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Chicago Fire Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Chicago Fire Foundation

The foundation is dedicated to promoting the sport of soccer and providing educational and recreational opportunities to improve the lives of youth throughout the chicago area.

$540k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Recreation & Sports$2.7MHealth$27kEnvironment$25kPhilanthropy$25kFood & Nutrition$17kCivil Rights$10k
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $25k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$15,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER$500,000
ALL KIDS PLAY$15,000
GOOD SPORTS INC$10,000
CITY YEAR INC$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GOOD SPORTS INC: $10k → 7%COMMON GOAL USA: $18k → 20%US SOCCER FOUNDATION: $151k → 14%INDIANA FIRE JUNIORS: $45k → 5%UNITED ELITE S C NFP: $140k → 7%RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: $27k → 14%GOOD SPORTS INC: $10k → 7%US SOCCER FEDERATION FOUNDATION: $75k → 14%CITY YEAR INC: $5k → 14%GOOD SPORTS INC: $10k → 7%US SOCCER FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%ALL KIDS PLAY: $30k → 14%US SOCCER FEDERATION FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%ALL KIDS PLAY: $15k → 14%US SOCCER FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%ONE CHICAGO FUND: $10k → 14%CENTER FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE THROUGH SPORT: $5k → 14%CHICAGO GATEWAY GREEN COMMITTEE: $25k → 14%NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $500k → 14%NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $500k → 14%NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $500k → 14%NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $500k → 14%NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $500k → 14%CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT: $100k → 14%UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $25k → 14%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $17k → 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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.9M · 4 repeat orgs$416k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
10

Total granted

$2.9M
$411k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-4%
+30%

Still filing today

100%
90%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
Recreation & SportsCommunity ImprovementFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentHealthEnvironmentOther
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

  • NA
    NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER
    5× · 2021–2025 · $2.5M · revenue ×19
  • US
    UNITED STATES SOCCER FOUNDATION INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $351k · revenue -25%
  • AK
    ALL KIDS PLAY
    2× · 2024–2025 · $45k · revenue -26%

Funded once

  • UE
    UNITED ELITE SC
    one grant, 2022 · $140k · 56% of their budget
  • CP
    CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT
    one grant, 2024 · $100k
  • WY
    WESTFIELD YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $45k · revenue +45%
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
Chicago City Soccer Club

Chicago city soccer club is committed to providing opportunities for young people in the city of chicago, illinois to learn and play soccer in a healthy and positive environment, and to guiding chicago youth soccer players in the…

Recreation & Sports
2
World Sport Chicago

To bring Olympic sport and the ideals of the Olympic movement to the youth of Chicago through sports training programs, international competitions and exchanges, and integration with Olympic athletes and coaches.

—
3
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
4
United States Center for Safesport

With the goal of ensuring athletes within the u.s. olympic and paralympic movement of are safe, supported, and strengthened. the center: delivers comprehensive abuse prevention education within and outside of the u.s. olympic and…

Recreation & Sports
5
Chicago United Cycling Club
Recreation & Sports
6
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
7
United States Tennis Association Inc

Guided by the belief that lives can be transformed through the game of tennis USTA Chicago a District of the USTA Midwest Section creates sustains and grows enthusiasm for the game of tennis throughout Chicagoland. As the governing body…

—
8
United States Adult Soccer Association

The organization develops, promotes, and administers the game of soccer among players, men and women, within the u.s. the association fosters national and international amateur competition and develops amateur athletes for national and…

—
9
Usa Football Inc

Usa football's mission is to lead, strengthen and grow football for all. as the sport's governing body, usa football authors and delivers best-in-class resources and standards for every family member to pursue and enjoy america's favorite…

Recreation & Sports
10
Chicago United for Equity

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

Civil Rights
11
Uptown United

Support of area businesses and the neighborhood.

Unclassified
12
Chicago Cubs Charities

The mission of cubs charities is to mobilize the power of sport to champion youth, families, and communities. cubs charities achieves this through sports-based youth development and academic programming, investments in safe places to play,…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United States Soccer Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Rush University Medical Center. 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

14 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. 14 of the 15 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
6/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,500,000 · Community ImprovementNORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTERUNITED STATES SOCCER FOUNDATION INC: $350,500 · Recreation & SportsUNITED STATES SOCC…UNITED ELITE SC: $140,000 · Recreation & SportsUNITED ELITE SCWESTFIELD YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION: $45,000 · Recreation & SportsWESTFIELD YOUTH SO…+2 more: $22,750 · Recreation & SportsCHICAGO PARK DISTRICT: $100,000 · OtherALL KIDS PLAY: $45,000 · OtherONECHICAGOFUND: $10,000 · Other+1 more: $5,000 · OtherGOOD SPORTS INC: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentRush University Medical Center: $26,652 · HealthCHICAGO GATEWAY GREEN COMMITTEE: $25,000 · EnvironmentUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $17,000 · Food & Nutrition
Community Improvement$2,500,000Recreation & Sports$558,250Other$160,000Youth Development$30,000Health$26,652Environment$25,000Philanthropy$25,000Food & Nutrition$17,000

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 budgetNORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,500,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetUNITED STATES SOCCER FOUNDATION INC: $350,500 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetUNITED ELITE SC: $140,000 over 1y, 56% of budgetWESTFIELD YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION: $45,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetALL KIDS PLAY: $45,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetGOOD SPORTS INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $26,652 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO GATEWAY GREEN COMMITTEE: $25,000 over 1y, 9.7% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON GOAL USA INC: $17,750 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $17,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONECHICAGOFUND: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCENTER FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE THROUGH SPORT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $5,000 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.

American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
American Online Giving Foundation IncDE7.2× affinity6 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report 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.

    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 15 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

    Play a game based on Chicago Fire’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