Funders › Illinois

The Kathleen L Morrison Charitable Foundation

Chicago, IL · EIN 46-3487859. Reported 69 grants totalling $117,500 to 23 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,200median grant
$117,500granted, 2021-2025
23recipients, as named on its returns
64%of grantees funded again the next year
$544,627assets, 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. The Kathleen L Morrison Charitable 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 $1,200. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $2,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $5,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
4 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
63 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
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
Doctors Without BordersHagerstown, MD$13,000442025
Providence St Mel SchoolChicago, IL$12,000442025
Regina Dominican High SchoolWilmette, IL$11,500442025
American Indian College FundDenver, CO$8,000552025
Greater Chicago Food DepositoryChicago, IL$7,500552025
Josephinum AcademyChicago, IL$7,500222024
The Catholic CharitiesChicago, IL$7,500442024
Habitat for Humanity ChicagoChicago, IL$7,000552025
CareMerrifield, VA$5,300442025
UnicefNew York, NY$5,100442025
Gift of AdoptionNorthbrook, IL$5,000442025
MisericordiaChicago, IL$5,000442025
Chicago Coalition for the HomelessChicago, IL$4,000332025
Feeding AmericaChicago, IL$3,250442025
CASA Esperanzahouse of HopeChicago, IL$3,200332025
Giffords Courage to Fight Gun ViolenceWashington, DC$3,000332025
Adult and Teen Challenge of the Greater MidwestChicago, IL$2,500112023
K9S for VeteransWoodstock, IL$2,500112023
Lurie Childrens Hospital of ChicagoCarol Stream, IL$1,150112022
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$1,000112021
Sarahs CircleChicago, IL$1,000112022
Wounded Warriors ProjectJacksonville, FL$1,000112022
Save the ChildrenFairfield, CT$500112021

16 of 23 (70%) 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 64%, 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 34 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
11 grants
Food & Nutrition
9 grants
Education
7 grants
Housing & Shelter
6 grants
International Affairs
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202114$24,500$1,250
202216$20,000$1,000
202313$25,500$2,000
202412$23,000$1,000
202514$24,500$1,500

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

69% 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
$81K
Maryland
$13K
Colorado
$8K
New York
$6K
Virginia
$5K
District of Columbia
$3K
Florida
$1K
Connecticut
$500

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc8 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust8 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program7 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust7 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,200. 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 groupFoundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Kathleen L Morrison Charitable 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: 77 W Washington St Ste 1405, Chicago, IL, 60602. 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 46-3487859 · 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.