Sam I Am Foundation
Highland Park, IL · EIN 47-4574159. Reported 97 grants totalling $2,305,834 to 46 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". Sam I Am Foundation checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
5 of the organizations Sam I Am Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 10 grants totalling $207,295 to them. That is 11% of the $1,966,924 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago | federated giving programme | Illinois | $199,627 | 5 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Highland Park Community Foundation | community foundation | Illinois | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 | Its form does not ask |
| Givengain Foundation USA | grantmaking organization | Florida | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Greater Miami Jewish Federation Inc | federated giving programme | Florida | $118 | 1 | 1 | 2021 | Its form does not ask |
| Paypal Charitable Giving Fund | grantmaking organization | District of Columbia | $50 | 1 | 1 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $15,036; the smallest was $50 and the largest $350,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ann & Robert H Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago Foundation | Chicago, IL | $1,150,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish Community Center of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $201,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Jewish United Fund | Chicago, IL | $189,018 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| North Shore Congregation Israel | Glencoe, IL | $144,045 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Friends of the Idf | Chicago, IL | $130,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Highland Park Peace Project | Highland Park, IL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Anti Defamation League | New York, NY | $90,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| United States Holocaust Memorial Council | Washington, DC | $60,464 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| National Kidney Foundation | Chicago, IL | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| The Ark | Chicago, IL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Charles M Schwartz Memorial Foundation | Chicago, IL | $25,750 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Am Shalom | Glencoe, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Israel Cancer Research Fund | New York, NY | $22,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Birthright Israel Foundation | New York, NY | $18,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| National Multiple Sclerosis Society | Chicago, IL | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago | Chicago, IL | $10,609 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| National Multiple Sclerosis Society | New York, NY | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Helping Hands Network Inc | Northbrook, IL | $7,116 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Highland Park Community Foundation | Highland Park, IL | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Birthright | New York, NY | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Keshet | Northbrook, IL | $5,225 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| American Friends of Alyn Hospital | New York, NY | $3,649 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Institute of Soil and Soul | Long Grove, IL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rolfe Pancreatic Foundation | Chicago, IL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Secure Community Network Inc | Chicago, IL | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Giving Back Fund Inc | Boston, MA | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Chicago Lighthouse | Chicago, IL | $1,720 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Chicago Police Memorial Foundation | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Erikson Institute | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Loyola Medicine Transport LLC | Maywood, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Michael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Jac Education Foundation | Highland Park, IL | $610 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Givengain Foundation USA | Fort Lauderdale, FL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| American Friends of Sheba Medical Center Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $382 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| US Holocaust Memorial Council | Washington, DC | $216 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance | Chicago, IL | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Medically Induced Suicide Ed Foundation | Chicago, IL | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sunrise Day Camps Association Inc | Oceanside, NY | $191 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boston Medical Center | Boston, MA | $158 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Medication-Induced Suicide Education Foundation | Chicago, IL | $150 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Greater Miami Jewish Federation | Miami, FL | $118 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation | Indianapolis, IN | $103 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Another Step Inc | Orangeburg, NY | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Melanoma Research Foundation | Washington, DC | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lincoln Park Zoo | Chicago, IL | $60 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Paypal Charitable Giving Fund | Washington, DC | $50 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
21 of 46 (46%) 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 66%, 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, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
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.
- Jac Education Foundation
GENERAL OPPERATING SUPPORT - Boston Medical Center
BOSTON MARATHON SPONSORSHIP
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 69 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | $342,111 | $5,037 |
| 2022 | 18 | $443,192 | $5,500 |
| 2023 | 20 | $448,345 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 19 | $506,533 | $5,000 |
| 2025 | 22 | $565,653 | $3,750 |
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. Sam I Am Foundation has 1 of them, worth $5,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation | Chicago, IL | $5,000 |
Where its money goes
91% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois.
Get funders for your state and cause by email
We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.
Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.
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. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Sam I Am 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: 2345 Egandale Road, Highland Park, IL, 60035. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 47-4574159 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.