Illinois · Private foundation
William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation
Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $2.1M
- Granted FY2024(still arriving)
- 8
- Grants FY2024
- 8
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 13%
- First-time grantees FY2023
- Median grant, FY2024
- $250,000
- Largest grant, FY2024
- $550,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 8 to 28
- FY2017 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2024
- 3
- Total assets, FY2024
- $28M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 13% of the organizations William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 20% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $200k 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024still arriving | 8 | $2.1M | 13% |
| FY2023 | 8 | $991k | 13% |
| FY2022 | 24 | $1.6M | 13% |
| FY2021 | 22 | $461k | 9% |
| FY2020 | 28 | $178k | 36% |
| FY2019 | 19 | $401k | 26% |
| FY2018 | 18 | $336k | 33% |
| FY2017 | 19 | $540k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
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 FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary of the Lake Seminary | $1,750,000 | 4 | n/a |
| Catholic Church Extension Society of US of Amer | $1,075,000 | 8 | n/a |
| Diocese of Winona-Rochester | $250,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Immaculate Heart Media Inc | $227,500 | 6 | 0% |
| St Paul Center for Biblical Theology | $212,500 | 3 | 2% |
| St Norbert College Inc | $74,500 | 7 | 0% |
| St Patrick Church | $63,500 | 6 | n/a |
| Institute for Priestly Formation Inc | $55,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Big Shoulders Fund | $30,000 | 3 | 0% |
| St Mary Parish & School | $22,500 | 3 | n/a |
Show all 24 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary of the Lake Seminary | $1,750,000 | 4 | n/a |
| Catholic Church Extension Society of US of Amer | $1,075,000 | 8 | n/a |
| Diocese of Winona-Rochester | $250,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Immaculate Heart Media Inc | $227,500 | 6 | 0% |
| St Paul Center for Biblical Theology | $212,500 | 3 | 2% |
| St Norbert College Inc | $74,500 | 7 | 0% |
| St Patrick Church | $63,500 | 6 | n/a |
| Institute for Priestly Formation Inc | $55,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Big Shoulders Fund | $30,000 | 3 | 0% |
| St Mary Parish & School | $22,500 | 3 | n/a |
| Woodlawn Foundation | $22,000 | 6 | 0% |
| The Time Is Now to Help Inc | $20,000 | 4 | 1% |
| Northwestern Memorial Healthcare | $18,000 | 4 | n/a |
| Word on Fire Catholic Ministries | $17,500 | 2 | 0% |
| Fellowship of Catholic University Students | $10,500 | 6 | n/a |
| St Francis de Sales Parish & School | $10,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Illinois Club for Catholic Women | $9,000 | 1 | 2% |
| American Federation of Pueri Cantores | $5,000 | 1 | 5% |
| St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Thomas More Society | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Ronald McDonald House Global | $500 | 1 | 0% |
| Geneva Lake Conservancy Inc | $300 | 3 | 0% |
| Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Foundation | $250 | 1 | 0% |
| Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders Association Inc | $100 | 1 | 0% |
Plus 23 recipients with no EIN on record ($2.7M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget William H & Lois J McEssy 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 · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · AbbVie Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
Compare William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation?
Find your warmest path to William H & Lois J McEssy 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 William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation
- How much does William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation give?
- William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation reported 8 grants totaling $2,090,000 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 28 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
- What does William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Religion (48%), Education (29%), Food & Nutrition (16%).
- Who are William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: St Mary of the Lake Seminary ($1.8M), Catholic Church Extension Society of US of Amer ($1.1M), Diocese of Winona-Rochester ($250k).
- Does William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 13% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does William H & Lois J McEssy 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 William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc, National Philanthropic Trust.
- Where is William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation based?
- William H & Lois J McEssy Foundation is based in IL.
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