Funders › Illinois

Mcs Foundation

Burr Ridge, IL · EIN 36-4158386. Reported 51 grants totalling $78,561 to 27 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$78,561granted, 2021-2025
27recipients, as named on its returns
63%of grantees funded again the next year
$496,787assets, 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. Mcs 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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $600 and $2,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $6,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
13 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
35 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
3 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
St Jude Childrens Research HospitalMemphis, TN$12,000442024
Ronald Mcdonald House CharitiesChicago, IL$9,250552025
Gower FoundationWillowbrook, IL$7,340332025
Shriners Hospital for ChildrenTampa, FL$5,000222022
USOWashington, DC$4,760222024
Kick FoundationCleveland, OH$4,750442024
Hinsdale Humane SocietyHinsdale, IL$4,500222025
Leyden Hs District 212Franklin Park, IL$4,500332025
CornerstoneJoliet, IL$4,450442024
Leyden Highschool Dist 212Franklin Park, IL$4,000222025
Capuchin Franciscan Province of St JosephDetroit, MI$3,600442024
Capuchin Soup Kitchen DetroitDetroit, MI$3,000112025
Ronald Mcdonald House CniHines, IL$2,500112023
Cornerstone Services IncJoliet, IL$1,200112025
Dancing With Chicago Stars CharityChicago, IL$1,050112025
Cara CollectiveChicago, IL$1,000112023
Community HouseHinsdale, IL$1,000112021
JdrfNew York, NY$1,000112021
Stratford High School PTONashville, TN$1,000112025
Stratford Hs BiostemNashville, TN$600112025
Conquering ChdMadison, WI$500112023
Make-a-Wish Foundation of AmericaPhoenix, AZ$500112025
Oasis Center IncNashville, TN$500112024
American HeartDallas, TX$206112024
Make-a-Wish IllinoisChicago, IL$155112025
Catholic CharitiesCleveland, OH$100112021
Ukranian Museum-ArchivesCleveland, OH$100112021

11 of 27 (41%) 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 63%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

Plus 2 grants to individuals totalling $2,170 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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 20 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.

Health Care
11 grants
Animal Welfare
2 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
2 grants
Diseases & Disorders
2 grants
Employment
1 grant
Community Improvement
1 grant
Human Services
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202110$10,950$1,000
20226$8,250$1,000
202312$20,489$1,125
202411$24,027$1,021
202512$14,845$1,000

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

52% 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
$41K
Tennessee
$14K
Michigan
$7K
Florida
$5K
Ohio
$5K
District of Columbia
$5K
New York
$1K
Wisconsin
$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.

American Online Giving Foundation Inc7 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund7 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust7 shared recipientsRaymond James Charitable Endowment Fund7 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. 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 health care in TennesseeEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Mcs 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: 31 Lancaster Ct, Burr Ridge, IL, 60527. 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 36-4158386 · 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.