Funders › Illinois

Jahn Foundation

Chicago, IL · EIN 26-3882051. Reported 63 grants totalling $263,061 to 40 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,000median grant
$263,061granted, 2021-2024
40recipients, as named on its returns
44%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,745,015assets, 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. Jahn 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 $2,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $5,210; the smallest was $100 and the largest $39,875. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
25 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
14 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
18 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
4 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
2 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 City Day SchoolChicago, IL$39,875112024
Pomfret SchoolPomfret, CT$33,667112023
Lincoln Park ConservancyChicago, IL$32,300442024
Landmarks IllinoisChicago, IL$21,100442024
Chicago Architecture FoundationChicago, IL$20,000442024
Aia ChicagoChicago, IL$12,500222024
Facets Multi-MediaChicago, IL$12,000332024
Boys and Girls Club of ChicagoChicago, IL$10,460222023
Youth GuidanceChicago, IL$10,178112023
Metropolitan Planning CouncilChicago, IL$10,000112023
St Chrysostom's Episcopal ChurchChicago, IL$8,500222024
Pritzker Military Museum & LibraryChicago, IL$7,200222022
Iit College of ArchitectureChicago, IL$6,000222022
The Anti-Cruelty SocietyChicago, IL$5,750332023
Pritzker Military Museum & LibraryKenosha, WI$5,250222024
The New York Landmarks ConservancyNew York, NY$5,000112023
Chris Klug FoundationAspen, CO$3,500112022
The Skyscraper MuseumNew York, NY$3,500222023
German International School of ChicagoChicago, IL$3,000112021
Clinton FoundationNew York, NY$2,000112023
Window to the World Communications IncChicago, IL$1,200112024
The Arts Club of ChicagoChicago, IL$1,150222022
Chicago Shakespeare TheaterChicago, IL$1,000112023
Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing FoundationChicago, IL$1,000222022
American Hackney Horse Society Foundation IncShelbyville, TN$900222023
626 Landmark FoundationChicago, IL$876112022
Epilepsy FoundationBowie, MD$500112024
Fondation Le CorbusierParis$500112024
Henry Ford Health SystemDetroit, MI$500112021
Hooved Animal Rescue and Protection SocietyBarrington, IL$500112021
Ruth Page CenterChicago, IL$500112024
Paws ChicagoChicago, IL$450112022
The Society of Architectural HistoriansChicago, IL$420112024
Chai LifelineNew York, NY$300112021
Mercy Home for Boys and GirlsChicago, IL$285112021
Anderson HumaneSouth Elgin, IL$250112022
Art Omi IncGhent, NY$250112024
Charleston Symphony OrchestraCharleston, SC$250112022
Dunham Woods Riding ClubWayne, IL$250112023
The Museum of Modern ArtNew York, NY$200112021

15 of 40 (38%) 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 44%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 37 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
16 grants
Recreation & Sports
6 grants
Animal Welfare
5 grants
Education
4 grants
Health Care
3 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant
International Affairs
1 grant
Diseases & Disorders
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202117$39,235$2,000
202216$47,376$950
202316$92,705$5,000
202414$83,745$2,850

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

79% 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
$207K
Connecticut
$34K
New York
$11K
Wisconsin
$5K
Colorado
$4K
Tennessee
$900
Maryland
$500
Michigan
$500

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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 Fund27 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc25 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust21 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program19 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust18 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,000. 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 groupFoundations funding education in ConnecticutEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Jahn Foundation'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: 410 N Michigan Avenue 600, 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 26-3882051 · 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.