Danielson Foundation
Chicago, IL · EIN 36-2540494. Reported 245 grants totalling $1,704,085 to 71 recipients 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. Danielson 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $10,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $48,500. 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. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnigan USA Fund | Bothell, WA | $179,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Santa Catalina School | Monterey, CA | $115,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Liberty Hill Foundation - Cassandra Fund | Los Angeles, CA | $97,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Santa Catalina School - the Idea Endowment | Monterey, CA | $70,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Outright Action International | New York, NY | $70,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Human Rights Watch | Los Angeles, CA | $67,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Doctors Without Borders | Hagerstown, MD | $64,900 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $62,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Barnard College | New York, NY | $55,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Four Winds Inc | Deer Harbor, WA | $52,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA | $45,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Los Angeles Art | Los Angeles, CA | $43,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $42,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Vizcayans - General Operating Fund | Miami, FL | $30,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Robert Louis Stevenson High School | Pebble Beach, CA | $27,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Vizcayans | Miami, FL | $27,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Astraea Foundation | New York, NY | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Galapagos Conservancy Inc | Fairfax, VA | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Groton School - Annual Fund | Groton, MA | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Groton School - Red JR Scholarship Fund | Groton, MA | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Rainbow Railroad | New York, NY | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sun Valley Summer Symphony | Sun Valley, ID | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Yale University-Richard E Danielson JR Scholarship Fund | New Haven, CT | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Museo Reina Sofia Foundation (usa) Inc | New York, NY | $23,085 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Gulliver Schools | Miami, FL | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| National Center for Lesbian Rights | San Francisco, CA | $16,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Yale University-School of Art | New Haven, CT | $16,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| American Red Cross | Boone, IA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Woodside School Foundation | Woodside, CA | $15,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Word of Honor Fund | Bellevue, ID | $15,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Portola Valley Theater Conservatory | Portola Valley, CA | $14,500 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Myriad USA Inc | New York, NY | $13,600 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hospice Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley | Ketchum, ID | $13,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Woodside Village Church | Woodside, CA | $13,500 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| J Paul Getty Trust Los Angeles California | Los Angeles, CA | $13,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Dawn Redwoods Charitable Trust | Tiburon, CA | $13,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Artists Space Inc | New York, NY | $12,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Immaterial Incorporated | Brooklyn, NY | $12,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Nature Conservancy of Idaho | Hailey, ID | $12,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Sawtooth Botanical Gardens | Ketchum, ID | $12,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| The Thacher School - Art Department | Ojai, CA | $12,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Board of Trustees Leland Stanford JR University - Hoover Institution | Stanford, CA | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| British Schools & Universities Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Deering Estate Foundation | Miami, FL | $10,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hospice Foundation of Palm Beach County Inc | Palm Beach, FL | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| International Ocd Foundation | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Planned Parenthood of the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Area Inc | West Palm Beach, FL | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Swiftsure Ranch Therapeutic Equestrian Center | Bellevue, ID | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Working Artists and the Greater Economy | New York, NY | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| World Wildlife Fund | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| YMCA Wood River Valley | Ketchum, ID | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Institute of Contemporary Art Miami Inc | Miami, FL | $8,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hanley-Hazelden Foundation | West Palm Beach, FL | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Challenge Success | Stanford, CA | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Delta Waterfowl Foundation | Bismarck, ND | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| J Paul Getty Trust | Los Angeles, CA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of St Andrews American Foundation Inc | Atlanta, GA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rainbow Railroad USA | New York, NY | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Golden State Salmon Association | San Francisco, CA | $5,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Redcross | Boone, IA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Broadway Caresequity Fights AIDS | New York, NY | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Upward Scholars | Redwood City, CA | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Planned Parenthood - Palm Beach | West Palm Beach, FL | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Salvation Army | Santa Rosa, CA | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hoover Institution on War Revolution and Peace | Stanford, CA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hanley Center Foundation Inc | West Palm Beach, FL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Santa Barbara Master Chorale | Santa Barbara, CA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History | Santa Barbara, CA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The New School | New York, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
57 of 71 (80%) 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 87%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
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.
- Hospice Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley
HOSPITALS, HEALTH, AND MEDICAL - Hospice Foundation of Palm Beach County Inc
HOPSITALS, HEALTH, AND MEDICAL
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 129 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 48 | $340,000 | $5,000 |
| 2021 | 49 | $345,000 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 49 | $342,000 | $3,500 |
| 2023 | 50 | $342,085 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 49 | $335,000 | $5,000 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Danielson Foundation has 3 of them, worth $131,500. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Shawnigan USA Fund | Seattle, WA | $90,000 |
| Barnard College | New York, NY | $32,500 |
| Woodside Village Church | Woodside, CA | $9,000 |
Where its money goes
34% of its giving went to organizations in California. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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 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 foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in California.
- 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 Danielson Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 410 North Michigan Avenue 590, Chicago, IL, 60611. 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 36-2540494 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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