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Bright Promises Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Bright Promises Foundation

To identify, fund, and share solutions to underrecognized needs of children and youth most adversely impacted by inequity.

$368k
Granted FY2024still arriving
14
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Youth Development$1.0MHuman Services$544kEducation$439kCommunity Improvement$382kArts & Culture$140kHousing & Shelter$93kCrime & Legal$75kCivil Rights$70kOther$0
02FY2024 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $335k
$40,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$6.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PALENQUE LSNA$45,000
CHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS$40,000
ALTERNATIVES INC$40,000
NEW COMMUNITY OUTREACH$40,000
UCAN$40,000
ALLIANCE OF THE SOUTHEAST$40,000
KUUMBA LYNX$40,000
THE ROOTS INITIATIVE$20,000
HUMANITY RISING$20,000
ILLINOIS AFTERSCHOOL NETWORK$10,000
CHICAGO COMMONS ASSOCIATION$8,000
ONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE$8,000
A HOUSE IN AUSTIN$8,000
CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION$8,000
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 (FY18–24, $714k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $15k → 14%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $10k → 14%CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION: $15k → 14%CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION: $15k → 14%CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION: $8k → 14%CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION: $8k → 14%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $15k → 14%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $8k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $2k → 14%ALLIANCE OF THE SOUTHEAST: $40k → 14%FAMILY RESCUE: $15k → 14%TUESDAY'S CHILD: $50k → 14%TUESDAY'S CHILD: $25k → 14%CONCORDIA PLACE: $15k → 14%TUESDAY'S CHILD: $15k → 14%HANA EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER: $15k → 14%TUESDAY'S CHILD: $10k → 14%TRINITY UCC CHILD CARE CENTERS: $15k → 14%CONCORDIA PLACE: $8k → 14%TRINITY UCC CHILD CARE CENTERS: $8k → 14%CHANNING'S CHILDCARE ACADEMY: $8k → 14%GADS HILL CENTER: $44k → 14%GADS HILL CENTER: $30k → 14%CHICAGO COMMONS: $15k → 14%CAROL ROBERTSON CENTER FOR LEARNING: $15k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS: $15k → 14%GADS HILL CENTER: $15k → 14%CHICAGO COMMONS: $15k → 14%CHICAGO CHILD CARE SOCIETY: $13k → 14%GADS HILL CENTER: $12k → 14%CHICAGO COMMONS: $10k → 14%CHICAGO COMMONS ASSOCIATION: $8k → 14%CAROLE ROBERTSTON CENTER FOR LEARNING: $8k → 14%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $8k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME AID: $15k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME AID: $8k → 14%NORTHWESTERN HOUSING CENTER: $40k → 14%NORTHWESTERN SETTLEMENT: $15k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $8k → 14%NORTHWEST SIDE HOUSING CENTER: $44k → 14%ILLINOIS COLLABORATION ON YOUTH: $7k → 14%UCAN: $40k → 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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 31 repeat orgs$814k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +74% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 24 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
27

Total granted

$2.1M
$574k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+74%
+25%

Still filing today

100%
89%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 35% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $240k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesYouth DevelopmentEducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyOther
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

  • EC
    Enlace Chicago
    5× · 2018–2023 · $182k · revenue +130%
  • LS
    Logan Square Neighborhood Association
    3× · 2019–2024 · $135k · revenue +152%
  • IA
    Illinois Action for Children
    4× · 2018–2021 · $130k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • LF
    LITERATURE FOR ALL OF US
    one grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue -75%
  • NS
    NORTHWEST SIDE HOUSING CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $44k · revenue -27%
  • BI
    BUILD INC
    one grant, 2023 · $44k · revenue -7%
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
Start Early

Start early advances quality early learning for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to help close the opportunity gap.

—
2
Association House of Chicago

Association house's mission is to advance each person's full participation in the life of their families, communities, and society. since 1899, we have served a vibrant, multicultural community. we used a trauma informed, culturally…

Human Services
3
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
4
Child Link Inc

Child Link provides foster care, family counseling, and therapy services to Chicago area adolescents who are at risk of homelessness. Child Link also refers adolescents to other agencies that are able to provide additional resources and…

Human Services
5
Illinois Institute for Children

Providing Social Services to Families including Child Care

Human Services
6
Friends of the Children - Chicago

Friends of the children - chicago has a mission of impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors - 12+ years, no matter what. 92% go on to enroll in…

Human Services
7
Henry Booth House

The organization is organized to provide social services for children and families from Birth thru five years of age. Our mission is to "improve the quality of life for families in culturally and economically diverse Chicago communities by…

Human Services
8
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
9
Chicago United for Equity

Connecting and amplifying the power of individuals to build a just, equitable, and inclusive city.

Civil Rights
10
Chicago Heightening Opportunity and Potential for

Providing academic support to children experiencing homelessness in Chicago and providing resources and services to families experiencing homelessness in Chicago.

Education
11
Smart Love Parenting Center

To provide a variety of programs in the chicago area to help children, parents, and adults achieve greater inner well-being, sustain closer relationships, and have more pleasurable family, school, and work lives.

Human Services
12
Chicago Run

To promote the health and wellness of Chicago children through innovative, engaging, and sustainable youth running programs.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Family Focus; the most unlike its peers is New Community Outreach. 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

63 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. 63 of the 65 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
62/63
Grantees still filing
45/63
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GADS HILL CENTER: $100,700 · Human ServicesGADS HILL CENTERTuesdays Child: $100,000 · Human ServicesTuesdays ChildNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $63,000 · Human ServicesNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETT…CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $56,000 · Human ServicesCHRISTOPHER HOUSETHE CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION: $56,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIA…Chicago Commons Association: $48,000 · Human ServicesChicago Commons AssociationNORTHWEST SIDE HOUSING CENTER: $44,000 · Human ServicesNORTHWEST SIDE HOUSING CENTE…UCAN: $40,000 · Human ServicesUCANAlianza Leadership Institute: $40,000 · Human ServicesAlianza Leadership InstituteFamily Focus: $27,750 · Human Services+10 more: $139,000 · Human Services+10 moreIllinois Action for Children: $130,000 · OtherIllinois Action for ChildrenCHANGING CHILDREN'S WORLDS FOUNDATION: $75,400 · OtherCHANGING CHILDREN'S WORLDS FOUNDA…ONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $58,000 · OtherONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSELITERATURE FOR ALL OF US: $50,000 · OtherLITERATURE FOR ALL OF USYOUTH & OPPORTUNITY UNITED INC: $45,000 · OtherBUILD INC: $44,000 · OtherCHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INC: $40,000 · OtherNEW COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $40,000 · OtherPALENQUE LSNA: $40,000 · OtherStorycatchers: $30,000 · OtherCHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $85,000 · OtherCHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTE…REFUGEEONE: $45,000 · OtherUnique Center For Athletes of All Needs Inc: $40,000 · Other+9 more: $133,559 · Other+9 moreVocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders: $112,300 · Youth DevelopmentVocel Viewing our …Arab American Action Network: $94,000 · Youth DevelopmentArab American Acti…GIRLS INC OF CHICAGO: $84,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRLS INC OF CHICA…Chicago Youth Centers: $63,000 · Youth DevelopmentChicago Youth Cent…PROJECT VISION INC: $44,000 · Youth DevelopmentPROJECT VISION INCLOVE UNITY & VALUES INSTITUTE: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentLOVE UNITY & VALUE…THE ROOTS INITIATIVE: $20,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentEnlace Chicago: $181,500 · Community ImprovementEnlace Chicag…Logan Square Neighborhood Association: $135,000 · Community ImprovementLogan Square …CHINESE AMERICAN SERVICE LEAGUE INC: $25,000 · Community ImprovementCHINESE AMERI…PRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $85,000 · EducationPRIMO CEN…CHICAGO FREEDOM SCHOOL: $84,000 · EducationCHICAGO F…ILLINOIS AFTERSCHOOL NETWORK: $52,900 · EducationILLINOIS …A HOUSE IN AUSTIN: $23,000 · EducationA HOUSE I…+1 more: $8,000 · EducationA LONG WALK HOME INC: $44,000 · Arts & CultureKUUMBA LYNX: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTheatre Y: $20,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $10,000 · Arts & CultureTRUE STAR FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureALTERNATIVES INC: $102,000 · HealthAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: $15,000 · Health
Human Services$714,450Other$855,959Youth Development$462,300Community Improvement$341,500Education$252,900Arts & Culture$124,000Health$117,000

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 budgetEnlace Chicago: $181,500 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetLogan Square Neighborhood Association: $135,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetIllinois Action for Children: $130,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetVocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders: $112,300 over 4y, 6.1% of budgetALTERNATIVES INC: $102,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetGADS HILL CENTER: $100,700 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTuesdays Child: $100,000 over 4y, 5.6% of budgetArab American Action Network: $94,000 over 3y, 4.7% of budgetCHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $85,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetPRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $85,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetCHICAGO FREEDOM SCHOOL: $84,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetGIRLS INC OF CHICAGO: $84,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCHANGING CHILDREN'S WORLDS FOUNDATION: $75,400 over 3y, 12% of budgetNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $63,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Youth Centers: $63,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $58,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $56,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S PLACE ASSOCIATION: $56,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetILLINOIS AFTERSCHOOL NETWORK: $52,900 over 4y, 13% of budgetLITERATURE FOR ALL OF US: $50,000 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetChicago Commons Association: $48,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTH & OPPORTUNITY UNITED INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetREFUGEEONE: $45,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetNORTHWEST SIDE HOUSING CENTER: $44,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBUILD INC: $44,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPROJECT VISION INC: $44,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetA LONG WALK HOME INC: $44,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetKUUMBA LYNX: $40,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetUnique Center For Athletes of All Needs Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetUCAN: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INC: $40,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetNEW COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $40,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetLOVE UNITY & VALUES INSTITUTE: $40,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetAlianza Leadership Institute: $40,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetStorycatchers: $30,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetFamily Focus: $27,750 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHINESE AMERICAN SERVICE LEAGUE INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $23,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetA HOUSE IN AUSTIN: $23,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetCarole Robertson Center for Learning: $23,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTRINITY UCC CHILD CARE CENTER: $23,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCONCORDIA PLACE: $23,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFIREBIRD COMMUNITY ARTS: $20,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetHumanity Rising Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetTheatre Y: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetEQUIP FOR EQUALITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ROOTS INITIATIVE: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetCHILDREN'S RESEARCH TRIANGLE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% 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.

United Way of Metropo…The Chicago Community…Polk Bros Foundation …The Albert Pick Jr Fu…Circle of Service Fou…John D and Catherine …Robert R McCormick Fo…Chicago Foundation fo…Field Foundation of I…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Imc Chicago Charitabl…Greater Chicago Food …
United Way of Metropolitan Chicago IncIL71× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · The Albert Pick Jr Fund · Circle of Service Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Chicago Foundation for Women · Field Foundation of Illinois · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Imc Chicago Charitable Foundation · Greater Chicago Food Depository

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    23report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 65 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 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 Bright Promises’ 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