Illinois · Private foundation
The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust
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.
- $326k
- Granted FY2021
- 35
- Grants FY2021
- 35
- Organizations funded FY2021
- 17%
- First-time grantees FY2021
Read this first · the figures below need context
100% of The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust named its own grantees at scale: 22 organizations, $326k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
- Median grant, FY2021
- $3,500
- Largest grant, FY2021
- $125,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 35 to 38
- FY2020 to FY2021
- States reached, FY2021
- 11
- Total assets, FY2021
- $6.8M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2021, 17% of the organizations The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust funded were first-time grantees, receiving 4% of its grant dollars.
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 35 | $326k | 17% |
| FY2020 | 38 | $187k | 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 FY2021, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School | $164,267 | 2 | 0% |
| Shore Community Services Inc | $69,100 | 2 | 1% |
| Marco Island Academy a Public Charter High School | $40,500 | 2 | 0% |
| North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation | $33,332 | 2 | 0% |
| University of Delaware | $25,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Music Theatre Works Inc | $10,500 | 2 | 1% |
| Project Zawadi Inc | $10,000 | 2 | 2% |
| The Salvation Army | $10,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Guadalupe Center Inc | $7,500 | 2 | 0% |
| Cafe of Life Inc | $7,000 | 2 | 0% |
Show all 28 grantees
Plus 16 recipients with no EIN on record ($82k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust 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 Blackbaud Giving Fund · Dr Scholl Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc
How this is measured
Compare The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust?
Find your warmest path to The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust 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 The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust
- How much does The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust give?
- The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust reported 35 grants totaling $325,766 in its FY2021 IRS filing. It funded between 35 and 38 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2021.
- What does The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2021, its largest causes are Philanthropy (89%), Education (5%), Human Services (3%).
- Who are The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2020 to FY2021: Lawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School ($164k), Shore Community Services Inc ($69k), Marco Island Academy a Public Charter High School ($41k).
- Does The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust fund new organizations?
- In FY2021, 17% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust 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 The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, The Blackbaud Giving Fund, Dr Scholl Foundation.
- Where is The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust based?
- The Richard and Margaret Romano Charitable Trust is based in IL.
Play a game based on Richard and Margaret Romano’s filings →