Funders › Illinois

The Jw Gardner II Foundation

Quincy, IL · EIN 37-1404507. Reported 126 grants totalling $1,532,248 to 61 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$1,532,248granted, 2021-2025
61recipients, as named on its returns
57%of grantees funded again the next year
$7,274,088assets, 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. The Jw Gardner II 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $20,000; the smallest was $258 and the largest $51,542. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
23 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
38 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
47 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
16 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
1 grant

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
Salvation ArmyQuincy, IL$211,542652025
Quincy University CorporationQuincy, IL$142,443552025
Cheerful HomeQuincy, IL$100,000442024
Good Samaritan HomeQuincy, IL$85,000332025
Jackson Lincoln PoolQuincy, IL$65,000552025
Make-a-Wish IllinoisChicago, IL$60,000552025
Quincy Humane SocietyQuincy, IL$57,042552025
United Way of Adams CountyQuincy, IL$56,900552025
ChaddockQuincy, IL$55,000332023
Cornerstone Foundation for FamiliesQuincy, IL$51,000552025
Advocacy Network for ChildrenQuincy, IL$40,000222025
Quincy Family YMCAQuincy, IL$40,000222025
Young LifeQuincy, IL$38,000432024
Transitions of Western IllinoisQuincy, IL$33,300222024
Quincy Children's MuseumQuincy, IL$32,500442025
Boy Scouts of America Mississippi Valley CouncilQuincy, IL$30,000332024
Blessing FoundationQuincy, IL$25,000112021
Down CountryTaylor, MO$20,000112025
Good Samaritan Home FdnQuincy, IL$20,000112021
Love FoundationQuincy, IL$20,000112025
Mary Weems Barton Qpl FoundationQuincy, IL$20,000222023
Young America's FoundationReston, VA$20,000112022
Muddy River Opera CompanyQuincy, IL$19,000442024
Quincy Art CenterQuincy, IL$18,000222025
John Wood Cc FoundationQuincy, IL$17,000222024
Connect Child and Family SolutionsQuincy, IL$15,000112024
Quincy Public School FoundationQuincy, IL$15,000332025
Wgca-FmQuincy, IL$13,898222024
Quincy Symphony Orchestra AssocQuincy, IL$13,500552025
Arts QuincyQuincy, IL$13,241222025
Quincy Area ProjectQuincy, IL$12,600332023
Horizons Social ServicesQuincy, IL$11,400112025
Advocacy NetworkQuincy, IL$10,000112021
Bella EaseQuincy, IL$10,000112024
Junior Achievement in Ne Mo & Wc IlQuincy, IL$10,000112024
Mississippi Valley Scouts BSAQuincy, IL$10,000112021
Quincy Public Schools FoundationQuincy, IL$10,000112021
Sunset HomeQuincy, IL$10,000112021
The Quincy MuseumQuincy, IL$10,000112022
YWCA QuincyQuincy, IL$10,000112024
Junior Achievement of Ne Mo & Wc IlQuincy, IL$9,600112022
WgcaQuincy, IL$6,930112021
Quincy Montessori SchoolQuincy, IL$6,000112024
QuestOrlando, FL$5,200112022
Blessing Rieman CollegeQuincy, IL$5,000112024
Friends of the Performing ArtsQuincy, IL$5,000112023
Friends of the TrailsQuincy, IL$5,000112021
Quincy Area Community Cat CoallitioQuincy, IL$5,000112021
Scouting America Mississippi Valley CouncilQuincy, IL$5,000112025
Quincy Community TheatreQuincy, IL$3,900332024
Western Illinois FellowshipJacksonville, IL$3,350112021
Care Net Pregnancy ServicesQuincy, IL$3,000112025
Dancer Love FoundationQuincy, IL$3,000112021
Special Olympics IllinoisChicago, IL$3,000112023
Tri to Help TriathlonQuincy, IL$3,000112025
City of Quincy Police DepartmentQuincy, IL$2,000112021
John Wood Community College FdnQuincy, IL$2,000112021
National Child Safety CouncilMichigan Center, MI$2,000112024
Friends of the Log CabinsQuincy, IL$1,400112023
Covered Bottoms Diaper BankQuincy, IL$1,244112021
Blessing Health SystemQuincy, IL$258112022

26 of 61 (43%) 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 57%, 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.

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 55 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.

Human Services
17 grants
Education
7 grants
Arts & Culture
6 grants
Animal Welfare
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
5 grants
Community Improvement
3 grants
Civil Rights
2 grants
Mental Health
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202129$283,665$5,000
202224$342,342$10,000
202326$278,098$5,449
202426$298,108$10,000
202521$330,035$10,000

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

97% 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
$1.5M
Virginia
$20K
Missouri
$20K
Florida
$5K
Michigan
$2K

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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.

Community Foundation of24 shared recipientsMarion G Jackson Char Tr13 shared recipientsMichelmann Foundation9 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc7 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund6 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc6 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. 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 human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Jw Gardner II 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: 510 Maine Street Po Box 140, Quincy, IL, 62306. 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 37-1404507 · 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.