Funders › Illinois

Elizabeth S Baker Trust

Litchfield, IL · EIN 37-6371073. Reported 117 grants totalling $681,135 to 39 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,500median grant
$681,135granted, 2021-2025
39recipients, as named on its returns
74%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,469,442assets, 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. Elizabeth S Baker Trust 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 $1,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $5,122; the smallest was $500 and the largest $38,220. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
21 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
61 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
13 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
11 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
11 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Zion Lutheran SchoolLitchfield, IL$146,980552025
Hearts UnitedLitchfield, IL$120,000552025
Make It ProgramLitchfield, IL$109,900552025
Uacc Pantry Pals ProgramLitchfield, IL$50,000222025
Union Avenue Christian ChurchSt Louis, MO$40,000332024
The Next NetworkLitchfield, IL$20,500332025
Litchfield Early Childhood CenterLitchfield, IL$18,020112025
Litchfield Christmas BasketLitchfield, IL$15,000222024
Litchfield Comm School DistLitchfield, IL$14,000552025
Operation Elf of Litchfield IlLitchfield, IL$14,000442025
Youth UnitedLitchfield, IL$12,500222022
St Francis HospitalLitchfield, IL$11,362552025
First Baptist Church of LitchfieldLitchfield, IL$11,258222022
The Salvation ArmySt Louis, MO$10,000552025
Southside ChurchLitchfield, IL$8,000332023
Litchfield Music BoostersLitchfield, IL$5,122112025
Litchfield Post Prom CommitteeLitchfield, IL$5,118332025
Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome CenterLitchfield, IL$5,050442025
Blackburn CollegeCarlinville, IL$5,000552025
First Presbyterian ChurchLitchfield, IL$5,000552025
Litchfield PTOLitchfield, IL$5,000112025
University of IllinoisUrbana, IL$5,000552025
Warren Wilson CollegeSwannanoa, NC$5,000552025
Litchfield Public LibraryLitchfield, IL$4,450552025
Girl Scouts of Central IllinoisSpringfield, IL$3,750332023
Montgomery County Swim TeamMontgomery City, MO$3,700112024
Litchfield Park DistrictLitchfield, IL$3,325442025
St Timothy MethodistLitchfield, IL$3,300112023
Litchfield Community Youth Development ProgramLitchfield, IL$3,000112025
Fellowship of Christian AthletesKansas City, MO$2,500332024
Millikin UniversityDecatur, IL$2,500552025
Shriners Hospital for ChildrenChicago, IL$2,500552025
Carlinville Women's CenterCarlinville, IL$2,400222024
Coats for Kids of LitchfieldLitchfield, IL$2,200112023
Breaking Bread AssociationLitchfield, IL$2,000112022
Together Litchfield CanLitchfield, IL$1,200112024
Litchfield Christian School of First BaptistLitchfield, IL$1,000112025
Litchfield Police Dept K9 UnitLitchfield, IL$1,000112021
In Christ AloneLitchfield, IL$500112025

27 of 39 (69%) 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 74%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 36 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.

Education
15 grants
Human Services
9 grants
Youth Development
4 grants
Arts & Culture
4 grants
Mental Health
3 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202122$120,908$1,750
202224$140,570$1,100
202323$131,173$2,000
202423$139,062$1,600
202525$149,422$1,000

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

91% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Illinois
$620K
Missouri
$56K
North Carolina
$5K

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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.

W Darrell Kilton Foundation7 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program4 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc4 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund3 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America3 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc3 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Illinois.
  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 IllinoisEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Elizabeth S Baker Trust's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: 401 N Madison Po Box 410, Litchfield, IL, 62056. 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 37-6371073 · 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.

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