1111 Foundation

The 1111 Foundation — publicly branded as the Eleven Eleven Foundation — is a family-controlled private foundation led by Co-Presidents Wendy D. Abrams and James D. Abrams. The foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests under any circumstances. Its homepage states this explicitly, and every documented grant in the IRS record carries the purpose designation 'UNRESTRICTED CHARITABLE GIFT,' confirming that relationships precede all funding decisions.

The Abrams family is personally involved in every grantee relationship. Wendy Abrams serves as a Northwestern University Trustee, is a Kellogg '90 MBA alumna, and received the Kellogg Schaffner Award in 2025 for her climate contributions — meaning the foundation's largest multi-year commitments flow directly from her board memberships and institutional affiliations. Organizations that succeed with Eleven Eleven typically enter the portfolio through a shared board member, a co-funder introduction, or an event the foundation convenes.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on long-term, trust-based partnerships rather than competitive grant cycles. All grants are unrestricted, suggesting the Abrams family backs organizations — not specific projects — once confidence in leadership and mission alignment is established. There is no LOI stage, no RFP, and no public grant calendar.

First-time applicants should focus on becoming visible within the foundation's ecosystem before making any ask: attending Cool Globes installations, Earthshot-affiliated climate events, Kellogg sustainability programming, or Chicago civic events where Wendy Abrams participates. The foundation's contact email (info@eleveneleven.org) should be used only after a warm introduction has been established. Cold emails without context are unlikely to advance.

Organizations ideally positioned for a first grant are those with national or international credibility in climate action, Alzheimer's or cancer research, women's empowerment, human rights, or Chicago-area community development — and that can demonstrate a connection to the Abrams network through a shared trustee, major donor, or event relationship.

The Eleven Eleven Foundation underwent a transformational capitalization in fiscal year 2021, when the Abrams family contributed $552 million in a single year, lifting assets from $17 million to $568 million overnight. Grantmaking tracked that growth, climbing from $1.9M (2020) to $2.1M (2021) to $5.6M in grants paid (2022) to $46.6M paid in fiscal year 2023 — a 23× increase over four years. Total giving including non-grant charitable distributions reached $49.5M in 2023.

The IRS grantee dataset (136 entries across the reporting period, representing roughly 55 unique grantees) shows an average grant of $81,715 across the documented transactions, but this average is skewed upward by a handful of anchor grants. The typical grant size data from the foundation record shows a median of $10,000, with a range from $100 to $250,000 and an average of $39,055. The 2024 CauseIQ data, however, reveals grants well above this range: American Friends of Royal Foundation ($7.5M), Northwestern University ($6.6M), the Climate Reality Project ($5M), and a $40M pass-through to Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund — suggesting the foundation's effective upper grant ceiling is far higher than IRS filings alone indicate.

Geographically, Illinois commands the largest share of grant count (68 of 136 documented entries), with New York (16), Washington DC (12), and California (10) also significant. The Illinois concentration reflects Chicago-area civic giving: Ravinia Festival, Highland Park Community Foundation, Chicago Humanities Festival, Don Bosco Cristo Rey, and local food security organizations. The DC and New York grants skew toward national advocacy and policy organizations — RFK Center for Justice, Center for American Progress, Environmental Defense Fund.

By program area, climate and environment accounts for the largest share of identifiable giving (Amazon Frontlines, Environmental Defense Fund, NRDC, Potential Energy Coalition, Climate Solutions Fund, Climate Reality Project). Education follows closely through major university partnerships. Medical research (Basser Center, Digestive Health Foundation, Neurogenomics Center) and social justice (People for the American Way, Center for Common Ground) make up smaller but consistent shares. Arts and culture — Utah Film Center, Ravinia, Chicago Humanities Festival — receives meaningful support at the $50K–$750K level.

The Eleven Eleven Foundation sits within a cohort of mid-sized to large private foundations with assets in the $537M–$548M range, all classified under NTEE T (Philanthropy & Grantmaking). The table below compares this foundation to its four closest asset-size peers from the IRS data:

Among its asset peers, Eleven Eleven stands out for its concentrated grantmaking pace — deploying $49.5M in a single year while peers at comparable asset levels typically distribute 5% (~$27M) annually. This reflects the Abrams family's active decision to accelerate charitable deployment beyond the IRS minimum payout requirement.

Unlike Truist Foundation, which maintains an open competitive grant program aligned to its bank's community reinvestment obligations, Eleven Eleven operates exclusively through invited relationships. This makes it less accessible but potentially more flexible in grant terms — its unrestricted general operating support approach is rare among foundations of this size, where restricted project grants are more common. The foundation's willingness to write unrestricted checks in the $100K–$7.5M range to trusted partners distinguishes it from peers that require detailed programmatic reporting.

The foundation's most visible 2024-2025 activities cluster around two flagship initiatives and one sustained international partnership.

In October 2024, the foundation announced the Abrams Climate Academy at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, a gift-endowed interdisciplinary fellowship designed to place 25 graduate students per cohort into yearlong corporate climate projects. The first cohort of fellows was named on October 29, 2025, drawing students from Kellogg, McCormick Engineering, Northwestern Law, and Medill School of Journalism — marking the foundation's largest single programmatic bet on climate leadership development.

Also in October 2024, the foundation announced the Abrams Research Center on Neurogenomics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, targeting AI-driven Alzheimer's disease interventions. By May 2025, Northwestern Medicine published preliminary findings from the center, signaling active research output.

The foundation's relationship with American Friends of the Royal Foundation — the US vehicle for Prince William and Princess Kate's charitable work — deepened significantly, with $7.5M awarded in 2024 (CauseIQ data). The Homewards homelessness initiative, which the Royal Foundation operates in six UK pilot cities, celebrated its first anniversary in July 2024. In October 2025, the foundation co-participated in an Earthshot Prize climate event in Rio de Janeiro, reinforcing the royal philanthropic partnership.

Executive Director Megan Scarsella received a compensation increase from $300,000 (2022) to $375,000 (2023), reflecting the foundation's scale-up and growing operational complexity. No leadership transitions have been publicly announced.

The single most important fact about the Eleven Eleven Foundation is that it does not accept unsolicited grant requests. This is stated explicitly on the eleveneleven.org website and confirmed by every data point in the IRS record: 136 grant entries all carrying 'UNRESTRICTED CHARITABLE GIFT' as the stated purpose, with no open RFP process ever documented.

Build relationships before making any ask. The Abrams family's philanthropic decisions are driven by personal conviction and trusted networks. Wendy Abrams is publicly active on climate and healthcare boards; Jim Abrams's civic engagement is centered in Chicago and the Jewish philanthropic community. Organizations that have a shared board member, co-funder, or event relationship with the Abrams family have the highest probability of entering the portfolio.

Engage through Northwestern University. Wendy Abrams is a Northwestern Trustee and Kellogg alum. Grantees with existing Northwestern partnerships — MIT, U of Chicago Law, Loyola, Erikson Institute — are well-represented in the grant record. If your organization has a collaborative relationship with any Northwestern school, leverage that connection when reaching out.

Align language to the Abrams portfolio pillars. Proposals or relationship pitches should reference the foundation's four stated focus areas: sustainability/climate, education (particularly higher education partnerships), medical research (Alzheimer's, BRCA/cancer), and community building. Use the phrase "strategic partnership" rather than "grant request" — the foundation sees itself as a collaborator, not a funder responding to applications.

Attend foundation-convened events. Cool Globes installations, Earthshot Prize events, and Kellogg sustainability programming are spaces where Wendy Abrams participates in person. Showing up consistently in these spaces as a peer — not as a supplicant — is the most organic path to visibility.

Initial contact via email only. If a warm introduction has been established, reach info@eleveneleven.org with a concise (3-5 sentence) organization description and the name of the shared connection. Do not send a full proposal or budget at first contact. The foundation's limited staff (zero full-time employees listed in 2024 IRS filings, Executive Director is the sole compensated officer) means inbox volume is high relative to capacity.