Illinois · Public charity
Big Shoulders Fund
We provide support to underserved schools which provide a quality, values-based education for Chicago's children. In 2020, Big Shoulders Fund's programming was extended to the Northwest Indiana region.
- $42M
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 84
- Itemized grants FY2025
- 78
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 9%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Itemized, FY2025
- $24M
- The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
- Median grant, FY2025
- $160,894
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $1,369,348
- Organizations funded a year
- 62 to 78
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 2
- Total assets, FY2025
- $152M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 9% of the organizations Big Shoulders Fund funded were first-time grantees, receiving 5% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $774k went to new ones.
RenewedFirst-time
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.
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 84 | $24M | 15% |
| FY2024 | 78 | $15M | 9% |
| FY2023 | 72 | $17M | 3% |
| FY2022 | 69 | $7.7M | 6% |
| FY2021 | 62 | $8.0M | 10% |
| FY2020 | 65 | $12M | 9% |
| FY2019 | 71 | $8.3M | 6% |
| FY2018 | 72 | $7.7M | n/a |
100% classified
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.
Education$97MReligion$2.5MSocial Science$250kHealth$13kScience & Tech$5k
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Francis de Sales High School | $6,878,353 | 8 | n/a |
| St Ethelreda Church | $5,200,194 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of Africa Parish | $4,076,917 | 8 | n/a |
| Visitation School | $3,534,189 | 8 | n/a |
| Epiphany School | $3,358,821 | 8 | n/a |
| St Sabina Church | $3,330,736 | 8 | n/a |
| St Moses the Black Parish | $3,205,507 | 8 | n/a |
| St Malachy School | $2,865,021 | 6 | n/a |
| St Margaret of Scotland Parish & School | $2,753,156 | 8 | n/a |
| Catholic Bishop of Chicago Five Holy Martyrs Parish | $2,581,850 | 8 | n/a |
Show all 114 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Francis de Sales High School | $6,878,353 | 8 | n/a |
| St Ethelreda Church | $5,200,194 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of Africa Parish | $4,076,917 | 8 | n/a |
| Visitation School | $3,534,189 | 8 | n/a |
| Epiphany School | $3,358,821 | 8 | n/a |
| St Sabina Church | $3,330,736 | 8 | n/a |
| St Moses the Black Parish | $3,205,507 | 8 | n/a |
| St Malachy School | $2,865,021 | 6 | n/a |
| St Margaret of Scotland Parish & School | $2,753,156 | 8 | n/a |
| Catholic Bishop of Chicago Five Holy Martyrs Parish | $2,581,850 | 8 | n/a |
| Academy of St Benedict the African | $2,467,042 | 8 | n/a |
| St Philip Neri School | $2,441,153 | 8 | n/a |
| St Mary Star of the Sea Parish & School | $2,389,650 | 8 | n/a |
| St Ailbe School | $2,241,756 | 8 | n/a |
| Aquinas Catholic School (IN) | $2,218,363 | 4 | n/a |
| St Constance School | $2,215,838 | 8 | n/a |
| Maternity B V M Parish & School | $2,160,499 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of Tepeyac School | $2,115,159 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of Grace Parish | $2,108,791 | 8 | n/a |
| St Nicholas of Tolentine School | $1,989,608 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of Guadalupe Church | $1,970,307 | 8 | n/a |
| Leo High School | $1,929,483 | 8 | n/a |
| St Sylvester Parish & School | $1,869,475 | 8 | n/a |
| St Louis de Montfort Parish & School | $1,766,786 | 8 | n/a |
| St Genevieve School | $1,746,393 | 8 | n/a |
| St Ann School | $1,726,532 | 8 | n/a |
| Immaculate Conception and St Michael | $1,476,879 | 8 | n/a |
| Holy Trinity Mission | $1,455,925 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of the Holy Family | $1,437,528 | 8 | n/a |
| Most Blessed Trinity Academy | $1,397,742 | 8 | n/a |
| St Pius V Church & School | $1,302,228 | 8 | n/a |
| St Gall School | $1,222,793 | 8 | n/a |
| St Angela School | $1,222,143 | 2 | n/a |
| St John de Lasalle Parish & School | $1,159,846 | 8 | n/a |
| St Catherine of Siena St Lucy Parish & School | $1,139,271 | 8 | n/a |
| St Agnes School | $1,092,772 | 8 | n/a |
| St Malachy School | $1,051,283 | 2 | n/a |
| Santa Lucia Parish & School | $987,284 | 2 | n/a |
| St Helens Parish & School | $821,762 | 8 | n/a |
| Annunciata School | $673,981 | 6 | n/a |
| Ss Bruno & Richard | $613,241 | 7 | n/a |
| Saint Gabriel Catholic School | $534,018 | 7 | n/a |
| Sacred Heart | $533,796 | 7 | n/a |
| St Procopius Parish & School | $511,071 | 8 | n/a |
| Stbenedict Parish | $490,425 | 5 | n/a |
| St Stanislaus Parish | $458,799 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of the Snows | $440,755 | 8 | n/a |
| St Mary of Lake Parish & School | $405,808 | 5 | n/a |
| St Thomas of Canterbury Parish & School | $403,281 | 8 | n/a |
| St Nicholas Ukrainian Cathedral School | $395,523 | 8 | n/a |
| St Frances of Rome Parish & School | $395,068 | 1 | n/a |
| St Anastasia School | $360,633 | 3 | n/a |
| St Stanislaus School | $357,810 | 4 | n/a |
| St John Bosco | $323,252 | 5 | n/a |
| St Michaels Parish | $278,889 | 2 | n/a |
| St Symphorosa School | $271,453 | 8 | n/a |
| San Miguel Febres Cordero School Inc | $268,476 | 8 | 3% |
| St Casimirs Roman Catholic Church | $254,668 | 4 | n/a |
| St John the Baptist (IN) | $254,459 | 4 | n/a |
| Bishop Noll Institute | $249,827 | 4 | n/a |
| St Walter Parish & School | $228,791 | 3 | n/a |
| Josephinum Academy | $223,340 | 8 | n/a |
| Our Lady of Tepeyac High School | $223,147 | 8 | n/a |
| St William & Parish & School | $220,406 | 7 | n/a |
| Andrean High School | $194,410 | 2 | n/a |
| St Thomas the Apostle Parish & School | $186,653 | 8 | n/a |
| Marquette High School | $166,600 | 2 | n/a |
| Queen of All Saints School | $165,880 | 1 | n/a |
| St Bede the Venerable School | $147,494 | 8 | n/a |
| St Therese School | $146,209 | 8 | n/a |
| St Bartholomew School | $137,377 | 4 | n/a |
| St Matthias School | $124,867 | 8 | n/a |
| St Michaels Catholic Church | $122,429 | 2 | n/a |
| Northside Catholic Academy | $120,385 | 6 | n/a |
| Cristo Rey St Martin College Prep | $112,932 | 5 | 0% |
| St Stanislaus Kostka Parish | $111,503 | 2 | n/a |
| St Mary's Catholic School | $106,530 | 1 | n/a |
| St Thomas More Church | $103,360 | 1 | n/a |
| Notre Dame School | $101,760 | 1 | n/a |
| Saint Paul Catholic School | $101,380 | 1 | n/a |
| St John Evangelist Church | $101,060 | 1 | n/a |
| St Mary Church | $100,840 | 1 | n/a |
| Cristo Rey Jesuit High School | $100,359 | 6 | n/a |
| Our Lady of Grace | $100,200 | 1 | n/a |
| St Patrick School | $100,120 | 1 | n/a |
| Nativity of Our Savior School | $100,000 | 1 | n/a |
| St Hilary School | $99,158 | 4 | n/a |
| St Ferdinand School & Convent | $90,228 | 6 | n/a |
| St Rita of Cascia Parish | $77,418 | 5 | n/a |
| Yeshiva Shearis Yisroel-Veitzener Cheder Inc | $72,285 | 3 | n/a |
| Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School | $65,985 | 5 | n/a |
| St Mary of Angels Parish & School | $54,834 | 3 | n/a |
| Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov Elementary School-Yeshivas Tiferes Tzvi Inc | $54,229 | 4 | n/a |
| Bridgeport Catholic Academy | $42,998 | 3 | n/a |
| De Lasalle Institute | $40,664 | 4 | n/a |
| St Barbara School (Chicago) | $34,381 | 2 | n/a |
| St Viator Parish & School | $30,618 | 4 | n/a |
| St Richards Parish | $27,112 | 2 | n/a |
| Mother McAuley High School | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Telshe Yeshiva-Chicago Rabbinical College Telshe-Chicago | $24,299 | 2 | n/a |
| Christ the King Parish | $22,671 | 3 | n/a |
| St John Berchmans Parish & School | $22,020 | 3 | n/a |
| Arie Crown Hebrew Day School | $16,500 | 2 | n/a |
| St Laurence High School | $15,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Joliet Catholic Academy | $12,840 | 1 | n/a |
| Mobile Care Foundation | $12,500 | 1 | 1% |
| DePaul College Prep | $10,700 | 2 | n/a |
| St Michael Parish & School | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Lubavitch Girls High School Inc | $8,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Cheder Lubavitch Hebrew Day School Inc | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Annunciata School | $5,873 | 1 | n/a |
| Hfs Chicago Scholars | $5,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Fenwick High School | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| National Society of Black Engineers | $5,000 | 1 | 0% |
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.
Institute for Quality Education IncIN35.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 2 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →
Open a dossier: Institute for Quality Education Inc · Irish Fellowship Educational & Cultural Foundation · Helen V Brach Foundation · Enchanted Backpack · The Center for Education Reform · Robert R McCormick Foundation · The Cuneo Foundation · Kehillah Jewish Education Fund · Fred J Brunner Foundation · The Canning Foundation · WP & HB White Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc
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.
About Big Shoulders Fund
- How much does Big Shoulders Fund give?
- Big Shoulders Fund reported 84 itemized grants totaling $24,333,400, out of $41,830,502 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 62 and 78 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Big Shoulders Fund fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (97%), Religion (3%), Social Science (0%).
- Who are Big Shoulders Fund's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2018 to FY2025: St Francis de Sales High School ($6.9M), St Ethelreda Church ($5.2M), Our Lady of Africa Parish ($4.1M).
- Does Big Shoulders Fund fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 9% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Big Shoulders Fund?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Institute for Quality Education Inc, Irish Fellowship Educational & Cultural Foundation, Helen V Brach Foundation.
- Where is Big Shoulders Fund based?
- Big Shoulders Fund is based in IL.
Play a game based on Big Shoulders’ 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