Pillars Fund
Chicago, IL · EIN 81-0983087. Reported 159 grants totalling $8,396,290 to 70 organizations across tax years 2021-2025, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Pillars Fund, the IRS classifies it as a fundraising and fund-distribution organization (NTEE T12).
- How spread out its giving is. 70 distinct organizations, with 6% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 77% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and above the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $50,000. Half of what it reported fell between $25,000 and $73,000; the smallest was $5,500 and the largest $155,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Revival Engaging American Muslims | Detroit, MI | $495,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Inner-City Muslim Action Network | Chicago, IL | $485,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Allied Media Projects Inc | Detroit, MI | $475,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The City University of New York School of Law Foundation Inc | Long Island City, NY | $455,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Muslim Wellness Foundation Inc | Philadelphia, PA | $435,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Georgia Muslim Voter Project | Atlanta, GA | $410,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Pillars of the Community | San Diego, CA | $403,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Institute for Social Policy and Understanding | Dearborn, MI | $380,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative | Alta Loma, CA | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Sirat Chicago | Chicago, IL | $255,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| International Museum of Muslim Culture | Jackson, MS | $250,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| New Leaders | New York, NY | $230,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Neo Philanthropy Inc | New York, NY | $190,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Defending Rights and Dissent Inc | Washington, DC | $185,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Faith in Action Network | Oakland, CA | $180,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Il Muslim Civic Coalition | Chicago, IL | $180,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment | Minneapolis, MN | $180,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Stanford, CA | $180,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Action Center on Race and the Economy Institute | Chicago, IL | $170,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Appellate Project Inc | Washington, DC | $170,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Partners | Los Angeles, CA | $170,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Project South the Institution for the Elimination Poverty & Genocide | Atlanta, GA | $155,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Emgage Foundation Inc | Lakeland, FL | $140,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Women Make Movies Inc | New York, NY | $135,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Huron University College Foundation USA | Buffalo, NY | $105,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Experience Form LLC | Winter Springs, FL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Malikah Inc | Astoria, NY | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Regent Park Songs Ltd | London | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Community Initiatives | Oakland, CA | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Maristan | Fremont, CA | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| American Muslim Health Professionals | Rolling Meadows, IL | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Institute for Social Policy | Dearborn, MI | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild Inc | Washington, DC | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Documented Ltd | New York, NY | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Muslim Power Building Project | Durham, NC | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Tides Center | San Francisco, CA | $65,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Manara West | Orange, CA | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Global Deaf Muslim USA | Alexandria, VA | $55,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| National Partnership for New Americans Inc | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| American Muslim Advisory Council | Nashville, TN | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Haymarket Books | Chicago, IL | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Indiana University Foundation | Bloomington, IN | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Project South | Atlanta, GA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Blue Tin Production LLC | Chicago, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maine Peoples Resource Center | Portland, ME | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Muslim Campus Life Corporation | Winchester, MA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of California San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Yemeni American Merchants Associations Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| International Council for Refugees and Immigrants Inc | Omaha, NE | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Just Vision Inc | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Muslim Advocates | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Muslim Community Network Inc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Yusra | Tucson, AZ | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| United Talent Agency | Beverly Hills, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Asian American Journalists Association | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Black Muslim Leadership Counc | King of Prussia, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chicago Humanities Festival | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Education for Just Peace in the Middle East | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Leading Productive Lives LLC | Dallas, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Muhsen | Oak Brook, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Muppies Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sahaba Initiative Inc | Sn Bernrdno, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Student Clubs of Hbs Inc Eta | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Trustees of Columbia University | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Uniondocs Inc | Ridgewood, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| University of Georgia Foundation | Athens, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wespac Foundation Inc | White Plains, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Shrine Auditorium and Expo Ha | Los Angeles, CA | $7,790 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Cedars Restaurant | Chicago, IL | $5,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
35 of 70 (50%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 53 of 70 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | $1,020,000 | $30,000 |
| 2022 | 36 | $2,100,000 | $50,000 |
| 2023 | 30 | $2,035,000 | $52,500 |
| 2024 | 45 | $2,425,000 | $50,000 |
| 2025 | 17 | $816,290 | $70,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
20% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
Foundations that fund only organizations they pick gave to this one
9 private foundations that told the IRS they contribute only to organizations they select themselves reported 21 grants totalling $4,130,256 to Pillars Fund. That is 28% of the 32 funders we can see giving to it. Those 9 foundations do not take unsolicited requests -- their own returns say so. The IRS classifies this organization as a grantmaking organization.
4 of them gave in more than one tax year, which is the only durability signal the filings carry.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application here reaches that money. A grant from a closed foundation is often a designated gift or a donor-advised fund earmarked by whoever gave it, and has nothing to do with any open programme this organization runs. Neither tax return says which, so neither do we. The list below is who put money in. It is not a route to it.
| Foundation | State | Reported | Grants | Years | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation to Promote Open Society | New York | $1,700,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| John D and Catherine T Macarthur | Illinois | $1,025,000 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Democracy Fund Inc | District of Columbia | $950,000 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| John E Fetzer Institute Inc | Michigan | $380,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Beverley Way Foundation | California | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Hamzavi Foundation | Michigan | $24,256 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Marguerite Casey Foundation | Washington | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Burkehaven Family Foundation | Massachusetts | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Pierce Family Charitable Foundation | Delaware | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
A linked name has a page of its own. We publish one for a foundation that takes no unsolicited requests only when a real share of its giving goes to organizations that make grants themselves, and that page opens by saying it does not take requests.
Both the count and the total are floors. A foundation appears here only where its return named this organization clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows. There are more; we cannot name them.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. 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.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $50,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Pillars Fund's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 11 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 6 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 200 W Madison Flr 3, Chicago, IL, 60606.
EIN 81-0983087 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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