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36 Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

36 Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$114k
Granted FY2025still arriving
34
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0184% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$127kHuman Services$109kPhilanthropy$104kEducation$100kHealth$37kYouth Development$24kReligion$21kEnvironment$18kOther$0
02FY2025 · 34 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k29 grants · $59k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $55k
$1,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$311k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
University of Chicago$15,000
Journey Care$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
Loblollypop Foundation$10,000
Shirley Ryan Ability Lab$5,000
Free Spirit Media$5,000
Chicago High School for the Arts$5,000
Lurie Childrens Foundation$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Kenilworth Union Church$4,500
Fenix$3,000
United Way$2,000
FL Atlantic University$2,000
Boys and Girls Club$2,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY22–25, $123k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Journey Care: $10k → 14%Journey Care: $10k → 14%Journey Care: $1k → 14%Howard Area Community Center: $101k → 14%Howard Area Community Center: $1k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$496k · 30 repeat orgs$44k to everyone else

30 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
8

Total granted

$496k
$20k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-3%
+130%

Still filing today

53%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $24k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentHealthAnimalsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • HA
    Howard Area Community Center
    2× · 2023–2025 · $102k · revenue +52%
  • WC
    WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $52k · revenue +28%
  • WT
    WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $51k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • TU
    Trinity United Methodist
    one grant, 2024 · $5k
  • TJ
    THE JOSSELYN CENTER NFPgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +240%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF MARTIN COUNTYgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue +130%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
2
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
3
Lake Forest College

Provide post-secondary education leading to a baccalaureate degree. Program service expenditures are made in conjunction with the operation of a liberal arts college spread over 107 acres with approximately 63 educational and support…

Education
4
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
5
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.

—
6
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
7
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
8
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
9
Chicago Historical Society

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history…

Arts & Culture
10
The Chicago Scholars Foundation

Chicago scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities.

Education
11
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
12
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Horticultural Society; the most unlike its peers is Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

29 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 29 of the 50 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/29
Grantees still filing
16/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientKENILWORTH UNION CHURCH: $14,500 · OtherKENILWORTH UNION CHURCHIndividual grant recipient: $13,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHoman Square Foundation: $10,000 · OtherHoman Square FoundationThe Springboard Foundation: $10,000 · OtherThe Springboard FoundationBig Shoulders: $10,000 · OtherBig ShouldersFENIX: $9,500 · OtherFENIXHoman Square Community Center: $6,000 · OtherLurie Childrens Foundation: $6,000 · OtherFREE SPIRIT MEDIA NFP: $7,000 · Other+22 more: $61,000 · Other+22 moreHoward Area Community Center: $102,000 · Human ServicesHoward Area Community …Elea Institute: $21,000 · Human ServicesElea InstituteUniversity of Chicago: $35,000 · EducationUniversity of Chica…Big Shoulders Fund: $31,000 · EducationBig Shoulders FundWilliams College: $17,000 · EducationWilliams CollegeTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $10,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE O…THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $5,000 · EducationHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $5,000 · Education+1 more: $2,000 · EducationWINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $52,000 · Arts & CultureWINNETKA COMMUNITY …WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $51,000 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORLD…+2 more: $1,500 · Arts & CultureThe Chicago Community Trust: $51,000 · PhilanthropyThe Chicago Co…LOBLOLLY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyLOBLOLLY COMMU…HOBE SOUND COMMUNITY CHEST INC: $4,000 · PhilanthropyCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $18,150 · EnvironmentTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $18,000 · International
Other$167,000Human Services$123,000Education$105,000Arts & Culture$104,500Philanthropy$80,000Environment$18,150International$18,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHoward Area Community Center: $102,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetWINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $52,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $51,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $51,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $35,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $31,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLOBLOLLY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetElea Institute: $21,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $18,150 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $18,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWilliams College: $17,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFREE SPIRIT MEDIA NFP: $7,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JOSSELYN CENTER NFP: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOBE SOUND COMMUNITY CHEST INC: $4,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPERSPECTIVES CHARTER SCHOOLS: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF MARTIN COUNTY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLawrence Hall: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPRESBYTERIAN FRONTIER FELLOWSHIP: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Howard Area Community Center ↗
  • Who funds WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds The Chicago Community Trust ↗
  • Who funds WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds Big Shoulders Fund ↗
  • Who funds LOBLOLLY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Elea Institute ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS ↗
  • Who funds Williams College ↗
  • Who funds The Springboard Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds FREE SPIRIT MEDIA NFP ↗
  • Who funds Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE JOSSELYN CENTER NFP ↗
  • Who funds HADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED ↗
  • Who funds HOBE SOUND COMMUNITY CHEST INC ↗
  • Who funds PERSPECTIVES CHARTER SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF MARTIN COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Charles H and Beverly…The Chicago Community…Dr Scholl FoundationGs Donor Advised Phil…Center Street Foundat…Frank Family Foundati…The Robert Thomas Bob…Polk Bros Foundation …AbbVie FoundationJohn D and Catherine …National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…
Charles H and Beverly E Shaw FoundationIL22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charles H and Beverly E Shaw Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Dr Scholl Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Center Street Foundation · Frank Family Foundation · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · AbbVie Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization 36 Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from 36 Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Boys & Girls Club of Martin County: 2% of income from government
  • Williams College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to 36 Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to 36 Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 50 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on 36’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home