Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation

Private foundation · Grantmaker Chicago, IL EIN: 26-3033542

The Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation is a private foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. In its 2025 filing, it reported making 24 grants totaling $79,000 to charitable organizations, with listed recipients in Illinois, Montana, Ohio, New York, and Washington, DC.

Key facts about Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation

In short: Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation gave $79K across 24 grants in 2025 (avg $3K), mostly in Illinois. 29% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

EIN
26-3033542
Latest 990 filing
Form 990-PF, 2025
Annual giving (2025)
$79,000
Grants made (2025)
24
Average grant
$3,292
Median grant
$1,000
New grantees (estimate)
29% first-time grantees (7 of 24, 2025)
Total assets
$862,480
Primary geography
Illinois (54% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Accepts unsolicited proposals
No
How to apply
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Full details ↓

Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology). Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.

Financial Overview

From 2025 IRS Form 990-PF · View filing

Total Assets

$862K

-0.1% YoY

Annual Giving

$79K

+23.0% YoY

Grant Count

24

+14.3% YoY

Avg Grant Size

$3K

+7.6% YoY

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation reported a distributable amount of $51K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

Is Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation open to new grantees?

29%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 7 of 24 grantees (29%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $4K; repeat grants $3K. How we count

Medians: $3K first-time, $1K repeat.

  • 63% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving fell 27% from 2022 to 2025. Method
  • In 2025 it paid out 165% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method

Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2020–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.

Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.

Mission & Focus Areas

No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 giving included organizations whose own missions span several areas. Nourishing Hope says it provides food, mental health support, and social services to help neighbors thrive; the Greater Chicago Food Depository says its mission is to end hunger. The American Prairie Foundation describes its mission as creating a large nature reserve for people and wildlife, while American Rivers says it works to protect and restore rivers.

Other 2025 recipients describe missions involving healthcare and research (Billings Clinic Foundation), teaching and research (Northwestern University), criminal justice reform (The Innocence Project), and ovarian cancer research and child literacy (Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation). These are the grantees’ stated missions, not the foundation’s.

Grantmaking

In 2025, the foundation reported 24 grants totaling $79,000. Grant amounts ranged from $500 to $10,000, with a median grant of $1,000. The largest listed grants were $10,000 each to American Prairie Foundation, Jewish United Fund, Montana Land Reliance, Nourishing Hope, and Goodman Theatre. Other notable grants included $5,000 to Greater Chicago Food Depository and The Shane Center, and $2,500 each to Billings Clinic Foundation, American Cancer Research Alliance, and The Chicago Community Foundation – Innovation 80.

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Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

In 2025, 54% of grant dollars went to recipients in Illinois and 29% to recipients in Montana. The remaining reported shares were Ohio (6%), New York (5%), and Washington, DC (3%).

Grant Distribution by State

14states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 24 itemized grants.

Cities

ChicagoWashingtonNew YorkBig TimberHelenaAmericusBozemanHagerstownBillingsEvanstonSkokieBloomingtonDenverHoplandKanabPhiladelphiaAlbert LeaBarringtonCenterburgLivingston

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$50K$100K$150K18 grants2020 21 grants2021 21 grants2022 16 grants2023 21 grants2024 24 grants2025

From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $64K (2024) to $139K (2020). In 2025 it made 24 grants totaling $79K.

Grant Insights

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

American Prairie Foundation: $10KAmerican Prairie Foundation$10KJewish United Fund: $10KJewish United Fund$10KMontana Land Reliance: $10KMontana Land Reliance$10KNourishing Hope: $10KNourishing Hope$10KGoodman Theatre: $10KGoodman Theatre$10KGreater Chicago Food Depository: $5KGreater Chicago FoodDepository$5KThe Shane Center: $5KThe Shane Center$5KBillings Clinic Foundation: $3KBillings Clinic Foundation$3KAmerican Cancer Research Alliance: $3KAmerican Cancer ResearchAlliance$3KThe Chicago Community Foundation - Innovation 80: $3KThe Chicago CommunityFoundation - Innovation 80$3K

The largest 2025 recipient was American Prairie Foundation ($10K). Together the top 10 received $68K.

Grant Size Distribution

103 grants across all recorded years

102<$50K1$50–100K$100–250K$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 102 grants of 103 (99%).

Giving History

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
American Prairie Foundation Bozeman, MTGeneral Fund$10,000
Jewish United Fund Chicago, ILGeneral Fund$10,000
Montana Land Reliance Helena, MTGeneral Fund$10,000
Nourishing Hope Chicago, ILGeneral Fund$10,000
Goodman Theatre Chicago, ILGeneral Fund$10,000
Greater Chicago Food Depository Chicago, ILGeneral Fund$5,000
The Shane Center Centerburg, OHGeneral Fund$5,000
Billings Clinic Foundation Billings, MTGeneral Fund$2,500
American Cancer Research Alliance New York, NYGeneral Fund$2,500
The Chicago Community Foundation - Innovation 80 Chicago, ILGeneral Fund$2,500

Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Filing year Assets Revenue Expenses Grants
2025 $862,480 $72,811 $84,189 $79,000
2024 $863,627 $65,798 $70,959 $64,250
2023 $868,788 $28,944 $144,147 $138,500

The foundation reported 24 grants in 2025, 21 in 2024, and 16 in 2023.

Revenue
Expenses
Qualifying Distributions
Net Investment Income
$0$200K$400K$600K2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Metric202520242023
Total Assets$862,480$863,627$868,788
Revenue$72,811$65,798$28,944
Expenses$84,189$70,959$144,147
Qualifying Distributions$83,339$69,569$143,556
Net Investment Income$72,811$60,479$60,431
Distributable Amount$50,639$44,523$45,780

Data update history

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS April 27, 2021)
  2. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS April 26, 2022)
  3. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS April 28, 2023)
  4. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS May 3, 2024)
  5. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 13, 2025)
  6. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 5, 2026)

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

The 2025 filing lists Sidney N. Herman as president and director; Margaret D. Herman as treasurer, secretary, and director; and Rockney W. Hudson as assistant secretary and director.

Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation is led by Sidney N. Herman, President & Director on every filing since 2020; none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Sidney N. Herman

    President & Director

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Margaret D. Herman

    Treasurer, Secretary & Director

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Rockney W. Hudson

    Assistant Secretary & Director

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.

Contact

Mailing address: 3800 N Lake Shore Drive 15B, Chicago, IL 60613-3301
Phone: (312) 494-4414

Frequently asked questions about Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation

How much does Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation give each year?

Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation gave $79K across 24 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $64K across 21 grants.

What is Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation's typical grant size?

Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $1,000, and its average grant was $3,292, across 24 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation that year got $4K on average.

Where does Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation give grants?

Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation gives mostly in Illinois: 54% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were Montana (29%) and Ohio (6%). The most frequent recipient cities were Chicago, IL (8 grants), New York, NY (3 grants), Helena, MT (2 grants) and Washington, DC (2 grants).

Does Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation give general operating support?

Yes: 100% of Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (24 of 24) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Who are Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation's largest grantees?

Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include American Prairie Foundation ($10,000), Jewish United Fund ($10,000) and Montana Land Reliance ($10,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 38% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

How large is Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation?

Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation reported $862K in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $83K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $51K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).

What does Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation fund?

No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 giving included organizations whose own missions span several areas. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation?

The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑

What is Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation's EIN?

Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 26-3033542. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.

Does Skip & Meg Herman Family Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?

No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑

Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.

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