Funders › Illinois

Jacob Beidler & Deborah Witzburg

Chicago, IL · EIN 46-3741665. Reported 64 grants totalling $243,095 to 26 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$243,095granted, 2021-2024
26recipients, as named on its returns
77%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,401,130assets, 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. Jacob Beidler & Deborah Witzburg 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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $2,500; the smallest was $250 and the largest $27,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
18 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
35 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
2 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
6 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
3 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
Chicago Youth CentersChicago, IL$93,000442024
Near North Montessori SchoolChicago, IL$66,800442024
Chicago Childrens MuseumChicago, IL$24,545332024
Brown University Annual FundProvidence, RI$8,000442024
Be the MatchMinneapolis, MN$7,000332023
Wbez Chicago Public MediaChicago, IL$5,500442024
MetrosquashChicago, IL$5,000112021
Planned ParenthoodChicago, IL$4,000442024
Chicago Public Schools-J Beidler ElementaryChicago, IL$3,000332024
Natick Community Organic FarmNatick, MA$3,000332024
Greater Chicago Food DepositoryChcago, IL$2,500332024
Nmdp FoundationMinneapolis, MN$2,500112024
Shedd Aquarium SocietyChicago, IL$2,500112024
Cara CollectiveChicago, IL$2,000222024
Mother 2 MothersLos Angeles, CA$2,000442024
Garfield Park ConservatoryChicago, IL$1,500332023
Lake Tanganyika Floating Health ClinicChicago, IL$1,500332024
3 ArtsChicago, IL$1,000112024
Chicago Police Memorial FoundationChicago, IL$1,000112024
Erie Elementary Charter SchoolChicago, IL$1,000112024
Everytown for Gun SafetyNew York, NY$1,000112021
Humble Design ChicagoChicago, IL$1,000112023
Islita English-Foundation for the Aid of Youth in Costa RicaTiburon, CA$1,000112023
Nortwestern University School of LawChicago, IL$1,000112021
The Friends of Paragon CarouselHull, MA$1,000442024
Jesters FoundationNorth Palm Beach, FL$750332024

16 of 26 (62%) 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 77%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 36 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
12 grants
Food & Nutrition
6 grants
Education
5 grants
Youth Development
4 grants
Health Care
3 grants
Employment
2 grants
Housing & Shelter
1 grant
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202113$45,550$1,000
202215$51,000$1,000
202317$69,175$1,000
202419$77,370$1,000

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

89% 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
$217K
Minnesota
$10K
Rhode Island
$8K
Massachusetts
$4K
California
$3K
New York
$1K
Florida
$750

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund13 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust10 shared recipientsGs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund9 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc9 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation9 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

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

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Jacob Beidler & Deborah Witzburg's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 53 W Jackson Blvd 530, Chicago, IL, 60604. 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 46-3741665 · 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.