Illinois · Private foundation
Mary Lou Downs 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.
- $300k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 42
- Grants FY2025
- 44
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 2%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $4,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $14,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 40 to 44
- FY2020 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 10
- Total assets, FY2025
- $2.1M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 2% of the organizations Mary Lou Downs Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 2% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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 | 42 | $300k | 0% |
| FY2024 | 44 | $225k | 2% |
| FY2023 | 42 | $190k | 5% |
| FY2022 | 43 | $199k | 2% |
| FY2021 | 42 | $190k | 5% |
| FY2020 | 40 | $194k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 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, FY2020 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc | $69,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Wings Program Inc | $69,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Life-Span | $63,000 | 6 | 0% |
| The Center of Concern | $56,000 | 6 | 1% |
| Shelter Inc | $56,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Hephzibah Children's Association | $55,000 | 6 | 0% |
| La Rabida Children's Hospital | $53,000 | 6 | 0% |
| House of the Good Shepherd | $48,000 | 6 | 1% |
| Maryville Academy | $32,500 | 6 | 0% |
| Paralyzed Veterans of America | $30,500 | 6 | 0% |
Show all 35 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 11 recipients with no EIN on record ($332k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Mary Lou Downs 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: United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · AbbVie Foundation · George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The a Montgomery Ward Foundation · Helen V Brach Foundation · The Allstate Foundation · Cuore e Mani Foundation · Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation · Andrew and Alice Fischer Charitable Trust · Trustmark Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation
How this is measured
About Mary Lou Downs Foundation
- How much does Mary Lou Downs Foundation give?
- Mary Lou Downs Foundation reported 42 grants totaling $300,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 40 and 44 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2024.
- What does Mary Lou Downs Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (29%), Human Services (27%), Housing & Shelter (17%).
- Who are Mary Lou Downs Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2020 to FY2025: St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc ($69k), Wings Program Inc ($69k), Life-Span ($63k).
- Does Mary Lou Downs Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 2% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Mary Lou Downs 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 Mary Lou Downs Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc, AbbVie Foundation, George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities.
- Where is Mary Lou Downs Foundation based?
- Mary Lou Downs Foundation is based in IL.
Play a game based on Mary Lou Downs’ filings →