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A Better Chicago at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

A Better Chicago

A Better Chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

$4.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$750k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$9.4MCommunity Improvement$5.8MYouth Development$2.6MHuman Services$2.5MHousing & Shelter$1.0MHealth$955kPhilanthropy$510kArts & Culture$375kOther$0
02FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 24 grants below total $4,095,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $4,527,254 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $432,254 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $2.0M
  • $250k+6 grants · $2.1M
$150,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$17M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHICAGO SCHOLARS$750,000
Juvenile Protective Association$300,000
Bottom Line$300,000
Saga Innovations$250,000
COLLEGE POSSIBLE$250,000
ONE MILLION DEGREES$250,000
National Louis University$225,000
Vocel Viewing Our Children as Emerging Leaders$225,000
Braven Inc$200,000
Intrinsic Schools$175,000
Chicago HOPES for Kids$150,000
Alternatives$150,000
Springboard Collaborative$125,000
It Takes a Village$125,000
MAAFA Redemption Project$100,000
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 (FY20–25, $3.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Springboard Collaborative: $125k → 22%Juvenile Protective Association: $400k → 14%Springboard Collaborative: $125k → 22%Juvenile Protective Association: $300k → 14%Juvenile Protective Association: $300k → 14%Juvenile Protective Association: $300k → 14%Juvenile Protective Association: $275k → 14%Metropolitan Family Services: $50k → 14%The Bloc: $113k → 14%Austin Childcare Provider's Network: $100k → 14%The Bloc: $100k → 14%The Bloc: $100k → 14%Austin Childcare Provider's Network: $100k → 14%Austin Childcare Provider's Network: $100k → 14%The Bloc: $100k → 14%Austin Childcare Provider's Network: $75k → 14%The Bloc: $75k → 14%The Bloc: $73k → 14%Austin Childcare Provider's Network: $50k → 14%Austin Childcare Provider's Network: $50k → 14%Family Focus Inc: $25k → 14%New Moms Inc: $25k → 14%LEAP Innovations: $250k → 14%LEAP Innovations: $50k → 14%Children Home & Aid Society of Illinois: $25k → 14%LEAP Innovations: $50k → 14%Cradles to Crayons Chicago: $75k → 14%Share Our Spare: $25k → 14%Northwest Side Housing Center: $25k → 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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26M · 32 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +64% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
32

Total granted

$26M
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+64%
+28%

Still filing today

97%
91%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $125k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TC
    THE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $2.0M · revenue +21%
  • TB
    THE BOTTOM LINE INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $1.9M · revenue +60%
  • JP
    JUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +100%

Funded once

  • IH
    INSTITUTO HEALTH SCIENCES CAREER ACADEMY
    one grant, 2020 · $315k
  • WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    one grant, 2020 · $157k · revenue +21%
  • CI
    COMP-U-DOPT INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $125k · revenue +286%
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
Chicago Collegiate Inc

To equip all students in grades six through twelve with the academic skills, intellectual habits and character traits to succeed in the college of their choice, strenghten their communities and change the world.

Education
2
Chicago Education Partnership

To create a school that dramatically transforms the lives of k-8 students and prepares them for success in college and in life through: the delivery of a rigorous and personalized academic program, a focus on holistic education, and the…

Education
3
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
4
The University of Chicago Charter School Corporation

To Prepare Students for Success in Four-Year Colleges.

Education
5
Tutoring Chicago

Tutoring chicago delivers the power of education through one-to-one tutoring.

Arts & Culture
6
Urban Prep Academies

To provide a comprehensive, high quality, college preparatory education that results in graduates succeeding in college. The operation of a network of public Charter College Prep High Schools.

Education
7
High Jump

High jump is a tuition free, two-year enrichment program for talented and motivated middle school students with limited family income. the students attend classes for a five week session during the summers before 7th and 8th grade; as well…

Education
8
Thrive Chicago Nfp

Thrive chicago's mission is to prepare chicago's youth for a vibrant future by aligning efforts and outcomes from cradle to career.

Human Services
9
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
10
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
11
Christopher House

Christopher house is a family of schools that helps children and families succeed in school, the workplace, and life. through our unique and innovative approach, we are effectively closing the opportunity gap through a continuum of…

Human Services
12
Midtown-Metro Achievement Centers

Midtown-Metro Achievement Centers, through its Midtown Center for boys and Metro Achievement Center for girls, helps close the achievement gap for Chicago's urban youth ages eight through eighteen.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Moms Inc; the most unlike its peers is Project OneTen. 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

64 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 64 of the 66 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
62/64
Grantees still filing
49/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $2,025,000 · EducationTHE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATIONONE MILLION DEGREES: $1,457,500 · EducationONE MILLION DEGREESKIPP CHICAGO SCHOOLS: $1,445,000 · EducationKIPP CHICAGO SCHOOLSNational Louis University: $1,395,000 · EducationNational Louis UniversityCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $1,325,000 · EducationCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INCChicago Heightening Opportunity and Potential for: $995,000 · EducationChicago Heightening Opportunity and Potential forINTRINSIC SCHOOLS: $970,000 · EducationINTRINSIC SCHOOLSNOBLE NETWORK OF CHARTER SCHOOLS: $890,000 · EducationNOBLE NETWORK OF CHARTER SCHOOLSBARR CENTER: $665,000 · EducationLION PRIDE MENTORING INC: $540,000 · Education+11 more: $1,500,000 · Education+11 moreBRAVEN INC: $1,318,500 · Youth DevelopmentBRAVEN INCVocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders: $1,125,000 · Youth DevelopmentVocel Viewing …IMENTOR INC: $800,000 · Youth DevelopmentIMENTOR INCProject OneTen: $150,000 · Youth Development+6 more: $225,000 · Youth Development+6 moreJUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $1,575,000 · Human ServicesJUVENILE PROTE…THE BLOC: $560,000 · Human ServicesTHE BLOCAustin Childcare Providers Network: $475,000 · Human ServicesAustin Childca…LEAP Innovations: $350,000 · Human ServicesLEAP Innovatio…SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $250,000 · Human ServicesSPRINGBOARD CO…+7 more: $250,000 · Human Services+7 moreTHE BOTTOM LINE INC: $1,850,000 · Community ImprovementTHE BOTTOM…MAAFA Redemption Project: $525,000 · Community ImprovementMAAFA Rede…+2 more: $75,000 · Community ImprovementRoosevelt University: $1,450,000 · OtherRoosevelt U…INSTITUTO HEALTH SCIENCES CAREER ACADEMY: $315,000 · OtherINSTITUTO H…FIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGO: $375,000 · OtherFIREHOUSE C…LOST BOYZINC: $175,000 · OtherLOST BOYZIN…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $156,982 · OtherWORLD CENTR…+10 more: $370,000 · Other+10 moreALTERNATIVES INC: $780,000 · HealthRush University Medical Center: $425,000 · HealthPitch In: $510,000 · PhilanthropyROBERT R MCCORMICK FOUNDATION: $200,000 · Philanthropy
Education$13,207,500Youth Development$3,618,500Human Services$3,460,000Community Improvement$2,450,000Other$2,841,982Health$1,205,000Philanthropy$710,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $2,025,000 over 6y, 15% of budgetTHE BOTTOM LINE INC: $1,850,000 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetJUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $1,575,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetONE MILLION DEGREES: $1,457,500 over 6y, 5.5% of budgetRoosevelt University: $1,450,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetKIPP CHICAGO SCHOOLS: $1,445,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetNational Louis University: $1,395,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $1,325,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetBRAVEN INC: $1,318,500 over 6y, 6.4% of budgetVocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders: $1,125,000 over 6y, 17% of budgetChicago Heightening Opportunity and Potential for: $995,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetINTRINSIC SCHOOLS: $970,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetNOBLE NETWORK OF CHARTER SCHOOLS: $890,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetIMENTOR INC: $800,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetALTERNATIVES INC: $780,000 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetBARR CENTER: $665,000 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetTHE BLOC: $560,000 over 6y, 47% of budgetLION PRIDE MENTORING INC: $540,000 over 4y, 70% of budgetMAAFA Redemption Project: $525,000 over 6y, 33% of budgetPitch In: $510,000 over 4y, 16% of budgetAustin Childcare Providers Network: $475,000 over 6y, 31% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $425,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLEADING EDUCATORS INC: $425,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetFIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGO: $375,000 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetLEAP Innovations: $350,000 over 3y, 6.7% of budgetSAGA INNOVATIONS INC: $325,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetSPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $250,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetA HOUSE IN AUSTIN: $200,000 over 3y, 32% of budgetROBERT R MCCORMICK FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLOST BOYZINC: $175,000 over 3y, 6.4% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $156,982 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY EDUCATION NETWORK: $125,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOMP-U-DOPT INC: $125,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetAustin Coming Together: $100,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetDREAM ON EDUCATION: $100,000 over 2y, 50% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetI AM ABLE CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT: $70,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PARK IN THE CITY OF DETROIT: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetHorizons for Youth: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSKILLS FOR CHICAGO: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNew Life Centers of Chicagoland: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEL HOGAR DEL NINO: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNEW MOMS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

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.

Robert R McCormick Fo…The Chicago Community…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Polk Bros Foundation …Circle of Service Fou…United Way of Metropo…Vivo FoundationCme Group FoundationFinnegan Family Found…John D and Catherine …Imc Chicago Charitabl…Lloyd a Fry Foundation
Robert R McCormick FoundationIL60× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Robert R McCormick Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Circle of Service Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Vivo Foundation · Cme Group Foundation · Finnegan Family Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Imc Chicago Charitable Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation

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 A Better Chicago funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from A Better Chicago. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Saga Innovations Inc: 28% of income from government
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Bottom Line Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
22report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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.

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 66 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 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

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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