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Plinth

· Public charity

City Colleges of Chicago Foundation

Fueled by the generosity of Chicago's philanthropic community, the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation raises charitable contributions to support community colleges students from all backgrounds in reaching their academic and career goals.

$8.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$5.8M
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Education$25MCommunity Improvement$253kPhilanthropy$56kEmployment$55kHealth$20kHuman Services$15kHousing & Shelter$6k
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 3 grants below total $6,112,254 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $8,019,233 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $1,906,979 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $20k
  • $250k+2 grants · $6.1M
$250,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$27M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
City Colleges of Chicago$5,842,717
Children First Fund The Chicago Public Schools Foundation$250,000
Alivio Medical Center Inc$19,537
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY22–22, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%Working Credit NFP: $15k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$24M · 8 repeat orgs$671k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships — 2 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
11

Total granted

$24M
$651k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+0%
+17%

Still filing today

88%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Community ImprovementEducationHousing & ShelterEmploymentPhilanthropyHuman ServicesOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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
    National Association of Women Business Owners - Chicago Chapter
    4× · 2020–2024 · $70k · revenue +16%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $56k · revenue +0%
  • MA
    MEXICAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $45k · revenue +206%

Funded once

  • AC
    ALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $388k · revenue +123%
  • OM
    ONE MILLION DEGREESgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $110k · revenue +90%
  • TU
    Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
    one grant, 2024 · $27k · revenue +11%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
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
2
The Chicago Network Inc

In furtherance of its charitable and educational goals, the Network's activities consist primarily of providing educational opportunities for its members and the public on issues related to the advancement of women in the workplace. As the…

Community Improvement
3
Latino Union of Chicago

Latino Union works to defend the rights and dignity of contingent workers, including the right to immigrate, work, live free of oppression and violence, and provide for oneself and one's family.

Human Services
4
Chicago United for Equity

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

Civil Rights
5
Chicago Workers' Collaborative Nfp

Chicago Workers' Collaborative's mission is to promote full employment and equality for the lowest wage-earners, primarily temporary staffing workers, in the Chicago region through leadership and skills training, critical assistance and…

Education
6
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…

7
The Partnership for College Completion

The Partnership for College Completion (PCC) champions policies, practices, and systems that increase college completion and eliminate degree completion disparities for low-income, first generation, and students of color in Illinois…

Education
8
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
9
Chicago Committee On Minorities in Large Law Firms

The chicago committee seeks racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession by collaborating with its law firm and corporate membership to: drive sustainable institutional change at law firms and corporate legal departments; provide…

Civil Rights
10
Community Desk Chicago

Community Desk Chicago ("the Desk") is an Illinois 501 (C)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to advance equitable economic prosperity in collaboration with historically under-resourced communities. The Organization serves as a help desk and…

Community Improvement
11
Chicago Women in Philanthropy

Chicago Women in Philanthropy (CWIP) promotes collaboration between philanthropic and nonprofit leaders by offering opportunities to share ideas and insight and to network. CWIP gives voice to the gender lens by encouraging philanthropic…

Community Improvement
12
Xchange Chicago Inc

To realize a more equitable and inclusive economy by advancing innovative workforce solutions that equip local residents with the skills and resources to access high-growth employment opportunities in tech and other rapidly growing fields…

Employment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc and the most unlike its peers is Women in Listed Derivatives 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

19 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 19 of the 20 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
12/19
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

City Colleges of Chicago — $23,451,130 · OtherCity Colleges of Chicago+4 more — $172,500 · OtherCHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION — $550,000 · EducationONE MILLION DEGREES — $110,000 · EducationTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education — $27,000 · EducationALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY — $387,963 · Housing & Shelter+1 more — $6,000 · Housing & ShelterCHICAGO MINORITY SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL — $30,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND FAMILY ISSUES — $25,000 · Community ImprovementEnlace Chicago — $25,000 · Community ImprovementWOMEN IN LISTED DERIVATIVES NFP — $10,000 · Community ImprovementBRIGHTON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL — $10,000 · Community ImprovementUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC — $55,670 · PhilanthropyLIFT INC — $25,000 · EmploymentThe Cara Program — $10,000 · EmploymentALIVIO MEDICAL CENTER INC — $19,537 · HealthWorking Credit NFP — $15,150 · Human Services
Other$23,623,630Education$687,000Housing & Shelter$393,963Community Improvement$100,000Philanthropy$55,670Employment$35,000Health$19,537Human Services$15,150

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetCHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION — $550,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY — $387,963 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetONE MILLION DEGREES — $110,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetNational Association of Women Business Owners - Chicago Chapter — $70,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC — $55,670 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEXICAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERC — $45,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetWOMEN'S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER — $37,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO MINORITY SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL — $30,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education — $27,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLIFT INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND FAMILY ISSUES — $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEnlace Chicago — $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetChicagoland Chamber of Commerce — $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetALIVIO MEDICAL CENTER INC — $19,537 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWorking Credit NFP — $15,150 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetWOMEN IN LISTED DERIVATIVES NFP — $10,000 over 1y, 33% of budgetThe Cara Program — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBRIGHTON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDEPAUL USA INC — $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Chicago Foundation for WomenIL17.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Chicago Foundation for Women · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Circle of Service Foundation · Michael Reese Health Trust · Fifth Third Chicagoland Foundation · Unidosus · Robert R McCormick Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization City Colleges of Chicago Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%your share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 20 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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