Mesa Foundation
Mesa Foundation is a private foundation based in Naples, Florida. Its 2025 filing reports $179,600 in grants to 11 charitable organizations; the foundation states that it contributes only to preselected charitable organizations.
Mesa Foundation at a glance
In short: Mesa Foundation gave $180K across 11 grants in 2025 (avg $16K), mostly in Illinois. 0% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $179,600
- +24.7% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 11
- +37.5% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $16,327
- -9.3% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $15,000
- Total assets
- $3,130,437
- +22.9% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 0% first-time grantees (0 of 11, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Illinois (94% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Mesa Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funds and states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations.
- Contact
Mailing address: 9778 Bentgrass Bend, Naples, FL 34108-1933
Phone: (847) 402-6702
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Mesa Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Reading Power ($40K). Together the top 10 received $175K.
Grant Size Distribution
43 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 43 grants of 43 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2025, 94% of grant dollars went to recipients in Illinois and 6% to recipients in Virginia.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 11 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Mesa Foundation open to new grantees?
0%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 0 of 11 grantees (0%) were first-time recipients. With only 11 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 9 points. How we count
- 73% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving grew 97% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 115% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $35K (2019) to $180K (2025). In 2025 it made 11 grants totaling $180K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Power Lake Forest, IL | Charitable Support | $40,000 |
| The Harbour Park Ridge, IL | Charitable Support | $30,000 |
| Heart of the City Sports Waukegan, IL | Charitable Support | $20,000 |
| North Shore Senior Center Northfield, IL | Charitable Support | $20,000 |
| Beacon Place Waukegan, IL | Charitable Support | $15,000 |
| College Bound Opportunities Riverwoods, IL | Charitable Support | $15,000 |
| Little Sisters of the Poor Chicago Chicago, IL | Charitable Support | $10,000 |
| Navy Seal Foundation Virginia Beach, VA | Charitable Support | $10,000 |
| The Josselyn Center Northfield, IL | Charitable Support | $10,000 |
| Mothers Trust Foundation Lake Forest, IL | Charitable Support | $5,000 |
Ready to take the next step with Mesa Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $3,130,437 | $782,763 | $198,761 | $179,600 | 11 | $193,307 | $704,229 | $168,238 |
| 2024 | $2,546,435 | $395,480 | $148,258 | $144,000 | 8 | $148,195 | $353,510 | $150,812 |
| 2023 | $2,299,213 | $461,202 | $136,858 | $127,500 | 10 | $136,828 | $347,909 | $119,508 |
| 2022 | $1,974,869 | $161,955 | $118,700 | $91,000 | 7 | $118,652 | $101,403 | $100,219 |
| 2021 | $1,931,614 | $1,075,570 | $79,738 | $62,500 | 7 | $79,090 | $824,940 | $74,774 |
| 2020 | $935,782 | $853,430 | $52,438 | $45,000 | 3 | — | $342,448 | $24,497 |
| 2019 | $472,655 | $509,155 | $36,500 | $35,000 | 4 | — | — | $24,512 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Mesa Foundation reported a distributable amount of $168K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The foundation’s filings describe its grants as charitable support. Its 2025 recipients include organizations whose missions, as described by the organizations themselves, involve literacy tutoring for children, emergency shelter and transitional housing for adolescents, support for older adults, and college access for low-income, first-generation students.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the foundation awarded 11 grants totaling $179,600. Grants ranged from $4,600 to $40,000, with a median of $15,000. Notable recipients included Reading Power ($40,000), The Harbour ($30,000), North Shore Senior Center ($20,000), Heart of the City Sports ($20,000), and College Bound Opportunities ($15,000).
Reading Power describes its mission as accelerating children’s literacy learning and developing a love of reading and writing through tutoring in partnership with schools. The Harbour says it provides emergency shelter and transitional housing for homeless, runaway, abused, and neglected adolescents. North Shore Senior Center says it fosters older adults’ independence and well-being and their participation in community life. College Bound Opportunities says it mentors and supports low-income, first-generation scholars in graduating college and achieving success. These are the grantees’ stated missions, not a mission statement from the foundation.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Edward M. Liddy and Macia F. Liddy as trustees.
Mesa Foundation's 2025 filing lists 2 officers; none of the 2 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Edward M. Liddy
Trustee
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Macia F. Liddy
Trustee
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about Mesa Foundation
How much does Mesa Foundation give each year?
Mesa Foundation gave $180K across 11 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $144K across 8 grants.
What is Mesa Foundation's typical grant size?
Mesa Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $15,000, and its average grant was $16,327, across 11 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Where does Mesa Foundation give grants?
Mesa Foundation gives mostly in Illinois: 94% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest state was Virginia (6%). The most frequent recipient cities were Lake Forest, IL (2 grants), Waukegan, IL (2 grants) and Northfield, IL (2 grants).
Does Mesa Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 11 grants with a stated purpose on Mesa Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Charitable Support" (11 grants).
Who are Mesa Foundation's largest grantees?
Mesa Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Reading Power ($40,000), The Harbour ($30,000) and Heart of the City Sports ($20,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 50% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Mesa Foundation?
Mesa Foundation reported $3.1M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $193K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $168K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Mesa Foundation fund?
The foundation’s filings describe its grants as charitable support. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Mesa Foundation?
The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funds and states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Mesa Foundation's EIN?
Mesa Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 83-4186742. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does Mesa Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 6, 2025)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 5, 2026)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS May 15, 2020)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 7, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS May 11, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 9, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS May 8, 2024)
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Mesa Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Mesa Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/mesa-foundation-morg_9b702b167bd4493c89c43cc1d4530398
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_834186742_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Mesa Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/mesa-foundation-morg_9b702b167bd4493c89c43cc1d4530398},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-15. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Mesa Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
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