Illinois · Nonprofit
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation (Illinois) receives grants from 68 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,957,209 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($686,673). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.7M
- Funders on record
- 68
- Grants received
- $2.0M
- Net assets
- $28M
What Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation does
Mission
To support its members and their chapters to help fulfill their educational aspirations and goals; to promote programs teaching leadership, scholarship, and personal development; and to ensure the presevation of Levere Memorial Temple.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Funds used to aid Fraternity Chapters in maintaining the scholarship and educational portions of their houses.
$1,183,630 spentof which $1,183,630 as grants60% of program spendingFunds used to support the operation and preservation of the Levere Memorial Temple.
$374,548 spent19% of program spendingFinancial aid provided for scholarships and financial assistance to Sigma Alpha Epsilon Collegiates.
$239,114 spentof which $156,859 as grants12% of program spendingManagement fee and other miscellaneous expenses to support program activities.
$175,835 spent9% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,973,127.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $19M to $23M (+25%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
67% of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Steve Mitchell
CEO
Board chair
Les Ireland
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 27 funders, grant income rose $117k → $202k.
25 of 68 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $785k from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation raised.
From the IRS filings of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 68 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 35% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
85% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 14% · 2018 18% · 2019 35% · 2020 47% · 2021 27% · 2022 14% · 2023 16% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
45% of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
80% of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $397k that is directly attributable, 99% of it comes from funders outside Illinois, across 26 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity · exempt
- SAE Financial and Housing Corp · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation?
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation (Illinois) receives grants from 68 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,957,209 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($686,673). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 68 organizations giving $1,957,209 in grants to Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $686,673 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 68 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing