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Chicago CRED Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Chicago CRED Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$9.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
40
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$3.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$22MCommunity Improvement$13MYouth Development$13MHuman Services$7.0MReligion$6.8MCrime & Legal$3.9MEducation$1.9MRecreation & Sports$1.5MOther$0
02FY2025 · 40 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $536k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $1.2M
  • $250k+9 grants · $8.8M
$45,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The Chicago Community Foundation$3,500,000
Youth Peace Center Of Roseland$1,450,000
Northwestern University (Evanston)$863,582
Metropolitan Family Services$823,000
Institute For Non-Violence Chicago$725,250
Target Area Devcorp$488,165
Alliance Of Local Service Organizations$385,876
New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church$300,000
Inner City Muslim Action Network$300,000
Project HOOD$217,000
Acclivus Inc$210,000
Commercial Club Foundation$200,000
Firehouse Community Arts Center$150,000
Public Equity$126,436
Black Men United$110,250
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, $5.2M) 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%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $1.8M → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $363k → 14%Unstacked Inc: $70k → 14%UNSTACKED INC: $20k → 14%Exxperts Chicago: $15k → 14%Hope Center Foundation: $5k → 14%Unstacked Inc: $15k → 14%Empower Urban Communities: $50k → 14%Metropolitan Family Services: $1.4M → 14%Metropolitan Family Services: $823k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $200k → 14%UCAN: $123k → 14%UCAN: $118k → 14%UCAN: $118k → 14%UCAN: $50k → 14%FATHERS WHO CARE: $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.
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$80M · 51 repeat orgs$3.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +66% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

51 repeat relationships: 27 still active in FY2025, 24 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

51
30

Total granted

$80M
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+66%
0%

Still filing today

53%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 81% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.0M 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 ServicesCommunity ImprovementEducationYouth DevelopmentCrime & LegalRecreation & 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

  • IM
    INNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK
    8× · 2018–2025 · $6.9M · revenue +40%
  • MF
    Metropolitan Family Services
    5× · 2019–2025 · $4.6M · revenue +196%
  • IF
    Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
    8× · 2018–2025 · $4.4M · revenue +133%

Funded once

  • S
    Storycatchers
    one grant, 2018 · $200k · revenue -69%
  • University of Chicagograduated
    one grant, 2021 · $175k · revenue +34%
  • NL
    NORTH LAWNDALE COLLEGE PREP CHARTER
    one grant, 2018 · $102k
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
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…

—
2
Chicago Cred Inc
Employment
3
Chicago United for Equity

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

Civil Rights
4
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
5
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
6
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
7
Students Run Chicago
Health
8
Chicago Run

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

Philanthropy
9
Chicago Refugee Coalition

The Chicago Refugee Coalition is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated ot the alleviation of human suffering through innovative partnerships, advocacy and community empowerment.

Human Services
10
Chicago Jobs Council

Chicago Jobs Council (CJC) pursues its mission through advocacy, applied research, public education and capacity-building initiatives focused on influencing the development or reform of public policies and programs. From 18 original…

—
11
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
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Together Chicago Inc; the most unlike its peers is Peoples Community Development Pcdac. 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

52 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. 52 of the 95 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
51/52
Grantees still filing
35/52
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $16,455,000 · OtherCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONCCF - CENTRAL INVESTMENT FUND: $8,850,000 · OtherCCF - CENTRAL INVESTMENT FUNDYOUTH PEACE CENTER: $7,812,622 · OtherYOUTH PEACE CENTERTarget Area Devcorp: $3,742,027 · OtherTarget Area DevcorpNEW MOUNT PILGRIM MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: $3,253,735 · OtherNEW MOUNT PILGRIM MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCHNEW MOUNT PILGRIM BAPTIST CHURCH: $3,173,571 · OtherNEW MOUNT PILGRIM BAPTIST CHURCHI AM ABLE CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT: $2,987,758 · OtherI AM ABLE CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT+50 more: $6,854,948 · Other+50 moreINNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK: $6,856,724 · Community ImprovementINNER-CITY MUS…Alliance of Local Service Organizations: $2,649,510 · Community ImprovementAlliance of Lo…PROJECT HOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $701,478 · Community ImprovementPROJECT HOOD C…+6 more: $435,642 · Community ImprovementAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $3,945,145 · EducationCHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $1,163,789 · EducationCIVIC CONSULTING ALLIANCE: $675,000 · Education+4 more: $397,432 · EducationMetropolitan Family Services: $4,584,008 · Human ServicesUCAN: $408,332 · Human Services+6 more: $245,000 · Human ServicesInstitute for Nonviolence Chicago: $4,434,450 · Crime & LegalEnglewood First Responders: $328,600 · Crime & Legal+2 more: $177,036 · Crime & LegalNorthwestern University: $853,114 · Recreation & SportsCHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION: $572,453 · Recreation & SportsChicago Youth Boxing Club: $300,000 · Recreation & SportsKABOOM INC: $100,000 · Recreation & SportsYouth Peace Center of Roseland: $1,450,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHINK OUTSIDE DA BLOCK INC: $125,000 · Youth Development+4 more: $153,750 · Youth Development
Other$53,129,661Community Improvement$10,643,354Education$6,181,366Human Services$5,237,340Crime & Legal$4,940,086Recreation & Sports$1,825,567Youth Development$1,728,750

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 budgetINNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK: $6,856,724 over 8y, 7.3% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $4,584,008 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetInstitute for Nonviolence Chicago: $4,434,450 over 8y, 14% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $3,945,145 over 5y, 6.2% of budgetI AM ABLE CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT: $2,987,758 over 4y, 33% of budgetAlliance of Local Service Organizations: $2,649,510 over 8y, 9.4% of budgetCHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $1,163,789 over 3y, 8.8% of budgetACCLIVUS INC: $922,500 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetNorthwestern University: $853,114 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT HOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $701,478 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetCIVIC CONSULTING ALLIANCE: $675,000 over 7y, 3.8% of budgetCHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION: $572,453 over 2y, 14% of budgetUCAN: $408,332 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetFIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGO: $350,000 over 2y, 9.5% of budgetEnglewood First Responders: $328,600 over 5y, 66% of budgetChicago Youth Boxing Club: $300,000 over 4y, 20% of budgetTOGETHER CHICAGO INC: $296,542 over 3y, 8.2% of budgetTHE COMMERCIAL CLUB FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $175,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH LAWNDALE COLLEGE PREPARATORY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL INC: $172,132 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetPUBLIC EQUITY: $132,036 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHINK OUTSIDE DA BLOCK INC: $125,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetUNSTACKED INC: $105,000 over 3y, 25% of budgetBoxing Out Negativity Inc: $55,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetSecond Chance Initiative Inc: $55,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetTeamwork Englewood Inc: $53,600 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetOrganizing Neighborhoods For Equality Northside: $51,216 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetTHE LASALLE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetGRO COMMUNITY: $50,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetNATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNear North 365: $45,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $29,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNew Life Centers of Chicagoland: $28,750 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCHAMPS MALE MENTORING PROGRAM - CHIRISE: $20,300 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetFATHERS WHO CARE NFP: $20,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetEnlace Chicago: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMONROE FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 9.8% of budgetYOUR PASSION 1ST: $20,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetExxperts Chicago Ltd: $15,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetSTRIDES FOR PEACE INC: $14,950 over 4y, 5.1% of budgetLEADERSHIP GREATER CHICAGO: $7,576 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST INC: $5,600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEN MAKING A DIFFERRENCE MMAD: $5,500 over 1y, 26% of budgetCHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 INNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds Metropolitan Family Services ↗
  • Who funds Institute for Nonviolence Chicago ↗
  • Who funds AFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds I AM ABLE CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT ↗
  • Who funds Alliance of Local Service Organizations ↗
  • Who funds Youth Peace Center of Roseland ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ACCLIVUS INC ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT HOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds CIVIC CONSULTING ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UCAN ↗
  • Who funds FIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Englewood First Responders ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Youth Boxing Club ↗
  • Who funds TOGETHER CHICAGO INC ↗
  • Who funds Storycatchers ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMERCIAL CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds NORTH LAWNDALE COLLEGE PREPARATORY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC EQUITY ↗
  • Who funds THINK OUTSIDE DA BLOCK INC ↗
  • Who funds UNSTACKED INC ↗

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…Robert R McCormick Fo…United Way of Metropo…John D and Catherine …Chicago Beyond IncThe Joyce FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …University of Chicago…ForefrontField Foundation of I…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Fulk Family Foundatio…
The Chicago Community TrustIL40.6× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Robert R McCormick Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Chicago Beyond Inc · The Joyce Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · University of Chicago Medical Center · Forefront · Field Foundation of Illinois · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Fulk Family 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 CRED Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Chicago CRED Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    26report 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.

    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 95 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Chicago CRED’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