,330$5,500

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

Martindale, TX
$18K
Linden, TX
$14K
Goldthwaite, TX
$13K
Colorado City, TX
$11K
Alpine, TX
$10K
Sterling City, TX
$10K
Lakehills, TX
$10K
Chandler, TX
$9K

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How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $8,750. 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 Texas.
  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 TexasEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from J Frank Dobie Library Charitable Trust'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: 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 74-6245335 · 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.