FundersIllinois

Mark Morton Memorial Fund

Chicago, IL · EIN 23-7181380. Reported 50 grants totalling $2,700,515 to 44 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$50,470median grant
$2,700,515granted, 2021-2024
44organizations funded
0%of grantees funded again the next year
$17.4Massets, 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. Mark Morton Memorial 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 $50,470. Half of everything it gave fell between $34,000 and $75,000; the smallest was $10,000 and the largest $102,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$10,000 - $25,000
7 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
9 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
30 grants
$100,000 and Up
4 grants

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
Wayside Cross MinistriesAurora, IL$252,500332024
Onward Neighborhood HouseChicago, IL$174,050222024
Christ the King Jesuit College PrepChicago, IL$107,000222023
Hesed HouseAurora, IL$100,000112021
Housing ForwardOak Park, IL$100,000112021
Association House of ChicagoChicago, IL$85,000112022
Josephinum Academy of the Sacred HeartChicago, IL$85,000112022
Avenues to IndependencePark Ridge, IL$75,000112024
Hephzibah Childrens AssociationOak Park, IL$75,000112021
Kids Above AllChicago, IL$75,000222024
Maywood Fine Arts AssociationMaywood, IL$75,000112024
Stone Community Development CorporationChicago, IL$75,000112022
The Firehouse Community Art CenterChicago, IL$75,000112022
Will County Center for Community ConcernsJoliet, IL$75,000112022
Circle Urban MinistriesChicago, IL$73,000112024
Chicago Youth ProgramsChicago, IL$65,000112024
Fox Valley Christian ActionfvcaSt Charles, IL$60,000112021
North Lawndale Employment NetworkChicago, IL$60,000112023
Stepping Stones Treatment CenterJoliet, IL$60,000112022
Young Men's Education NetworkChicago, IL$58,000112022
The Outreach HouseLombard, IL$57,000112023
Rebuilding Together Metro ChicagoChicago, IL$53,665112024
Cradles to Crayons ChicagoChicago, IL$50,940112023
Big Brothers Big Sister of Metropolitan ChicagoChicago, IL$50,000112023
Franciscan Outreach AssociationChicago, IL$50,000112023
Golden Apple FoundationChicago, IL$50,000112021
Greater Auburn-Gresham Development CorpChicago, IL$50,000112022
Helping Our People ExcelFort Meade, FL$50,000112021
Naomi's HouseIndianapolis, IN$50,000112022
North Lawndale Athletic & Recreation AssociationChicago, IL$50,000112022
Glen Ellyn Food PantryGlen Ellyn, IL$46,230112023
Heroin Epidemic Relief OrganizationTinley Park, IL$40,000112022
Outreach Community MinistriesCarol Stream, IL$35,000112024
North Lawndale College PrepChicago, IL$34,000112022
Bethany Christian Services of IllinoisPalos Heights, IL$32,250222023
Storycatchers TheatreChicago, IL$30,000112022
Ravenswood Community ServicesChicago, IL$27,000112021
Misericordia HomeChicago, IL$25,000112021
New Moms IncChicago, IL$25,000112022
Community Support ServicesBrookfield, IL$20,780112023
Boys & Girls Club of Lake CountyWaukegan, IL$20,000112024
Turning Point Autism FoundationNaperville, IL$19,600112022
Second SenseChicago, IL$19,500112022
Midwest Sports AcademyWest Chicago, IL$10,000112022

5 of 44 (11%) 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 0%, 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.

Plus 9 grants to individuals totalling $361,817 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 19 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
9 grants
Community Improvement
3 grants
Employment
2 grants
Housing & Shelter
2 grants
Youth Development
1 grant
Mental Health
1 grant
Education
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202113$766,300$57,000
202217$841,100$50,000
202310$469,450$50,000
202410$623,665$69,000

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 96% of this one's giving went to organizations in Illinois. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Illinois
$2.6M
Indiana
$50K
Florida
$50K

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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 Fund27 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc22 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc21 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust20 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust14 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $50,470. 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 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 human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Mark Morton Memorial 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: 233 S Wacker Suite 7100, Chicago, IL, 60606. 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 23-7181380 · 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.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.