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· Public charity

Chicago Blackhawks Foundation

To support programs and institutions throughout Illinois that work towards creating a better tomorrow for the youth of today.

$2.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
39
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$583k
Largest
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 2025.

Health$4.9MRecreation & Sports$2.4MYouth Development$2.3MEducation$1.3MArts & Culture$771kHuman Services$414kFood & Nutrition$335kHousing & Shelter$253kOther$0
02FY2025 · 39 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 39 grants below total $2,245,001, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,469,214 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $224,213 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $23k
  • $10k–50k25 grants · $526k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $768k
  • $250k+2 grants · $928k
$20,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$9.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Robert McCormick Foundation$583,251
A Better Chicago$345,000
Sustainable Markets Fdn$200,000
Boys and Girls Club$125,000
True Chicago$100,000
Individual grant recipient$75,000
Sac and Fox Tribe of OK$67,750
Chicago Storm Special Hockey$50,000
Fawohodie Foundation$50,000
Cancer for College Grant$50,000
MAAFA Redemption Project$50,000
Shirley Ryan Ability Lab$40,000
Girls in the Game$40,000
Rockford Hockey Club$40,000
Great lakes Adaptive Sports$35,000
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 (FY18–25, $1.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Think Big: $25k → 15%Greg Lindmark Foundation: $7k → 15%Family Peace Center: $15k → 15%YMCA of Rock River Valley: $8k → 15%Inspiration Corporation: $10k → 14%Center on Halsted: $35k → 14%Center on Halsted: $10k → 14%Urban Initiatives: $17k → 14%Urban Initiatives: $17k → 14%Urban Initiatives: $17k → 14%The Bloc: $25k → 14%The Bloc: $14k → 14%Brave Space Alliance: $15k → 14%A Better Chicago: $348k → 14%A Better Chicago: $345k → 14%A Better Chicago: $200k → 14%A Better Chicago: $150k → 14%Cradles to Crayons: $20k → 14%Cradles to Crayons: $20k → 14%Cradles to Crayons: $20k → 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
IN
CT
CA
MD
HI
OK
GA
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 55 repeat orgs$2.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

55 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 42 since wound down; 26 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

55
57

Total granted

$11M
$1.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+2%

Still filing today

45%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 41% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.3M went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyRecreation & 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

  • RI
    Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
    5× · 2018–2025 · $1.7M · revenue +41%
  • AB
    A Better Chicago
    4× · 2020–2025 · $1.0M · revenue +76%
  • TA
    TRICKSTER ART GALLERY
    6× · 2018–2023 · $370k · revenue +206%

Funded once

  • SA
    Sac and Fox Helicopter
    one grant, 2022 · $220k
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC
    one grant, 2020 · $104k · revenue -50%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
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
Students Run Chicago
Health
2
One for One Chicago

One for one chicago provides paid work-based learning, mentorship, and career readiness support for young people ages 1524 in chicago communities with high rates of unemployment and limited access to early work experience.

Youth Development
3
Thrive Chicago Nfp

Thrive chicago's mission is to prepare chicago's youth for a vibrant future by aligning efforts and outcomes from cradle to career.

Human Services
4
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
5
Kipp Chicago Schools

The team at kipp chicago schools is guided by a simple, yet powerful mission: to create a network of excellent schools in chicago that teach our students the character and academic skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond, and to…

Education
6
Chicago United for Equity

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

Civil Rights
7
Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation
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
Live Free Chicago

Live Free Illinois is a statewide organization partnering with over 120 congregations and directly impacted individuals to build safer more equitable communities across Illinois. Operating at the intersection of criminal justice reform and…

—
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
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
Skills for Chicago

See schedule othe mission of skills is to stand as a life-changing employment resource connecting underrepresented job seekers to employers with opportunities across industries. we do this by building multi-level, trusted relationships…

Employment
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 Let's Talk Womxn (Fka Msedg - Mehak Sehar Educating Girls Globally Nfp). 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

68 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. 68 of the 138 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)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
67/68
Grantees still filing
44/68
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Chicago Sports Alliance: $1,200,000 · OtherChicago Sports AllianceIndividual grant recipient: $620,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCANTIGNY FOUNDATION: $583,251 · OtherCANTIGNY FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $375,000 · Other+91 more: $5,020,039 · Other+91 moreRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $1,695,000 · HealthRehabilitation …PILOT LIGHT: $95,000 · Health+1 more: $10,000 · HealthA Better Chicago: $1,043,000 · Human ServicesA Better Ch…CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesURBAN INITIATIVES INC: $49,999 · Human ServicesCenter on Halsted: $45,000 · Human Services+7 more: $117,925 · Human Services+7 moreTRICKSTER ART GALLERY: $370,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMON THREADS: $175,000 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $160,000 · Arts & CultureTRUE CHICAGO: $106,000 · Arts & CultureROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL: $35,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $65,000 · Arts & CultureONE MILLION DEGREES: $236,866 · EducationKIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION: $100,000 · EducationYouth Guidance: $96,667 · EducationMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $30,000 · EducationTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $23,333 · Education+2 more: $26,666 · EducationEMBARC INC: $266,665 · Youth DevelopmentONEGOAL: $153,333 · Youth DevelopmentGREEN BRONX MACHINE INTERNATIONAL INC: $33,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIFE DECISIONS INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $20,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $16,250 · Youth DevelopmentAMATUER HOCKEY ASSOC ILLINOIS INC: $320,000 · Recreation & SportsCHICAGO WARRIORS INC: $74,500 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF THE ROBERT CROWN CENTER: $50,000 · Recreation & Sports+3 more: $37,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$7,798,290Health$1,800,000Human Services$1,315,924Arts & Culture$911,000Education$513,532Youth Development$509,248Recreation & Sports$481,500

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 budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $1,695,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetA Better Chicago: $1,043,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetTRICKSTER ART GALLERY: $370,000 over 6y, 15% of budgetAMATUER HOCKEY ASSOC ILLINOIS INC: $320,000 over 4y, 4.1% of budgetEMBARC INC: $266,665 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetONE MILLION DEGREES: $236,866 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetGIRLS IN THE GAME NFP: $190,000 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetCOMMON THREADS: $175,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetMAAFA Redemption Project: $175,000 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS OF ILLINOIS INC: $169,086 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $160,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetONEGOAL: $153,333 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetBUILD INC: $140,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $103,778 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION: $100,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetCHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INC: $99,999 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetYouth Guidance: $96,667 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPILOT LIGHT: $95,000 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDIONS CHICAGO DREAM INC NFP: $50,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetROCKFORD HOCKEY CLUB: $50,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ROBERT CROWN CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetURBAN INITIATIVES INC: $49,999 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCenter on Halsted: $45,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE BLOC: $38,925 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL: $35,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetGREEN BRONX MACHINE INTERNATIONAL INC: $33,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY: $26,667 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCommunity Goods: $25,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $23,333 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE DECISIONS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROSECRANCE FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRoss K Macneill Foundation: $17,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetLawrence Hall: $16,666 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREWORK TRAINING: $16,666 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetBRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFAMILY PEACE CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 9.0% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGO: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEQUALITY ILLINOIS: $13,500 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROCK HOUSE KIDS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLILIUOKALANI TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISCOVERY CENTER MUSEUM OF ROCKFORD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVANVLEET FAMILY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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 Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds A Better Chicago ↗
  • Who funds CANTIGNY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TRICKSTER ART GALLERY ↗
  • Who funds AMATUER HOCKEY ASSOC ILLINOIS INC ↗
  • Who funds EMBARC INC ↗
  • Who funds ONE MILLION DEGREES ↗
  • Who funds SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GIRLS IN THE GAME NFP ↗
  • Who funds COMMON THREADS ↗
  • Who funds MAAFA Redemption Project ↗
  • Who funds UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS OF ILLINOIS INC ↗
  • Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds ONEGOAL ↗
  • Who funds BUILD INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUE CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC ↗
  • Who funds KIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INC ↗
  • Who funds Youth Guidance ↗
  • Who funds PILOT LIGHT ↗

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.

Robert R McCormick FoundationIL33.4× affinity14 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Robert R McCormick Foundation · Community Foundation of Northern IL · Bergstrom Inc Charitable Foundation Xxxxx2008 · The Chicago Community Trust · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Blazer Foundation · The David & Colleen Anderson Charitable Foundation · The Kjellstrom Family Foundation · Fulk Family Foundation Inc · Imc Chicago Charitable Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation 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 Chicago Blackhawks Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Chicago Blackhawks 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
22report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Chicago Blackhawks Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Chicago Blackhawks 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 138 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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