Illinois · Private foundation
Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $82k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 10
- Grants FY2025
- 11
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 18%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $2,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $51,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 8 to 13
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 4
- Total assets, FY2025
- $1.5M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 18% of the organizations Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 20% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 9 | $82k | 11% |
| FY2024 | 11 | $75k | 18% |
| FY2023 | 8 | $89k | 0% |
| FY2022 | 10 | $94k | 20% |
| FY2021 | 10 | $226k | 0% |
| FY2020 | 13 | $53k | 15% |
| FY2019 | 12 | $61k | 8% |
| FY2018 | 13 | $50k | 31% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Horticultural Society | $221,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Michigan State University | $22,000 | 8 | n/a |
| Gorton Community Center | $14,000 | 8 | 0% |
| Samaritan's Purse | $12,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Moorings Presbyterian Church | $8,500 | 8 | n/a |
| St Andrews Parish | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Friends of Lake Forest Parks & Rec Foundation | $5,000 | 1 | 0% |
| History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff | $5,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Reading Power Inc | $3,250 | 5 | 0% |
| Endeavor Health Clinical Operations | $2,750 | 4 | 0% |
Show all 17 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Horticultural Society | $221,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Michigan State University | $22,000 | 8 | n/a |
| Gorton Community Center | $14,000 | 8 | 0% |
| Samaritan's Purse | $12,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Moorings Presbyterian Church | $8,500 | 8 | n/a |
| St Andrews Parish | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Friends of Lake Forest Parks & Rec Foundation | $5,000 | 1 | 0% |
| History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff | $5,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Reading Power Inc | $3,250 | 5 | 0% |
| Endeavor Health Clinical Operations | $2,750 | 4 | 0% |
| Geneva Foundation | $1,300 | 2 | n/a |
| Lake Forest Open Lands Association | $700 | 2 | 0% |
| Elawa Farm Foundation | $600 | 1 | 0% |
| Northern Illinois Food Bank | $300 | 1 | 0% |
| National Park Foundation | $250 | 1 | 0% |
| Sarah's Circle | $100 | 1 | 0% |
| American Heart Association Inc | $100 | 1 | 0% |
Plus 13 recipients with no EIN on record ($482k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Clarks Fork Foundation · Butler Family Foundation · John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy · The Chicago Community Trust · Hunter Family Foundation · Little Orchard Foundation · Hunting Foundation · Fletcher Family Foundation · Garrett Family Foundation · CMB Foundation · Hedberg Foundation Inc · Red Bird Hollow Foundation
How this is measured
Compare Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.
Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.
About Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation
- How much does Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation give?
- Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation reported 10 grants totaling $82,250 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 13 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (40%), Environment (28%), Religion (21%).
- Who are Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Chicago Horticultural Society ($221k), Michigan State University ($22k), Gorton Community Center ($14k).
- Does Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 18% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Clarks Fork Foundation, Butler Family Foundation, John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy.
- Where is Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation based?
- Geraldine & Roland Ford Foundation is based in IL.
Play a game based on Geraldine & Roland Ford’s filings →