FundersIllinois

James J & Mildred M Postma Scholarship Fund

Chicago, IL · EIN 36-7057895. Reported 64 grants totalling $364,954 to 36 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,200median grant
$364,954granted, 2021-2024
36organizations funded
58%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,792,433assets, 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. James J & Mildred M Postma Scholarship Fund 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 $2,200. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,250 and $4,300; the smallest was $500 and the largest $58,100. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
11 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
39 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
5 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
4 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
4 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
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
Dordt University Financial Aid OfficeSioux Center, IA$92,150222024
Northwestern CollegeOrange City, IA$67,742442024
Dordt CollegeSioux Center, IA$64,690222022
University of IowaIowa City, IA$19,186442024
South Dakota State University Financial Aid OfficeBrookings, SD$17,750442024
Iowa State University Office of Student Financial AidAmes, IA$13,950222024
University of South Dakota Financial Aid OfficeVermillion, SD$9,600442024
University of Sioux FallsSioux Falls, SD$8,000222022
Morningside UniversitySioux City, IA$7,800332024
Iowa State UniversityAmes, IA$5,850222022
Augustana CollegeSioux Falls, SD$4,550222022
Southwest Minnesota State UniversityMarshall, MN$4,050112024
Dakota State UniversityMadison, SD$4,018442024
Oral Roberts UniversityTulsa, OK$3,950222024
Northwest Iowa Community CollegeSheldon, IA$3,650332024
Iowa Lakes Community CollegeEstherville, IA$3,100112024
Kansas State UniversitySalina, KS$3,100112024
University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN$3,100112024
Western Iowa Tech Community College Office of Financial AidSioux City, IA$2,750222024
Calvin College Office of Financial AidGrand Rapids, MI$2,200112021
Lipscomb UniversityNashville, TN$2,200112021
Mount MercyCedar Rapids, IA$2,200112021
University of Minnesota Twin CitiesMinneapolis, MN$2,200112023
University of Sioux Falls Attn Financial Aid OfficeSioux Falls, SD$2,200112023
Calvin UniversityGrand Rapids, ID$1,750112024
Olivet Nazarene University East IllinoisBourbonnais, IL$1,750112024
University of Nebraska-OmahaOmaha, NE$1,750112024
Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ$1,600112021
Brian Cliff UniversitySioux City, IA$1,568222023
Oberlin CollegeOberlin, OH$1,250112022
Southeast Technical InstituteSioux Falls, SD$1,100112021
University of Northern IowaCedar Falls, IA$1,100112021
University of WyomingLaramie, WY$1,100112021
Grove City CollegeGrove City, PA$950112024
Southeast Tech InstituteSioux Falls, SD$550112021
Avera Mckennan School of RadiologySioux Falls, SD$500112021

16 of 36 (44%) 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 58%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 27 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
23 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202119$77,750$2,200
202212$76,098$2,500
202314$75,606$2,200
202419$135,500$3,100

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. 78% of this one's giving went to organizations in Iowa. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Iowa
$286K
South Dakota
$48K
Minnesota
$9K
Oklahoma
$4K
Kansas
$3K
Tennessee
$2K
Michigan
$2K
Idaho
$2K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund15 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc13 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program11 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc10 shared recipientsPella Rolscreen Foundation10 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc8 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,200. 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 Iowa.
  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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from James J & Mildred M Postma Scholarship Fund'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: Po Box 95672, Chicago, IL, 60694. 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 36-7057895 · 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.

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