Peggy and Steve Fossett Foundation
Homer Glen, IL · EIN 20-4521801. Reported 180 grants totalling $5,261,030 to 63 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. Peggy and Steve Fossett 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $36,000; the smallest was $2,200 and the largest $190,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Ark | Chicago, IL | $482,295 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Adler Planetarium | Chicago, IL | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Chicago Area Council BSA | Chicago, IL | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Museum of Flight | Seattle, WA | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Shriners Hospitals for Children Chicago | Chicago, IL | $363,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hatzalah Chicago | Lincolnwood, IL | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum | Denver, CO | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Meals on Wheels Chicago | Chicago, IL | $175,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| One Love Global Wellness Foundation | Orland Park, IL | $157,340 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Lakeview Pantry | Chicago, IL | $157,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| CASA Lake County | Vernon Hills, IL | $145,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Friends of Shalva | New York, NY | $130,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Simon Wiesenthal Center | Chicago, IL | $118,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Brentwood High School Alumni Association | Brentwood, MO | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Washington University | St Louis, MO | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Webster University | St Louis, MO | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Swift Outdoor Accessible Recreation | Mokena, IL | $95,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Arie Crown Hebrew Day School | Skokie, IL | $85,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mercy Home for Boys and Girls | Chicago, IL | $78,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Upward Communities | Chicago, IL | $73,095 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Chicagoland Toys for Tots | Chicago, IL | $71,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Chicago Police Memorial | Chicago, IL | $59,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Israel Cancer Research Fund | Northfield, IL | $56,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish United Fund | Chicago, IL | $54,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Chicago Mitzvah Campaign | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kids Can Foundation | Aurora, IL | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Simon Wisenthal Center | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Brother Rice High School | Chicago, IL | $49,600 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Luries Childrens Foundation | Chicago, IL | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Pat Macs Pack | Chicago, IL | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sinai Health System | Chicago, IL | $42,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals | St Louis, MO | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Misericordia | Chicago, IL | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Shady Oaks Camp for People With Disabilities | Homer Glen, IL | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Shedd Aquarium | Chicago, IL | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wildwood Historical Society | Wildwood, MO | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ronald Mcdonald House Charities | Oakbrook, IL | $37,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Chicago Chesed Fund | Lincolnwood, IL | $36,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| St Linus Catholic School | Oak Lawn, IL | $32,100 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Park Lawn Association | Oak Lawn, IL | $30,300 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| My Joyful Heart | Mokena, IL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Saint Ignatius College Prep | Chicago, IL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Andrew Weishar Foundation | Chicago, IL | $30,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ravinia | Highland Park, IL | $29,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $25,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Childrens Research Triangle | Chicago, IL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Care Kit Foundation | Orland Park, IL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Hinda Institute | Des Plaines, IL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Jewish United Fund Emergency Fund | Chicago, IL | $18,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bbyo | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Tulane Hillel | New Orleans, LA | $10,800 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie | Skokie, IL | $10,600 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Aero Club of Northern California | San Jose, CA | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| De La Salle Alumni Association | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Friends of Hatzalah | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| March of Dimes | Arlington, VA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Shalom Hartman Institute of North America | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Stand With US | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jewish Communal Fund | New York, NY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Purdue Foundation | Detroit, MI | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Congregation Beth Shalom | Northbrook, IL | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St John Fisher Parish | Chicago, IL | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pasadena Humane | Pasadena, CA | $2,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
50 of 63 (79%) 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 92%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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.
- CASA Lake County
GENERAL PURPOSEGENERAL OPERATIONS - Upward Communities
RESTRICTED - OLIVIA GARDNER - The Hinda Institute
GENERAL PURPOSEGENERAL PURPOSE - Aero Club of Northern California
YOUTH PROGRAMS AND COUNSELORS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 99 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | $1,336,050 | $25,000 |
| 2022 | 40 | $1,242,500 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 49 | $1,261,180 | $12,100 |
| 2024 | 55 | $1,421,300 | $12,000 |
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. 77% 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.
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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 $15,000. 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 Illinois.
- 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.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Peggy and Steve Fossett Foundation'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: 14801 Founders Crossing, Homer Glen, IL, 60491. 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 20-4521801 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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