Illinois · Private foundation
Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family 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)
- 13
- Grants FY2025
- 17
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 41%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $5,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $35,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 6 to 17
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 6
- Total assets, FY2025
- $1.0M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 41% of the organizations Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 5% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k 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 | 13 | $93k | 38% |
| FY2024 | 17 | $201k | 41% |
| FY2023 | 17 | $157k | 71% |
| FY2022 | 8 | $141k | 50% |
| FY2021 | 9 | $98k | 33% |
| FY2020 | 6 | $110k | 17% |
| FY2019 | 14 | $112k | 71% |
| FY2018 | 8 | $228k | 50% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millennium Park Foundation | $275,000 | 4 | 11% |
| The Latin School of Chicago | $255,600 | 6 | 0% |
| Lincoln Park Zoological Society | $180,000 | 8 | 0% |
| The Historymakers | $65,000 | 7 | 0% |
| University of Michigan | $50,000 | 2 | 12% |
| United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc | $40,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Jupiter Medical Center Foundation Inc | $32,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Princeton Day School Inc | $30,000 | 1 | 0% |
| College Possible Inc | $15,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Community Synagogue | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
Show all 33 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 21 recipients with no EIN on record ($218k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family 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: The Chicago Community Trust · The Sidley Austin Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Baird Foundation Inc · Borgen Family Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation
How this is measured
Compare Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation with peer funders
About Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation
- How much does Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation give?
- Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation reported 13 grants totaling $93,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 6 and 17 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (27%), Recreation & Sports (22%), Health (20%).
- Who are Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Millennium Park Foundation ($275k), The Latin School of Chicago ($256k), Lincoln Park Zoological Society ($180k).
- Does Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 41% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family 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 Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, The Sidley Austin Foundation, Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc.
- Where is Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation based?
- Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation is based in IL.
Play a game based on Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family’s filings →