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Berger Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Berger 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.

$68
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$68
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Philanthropy$107kHealth$9kArts & Culture$7kReligion$4kRecreation & Sports$900Public Safety & Disaster$500Animals$350Human Services$100Other$0
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$68
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$68
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 (FY17–17, $100) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%JCC CHICAGO: $100 → 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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$112k · 11 repeat orgs$17k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +84% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
20

Total granted

$112k
$17k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+84%
+25%

Still filing today

73%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthAnimalsHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • Northwestern University
    4× · 2017–2022 · $900 · revenue +41%
  • AL
    ASOCIACION LATINA DE ASISTENCIA Y PREVENCION DEL CANCER DE MAMA
    4× · 2017–2021 · $875 · revenue +127%
  • MO
    MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
    3× · 2017–2022 · $722 · revenue +0%

Funded once

  • LS
    LYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $4k · revenue +134%
  • CT
    CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $3k · revenue +52%
  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGOgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $2k · revenue +57%
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
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
2
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
3
Lyric Opera of Chicago

We believe in the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great art and opera. Lyric Opera of Chicago exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to the Chicago region and the nation, and to advance the…

Arts & Culture
4
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
5
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
6
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
7
The Adler Planetarium

The adler planetarium ('adler') is a not-for-profit cultural institution whose mission is to connect people to the universe and each other under the sky we all share. it aspires to be the world's premier center for engaging in astronomy…

Arts & Culture
8
Pediatric Faculty Foundation Inc

We value excellence and innovation in clinical and basic research, coordinated and comprehensive patient care, ongoing physician education, and evidence-based child advocacy. our goal is to provide leadership in endeavors that promote the…

Health
9
Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Inc

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University ("The Auditorium"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago and to the…

Arts & Culture
10
Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute

Stanley manne children's research institute strives to generate new knowledge and advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric diseases.

Health
11
Rush University Medical Center

The mission of Rush is to improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.

Health
12
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago; 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

23 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. 23 of the 31 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
19/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $105,068 · OtherCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION+12 more: $5,103 · OtherCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureThe Arts Club of Chicago: $1,900 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $722 · Arts & CultureThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $500 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $500 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $300 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $100 · Arts & CultureHYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY ASSOCIATION: $2,000 · HealthIMERMAN ANGELS: $1,000 · HealthASOCIACION LATINA DE ASISTENCIA Y PREVENCION DEL CANCER DE MAMA: $875 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $600 · Health+2 more: $150 · HealthLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $4,200 · Housing & ShelterJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $2,000 · PhilanthropyNorthwestern University: $900 · Recreation & SportsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $200 · AnimalsPAWS CHICAGO: $150 · Animals
Other$110,171Arts & Culture$7,022Health$4,625Housing & Shelter$4,200Philanthropy$2,000Recreation & Sports$900Animals$350

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 budgetLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $4,200 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY ASSOCIATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Arts Club of Chicago: $1,900 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIMERMAN ANGELS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $900 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetASOCIACION LATINA DE ASISTENCIA Y PREVENCION DEL CANCER DE MAMA: $875 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $722 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $600 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetILLINOIS ARTS ALLIANCE: $250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAccess Living of Metropolitan Chicago: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAARP FOUNDATION: $100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $25 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.

Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA6.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Berger Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Berger 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%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 31 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 Berger’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