John P and Dorothy S Illges
Columbus, GA · EIN 58-0691476. Reported 38 grants totalling $2,371,459 to 26 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. John P and Dorothy S Illges did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $113,362; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $241,264. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piedmont Columbus Regional Foundation | Columbus, GA | $600,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Feeding the Valley | Columbus, GA | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Columbus Museum Inc | Columbus, GA | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mercymed of Columbus | Columbus, GA | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| National Infantry Museum | Columbus, GA | $185,772 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Safehouse Ministries | Columbus, GA | $160,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Micah's Promise | Columbus, GA | $110,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Highland Community Church | Columbus, GA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Neighborworks Columbus | Columbus, GA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Columbus Botanical Gardens | Columbus, GA | $45,687 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Calvary Christian School | Columbus, GA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Auburn University Foundation | Newbern, AL | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Columbus Technical College | Columbus, GA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Girls Inc | Columbus, GA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Fellowship of Christian Athletes | Columbus, GA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Fellowship of Christian Athletes of West Central Georgia | Columbus, GA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Historic Westville | Columbus, GA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Springer Opera House | Columbus, GA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Alzheimer's Association | Columbus, GA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| House of Heroes | Columbus, GA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sara Spano PTA Clothing Bank | Columbus, GA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Columbus Hospice | Columbus, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy Inc | Columbus, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Paws Humane Inc | Columbus, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Stewart Community Home | Columbus, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Animal Ark Rescue | Columbus, GA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
9 of 26 (35%) 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 23%, 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 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.
- Calvary Christian School
SPORTS COMPLEX SOFTBALL FIELD - Girls Inc
2 DEFIBRILLATORS AND 40 IPADS - House of Heroes
HEART OF SERVING CAMPAIGN
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 16 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 11 | $495,140 | $25,000 |
| 2021 | 6 | $647,185 | $117,500 |
| 2022 | 13 | $644,626 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 8 | $584,508 | $27,500 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. John P and Dorothy S Illges has 11 of them, worth $1,241,873. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Piedmont Columbus Regional Foundation | Columbus, GA | $375,000 |
| National Infantry Museum | Columbus, GA | $314,228 |
| Feeding the Valley | Columbus, GA | $150,000 |
| Piedmont Columbus Regional Foundation | Columbus, GA | $133,736 |
| The Columbus Museum Inc | Columbus, GA | $113,362 |
| Mercymed of Columbus | Columbus, GA | $65,547 |
| Columbus Technical College | Columbus, GA | $30,000 |
| Columbus Technical College | Columbus, GA | $20,000 |
| Paws Humane Inc | Columbus, GA | $15,000 |
| Paws Humane Inc | Columbus, GA | $15,000 |
| Columbus Technical College | Columbus, GA | $10,000 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 99% of this one's giving went to organizations in Georgia. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $25,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Georgia.
- 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.
- 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 John P and Dorothy S Illges'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: Po Box 1673, Columbus, GA, 31902. 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 58-0691476 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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