The Clarence & Ida Klassen Charitable Foundation concentrates support on a small number of organizations, favoring repeat gifts that advance cultural heritage, medical research, and children’s literacy. A large share of funding goes to the Illinois State Museum for ethnology/curatorial work, while the foundation also makes significant recurring gifts to vision research and book-access programs. Their giving mixes a strong local cultural commitment with targeted support for high-impact research and literacy initiatives.
Concentrated giving to a few repeat grantees with multi-grant relationships; majority of funds go to one principal cultural institution, supplemented by sizable targeted gifts to medical research and literacy organizations.
Clarence & Ida Klassen Charitable Foundation centers much of its giving on two repeat relationships in Springfield and Baltimore: the Illinois State Museum for ethnology curatorship and the Wilmer Eye Institute for macular research. Those grants show a pattern of concentrated, recurring support rather than broad one-time dispersal. In the most recent grants on file, the foundation gave $64,000 and $57,300 to the Illinois State Museum across 2023 and 2024, alongside $16,000 and $14,300 to the Wilmer Eye Institute in the same period. The foundation also supports children’s book access through Reading Is Fundamental, reflecting a mix of cultural, research, and literacy priorities. Its giving is regional and heavily Illinois-oriented, with most grants landing in the state where it gives most often. The portfolio is small and repeated, suggesting a grantmaker that favors continuing relationships with a limited set of institutions. This makes its support pattern especially legible for researchers tracking museum collections work, ophthalmology research, and literacy-related book purchases.
In museum support, the foundation gave $64,000 in 2023 and $57,300 in 2024 to the Illinois State Museum for ethnology curatorship. That pairing points to ongoing support for collections and curatorial work rather than a one-time project grant. In vision science, it supported the Wilmer Eye Institute with $16,000 in 2023 and $14,300 in 2024 for macular research. In literacy, Reading Is Fundamental received $16,000 in 2023 and $14,300 in 2024 for book purchase. Across these areas, the grant purposes are specific and tied to material support, research, and collections management.
Typical grant size sits in a fairly tight band: the 25th percentile is $14,725, the median is $16,000, and the 75th percentile is $46,975. The recent record also shows repeat awards to the same organizations across multiple years, including 2023 and 2024. That indicates a pattern of continuing support rather than isolated gifts. The foundation is a grantmaker, not an individual funder, and it does not make program-related investments.
$182K
$1.6M
$85K
$98K
Most grants fall between $15K and $47K, with a median of $16K.
25th Percentile
$15K
Median
$16K
75th Percentile
$47K
About 67% of grants go to recipients in IL.
Sign up for a free Kindora account to access AI-generated insights into this funder's giving patterns, decision-makers, and fit signals.
Get Started FreeFree Kindora accounts unlock side-by-side comparisons with foundations that share this funder's focus areas and giving profile.
Get Started FreeRegístrate gratis para ver qué tan bien se adapta tu organización sin fines de lucro a este financiador, obtener un pitch generado por IA y descubrir fundaciones similares.
Notable grantees: Illinois State Museum, Wilmer Eye Institute, Reading Is Fundamental
The foundation gives primarily in the United States, and all six recent grants in the provided sample went to U.S. recipients. Illinois is its top giving state by grant count, with 67% of grants going to recipients in the HQ state. Springfield appears repeatedly in the recipient record through the Illinois State Museum and Reading Is Fundamental, while Baltimore appears through the Wilmer Eye Institute. The geographic footprint is regional rather than national.
The recent record shows support for museums and cultural institutions, medical researchers in ophthalmology, and literacy-related organizations. Grants went to the Illinois State Museum for ethnology curatorship, the Wilmer Eye Institute for macular research, and Reading Is Fundamental for book purchase.
Yes. The same organizations appear across multiple years in the recent grant list. The Illinois State Museum received grants in 2023 and 2024, and both the Wilmer Eye Institute and Reading Is Fundamental also appear in more than one year.
The foundation’s grant sizes cluster around the mid-teens. The 25th percentile is $14,725, the median is $16,000, and the 75th percentile is $46,975.
Illinois is the top state by grant count, and 67% of grants go to recipients in the HQ state. Recent grants also went to Baltimore, MD, but the overall pattern is strongly Illinois-oriented.
2024
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2024.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State Museum | Springfield, IL | $57,300 | 2024 | Ethnoloty curatorship |
| Wilmer Eye Institute | Baltimore, MD | $14,300 | 2024 | Macular research |
| Reading is Fundamental | Springfield, IL | $14,300 | 2024 | Book purchase |
| Illinois State Museum | Springfield, IL | $64,000 | 2023 | Ethnoloty curatorship |
| Reading is Fundamental | Springfield, IL | $16,000 | 2023 | Book purchase |
| Wilmer Eye Institute | Baltimore, MD | $16,000 | 2023 | Macular research |
Illinois State Museum
$57,300Ethnoloty curatorship
Wilmer Eye Institute
$14,300Macular research
Reading is Fundamental
$14,300Book purchase
Illinois State Museum
$64,000Ethnoloty curatorship
Reading is Fundamental
$16,000Book purchase
Wilmer Eye Institute
$16,000Macular research