GrantmakersIllinois

Illinois Science and Energy

Gilberts, IL · EIN 45-5087827. Reported 37 grants totalling $7,694,108 to 23 organizations across tax years 2021-2023, on Form 990 Schedule I.

23organizations funded
$141,618median reported grant
$7,694,108granted, 2021-2023
35%of grantees funded again the next year
21%of dollars to its largest recipient

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:

  1. What kind of organization it is. For Illinois Science and Energy, the IRS classifies it under public & societal benefit rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE W80) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
  2. How spread out its giving is. 23 distinct organizations, with 21% 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.
  3. How much its list changes. 35% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 2 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.

How big are its grants?

The median reported grant is $141,618. Half of what it reported fell between $15,000 and $260,000; the smallest was $15,000 and the largest $1,098,338. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.

Schedule I only reports grants over $5,000. Form 990 requires a charity to list recipients it paid more than that and lets it omit the rest, so every grant-size figure on this page describes the grants it reported, not all of them. Its real median is lower and its real recipient count is higher. This is also why these numbers cannot be compared with the private-foundation figures elsewhere on this site -- Form 990-PF has no reporting floor, so the two are different populations rather than two samples of one.
$10,000 - $25,000
12 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
2 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants
$100,000 - $250,000
9 grants
$250,000 Or More
11 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Cub Consumer Education and ResearchfundChicago, IL$1,639,338222022
Elevate EnergyChicago, IL$1,494,080222022
Kindling Group NfpChicago, IL$1,305,288332023
Illinois Science and Technology CoalitionChicago, IL$802,918332023
Chicago Community FoundationChicago, IL$420,000222022
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus FoundationChicago, IL$357,500222022
Chicago State FoundationChicago, IL$320,000322022
The Board of Trustees of the University of IllinoisUrbana, IL$300,000222022
Faith in PlaceChicago, IL$275,000112021
Board of Trustees of Illinois State UniversityNormal, IL$250,000112021
Fresh EnergySaint Paul, MN$150,000112021
Mattoon Area Young Mens Christian AssociationMattoon, IL$120,670112021
City of ChicagoChicago, IL$42,395112023
Midwest Energy Efficiency AllianceChicago, IL$35,000112021
Center of ConcernDes Plaines, IL$30,000222022
Garfield Park Community CouncilChicago, IL$30,000222022
U S Green Building Council-Illinois ChapterChicago, IL$30,000222022
Illinois Science and Energy Innovation FundGilberts, IL$16,919112022
Center for Changing LivesChicago, IL$15,000112021
Chinese American Service League IncChicago, IL$15,000112021
City Incite IncCalumet Park, IL$15,000112022
Embarras River Basin Agency IncGreenup, IL$15,000112021
Smart Grid Consumer CollaborativeAtlanta, GA$15,000112021

11 of 23 (48%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 22 of 23 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.

Environment
7 orgs
Community Improvement
4 orgs
Education
3 orgs
Human Services
2 orgs
Arts & Culture
1 org
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 org
Public & Societal Benefit
1 org
Religion
1 org

Giving by year

Tax yearGrants reportedTotalMedian grant
202121$4,880,958$150,000
202213$2,564,278$145,000
20233$248,872$64,859

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

98% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois. 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.

Illinois
$7.5M
Minnesota
$150K
Georgia
$15K

Down to the city

Chicago, IL
$6.8M
Urbana, IL
$300K
Normal, IL
$250K
Saint Paul, MN
$150K
Mattoon, IL
$121K
Des Plaines, IL
$30K

Find more funders like Illinois Science and Energy

We read newly filed IRS returns and email you the grantmakers whose giving matches your state and cause, as they are published. Free.

No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.

Funders that support the same organizations

These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available 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.

Arie and Ida Crown Memorial10 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund10 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust10 shared recipientsThe Joyce Foundation8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsUnited States Energy Foundation6 shared recipients

How to approach this grantmaker

  1. 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.
  2. Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $141,618 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
  3. Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Illinois.
  4. 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

Foundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Illinois Science and Energy's own Form 990 Schedule I 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: Po Box 295, Gilberts, IL, 60136.

EIN 45-5087827 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Form 990 is published about a year after the tax year it covers. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this organization has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next.

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