The Simon Family Foundation
Highland Park, IL · EIN 36-4325958. Reported 201 grants totalling $19.7M to 67 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. The Simon Family 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 $75,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $30,000 and $135,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $400,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Chicago Food Depository | Chicago, IL | $1,300,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Donorschoose Org | New York, NY | $1,200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Timeline Theatre Company | Chicago, IL | $1,180,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Northern Illinois Food Bank | Geneva, IL | $1,050,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| World Central Kitchen Incorporated | Washington, DC | $1,000,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| A Silver Lining Foundation Chicagoland Cancer Info Coalition | Chicago, IL | $905,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Spondylitis Association of America | Encino, CA | $750,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Aspiritech Nfp | Highland Park, IL | $660,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood of Illinois | Chicago, IL | $660,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Mayo Clinic | Rochester, MN | $625,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois Inc | Skokie, IL | $585,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Friends of Magen David Adom | New York, NY | $505,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | New York, NY | $500,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Night Ministry | Chicago, IL | $500,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Albany Park Theater Project | Chicago, IL | $430,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Storycatchers Theatre | Chicago, IL | $420,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Northshore University Healthsystem | Evanston, IL | $410,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Window to the World Communications Inc | Chicago, IL | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish National Fund Inc | Northbrook, IL | $380,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Providence St Mel School | Chicago, IL | $320,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Make-a-Wish Foundation of Illinois Inc | Chicago, IL | $315,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science Inc | New York, NY | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Center for Science in the Public Interest | Washington, DC | $300,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jewish National Fund Inc | Rockville Center, NY | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Jackson Chance Foundation | Chicago, IL | $270,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Beyond Sports Foundation | Highland Park, IL | $265,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | $250,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| YWCA Metropolitan Chicago | Chicago, IL | $250,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Israel Cancer Research Fund Inc | New York, NY | $225,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Texas Foundation | Austin, TX | $225,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science Inc | Chicago, IL | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Honest Game Foundation | Chicago, IL | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Misericordia Home | Chicago, IL | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Working in the Schools | Chicago, IL | $200,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ravinia Festival Association | Highland Park, IL | $195,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Chicago Public Media Inc | Chicago, IL | $185,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine | Chicago, IL | $185,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Chicago Botanic Garden | Glencoe, IL | $180,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Chicago Horticultural Society | Glencoe, IL | $165,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Doctors Without Borders USA Inc | New York, NY | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Ark | Chicago, IL | $145,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Medecins Sans Frontieres USA | New York, NY | $135,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Writers Theatre Inc | Glencoe, IL | $120,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Lyric Opera of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Olive Tree Arts Network Nfp | Chicago, IL | $90,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Lambs Farm Inc | Libertyville, IL | $80,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Les Turner Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Foundation | Skokie, IL | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Pads Lake County Inc | Waukegan, IL | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester Inc | Rochester, NY | $55,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Jewish Community Centers of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Project Lifeline | Glencoe, IL | $50,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Rochester | Rochester, NY | $50,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Curt's Cafe | Evanston, IL | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jewish Community Center of Chicago | Northbrook, IL | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Scientists Society of Sw Florida | Cape Coral, FL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Women's Auxiliary | St Louis, MO | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Denver Health Foundation | Denver, CO | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Friends of Skinner West | Chicago, IL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago | Westmont, IL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Scleroderma Foundation | Chicago, IL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Scleroderma Foundation | Danvers, MA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Denver Health and Hospitals Foundation | Denver, CO | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Youth Development Center of America | Calumet City, IL | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bright Focus Foundation | Clarksburg, MD | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of Skinnier West | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Northwestern Memorial Foundation | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Scientists Society of Southwest Florida | Cape Coral, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
59 of 67 (88%) 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 84%, 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.
- Donorschoose Org
EXEMPT PURPOSE OF ORGANIZATION
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 149 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | $4,570,000 | $60,000 |
| 2022 | 50 | $4,790,000 | $85,000 |
| 2023 | 50 | $4,860,000 | $70,000 |
| 2024 | 49 | $5,470,000 | $100,000 |
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. 67% 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 $75,000. 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 Simon Family 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: 1755 Lake Cook Rd Apt 314, Highland Park, IL, 60035. 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 36-4325958 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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