The Mill Foundation
Loves Park, IL · EIN 30-0177875. Reported 81 grants totalling $734,864 to 36 organizations across tax years 2020-2024. 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. The Mill 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 $8,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $10,800; the smallest was $2,000 and the largest $27,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Community Center | Rockford, IL | $74,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Rockford Rescue Mission | Rockford, IL | $48,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Northwest Christian Community Development | Rockford, IL | $46,930 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boys and Girls Club of Rockford | Rockford, IL | $39,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Patriot's Gateway Community Center | Rockford, IL | $39,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Winnebago County CASA | Rockford, IL | $39,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Ken-Rock Community Center | Rockford, IL | $33,560 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Club | Rockford, IL | $33,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| CASA of Winnebago County | Rockford, IL | $33,089 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Boy Scouts of America-Blackhawk Area Council | Rockford, IL | $32,250 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Patriots' Gateway Community Center | Rockford, IL | $30,800 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Remedies Renewing Lives | Rockford, IL | $28,226 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Youth Services Network Inc | Rockford, IL | $21,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| United Way of Rock River Valley | Rockford, IL | $20,300 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Rock House Kids | Rockford, IL | $17,434 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Northern Illinois Food Bank | Rockford, IL | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Habitat for Humanity | Loves Park, IL | $16,600 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Discovery Center Museum of Rockford | Rockford, IL | $16,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Children's Home & Aid - Northern Region | Rockford, IL | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| YMCA - of Rock River Valley | Rockford, IL | $13,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Keeping Families and Communities Together-Kfact | Rockford, IL | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| The Pregnancy Care Center of Rockford | Rockford, IL | $12,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Children's Safe Harbor | Rockford, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Rockford Park District - Washington Park | Washington, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Music Academy of Rockford | Rockford, IL | $9,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Discovery Center Museum | Rockford, IL | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Life Decisions | Rockford, IL | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Teens 'n Transition - Ramp | Rockford, IL | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois | Rockford, IL | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Rockford Barbell | Rockford, IL | $7,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rockford Sexual Assault Counsel | Rockford, IL | $6,750 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Girl Scouts of Northern Il | Rockford, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Rock Valley Starlight | Rockford, IL | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hope Reigns Ranch Nfp | Rockford, IL | $4,160 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Junior League of Rockford - Big Brothersbig Sisters | Rockford, IL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Carpenter's Place | Rockford, IL | $2,365 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
23 of 36 (64%) 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 62%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.
- Boys and Girls Club of Rockford
TO PROVIDE YOUTH WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH THROUGH ACADEMIC SUCCESS, GOOD CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLES. - Northwest Community Center
TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THEIR NEW AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR GRADE SCHOOL TO MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTHS FROM 3PM TO 6PM. - Patriot's Gateway Community Center
TO PROVIDE A NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY CENTER OFFERING LIFE-ENRICHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE WHO LIVE, WORK, PLAY, AND LEARN IN THE NEAR-SOUTHEAST ROCKFORD AND ROCK RIVER VALLEY COMMUNITY, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON YOUTH - Winnebago County CASA
TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM FOR ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN. - Northwest Christian Community Development
TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. - Ken-Rock Community Center
TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR A CENTER IN WHICH ENHANCES THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES THROUGH RECREATION, EDUCATION, AND SOCIAL SERVICES
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 48 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 14 | $120,500 | $9,000 |
| 2021 | 19 | $251,534 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 16 | $115,049 | $7,750 |
| 2023 | 14 | $123,716 | $9,000 |
| 2024 | 18 | $124,065 | $8,000 |
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
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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 $8,000. 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 The Mill Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 16388, Loves Park, IL, 61132. 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 30-0177875 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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