Dunham Foundation

Dunham Foundation is a US private foundation based in Aurora, IL.

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The Dunham Foundation funds projects and programmes in Education, Economic Growth and Community that create measurable and lasting impact in its Service Area. Its education work centres on strong early care and educational opportunities; economic growth focuses on people’s skill sets and economic opportunity; community work seeks equitable access to healthcare, cultural and economic opportunities, and human services. It accepts requests from 501(c)(3) organisations or organisations with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. Applicants are expected to align their work with its mission and priority areas and provide services in the Service Area; organisations outside the area are eligible when their programmes directly impact its residents. It gives preference to applicant organisations located in the Service Area. Its preferred proposals support start-up or uniquely enhanced educational and community development programmes or capital projects addressing documented need, with innovation, collaboration, potential sustainability and close alignment between the applicant’s mission and its own.

Themes

• Education
• Economic growth
• Community development

Geographic Focus

Priority: Service Area: Kane, DuPage and Kendall counties in Illinois.

What They Don't Fund

• Organisations that are neither tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code nor represented by a fiscal sponsor that has a 501(c)(3) status
• Capacity Building Grants only: Organisations with a budget over $2M

For Economic Growth or Community requests over $50,000, applicants submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for Board review; organisations invited after the LOI stage submit a full proposal following instructions from the Program Director.

Deadlines:

• Education grant requests are due by February 1.
• LOI submission deadlines recur on February 1 and June 1.
• The final application submission day for the calendar year is October 1.

• Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 62% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
• Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 122 grants to organisations were $20,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

• It favours start-up support for new or uniquely enhanced educational and community development programmes and capital projects.
• It prioritises proposals addressing a documented need that are innovative, collaborative and potentially self-sustaining.
• Proposals should closely align with the missions of the grant-seeking organisation and the Foundation.
• Applicants are asked to contact the Program Director to discuss their request before applying.
• Funded organisations are expected to submit a financial and programme report at the conclusion of the grant.