Funders › Illinois

Micah Lee Foundation Nfp

Wheaton, IL · EIN 35-2191133. Reported 54 grants totalling $148,603 to 29 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$148,603granted, 2021-2024
29recipients, as named on its returns
61%of grantees funded again the next year
$821,135assets, 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. Micah Lee Foundation Nfp 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 $300 and $4,935; the smallest was $15 and the largest $11,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
23 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
18 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
8 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
5 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
Dreams Indeed InternationalDenver, CO$40,000442024
The Telos GroupWashington, DC$24,000442024
SergeWashington, DC$17,000442024
Good Shepherd New YorkNew York, NY$15,100332024
Mt Airy CenterDavidsonville, MD$8,900112022
Arabic Christian ChurchYork, PA$7,500442024
National Christian FoundationAlpharetta, GA$6,650222024
Common Ground Consultants IncHopkins, MN$5,000112024
Gfm MinistriesDallas, TX$4,935112021
BoskoLake Forest, IL$4,000112021
ArrabonRichmond, VA$3,500442024
Jewish Voice for PeaceBerkeley, CA$2,641222023
Mountain Children's MinistryLombard, IL$1,800332024
Fellowship of Christian AthletesKansas City, MO$1,500112023
Global ImmersionSpokane, WA$1,000112024
Love Your Neighbor International MinistriesLa Crescenta, CA$851222024
Governor's Leadership ForumLohman, MO$850112024
World VisionFederal Way, WA$800222024
Churches for Middle East PeaceWashington, DC$575222024
American Friends of Parent's Circle Families ForumNew York, NY$500222024
New Israel FundWashington DC, DC$250112023
The International FoundationFairfield, NJ$250112024
Praying Pelican MissionsMinneapolis, MN$206112023
American Friends of Combatants for Peace IncNew York, NY$200112024
Light of Love MinistryChicago, IL$200112023
Fellowship Foundation IncBethesda, MD$150112023
Outreach MinistriesSeymour, IN$100112023
Center for Action and ContemplationAlbuquerque, NM$95112024
GofundmeRedwood City, CA$50112021

13 of 29 (45%) 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 61%, across 3 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 1 grants to individuals totalling $200 -- 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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 34 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.

Religion
14 grants
International Affairs
12 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Education
2 grants
Youth Development
1 grant
Arts & Culture
1 grant
Human Services
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202110$30,635$2,000
20228$31,500$2,750
202318$44,108$580
202418$42,360$925

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

28% of its giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

District of Columbia
$42K
Colorado
$40K
New York
$16K
Maryland
$9K
Pennsylvania
$8K
Georgia
$7K
Illinois
$6K
Minnesota
$5K

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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 Fund15 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc14 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc11 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc9 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust8 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc7 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 District of Columbia.
  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 international affairs in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in ColoradoEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding religion in New YorkEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Micah Lee Foundation Nfp's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 319 E Franklin Street, Wheaton, IL, 60187. 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 35-2191133 · 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.