Illinois · Private foundation
Morton S Abelson 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.
- $93k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 23
- Grants FY2025
- 18
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 17%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $1,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $25,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 6 to 24
- FY2019 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 9
- Total assets, FY2025
- $176k
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 17% of the organizations Morton S Abelson Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 22% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k 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 | 23 | $93k | 30% |
| FY2024 | 18 | $39k | 17% |
| FY2023 | 24 | $59k | 42% |
| FY2022 | 9 | $18k | 33% |
| FY2021 | 6 | $18k | 0% |
| FY2020 | 12 | $16k | 17% |
| FY2019 | 14 | $17k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 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, FY2019 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fistula Foundation | $45,000 | 7 | 0% |
| Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago | $35,000 | 7 | 0% |
| Southern Poverty Law Center Inc | $26,500 | 6 | 0% |
| Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Anti-Defamation League | $22,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Sparky Productions Inc | $7,500 | 1 | n/a |
| World Central Kitchen Inc | $5,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Back Bay Ringers Inc | $5,000 | 1 | 8% |
| Northern Illinois Food Bank | $4,000 | 3 | 0% |
| St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc | $3,000 | 3 | 0% |
Show all 28 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 11 recipients with no EIN on record ($63k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Morton S Abelson 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: Robert & Susan Star Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Morton S Abelson Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Morton S Abelson 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 Morton S Abelson Foundation
- How much does Morton S Abelson Foundation give?
- Morton S Abelson Foundation reported 23 grants totaling $93,010 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 6 and 24 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2024.
- What does Morton S Abelson Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (37%), Civil Rights (22%), Philanthropy (21%).
- Who are Morton S Abelson Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2019 to FY2025: The Fistula Foundation ($45k), Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago ($35k), Southern Poverty Law Center Inc ($27k).
- Does Morton S Abelson Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 17% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Morton S Abelson 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 Morton S Abelson Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Robert & Susan Star Foundation, National Philanthropic Trust, Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program.
- Where is Morton S Abelson Foundation based?
- Morton S Abelson Foundation is based in IL.
Play a game based on Morton S Abelson’s filings →