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A Just Better Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

A Just Better Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$112k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0189% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2024 to 2025.

Public Safety & Disaster$46kHuman Services$19kYouth Development$16kHealth$12kInternational$12kPhilanthropy$12kFood & Nutrition$6kHousing & Shelter$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k17 grants · $62k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $50k
$3,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$20,000
ILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY ALLIANCE$20,000
THE KRULAC FOUNDATION$10,000
CU WELFARE FOUNDATION$9,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
GLOBAL SOJOURNS GIVING CIRCLE$5,000
FRIENDS OF WILL UNIVERSITY$5,000
WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$4,000
UNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY$3,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$3,000
THE CARTER CENTER$3,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$3,000
THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION$3,000
AMERICAN BRAIN TUMOR ASSOCIATION$3,000
DON MOYER BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB$3,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY24–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $4k → 16%PHOENIX SOCIETY: $3k → 11%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $3k → 18%THE CARTER CENTER: $3k → 14%CU WELFARE FOUNDATION: $9k → 12%GLOBAL SOJOURNS GIVING CIRCLE: $5k → 9%AMBERCROMBIE KENT PHILANTHROPY: $5k → 7%THE KRULAC FOUNDATION: $10k → 13%HERSCHER TIGER SCHOLARSHIP: $20k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $3k → 14%THE I FUND: $28k → 19%PHOENIX SOCIETY: $3k → 11%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $3k → 18%THE CARTER CENTER: $3k → 14%HERSCHER TIGER SCHOLARSHIP: $10k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $3k → 14%DON MOYER BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $3k → 19%ILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY ALLIANCE: $20k → 14%DON MOYER BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $3k → 19%ILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY ALLIANCE: $20k → 14%CHAMPAIGN URBANA KIWANIS WELFARE: $10k → 19%THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $3k → 14%UNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY: $3k → 19%THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $3k → 14%UNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY: $3k → 19%HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $3k → 14%AMERICAN BRAIN TUMOR ASSOCIATION: $3k → 14%HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $3k → 14%AMERICAN BRAIN TUMOR ASSOCIATION: $3k → 14%FEEDING AMERICA: $3k → 14%CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3k → 14%FEEDING AMERICA: $3k → 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.

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$130k · 12 repeat orgs$83k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue 0% since the first grant, against -25% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
3

Total granted

$130k
$41k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
-25%

Still filing today

75%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $42k went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
InternationalArts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentFood & NutritionOther
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

  • IF
    ILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY ALLIANCE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $40k · revenue +19%
  • American Brain Tumor Association
    2× · 2024–2025 · $6k · revenue +9%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $6k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • TI
    THE I FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $28k
  • CK
    CHAMPAIGN-URBANA KIWANIS CLUB WELFARE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue -25%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF WILL
    one grant, 2024 · $3k
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
University of Illinois Alumni Association

The mission of the university of illinois alumni association is to enhance and advance the relationship between the university of illinois at urbana-champaign (the university) and all its alumni; to inspire lifelong loyalty and pride among…

—
2
Boys & Girls Clubs of America

The mission of the organization is to operate exclusively for the benefit of, or to carry out the purposes of, boys and girls clubs of america, a d.c. corporation that was congressionally chartered in 1956 ("boys & girls clubs of america")…

Youth Development
3
Children's Advocates for Change

Children's advocates for change was organized to improve the lives of children in illinois by bringing about significant changes public policies and programs for children through research, policy analysis and advocacy, public education and…

Human Services
4
United Way of Illinois

Strengthen United Way movement in Illinois

Philanthropy
5
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
6
National Black Prosecutors Association

The mission of the NBPA is reflected in the organization's commitment to the recruitment of blacks within the prosecutorial arm of the legal profession. To ensure the retention of blacks in prosecution.

Community Improvement
7
Webster University

Founded in 1915, webster is a private non-profit and global university that is committed to delivering high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence.

Education
8
University of Illinois Foundation

The Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is an independent and separate nonprofit entity from the University of Illinois. Our mission is to encourage and administer private gifts and serve the UI System by working closely with…

Education
9
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
10
Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Research Center generates a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and…

Social Science
11
The Center for Black Health and Equity
Health
12
The Poptech Institute

Poptech's mission is to accelerate the positive impact of world-changing people, projects and ideas. founded in 1996 by bob metcalfe (inventor, ethernet) and john sculley (apple, pepsi), poptech originally provided a forum to critically…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club; the most unlike its peers is Wgbh Educational Foundation. 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

13 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. 13 of the 23 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)
13/13
Grantees still filing
4/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $30,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE I FUND: $28,000 · OtherTHE I FUNDCHAMPAIGN-URBANA KIWANIS CLUB WELFARE FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherCHAMPAIGN-URBANA KIWANIS CLUB WELFARE FOUNDATIONTHE KRULAC FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherTHE KRULAC FOUNDATIONCU WELFARE FOUNDATION: $9,000 · OtherCU WELFARE FOUNDATIONPHOENIX SOCIETY INC: $6,000 · OtherAmerican Brain Tumor Association: $6,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSS: $6,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $6,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF WILL UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · Other+2 more: $6,000 · OtherILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY ALLIANCE: $40,000 · HealthILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY …THE CARTER CENTER INC: $6,000 · InternationalGLOBAL SOJOURNS GIVING CIRCLE: $5,000 · International4222 HUMANITY THROUGH BASEBALL FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · InternationalTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $6,000 · Arts & CultureWGBH Educational Foundation: $4,000 · Arts & CultureUNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY: $6,000 · PhilanthropyDON MOYER BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $6,000 · Youth DevelopmentFeeding America: $6,000 · Food & NutritionSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $6,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$127,000Health$40,000International$12,000Arts & Culture$10,000Philanthropy$6,000Youth Development$6,000Food & Nutrition$6,000Crime & Legal$6,000

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 budgetILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY ALLIANCE: $40,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetCHAMPAIGN-URBANA KIWANIS CLUB WELFARE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetPHOENIX SOCIETY INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDON MOYER BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFeeding America: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Brain Tumor Association: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget4222 HUMANITY THROUGH BASEBALL FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Just Better Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from A Just Better Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 23 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

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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