Funders › Illinois

Idex Foundation

Northbrook, IL · EIN 47-1141222. Reported 29 grants totalling $4,238,507 to 27 recipients across tax years 2023-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$4,238,507granted, 2023-2025
27recipients, as named on its returns
7%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,933,066assets, 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. Idex 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $1,637,573. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$5,000 - $10,000
12 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
8 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
1 grant
$50,000 - $100,000
1 grant
$100,000 and Up
7 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
America Online Giving Foundation IncNewark, DE$2,764,174222025
Caf AmericaAlexandria, VA$575,472222025
American Online Giving Foundation IncNewark, DE$410,807112023
The Uk Online Giving FoundationLondon, GB$150,304112025
Boys and Girls Club of AmericaAtlanta, GA$100,000112024
American Red CrossWashington, DC$50,000112024
Iowa Heartland Habitat for HumanityWaterloo, IA$25,000112024
Rochester Childfirst NetworkRochester, NY$16,500112024
Kids in Need FoundationRoseville, MN$13,750112024
Boys and Girls Club of Charlotte CountyPort Charlotte, FL$10,000112023
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Salt LakeMurray, UT$10,000112023
Cradles to CrayonsChicago, IL$10,000112024
Hmong American Association of ColoradoWestminster, CO$10,000112024
Regional Food Bank of OklahomaOklahoma City, OK$10,000112025
Union League Boys and Girls ClubChicago, IL$10,000112024
Christo Rey St Martin College PrepWaukegan, IL$9,500112024
Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland CountyShelby, NC$9,000112023
Jewish Family Services of Rochester IncRochester, NY$9,000112023
Chops Teen ClubSanta Rosa, CA$5,000112024
Christian Life Outreach - Moms PantryPhoenix, AZ$5,000112023
Emergency Family Assistance Association IncBoulder, CO$5,000112023
Feeding America West Mi Food BankGrand Rapids, MI$5,000112024
First Presbyterian Church of OceansideOceanside, CA$5,000112023
Jacobs & Cushman Sand Diego Food BankSan Diego, CA$5,000112023
Positive Tomorrows IncOklahoma City, OK$5,000112024
South Shore Community Action CouncilPlymouth, MA$5,000112023
Wheeling Township Emergency Fund IncArlington Heights, IL$5,000112023

2 of 27 (7%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 7%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

Plus 205 grants to individuals totalling $3,485,121 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 13 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.

Youth Development
4 grants
Human Services
3 grants
Community Improvement
2 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 grant
Housing & Shelter
1 grant
Education
1 grant
Food & Nutrition
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202311$478,807$5,000
202414$1,834,176$11,875
20254$1,925,524$138,975

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

75% of its giving went to organizations in Delaware. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Delaware
$3.2M
Virginia
$575K
Gb
$150K
Georgia
$100K
District of Columbia
$50K
Illinois
$34K
New York
$26K
Iowa
$25K

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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.

American Online Giving Foundation Inc15 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund12 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc9 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America7 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust6 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program6 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. 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 Delaware.
  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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Idex 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: 3100 Sanders Rd Ste 301, Northbrook, IL, 60062. 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 47-1141222 · 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.