FundersWisconsin

Lff Foundation

Milwaukee, WI · EIN 52-7253360. Reported 101 grants totalling $63,229 to 45 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500median grant
$63,229granted, 2021-2024
45organizations funded
71%of grantees funded again the next year
$68,639assets, 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. Lff 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 $500. Half of everything it gave fell between $200 and $1,000; the smallest was $57 and the largest $5,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
69 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
31 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
1 grant

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
St John the Evangelist ChurchNaples, FL$5,000112024
Institute for JusticeArlington, VA$4,500442024
UccMilwaukee, WI$3,700442024
Cato InstituteWshington, DC$3,500442024
Hoover InstitutionStanford, CA$3,500442024
Salvation ArmyMilwaukee, WI$3,387442024
National Review InstituteNew York, NY$3,250442024
New CriterionNew York, NY$3,100442024
Milwaukee Rescue MissionMilwaukee, WI$2,618332023
Circle of FriendsNaples, FL$2,000112024
Milwaukee Zoological SocietyMilwaukee, WI$2,000222022
Naples Circle of FriendsNaples, FL$2,000112023
Reason FoundationLos Angeles, CA$2,000332024
League ClubNaples, FL$1,900112022
Charles E Kubly FoundationMequon, WI$1,700442024
Tax FoundationWashington, DC$1,650442024
American Institute for Economic ResearchMilwaukee, WI$1,500442024
George Mason Univ FoundationLos Angeles, CA$1,500222023
Tlc Circle of FriendsNaples, FL$1,500112021
Capuchion Community ServicesMilwaukee, WI$1,300332023
Collier Community FoundationNaples, FL$1,000112022
Milwaukee Symphony OrchestraMilwaukee, WI$1,000112022
Settlement MusicPhiladelphia, PA$1,000112023
Vertex Partnership AcademiesBronx, NY$1,000112023
Hope StreetMilwaukee, WI$900442024
John Michael Kohler ArtsSheboygan, WI$815442024
Heartland InstituteArlington Heights, IL$600332024
Fox Point Bayside FoundationFox Point, WI$500442024
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society DonorNew York, NY$500112023
Schlitz Audubon Nature CenterMilwaukee, WI$500222024
Teens Grow GreensMilwaukee, WI$500112021
Friends of Greenwood CemetaryWhitefish Bay, WI$472332024
Mercatus CenterPittsburgh, PA$450112024
Schlitz Audobon Nature CenterMilwaukee, WI$450222022
Badger InstituteMilwaukee, WI$350112021
Phi Beta KappaWashington DC, DC$280332024
Manhattan InstituteNew York, NY$250112022
Fox Point - Bayside Education FoundFox Point, WI$200222024
Fox Point FoundationFox Point, WI$200112021
Maciver InstituteMadison, WI$200112022
American TransparencyThe Villages, FL$100112024
Hillsdale CollegeHillsdale, MI$100112021
Hope MinistryMilwaukee, WI$100112021
Woodson CenterWashington, DC$100112022
City JournalNew York, NY$57112021

24 of 45 (53%) 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 71%, across 3 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 52 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Public & Societal Benefit
13 grants
Education
10 grants
Arts & Culture
5 grants
Mental Health
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Civil Rights
4 grants
Human Services
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202126$16,816$325
202228$18,019$550
202324$13,384$457
202423$15,010$450

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. 35% of this one's giving went to organizations in Wisconsin. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Wisconsin
$22K
Florida
$14K
New York
$8K
California
$7K
District of Columbia
$6K
Virginia
$4K
Pennsylvania
$1K
Illinois
$600

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund21 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc20 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program17 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc16 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust15 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation14 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $500. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Wisconsin.
  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 education in FloridaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in FloridaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Lff 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: 322 E Michigan St, 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 52-7253360 · 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, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.