The Fermata Charitable Foundation
The Fermata Charitable Foundation is a private foundation based in Elmhurst, Illinois. Its 2024 filing reports grants to charitable organizations, with the largest share of grant dollars going to recipients listed in Illinois.
The Fermata Charitable Foundation at a glance
In short: The Fermata Charitable Foundation gave $186K across 17 grants in 2025 (avg $11K), mostly in Illinois. 18% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $186,000
- -52.1% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 17
- +0.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $10,941
- -52.1% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $5,000
- Total assets
- $5,650,825
- +12.0% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 18% first-time grantees (3 of 17, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Illinois (84% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated November 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to The Fermata Charitable Foundation
- 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.
- Contact
Mailing address: 277 West Winthrop Ave, Elmhurst, IL 60126
Phone: (630) 750-0333
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who The Fermata Charitable Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was St Paul Lutheran Church ($85K). Together the top 10 received $176K.
Grant Size Distribution
88 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 83 grants of 88 (94%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2024, 93% of grant dollars went to recipients listed in Illinois, 3% to Iowa, 3% to Idaho, and 1% to Maryland; the filing reports 0% for the District of Columbia.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 17 itemized grants.
Cities
Is The Fermata Charitable Foundation open to new grantees?
18%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 3 of 17 grantees (18%) were first-time recipients. With only 17 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 6 points. First grants averaged $4K; repeat grants $13K. How we count
Medians: $4K first-time, $5K repeat.
- 76% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+17%). Method
- In 2025 it paid out 47% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Foundations have until the end of the next year to meet it. 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 $159K (2022) to $645K (2021). In 2025 it made 17 grants totaling $186K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| St Paul Lutheran Church Villa Park, IL | Program Support | $85,000 |
| Northern Illinois Food Bank Geneva, IL | Program Support | $25,000 |
| DuPage PADS Inc Wheaton, IL | Program Support | $18,000 |
| NAMI Johnson County Iowa City, IA | Program Support | $10,000 |
| Shelter House Iowa City, IA | Program Support | $10,000 |
| NAMI DuPage Community Center Wheaton, IL | Program Support | $8,000 |
| Zion Lutheran Church Iowa City, IA | Program Support | $6,000 |
| Esther's Friends Chicago, IL | Program Support | $5,000 |
| Bridge Communities Glen Ellyn, IL | Program Support | $5,000 |
| New Moms Chicago, IL | Program Support | $4,000 |
Ready to take the next step with The Fermata Charitable 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 | $5,650,825 | $850,968 | $264,027 | $186,000 | 17 | $198,215 | $811,371 | $418,081 |
| 2024 | $5,046,195 | $847,462 | $466,585 | $388,200 | 17 | $401,900 | $805,473 | $356,859 |
| 2023 | $4,638,335 | $311,087 | $427,449 | $380,700 | 15 | $388,798 | $256,813 | $305,926 |
| 2022 | $4,752,882 | $-99,625 | $231,994 | $159,200 | 19 | $172,274 | $52,291 | $315,255 |
| 2021 | $5,084,055 | $1,678,682 | $738,660 | $645,400 | 20 | $653,600 | $1,610,779 | $334,806 |
| 2020 | $4,159,050 | $677,344 | $701,689 | $644,900 | 21 | — | $349,027 | $267,365 |
| 2019 | $4,187,874 | $1,306,931 | $226,587 | $170,720 | 25 | — | $208,299 | $250,846 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, The Fermata Charitable Foundation reported a distributable amount of $418K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated October 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2024 grants went to organizations whose stated work includes food assistance, homelessness services, and support for people with disabilities. Northern Illinois Food Bank says it provides meals and resources through a network of food pantries and programs. DuPage P.A.D.S. says it is committed to ending homelessness in DuPage County. Misericordia Foundation says it raises funds to contribute to Misericordia Home. The Outreach House says it helps vulnerable families with needs including food, clothing, diapers, and utility shutoffs.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2024, the foundation reported 17 grants totaling $388,200. Grant amounts ranged from $1,000 to $305,200, with a median of $4,000. All grants in the provided itemized list were designated for program support. Its 2025 filing, the latest on this page, reports 17 grants totaling $186,000.
The largest grant was $305,200 to St Paul Lutheran Church in Villa Park, Illinois. Other notable grants included $20,000 to Northern Illinois Food Bank, $15,000 to DuPage PADS Inc, $10,000 to NAMI Johnson County, and $8,000 to NAMI DuPage Community Center.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
Gaylene R Nass is listed as Co-Trustee on the 2024 filing.
The Fermata Charitable Foundation is led by Gaylene R Nass, Co-Trustee on every filing since 2019 — the only officer listed, and uncompensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Gaylene R Nass
Co-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 The Fermata Charitable Foundation
How much does The Fermata Charitable Foundation give each year?
The Fermata Charitable Foundation gave $186K across 17 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $388K across 17 grants.
What is The Fermata Charitable Foundation's typical grant size?
The Fermata Charitable Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $5,000, and its average grant was $10,941, across 17 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from The Fermata Charitable Foundation that year got $4K on average.
Where does The Fermata Charitable Foundation give grants?
The Fermata Charitable Foundation gives mostly in Illinois: 84% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest state was Iowa (15%). The most frequent recipient cities were Wheaton, IL (3 grants), Iowa City, IA (3 grants) and Chicago, IL (3 grants).
Does The Fermata Charitable Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 17 grants with a stated purpose on The Fermata Charitable Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Program Support" (17 grants).
Who are The Fermata Charitable Foundation's largest grantees?
The Fermata Charitable Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include St Paul Lutheran Church ($85,000), Northern Illinois Food Bank ($25,000) and DuPage PADS Inc ($18,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 69% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is The Fermata Charitable Foundation?
The Fermata Charitable Foundation reported $5.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $198K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $418K (roughly 5% of its investment assets). Falling short in one year is not a violation: foundations have until the end of the next year to meet the minimum.
What does The Fermata Charitable Foundation fund?
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2024 grants went to organizations whose stated work includes food assistance, homelessness services, and support for people with disabilities. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from The Fermata Charitable 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 The Fermata Charitable Foundation's EIN?
The Fermata Charitable Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 20-7034733. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does The Fermata Charitable Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated November 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated October 2026.
Data update history
(6)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS July 8, 2020)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS July 26, 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 December 11, 2023)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS August 28, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Live grants for the work The Fermata Charitable Foundation funds
Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in The Fermata Charitable Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). The Fermata Charitable Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-fermata-charitable-foundation-morg_f9a2e95f137a4c0d84032c0f43da0677
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_207034733_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{The Fermata Charitable Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-fermata-charitable-foundation-morg_f9a2e95f137a4c0d84032c0f43da0677},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-04. 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 The Fermata Charitable 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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