FAQs
Most of our grant programs* have open application processes that begin with a Letter of Inquiry (LOI). We do not accept LOIs via mail or email. The entire LOI and application process is online. Your letter will be reviewed to determine whether the proposed effort fits sufficiently with our Mission and Program Goals to merit further review. If so, we will invite you to submit a full application. View our grant programs or click here to apply.
Our grant management platform, Foundant, uses Google Translate so you may review the application in a language most comfortable to you.
*The Good Food Policy Program is an invited application process.
While the Lumpkin Family Foundation does not publish a formal annual report, we prepare an Annual Big Questions report for our board, which is also shared on our website. This report serves as a comprehensive overview of our work.
We do our best to keep our website current, including previous grantees and up-to-date program information. Please see each grant program for a list of current and past grantees. Read our various News items for more information about what LFF is working on in the communities we serve, and the broader field of philanthropy. For detailed financial information, please see our 990 forms at www.guidestar.org.
The opportunity for recognition plays no part in our decision to award a grant. However, we are aware of the role donor recognition plays in an effective development program, and we willingly receive it. Please do not give gifts to The Foundation, our staff, or members; it is enough reward for us to be able to provide support to worthy organizations.
Please contact Lindy Wheatley with any questions regarding logo files and considerations for use.
Lindy Wheatley
Program Assistant | lindy@lumpkinfoundation.org | 217-234-2095
Some of our grant programs* have two open grant cycles per year and include an Letter of Inquiry (LOI) phase and an Application phase. Please check the individual grant program pages for cycle due dates and information.
When a cycle opens for a particular program, eligible organizations are encouraged to submit an LOI through our online grantmaking system. Organizations will be notified via email of their LOI acceptance or declination on or before the “applications invited” date. If a full application is requested, a committee of Foundation members and community volunteers will review your application upon submission.
We do our best to keep the entire process to around 12 weeks. We will contact you via email with an acceptance or declination of the full application. All due dates are posted on each grant program page.
*The Good Food Policy Program is an invited grant program that does not have an LOI phase. The Nature-Based Climate Action program, North Lawndale Fresh (Spring), and Austin Fresh (Fall) programs each have only one cycle.
The Lumpkin family is made up of descendants and spouses of the original donor, Besse A. Lumpkin. Although the family’s start can be traced to Mattoon, Illinois, members now live in many communities across the US and England. There are more than 30 family members over the age of 16 involved in the Foundation. View Foundation History
The Foundation had assets of approximately $50 million as of August 2024. On average, in recent years, we have used approximately $2.5 million for grants or foundation-initiated programs, depending on the performance of the endowment investments. For more specific information, we encourage you to review our 990PF returns at www.guidestar.org.
A post grant report is a requirement of nearly all grants. It is an opportunity to share what worked well, and what did not, and to what degree the project accomplished its goals. The date will vary, but the majority of reports are due 11 or 12 months from approval. This will be communicated to you when your grant is awarded.
We believe that it is important to measure the success of our grantmaking strategy. While we have our own internal strategy that we use to measure our own progress towards our programmatic goals, we allow our grantees to report metrics that are most relevant to their unique context.
We recognize that the measurement of success (and failure) is only valuable when it is done based on the specific and context-based parameters established by our grantees. We work in tandem with them to ensure that what is measured has meaning to both their work and our overall goals as a Foundation. This will allow evaluation flexibility while helping The Lumpkin Family Foundation learn about what Outcomes and Metrics are most useful to our grantees. Please contact staff with any questions about Outcomes and Metrics.
Your report template will be accessible through our Apply/Report here portal. Most post grant reports are similar to the following example for the Land, Health, Community program.
Please feel free to contact Foundation staff with any questions about your reporting date or details.
We welcome inquiries from those interested in the work of the The Lumpkin Family Foundation. If you are new to applying or want to discuss an idea or potential partnership, feel free to reach out. While our staff strives to be accessible, please note that pre-application conversations won’t affect how your application is evaluated, so there’s no need to “pitch” your project to us. Staff does its best to be accessible. View our staff page.
We fund mainly in East Central Illinois, radiating out from Coles County. We also provide financial support to organizations in Chicago through our Land, Health, Community-Chicago, North Lawndale Fresh, and Austin Fresh programs. Our Good Food Policy Program supports national advocacy groups and organizations across the US.
If your organization is invited to submit an application, you may be contacted by Foundation staff to arrange a site visit. Not all applicants will receive a site visit request. Our site visits may be in person or conducted remotely via video conference, and staff will do their best to give two week’s scheduling notice.
Site visits are a chance to discuss your application, your project, and your organization as a whole with Foundation staff and occasionally trustees. We will not provide a formal agenda, but you should be prepared to answer questions and are invited to ask questions of your own. We aim for the site visit to be a conversational learning experience for both Foundation staff and your organization.
The board includes five Lumpkin family members and three independent trustees with roots in East Central Illinois. Learn more about The Foundation Board.
As our mission states, we support organizations working towards healthy, sustainable communities. Please see our grant programs and past grantees for more information about who we have funded recently.
Proposals will be considered from eligible 501(c)(3) organizations that reflect The Lumpkin Family Foundation’s mission; serve the community without discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or religion; keep records available for regular independent outside audit; make results available to all potential contributors; and comply with applicable laws regarding registration and reporting. If you are not a 501(c)(3) organization and have a question about funding eligibility, please contact us.
The amount of time varies a great deal depending on how complicated your project is and how ready you are to apply. The following sample forms should help you know what is needed for the process.
Land, Health, Community LOI | Land, Health, Community Application
Foundation Invited Application
Please contact us with any further questions regarding these forms or any part of the application process.
We encourage you to apply for funding for the project or activity you are most passionate about and that will have the greatest impact. With that said, we do not have a policy against applying for more than one grant either across our program areas or within one specific program area.
If you are a current grant recipient and are interested in applying for new funding for another project idea, we encourage you to reach out to the appropriate Program Officer to discuss your application prior to submission.
While we do not set limitations on our grant requests, funding levels can range between $2,500 – $50,000. We do not sponsor events or provide funding to individuals.
If you would like to discuss a specific idea or possible partnership with The Foundation, feel free to contact us.
