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Blue Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Blue Foundation

Its FY2018 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.6M
Granted FY2018
59
Grants FY2018
10
States reached
$2.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2018.

Philanthropy$2.2MEducation$334kSocial Science$190kArts & Culture$102kCommunity Improvement$86kInternational$68kYouth Development$41kRecreation & Sports$15kOther$0
02FY2018 · 59 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2018

  • Under $10k44 grants · $89k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $170k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $160k
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.1M
$2,500
Median grant
10
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BLUE FUND$2,147,415
ASPEN INSTITUTE$60,000
METROSQUASH$50,000
THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$50,000
CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS$25,000
MIDDLE EAST INVESTMENT INITIATIVE$25,000
THE FIELD MUSEUM$20,000
METROSQUASH$20,000
ASPEN INSTITUTE$15,000
AFTER SCHOOL MATTERS$15,000
MIDDLE EAST INVESTMENT INITIATIVE$10,000
MIDDLE EAST INVESTMENT INITIATIVE$10,000
ASPEN INSTITUTE$10,000
CHICAGO CENTER FOR MUSIC EDUCATION$10,000
ASPEN INSTITUTE$10,000
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 (FY17–18, $2k) 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%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 14%ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $1k → 14%ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $500 → 14%MUJERES LATINAS EN ACCION: $200 → 14%MUJERES LATINAS EN ACCION: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
DC
FL
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.

23%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$671k · 26 repeat orgs$2.3M to everyone else

26 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2018, 0 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
20

Total granted

$671k
$71k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+79%

Still filing today

77%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2018, 13% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.2M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18
Arts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesSocial ScienceRecreation & 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

  • THE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $189k · revenue +243%
  • AS
    AFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $39k · revenue +90%
  • Northwestern University
    2× · 2017–2018 · $15k · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • GW
    GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER MILITARY ACADEMY
    one grant, 2017 · $28k
  • II
    INGENUITY INCORPORATED CHICAGO
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue -6%
  • JH
    JOHN HOPE PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $9k
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
2
Music Institute of Chicago

The music institute of chicago ("music institute") leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music, by providing widely accessible resources for high quality music teaching, performing, and service activities.

Arts & Culture
3
The Chicago High School for the Arts

The chicago high school for the arts (chiarts) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar-artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory…

Education
4
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
5
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
6
Chicago Theatre Group Inc

The chicago theatre group is committed to producing both classic and contemporary works giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. by dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, equity, and community - the…

Arts & Culture
7
Junior Achievement of Chicago

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

International
8
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.

—
9
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
10
The Chicago Bar Foundation

The chicago bar foundation brings the legal community together through advocacy, funding, and innovation to improve access to justice for people in need and to make the legal system more fair, equitable, and effective.

Education
11
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
12
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is After School Matters Inc; the most unlike its peers is Metropolitan Museum of Art. 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

42 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. 42 of the 64 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)
41/42
Grantees still filing
26/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BLUE FUND: $2,147,415 · OtherBLUE FUND+41 more: $131,253 · Other+41 moreTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $189,280 · Social Science+1 more: $1,000 · Social ScienceMETROSQUASH NFP: $153,500 · Recreation & SportsNorthwestern University: $15,000 · Recreation & SportsTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · EducationAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $38,500 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · Education+2 more: $2,100 · EducationFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $53,000 · Arts & CultureSUZUKI ORFF SCHOOL FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ALLIANCE FRANCAISEFRENCH HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $12,000 · Arts & CultureINGENUITY INCORPORATED CHICAGO: $10,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $2,400 · Arts & CultureMIDDLE EAST INVESTMENT INITIATIVE INC: $80,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $350 · Community ImprovementTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $62,000 · International+1 more: $500 · International
Other$2,278,668Social Science$190,280Recreation & Sports$168,500Education$145,600Arts & Culture$102,400Community Improvement$80,350International$62,500

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $189,280 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMETROSQUASH NFP: $153,500 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMIDDLE EAST INVESTMENT INITIATIVE INC: $80,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $62,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $53,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $38,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSUZUKI ORFF SCHOOL FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS: $20,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetNorthwestern University: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ALLIANCE FRANCAISEFRENCH HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $12,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetINGENUITY INCORPORATED CHICAGO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetONE MILLION DEGREES: $1,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCool Classics Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOLD IRVING PARK COMMUNITY CLINIC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $650 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLATINO POLICY FORUM: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARIACHI HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCONCERN WORLDWIDE (US) INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCO LAB THEATER GROUP INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO UNITED: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN PLANNING COUNCIL: $350 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMUJERES LATINAS EN ACCION: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CIVIC FEDERATION: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetQUOGUE JUNIOR THEATER TROUPE INC: $250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN EMPLOYED: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE COMMUNITIES INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBulletin of the Atomic Scientists: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREFUGEEONE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Run: $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.

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.

John D and Catherine …Lloyd a Fry FoundationRobert R McCormick Fo…Polk Bros Foundation …Arie and Ida Crown Me…The Chicago Community…Circle of Service Fou…Walder FoundationField Foundation of I…The Joyce FoundationThe Sidley Austin Fou…United Way of Metropo…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL30.1× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · The Chicago Community Trust · Circle of Service Foundation · Walder Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · The Joyce Foundation · The Sidley Austin 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Blue Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Blue Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Blue Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Blue 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 64 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Blue’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