Sunshine Charitable Foundation

Private foundation · EIN 20-1919538 · since 2005·Illinois, New York·Updated 13 October 2026

At a glance

$1.1M

Annual giving, 2023 tax year

From the Form 990-PF filing

A small fraction of the prior year ($7.3M in 2022 tax year).

$1,000 to $50,000

Grant range

From grants in the 990-PF filings

$5,000

Typical grant (median)

63 grants in the latest filing

Invitation only

Unsolicited applications are not accepted

This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.

Key takeaways

The foundation makes contributions only to organisations it has preselected and does not accept unsolicited requests, so a cold application is unlikely to be considered and a warm introduction is the sensible route.
Its recorded grants cover hospitals and health research, schools, colleges, wildlife, youth and community groups, arts bodies and churches, mostly as general support, so it is a varied portfolio rather than a single specialism.
The filings show most grants in Illinois and New York, but no geographic focus is stated, so treat that as a pattern rather than a rule.
About 8 in 10 of its 129 grants fall between $1,000 and $50,000 with a median of $5,000, so a modest, well-justified request is the typical size, though its largest grant was about $2,650,000.
Repeat giving is heavy, with 69% of grant dollars in its latest filing going to organisations it also funded in its previous filing, and the filing gives no public application steps or timing, so there is no deadline to plan around.

Overview

Sunshine Charitable Foundation is a US private foundation based in Libertyville, IL.

What they fund

Profile based on the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2023, TY2022) only: no website or other web source for the foundation was found. Every statement is checked against the filings. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The grant record shows support for organisations across several sectors: hospitals and health-related research, schools, colleges and universities, wildlife and conservation groups, youth and community organisations, arts and cultural bodies, and churches. Most recorded purposes are general support; a smaller number name education, research and fellowship, or specialist health-related purposes. The filing states that contributions go only to preselected charitable organisations and unsolicited requests are not accepted. It gives no common field or applicant profile beyond that selection arrangement; the recipients and recorded purposes therefore describe a varied charitable portfolio, not a declared subject specialism.

Geographic Focus

No geographic focus is stated; the filings show grants mainly in Illinois and New York.

How to apply

The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organisations and does not accept unsolicited requests. No public application steps are provided.

Application success factors

Repeat giving: In its TY2023 filing, 69% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 filing.
Grant size: Across its TY2022 and TY2023 filings, half of its 129 grants to organisations were $5,000 or less.

Where grants go

From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2023.

Grant dollars by state

Illinois45%

New York32%

Ohio5%

Wisconsin5%

Pennsylvania4%

Massachusetts3%

6 other states: 5%

Outside the US or with no state on the filing: 1%

The largest single recipient received 32% of grant dollars to organisations.
In tax year 2023, 69% of grant dollars went to organisations Sunshine Charitable Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
No grants were paid directly to organisations outside the US.
<1% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.

Grants

63 grants in the latest filing analysed · median $5,000

How much do they typically give?

Share of 63 grants in tax year 2023 by size

$1k–$2.5k29%

$2.5k–$5k14%

$5k–$10k27%

$10k–$25k19%

$25k–$50k5%

$50k–$100k0%

$100k–$250k5%

$250k–$500k2%

Median $5,000 (tax year 2023)

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

Massachusetts General Hospital · General Support Grant
$250,0002023 tax year
Ducks Unlimited · General Support Grant
$228,0002023 tax year
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center · General support grant
$150,0002023 tax year
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Foundation · General Support Grant
$120,0002023 tax year
Fare · General Support Grant
$25,0002023 tax year
Interlochen Center for the Arts · General Support Grant
$25,0002023 tax year
First Presbyterian Church · General Support Grant
$25,0002023 tax year
Galena School District 120 · General Support Grant
$20,0002023 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Officers and directors

Nathan Ballard — Secretary Director
Denise A Bunning — Vice President Director
David G Bunning — President Director

From the latest Form 990-PF filing

2 years of tax filings

Year	Total expenses	Grants paid	Assets	Filing document
2022 tax year	$8,903,997	$7,272,365	$117,096,460	Filing for 2022 tax year
2023 tax year	$4,010,945	$1,095,607	$102,842,631	Filing for 2023 tax year

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

Sources

Registers and filings

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