Skip to content
Best Portion Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Best Portion Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
15
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$540k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$5.8MPhilanthropy$1.5MYouth Development$1.5MHuman Services$436kArts & Culture$345kCommunity Improvement$125kEnvironment$120kCivil Rights$90kOther$0
02FY2024 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $220k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $382k
  • $250k+1 grant · $540k
$35,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATION$539,663
RANDOLPH COLLEGE$100,732
A BETTER CHICAGO$100,472
TEACH FOR AMERICA$75,416
KIDS FIRST CHICAGO$54,910
SCHOOL YEAR ABROAD$50,000
PARTNERSHIP FOR COLLEGE COMPLETION$49,871
EVERGREEN CLIMATE INNOVATIONS$35,000
MANNY & PAT PULIDO SANCHEZ FOUNDATION$25,000
INVEST FOR KIDS$25,000
STRYV 365$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
BULAMU HEALTHCARE INTERNATIONAL$20,248
CHIARTS$14,836
MIKVA CHALLENGE$5,000
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 (FY17–24, $2.2M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%SGA YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $125k → 14%SGA YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $61k → 14%SGA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $50k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $50k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $25k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $25k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $25k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $25k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $25k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $25k → 14%A BETTER CHICAGO: $100k → 14%A BETTER CHICAGO: $160k → 14%A BETTER CHICAGO: $100k → 14%THRIVE CHICAGO: $100k → 14%THRIVE CHICAGO: $100k → 14%THRIVE CHICAGO: $50k → 14%A BETTER CHICAGO: $350k → 14%LEAP INNOVATIONS: $226k → 14%A BETTER CHICAGO: $154k → 14%LEAP INNOVATIONS: $140k → 14%LEAP INNOVATIONS: $125k → 14%LEAP INNOVATIONS: $50k → 14%THRIVE CHICAGO: $25k → 14%A BETTER CHICAGO: $125k → 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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.7M · 28 repeat orgs$546k to everyone else

28 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
18

Total granted

$9.7M
$496k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
+23%

Still filing today

82%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentInternationalArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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
    7× · 2017–2024 · $2.7M · revenue +4%
  • AB
    A Better Chicago
    6× · 2017–2024 · $990k · revenue +76%
  • RANDOLPH COLLEGE INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $902k · revenue +0%

Funded once

  • ES
    EVANS SCHOLAR FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • CS
    CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER
    one grant, 2018 · $50k · revenue -33%
  • CA
    CLEVELAND AVENUE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $50k
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 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
2
Tutoring Chicago

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

Arts & Culture
3
Academy for Global Citizenship Charter School

Academy for global citizenship charter school (agc) develops mindful leaders who take action both now and in the future to positively impact their communities and the world beyond.

Education
4
The University of Chicago Charter School Corporation

To Prepare Students for Success in Four-Year Colleges.

Education
5
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
6
Junior Achievement of Chicago

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

International
7
Chicago Votes

Chicago Votes is a non-partisan, non-profit organization building a more inclusive democracy by putting power in the hands of young Chicagoans. We're engaging and developing a new generation of leaders by opening the doors of government,…

Civil Rights
8
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
9
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
10
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
11
Chicago United

To achieve parity in economic opportunity for people of color by advancing multiracial leadership in corporate governance, expanding the talent pipline for executive-level management, and growing minority businesses.

Philanthropy
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kids First Chicago for Education; the most unlike its peers is Manny and Pat Pulido Sanchez 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

34 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. 34 of the 49 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/34
Grantees still filing
22/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $2,654,417 · EducationTHE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATIONRANDOLPH COLLEGE INC: $901,864 · EducationRANDOLPH COLLEGE INCTeach for America Inc: $477,446 · EducationTeach for America IncThe Partnership for College Completion: $299,871 · EducationThe Partnership for College CompletionKIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION: $204,662 · EducationEDUCATORS FOR EXCELLENCE INC: $175,016 · Education+9 more: $358,171 · Education+9 moreA Better Chicago: $989,767 · Human ServicesA Better ChicagoLEAP Innovations: $541,100 · Human ServicesLEAP InnovationsTHRIVE CHICAGO NFP: $275,000 · Human ServicesTHRIVE CHICAGO NFPSGA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES NFP: $235,511 · Human ServicesSGA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVI…Invest for Kids Inc: $200,437 · Human ServicesInvest for Kids IncROGER BALDWIN FOUNDATION: $1,405,783 · OtherROGER BALDWIN FOUNDATIONEVANS SCHOLAR FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherSTAND FOR CHILDREN LEADERSHIP: $89,865 · OtherCHIARTS: $89,836 · OtherEVERGREEN CLIMATE INNOVATIONS: $120,444 · OtherEVERGREEN CLIMATE INNOVA…+15 more: $415,603 · Other+15 moreSCHOOL YEAR ABROAD INC: $210,000 · InternationalBULAMU INTERNATIONAL: $60,248 · InternationalTHE BRIDGESPAN GROUP INC: $125,000 · Community ImprovementGENUNITY INC: $50,000 · Community ImprovementONEGOAL: $126,087 · Youth DevelopmentSTRYV365 INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentCOMMON GROUND FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentURBAN GATEWAYS: $90,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $50,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$5,071,447Human Services$2,241,815Other$2,221,531International$270,248Community Improvement$175,000Youth Development$161,087Arts & Culture$140,000

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 budgetTHE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $2,654,417 over 7y, 9.2% of budgetA Better Chicago: $989,767 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetRANDOLPH COLLEGE INC: $901,864 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetLEAP Innovations: $541,100 over 4y, 6.1% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $477,446 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetThe Partnership for College Completion: $299,871 over 6y, 18% of budgetTHRIVE CHICAGO NFP: $275,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetSGA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES NFP: $235,511 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetSCHOOL YEAR ABROAD INC: $210,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetKIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION: $204,662 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetInvest for Kids Inc: $200,437 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetEDUCATORS FOR EXCELLENCE INC: $175,016 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetONEGOAL: $126,087 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BRIDGESPAN GROUP INC: $125,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEVERGREEN CLIMATE INNOVATIONS: $120,444 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $100,019 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: $99,723 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetURBAN GATEWAYS: $90,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetCHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT: $62,500 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetBULAMU INTERNATIONAL: $60,248 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGENUNITY INC: $50,000 over 2y, 7.5% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $40,052 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO COLLEGIATE INC: $32,617 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN: $30,102 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetKIPP CHICAGO SCHOOLS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTRYV365 INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetMANNY AND PAT PULIDO SANCHEZ FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $18,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $15,260 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMON GROUND FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CHICAGO DEBATE COMMISSION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% 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 THE CHICAGO SCHOLARS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds A Better Chicago ↗
  • Who funds RANDOLPH COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds LEAP Innovations ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds The Partnership for College Completion ↗
  • Who funds THRIVE CHICAGO NFP ↗
  • Who funds SGA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES NFP ↗
  • Who funds SCHOOL YEAR ABROAD INC ↗
  • Who funds KIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds Invest for Kids Inc ↗
  • Who funds EDUCATORS FOR EXCELLENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds ONEGOAL ↗
  • Who funds THE BRIDGESPAN GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds EVERGREEN CLIMATE INNOVATIONS ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds URBAN GATEWAYS ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds BULAMU INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER ↗
  • Who funds GENUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO COLLEGIATE INC ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN ↗
  • Who funds KIPP CHICAGO SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds STRYV365 INC ↗
  • Who funds MANNY AND PAT PULIDO SANCHEZ FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Arie and Ida Crown Me…The Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …Polk Bros Foundation …The Joyce FoundationFinnegan Family Found…Vivo FoundationLloyd a Fry FoundationRobert R McCormick Fo…Circle of Service Fou…Gates FoundationThe Lefkofsky Family …
Arie and Ida Crown MemorialIL31.9× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · The Joyce Foundation · Finnegan Family Foundation · Vivo Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Gates Foundation · The Lefkofsky Family 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 Best Portion Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Best Portion Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    13report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Best Portion Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Best Portion 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 49 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Best Portion’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