Funders › Illinois

Kaufman Family Foundation

Kenilworth, IL · EIN 82-4077901. Reported 119 grants totalling $2,447,585 to 64 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$2,447,585granted, 2021-2025
64recipients, as named on its returns
49%of grantees funded again the next year
$7,327,030assets, 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. Kaufman Family 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $160,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
20 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
27 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
41 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
14 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
10 grants
$100,000 and Up
6 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
Old Town School of Folk MusicChicago, IL$322,500332025
Central Park ConservancyNew York, NY$255,000552025
Northwestern Memorial FoundationChicago, IL$228,000222025
Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago, IL$190,000332025
The University of ChicagoChicago, IL$165,000442025
Temple JeremiahNorthfield, IL$130,000332025
Greater Yellowstone CoalitionBozeman, MT$120,000442025
Jewish United Fund (juf)Chicago, IL$85,000332025
Chicago Public MediaChicago, IL$80,000222025
GvltBozeman, MT$50,000222025
New Trier Educational FoundationNorthfield, IL$50,000112025
Planned Parenthood FederationNew York, NY$40,000332025
The Art Institute of ChicagoChicago, IL$39,000332025
Equal HopeChicago, IL$38,500442025
Yellowstoen ForeverYellowstone National P, WY$37,500112023
Erie Family Health FoundationChicago, IL$35,000332025
Wild MontanaHelena, MT$35,000222025
Lowell Elementary SchoolSanta Ana, CA$30,000222025
Northfield Mount HermonGill, MA$30,000222024
Open Space InstituteNew York, NY$30,000332023
Trust for Public LandChicago, IL$30,000222024
The Lowell SchoolWhitestone, NY$27,500222024
Everytown for Gun SafetyNew York, NY$25,000112023
Howard Area Community CenterChicago, IL$25,000222023
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational FundNew York, NY$25,000112021
Anti Defamation LeagueLos Angeles, CA$20,000222025
Glencoe Public Library FoundationGlencoe, IL$20,000112025
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York, NY$20,000332025
Montana Land ReliaceHelena, MT$20,000332025
National Public Housing MuseumChicago, IL$16,000332024
Athenaeum CenterChicago, IL$15,000332024
Erie Family Health CentersChicago, IL$15,000112025
Howard Area and Evanston Community CenterChicago, IL$15,000222024
NtefLacey, WA$15,000112024
Congregation Rodfei ZedekChicago, IL$10,000112024
Friends of the Kenilworth ClubKenilworth, IL$10,000112022
Glencoe PTOGlencoe, IL$10,000442025
Gallatin Valley Land TrustBozeman, MT$10,000112021
Legal Defense FundNew York, NY$10,000112023
Les Turner Als FoundationSkokie, IL$10,000222025
Lowell SchoolChicago, IL$10,000112021
Misericordia Womens BoardChicago, IL$10,000222025
Rosenwald Park CampaignBethesda, MD$10,000112024
The American IndependentWashington, DC$10,000112024
Wfmt Radio NetworkChicago, IL$10,000112025
The ArkWilliamstown, KY$8,600222024
Ali Forney CenterNew York, NY$5,000112022
Allegheny Land TrustSewickley, PA$5,000112021
Foundation for Homan SquareChicago, IL$5,000112024
Milwaukee Public Library FoundationMilwaukee, WI$5,000222025
Vanderbilt University Medical CenterNashville, TN$5,000112023
AcsHagerstown, MD$2,500112024
Blue CardNew York, NY$2,500112024
Chicago Foundation for WomenChicago, IL$2,500112025
Christ the King PicLos Angeles, CA$2,500112023
Friends of the LibraryNorth Chicago, IL$2,500112024
Illinois Holocaust Museum & EducationSkokie, IL$2,500112023
Kenilworth Comm FundKenilworth, IL$2,500112024
NrdcChicago, IL$2,500112024
Village of KenilworthKenilworth, IL$1,485112021
Highland Park Montessori SchoolHighland Park, IL$1,000112025
Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles, CA$1,000112021
WiaWashington, DC$1,000112024
Wellness in ActionPhiladelphia, PA$500112025

32 of 64 (50%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 49%, across 4 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 70 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.

Education
17 grants
Arts & Culture
15 grants
Environment
9 grants
Health Care
8 grants
Recreation & Sports
5 grants
Human Services
5 grants
Medical Research
4 grants
Civil Rights
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202112$154,985$7,500
202214$230,000$10,000
202329$738,100$11,000
202434$624,000$5,500
202530$700,500$12,500

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

65% 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
$1.6M
New York
$440K
Montana
$235K
California
$54K
Wyoming
$38K
Massachusetts
$30K
Washington
$15K
Maryland
$12K

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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 Fund25 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc24 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust20 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc20 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program18 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust15 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. 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 New YorkEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding environment in New YorkEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Kaufman Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: Po Box 211, Kenilworth, IL, 60043. 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 82-4077901 · 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.