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Block Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Block Family 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.

$88k
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$336kEducation$194kPhilanthropy$91kCommunity Improvement$39kRecreation & Sports$23kSocial Science$11kReligion$7kHousing & Shelter$7kOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k23 grants · $73k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$2,500
Median grant
8
States reached
$2.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHICAGO SPORTS SUMMIT FOUNDATION$15,000
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$9,075
LA RABIDA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$7,846
Individual grant recipient$7,460
EVANS SCHOLARS FOUNDATION$7,132
AURORA UNIVERSITY$5,000
ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY$5,000
REED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION$5,000
SILVER CROSS FOUNDATION$3,600
MORRIS HOSPITAL AUXILIARY$3,066
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA$2,500
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY$2,500
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA CHAMPAIGN$2,500
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME$2,500
XAVIER UNIVERSITY$2,500
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 (FY17–19, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 48% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%CHINESE MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION: $1k → 14%SPANISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $625 → 7%SPANISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $500 → 7%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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
IN
OH
PA
CA
MO
AZ
TN
DC
OK
AL
TX
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$672k · 42 repeat orgs$75k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

42 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2024, 25 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

42
41

Total granted

$672k
$62k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+8%

Still filing today

48%
49%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthPhilanthropyHuman ServicesArts & CultureRecreation & 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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND
    3× · 2017–2019 · $150k · revenue +7%
  • RU
    Rush University Medical Center
    7× · 2017–2023 · $81k · revenue +51%
  • AH
    American Heart Association Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $59k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • TB
    THE BEAR FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue -25%
  • AI
    ASCENSION ILLINOIS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $6k
  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGOgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $4k · revenue +34%
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 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
2
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
3
Loyola University Medical Center

We, loyola university health system and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities.lumc is a member of loyola university health system and trinity…

Health
4
The Carle Foundation Hospital

To be the trusted partner in all healthcare decisions and to improve health by providing highly accessible, world-class care and services.

Health
5
Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group

Northwestern memorial healthcare is an integrated healthcare system, consisting of multiple hospitals (including northwestern memorial hospital, an academic medical center) and networks of physicians and healthcare professionals, where the…

Health
6
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Ann & robert h. lurie children's hospital of chicago is dedicated to the health and well-being of all children. as the pediatric teaching facility for northwestern university feinberg school of medicine, this commitment drives us to be a…

Health
7
Endeavor Health Clinical Operations

Endeavor Health Clinical Operations follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
8
Loyola University Health System

We, loyola university health system and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities.loyola university health system is a member of trinity health.

Health
9
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
10
Edward Hospital

Edward Hospital follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
11
University of Minnesota Physicians

University of minnesota physicians serves as the integrated group practice for the university of minnesota medical school full-time faculty to provide the highest quality healthcare to patients and their families.university of minnesota…

Health
12
Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare

Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is La Grange Memorial Hospital Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Helping Hand 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

47 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 47 of the 90 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/47
Grantees still filing
32/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LA GRANGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $37,654 · OtherLA GRANGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATI…LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COUNCIL OF ILLINOIS: $37,510 · OtherLANDMARKS PRESERVATION COUNCIL OF IL…Silver Cross Foundation: $35,060 · OtherSilver Cross FoundationAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $25,050 · OtherAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETYIndividual grant recipient: $15,150 · OtherIndividual grant recipientBISHOP NOLL INSTITUTE: $9,200 · Other+49 more: $82,803 · Other+49 moreRush University Medical Center: $81,360 · HealthRush University Medical CenterAmerican Heart Association Inc: $58,926 · HealthAmerican Heart Association IncLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $28,206 · HealthLa Rabida Children's HospitalMORRIS HOSPITAL AUXILIARY: $24,028 · HealthMORRIS HOSPITAL AUXILIARYCHILDERGUILD: $8,080 · Health+7 more: $6,850 · HealthUNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND: $150,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PORTLANDAURORA UNIVERSITY: $6,000 · Education+12 more: $21,545 · Education+12 moreREED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $57,500 · PhilanthropyREED CHARITABL…THE BEAR FOUNDATION: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTHE BEAR FOUND…MERCY FOUNDATION INC: $11,080 · PhilanthropyMERCY FOUNDATI…+2 more: $3,720 · PhilanthropyCHICAGO SPORTS SUMMIT FOUNDATION: $15,656 · Recreation & SportsHABITAT FOR HUMANITY CHICAGO: $7,130 · Housing & ShelterSPANISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $1,125 · Human ServicesCHINESE MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION: $1,050 · Human Services
Other$242,427Health$207,450Education$177,545Philanthropy$97,300Recreation & Sports$15,656Housing & Shelter$7,130Human Services$2,175

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND: $150,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $81,360 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $58,926 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetREED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $57,500 over 7y, 3.7% of budgetLA GRANGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $37,654 over 7y, 3.4% of budgetLANDMARKS PRESERVATION COUNCIL OF ILLINOIS: $37,510 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetSilver Cross Foundation: $35,060 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $28,206 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BEAR FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetMORRIS HOSPITAL AUXILIARY: $24,028 over 8y, 2.5% of budgetCHICAGO SPORTS SUMMIT FOUNDATION: $15,656 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetMERCY FOUNDATION INC: $11,080 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetCHILDERGUILD: $8,080 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetBolingbrook Hospital Foundation: $7,600 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY CHICAGO: $7,130 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAURORA UNIVERSITY: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $3,900 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMarquette University: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMIDWEST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $2,720 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetXAVIER UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $2,260 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVALLEY VIEW EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT FOUNDATION: $1,760 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION: $1,245 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSPANISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $1,125 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St Louis: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALTH SYSTEM: $900 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $900 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER: $790 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIT 1 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $760 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetSAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY: $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLORAS COLLEGE: $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORT AMERICA INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEAM MAKE A DIFFERENCE: $250 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ZACHARY & ELIZABETH M FISHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRESPIRATORY HEALTH ASSOCIATION: $100 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.

  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND ↗
  • Who funds Rush University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds American Heart Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds REED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LA GRANGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COUNCIL OF ILLINOIS ↗
  • Who funds Silver Cross Foundation ↗
  • Who funds La Rabida Children's Hospital ↗
  • Who funds THE BEAR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MORRIS HOSPITAL AUXILIARY ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO SPORTS SUMMIT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MERCY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDERGUILD ↗
  • Who funds Bolingbrook Hospital Foundation ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds AURORA UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Marquette University ↗
  • Who funds University of Notre Dame du Lac ↗
  • Who funds MIDWEST HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OAK FOREST BASEBALL ASSOCIATIO ↗
  • Who funds XAVIER UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds MARCH OF DIMES INC ↗
  • Who funds VALLEY VIEW EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Epstein Community 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.

The Chicago Community…Lloyd a Fry FoundationUnited Way of Metropo…Jewish Federation of …John D and Catherine …AbbVie FoundationArthur J Gallagher Fo…Charities Aid Foundat…The Pfizer Foundation…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Renaissance Charitabl…National Philanthropi…
The Chicago Community TrustIL13.6× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust

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 Block Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Block Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • University of Portland: 1% of 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 · 0–20%
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 Block Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Block Family 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 90 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 Block Family’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