Sommer Family Foundation Inc
Milwaukee, WI · EIN 36-3218800. Reported 189 grants totalling $301,500 to 66 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. Sommer Family Foundation Inc 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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $2,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $10,684. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applegate Regional Theatre Inc | Veneta, OR | $40,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bristol Fire Department | Bristol, WI | $17,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Suncoast Humane Society | Englewood, FL | $11,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Venice Symphony (florida) | Venice, FL | $11,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Dension University | Granville, OH | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Marie Selby Botanical Garde | Sarasota, FL | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| St John's Presbyterian Attn Cemetery Fund | Prince Edward Isl | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Colgate University | Hamilton, NY | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Downs Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area | Danville, CA | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Venice Public Library | Venice, FL | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Middlesex School | Concord, MA | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hdps Inc Under Leslie Shankman School Corp | Chicago, IL | $7,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Landmark College | Putney, VT | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Telluride Foundation | Brookfield, WI | $6,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wells College | Aurora, NY | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Des Plaines Wetland Conservancy | Pleasant Prairie, WI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Gonzaga University | Spokane, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Maxwell Gaudenzi Benefit Fund | Beverly, MA | $5,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Greater Chicago Food Depository | Chicago, IL | $4,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Trustees of the Reservation | Boston, MA | $4,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Chicago Botanic Gardens | Glencoe, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Choate Rosemary Hall | Wallingford, CT | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Cottey College | Nevada, MO | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Dexter School | Dexter, MI | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ducks Unlimited | Memphis, TN | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Field Museum | Chicago, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Great Lakes Coalition | Saugatuck, MI | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Lemon Bay Conservancy | Englewood, FL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Museum of Science & Industry | Chicago, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nols National Outdoor Leadership School | Lander, WY | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Shedd Aquarium | Chicago, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| St Marks School | Chicago, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| White Lake Community | Muskegon, MI | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| White Lake Sailing School | Whitehall, MI | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Community Rowing Inc Institute for Rowing Leadership | Brighton, MA | $3,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Adler Planetarium | Chicago, IL | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Mass Audobon Soc for Drumlin Farm | Lincoln, MA | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Shalom Center | Kenosha, WI | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Miami University | Oxford, OH | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pacific Boychoir Aademy | Oakland, CA | $2,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Seagullseafarer Camps | Arapahoe, NC | $2,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research | New York, NY | $2,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| University of Colorado | Boulder, CO | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Boston Institute of Contemporary Arts | Boston, MA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| San Miguel Educational Fund (koto-Fm Radio) | Telluride, CO | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sheridan Shore Sailing School | Wilmette, IL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| White Lake Arts Council | Montague, MI | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| White Lakes Arts Council | Montague, MI | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Women's and Children's Horizons | Kenosha, WI | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Wsmr | Orlando, FL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Glenview Youth Services | Glenview, IL | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Global Health & Development Fund | Oakland, CA | $1,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Innocence Project | New York, NY | $1,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Appalachian Mountain Club | Boston, MA | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Glenbrook South High School Foundation | Glenview, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Mass Audobon Society for Drumlin Farm | Lincoln, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wbur | Boston, MA | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Wbur Attn Business Office | Boston, MA | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Feed My Starving Children | Schaumburg, IL | $500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Live Lyme Foundation | Boca Raton, FL | $500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mayo Clinic | Rochester, MN | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| My Block My Hood My City | Chicago, IL | $500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Pacific Boychoir Academy | Oakland, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Glenview Youth Soccer | Glenview, IL | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Glenview Youth Soccer Club | Glenview, IL | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
53 of 66 (80%) 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 82%, 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.
- Applegate Regional Theatre Inc
GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT TO PROMOTE CHARITABLE PURPOSE.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 74 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | $78,684 | $1,000 |
| 2022 | 52 | $82,508 | $1,000 |
| 2023 | 45 | $72,308 | $1,000 |
| 2024 | 43 | $68,000 | $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
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 16% of this one's giving went to organizations in Florida. 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 $1,000. 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 Florida.
- 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 Sommer Family Foundation Inc'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: Co Scco 756 N Milwaukee St 300, Milwaukee, WI, 53202. 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 36-3218800 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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