Funders › Wisconsin

Guy Reno Family Foundation

Green Bay, WI · EIN 36-7237936. Reported 173 grants totalling $1,539,900 to 55 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,539,900granted, 2021-2025
55recipients, as named on its returns
83%of grantees funded again the next year
$7,861,441assets, 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. Guy Reno Family 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $700 and the largest $60,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
28 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
89 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
43 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
10 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 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
United WayRockford, IL$245,000552025
Patriots Gateway CenterRockford, IL$120,000552025
Best Friends Animal SanctuaryKanub, UT$65,000552025
Natural Land InstituteRockford, IL$60,000552025
Rockford UniversityRockford, IL$55,000442024
Severson Dells Nature CenterRockford, IL$55,000442025
Rock Valley CollegeRockford, IL$50,000552025
RampRockford, IL$47,500552025
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$45,000552025
K Cancer BaseballBelvidere, IL$45,000222022
Crusader Community HealthRockford, IL$44,000552025
Burpee MuseumRockford, IL$43,000552025
YMCARockford, IL$40,000222022
Habitat for HumanityLoves Park, IL$35,000552025
Shelter Care MinistriesRockford, IL$34,000552025
Rockford Park District FoundationRockford, IL$30,000332025
Hoo Haven IncDurand, IL$28,000222023
Boylan Central Catholic High SchoolRockford, IL$25,000332025
Carpenters PlaceRockford, IL$25,000552025
Circle of Change Veterans Dog ProgRockton, IL$25,000552025
Midway VillageRockford, IL$25,000552025
Remedies Renewing LivesRockford, IL$25,000552025
Rock House KidsRockford, IL$25,000552025
Safe Families for ChildrenChicago, IL$21,000332025
Goldie B Floberg Center for Childr EnRockford, IL$20,200332025
American Red CrossChicago, IL$20,000442025
Mom's AngelsRockford, IL$20,000442024
Rock River Valley PantryRockford, IL$20,000442025
Rockford Area Pregnancy Care CenterRockford, IL$20,000552025
Schuyler Community FoundationRushville, IL$20,000552025
Winnebago County CASARockford, IL$20,000442025
YMCA of Rock River ValleyRockford, IL$20,000112024
Northern Ilinois HospiceRockford, IL$17,000332025
Culbertson Memorial HospitalRushville, IL$16,000442025
Literacy CouncilRockford, IL$15,000332023
Rockford Rescue MissionRockford, IL$15,000332023
Illinois Growth EnterprisesLoves Park, IL$12,000332025
Disabled Patriot FundTinley Park, IL$10,000112021
Swedish American FoundationRockford, IL$10,000112024
YWCA Northwestern IllinoisRockford, IL$10,000222025
Rockford Day NurseryRockford, IL$6,000332023
Ethan Lindberg Foundation IncCaledonia, IL$5,000112025
Gigis Playhouse - Rockford LLCMachesney Park, IL$5,000112025
Girl Scouts of Central IllinoisSpringfield, IL$5,000222023
Miss Carly'sRockford, IL$5,000112021
Northern Illinois Blood Bank Inc D/B/a Rock River Valley Blood CenterRockford, IL$5,000112025
Northern Illinois HospiceRockford, IL$5,000112021
Paws Humane SocietyRockford, IL$5,000112021
Stronghold CastleOregon, IL$5,000222022
University of Wisconsin FoundationMadison, WI$5,000112025
Barbara Olson Center of HopeRockford, IL$3,000112021
Lifescape Community ServicesRockford, IL$3,000112021
Salvation ArmyRockford, IL$2,500112021
Marine Toys for Tots FoundationTriangle, VA$2,000222025
Marine Toys for TotsTriangle, VA$700112022

41 of 55 (75%) 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 83%, 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 78 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.

Human Services
23 grants
Housing & Shelter
10 grants
Animal Welfare
8 grants
Environment
8 grants
Education
8 grants
Arts & Culture
5 grants
Mental Health
5 grants
Youth Development
5 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202135$298,500$5,000
202235$316,700$5,000
202335$290,700$5,000
202433$316,000$7,000
202535$318,000$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.

Where its money goes

92% 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
$1.4M
Utah
$65K
New York
$45K
Wisconsin
$5K
Virginia
$3K

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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.

Community Foundation of Northern Il24 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc20 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund19 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsBergstrom Inc Charitable Foundation XXXXX200818 shared recipientsUnited Way of Rock River Valley14 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. 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.
  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 human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Guy Reno Family Foundation'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: Po Box 12800 Ms 8567, Green Bay, WI, 54307. 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 36-7237936 · 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.