Full Circle Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About Full Circle Foundation
The Full Circle Foundation appears to concentrate its entire recent giving on cooperative enterprise development, funding organizations that provide technical assistance and capacity-building to cooperatives and related community-owned businesses. Their sole recorded grant supports results-oriented, cost-effective services to cooperatives, indicating a preference for practical, outcomes-focused economic development strategies rather than broad charitable giving. This suggests the foundation prioritizes strengthening cooperative structures as a pathway to local economic resilience.
Focus Areas
Cooperative development and support organizationsTechnical assistance and capacity-building for cooperativesCommunity and rural economic development through cooperative models
Who They Fund
low‑income individuals and familiespeople experiencing homelessnessuninsured adults needing healthcaresurvivors of domestic violencechildren and youth (inner‑city youth, mentored students, first‑generation students)
About Full Circle Foundation
A single $150,000 grant to Cooperative Development Services shows the Full Circle Foundation’s clearest recent priority: practical support for cooperatives and related community-owned businesses. The grant description emphasizes “innovative results-oriented cost-effective services,” which matches the foundation’s pattern of backing capacity-building rather than broad, one-off charitable spending. Recent awards also include $20,000 to Food Coop Initiative for food co-op excellence, reinforcing an interest in cooperative models as a tool for local economic development. Beyond cooperatives, the foundation has funded community needs that connect to housing, public health, conservation, and civic life. Pads of McHenry County received $60,000 for emergency and transitional housing, while Open Lands was awarded $50,000 in 2024 and $25,000 in 2025 to preserve open space. The giving record also includes grants to Doctors Without Borders for life-saving medical and humanitarian care, the American Red Cross for disaster assistance, and Northern Illinois-based groups such as Turning Point and Family Health Partnership Clinic. Taken together, the pattern is local in geography but broad in issue coverage, with a strong preference for organizations delivering direct, practical services.
What Full Circle Foundation Funds
In housing work, Full Circle Foundation gave $60,000 to Pads of McHenry County for emergency and transitional housing, and $25,000 to Turning Point for its work confronting domestic violence in McHenry County. In health and humanitarian relief, it supported Doctors Without Borders with $45,000 for life-saving medical and humanitarian care and the American Red Cross with $30,000 for disaster assistance. Environmental giving includes $55,000 to Open Lands in 2023 and $50,000 in 2024 to preserve open space, plus repeated support for the Environmental Law & Policy Center to promote clean energy and transportation. The foundation also backed education and service access through $20,000 to Tutoring Chicago for pathways for school children and $20,000 to Family Health Partnership Clinic for high-quality health care to uninsured adults. This mix shows a funder that pairs local community services with issue-based grants.
How Full Circle Foundation Gives
Grant sizes are modest to mid-sized, with a typical range centered at $7,500 at the 25th percentile, $10,000 at the median, and $15,000 at the 75th percentile. The record also includes larger awards such as $150,000, which suggests a pattern of mostly standard grants with occasional major commitments. Recipients appear in multiple years: Open Lands, NRDC, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Doctors Without Borders, Southern Poverty Law Center, Carter Center, Leadership Greater McHenry County, and Independence Health Therapy each received more than one grant. The foundation is a regular funder and accepts unsolicited applications through annual grant programs.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.1M
Total Assets
$4.1M
Total Revenue
$2M
Total Expenses
$2.2M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $8K and $15K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$8K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$15K
Geographic Reach
Local12 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Full Circle Foundation Funds
Top 3 recipient countries by grant volume for Full Circle Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 254 | $4.6M | 98.8% |
| 2 | Ukraine | 2 |
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