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Amicus Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Amicus Foundation

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.

$1.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$1.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

99% of Amicus Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.

Organizations named directly on the return

3
’18
5
’19
3
’20
4
’21
2
’22
6
’23
0
’24
1
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Philanthropy$5.7MInternational$17kEducation$15kHousing & Shelter$12kHealth$12kPublic Benefit$4kHuman Services$3kCrime & Legal$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $11k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.2M
$3,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$27M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FIDELITY CHARITABLE$1,200,000
DIGS WITH DIGNITY$5,000
Individual grant recipient$3,000
PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION$1,300
SAN MIGUEL SCHOOL CHICAGO GALA$1,012
Individual grant recipient$500
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 (FY23–23, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 62% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SHARING CONNECTIONS INC: $1k → 7%MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $2k → 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.

42%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$34k · 5 repeat orgs$47k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
13

Total granted

$34k
$36k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+52%

Still filing today

60%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’25
EducationHuman ServicesFood & NutritionHealthHousing & ShelterEnvironmentOther
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

  • CP
    CHILDRENS PLACE ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2018–2022 · $15k
  • PC
    PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO
    5× · 2019–2023 · $10k · revenue -4%
  • WG
    WOMEN'S GLOBAL EDUC PROJECT
    2× · 2019–2020 · $4k

Funded once

  • FO
    FRANCISCAN OUTREACHgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +29%
  • BS
    Big Shoulders Fundgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $7k · revenue +67%
  • PC
    PARK COUNTY COMM FOUND-NYEF
    one grant, 2019 · $4k
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
Greater Chicago Food Depository

The greater chicago food depository is the nonprofit food bank serving cook county. our mission - is to end hunger. we believe food is a basic human right. to achieve our mission, we work in partnership with a network of community-based…

Food & Nutrition
2
Street Samaritans

Street samaritans is an illinois not for profit corporation incorporated in 2017. the purpose of the organization is to provide chicagoland's homeless population with fulfillment of their most pressing needs including food, water and…

Human Services
3
Nourishing Hope

Nourishing hope provides food, mental health support, and social services to help all our neighbors thrive.

—
4
Franciscan Community Benefit Services

MISSION - TO celebrate life and serve with joy. Vision - to provide access to Catholic high schools and offer programs for higher education and career readiness for young women from the Chicago area.

Religion
5
Aids Foundation of Chicago

The aids foundation of chicago mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to hiv and related chronic disease.

Health
6
Feeding Illinois

Feeding illinois is a coalition of eight feeding america food banks that provide food to over 2,400 food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters that feed nearly 1.4 million residents across the entire state of illinois.

Food & Nutrition
7
Skills for Chicago

See schedule othe mission of skills is to stand as a life-changing employment resource connecting underrepresented job seekers to employers with opportunities across industries. we do this by building multi-level, trusted relationships…

Employment
8
Franciscan Sisters of Chicago Service Corporation

The mission of the franciscan sisters of chicago service corporation ("fscsc") is to celebrate life and serve with joy. (continued on schedule o).

Philanthropy
9
Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness

Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (CCH) builds community power and advances racial equity through organizing, advocacy, legal assistance, and education to prevent and end homelessness because housing is a human right.

Housing & Shelter
10
Community Shares of Illinois

Community shares of illinois represents a diverse group of charitites with a common mission, to make our world a better place. whether your passion is women's issues, protecting children, helping animals, promoting health care or curbing…

—
11
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
12
Arise Chicago

Arise chicago builds partnerships between faith communities and workers to fight workplace injustice through education, organizing, and advocating for public policy changes.

Employment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sharing Connections Inc; the most unlike its peers is Feeding America. 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

14 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. 14 of the 24 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
11/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $6,935,000 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUNDCHILDRENS PLACE ASSOCIATION: $14,920 · OtherFRANCISCAN OUTREACH: $10,000 · OtherDIGS WITH DIGNITY CORPORATION: $5,000 · OtherWOMEN'S GLOBAL EDUC PROJECT: $4,100 · OtherPARK COUNTY COMM FOUND-NYEF: $4,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $3,000 · OtherBRIDGE COMMUNICATIONS INC: $2,238 · OtherAMERICA SHARE USA INC: $1,750 · Other+8 more: $7,197 · OtherBig Shoulders Fund: $6,700 · EducationSAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $4,000 · EducationPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO: $10,057 · HealthMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $1,950 · Human ServicesSHARING CONNECTIONS INC: $1,215 · Human ServicesALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY: $2,340 · Housing & ShelterLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER: $2,248 · Crime & Legal
Community Improvement$6,935,000Other$52,205Education$10,700Health$10,057Human Services$3,165Housing & Shelter$2,340Crime & Legal$2,248

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $6,935,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO: $10,057 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetFRANCISCAN OUTREACH: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $6,700 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY: $2,340 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER: $2,248 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $1,950 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICA SHARE USA INC: $1,750 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSHARING CONNECTIONS INC: $1,215 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND SENSE: $325 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER YELLOWSTONE COALITION: $300 over 1y, 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.

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.

Helen V Brach Foundat…The Chicago Community…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…American Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…Network for GoodNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Helen V Brach FoundationIL13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Helen V Brach Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Amicus Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Amicus Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 Amicus Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Amicus Foundation 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 24 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 Amicus’ 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