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Illinois · Private foundation

Clarks Fork Foundation

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.

$240k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
68
Grants FY2025
70
Organizations funded FY2024
16%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$2,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$30,000
Organizations funded a year
22 to 70
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
19
Total assets, FY2025
$3.0M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 16% of the organizations Clarks Fork Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 15% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $34k 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
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesEnvironmentFood & NutritionHealthOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving65$223k14%
FY202470$224k16%
FY202357$210k12%
FY202251$185k16%
FY202163$218k30%
FY202067$198k45%
FY201943$160k67%
FY201822$93k0%
93% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$311kEducation$305kEnvironment$214kArts & Culture$182kReligion$140kPhilanthropy$102kPublic Safety & Disaster$92kFood & Nutrition$69kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
NH
MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
WY
IA
OH
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
VA
AZ
KS
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
AL
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Monmouth College$197,50070%
Bridgercare$118,00071%
Lake Forest Open Lands Association$84,05091%
Henderson County Food Pantry$45,50064%
Friends of Montana Pbs Inc$35,50070%
Pathfinder International$33,70080%
Lake Forest College$31,00080%
Community Church of Lake Forest & Lake Bluff$29,0009n/a
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs$27,50070%
Gallatin Valley Land Trust$24,07550%
Show all 100 grantees
All grantees of Clarks Fork Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Monmouth College$197,50070%
Bridgercare$118,00071%
Lake Forest Open Lands Association$84,05091%
Henderson County Food Pantry$45,50064%
Friends of Montana Pbs Inc$35,50070%
Pathfinder International$33,70080%
Lake Forest College$31,00080%
Community Church of Lake Forest & Lake Bluff$29,0009n/a
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs$27,50070%
Gallatin Valley Land Trust$24,07550%
McCormick Theological Seminary 22-22148$23,0003n/a
Haven Inc$20,00060%
National Parks Conservation Association$19,50070%
Iowa Pbs Foundation$17,00070%
Yellowstone Forever$16,25080%
History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff$15,50081%
The Eisenhower Foundation$15,00050%
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation$12,50050%
Gorton Community Center$11,50080%
Ragdale Foundation$11,50080%
Greater Yellowstone Coalition$11,25070%
Friends of Lake Forest Parks & Rec Foundation$11,00042%
Family Promise of Gallatin Valley Inc$10,00050%
Bozeman Library Friends and Foundation$9,50030%
Trigg - C M Russell Foundation Inc$8,00070%
Northern Illinois Food Bank$8,00070%
East Woods School Inc$8,00040%
Lake Forest Country Day School$7,60070%
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum$6,00050%
Desert Caballeros Western Museum$5,50030%
The Trust for Public Land$5,00010%
Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust$5,0001n/a
Miss Porter's School Inc$4,60050%
OSF Healthcare Foundation$4,00010%
Cape Eleuthera Foundation Inc$4,00020%
Food Bank of the Rockies$4,00010%
Illinois Policy Institute$4,00050%
Forest Park Conservancy Fka Forest Park Preservation Corporation$3,60061%
Buchanan Center for the Arts$3,00012%
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods$2,80050%
Montana Abortion Access Program$2,50011%
Medecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc$2,50010%
Eagle Mount$2,50010%
One Eleuthera Foundation$2,30040%
The Fort Ticonderoga Association$2,00020%
Northwestern Memorial Healthcare$2,0001n/a
Project Angel Heart$2,00020%
Anne K Taylor Fund$1,90050%
Lake Forest Foundation for Historic Preservation$1,85041%
Erie Family Health Foundation Inc$1,50010%
PADS Lake County Inc$1,50020%
Rainbow Riders Nfp$1,41711%
Globalgiving Foundation Inc$1,32510%
Miss Hall's School Inc$1,30020%
The Salvation Army$1,2502n/a
Conway Farms Golf Club Inc$1,00020%
Equal Justice Initiative$1,00010%
Bahamas Habitat$1,0001n/a
Cody Dieruf Foundation$1,00011%
Denver Food Rescue$1,00010%
Metro Caring$1,00010%
Wildaid Inc$1,00010%
American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches$1,00010%
North Chicago Community Partners$95030%
Rush University Medical Center$90030%
Kieve Wavus Education Inc$75030%
Elawa Farm Foundation$75010%
By Western Hands$70020%
Deer Path Art League$7002n/a
Bravo Waukegan$70040%
Greater Chicago Food Depository$70020%
St George's School$60020%
University of Chicago$50010%
Our Sisters School$50010%
Congressional Hockey Challenge$50011%
Teach for America Inc$50010%
Root Cause Farm Inc$30010%
The Student Conservation Association Inc$30010%
McKinlock Post Foundation$3001n/a
Children's Home & Aid Society of Ill$30010%
The Night Ministry$25010%
The American Himalayan Foundation$2501n/a
Openlands$25010%
Onwentsia Club$25010%
Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation$25010%
Allendale Association$25010%
Chicago Horticultural Society$25010%
Greenlight Family Services$2001n/a
Friends of Lake Forest Library Inc$20010%
Infant Welfare Society of Chicago$20010%
Paws Inc$15010%
The Lambs Farm Inc$15010%
Erie Neighborhood House$15010%
The Art Institute of Chicago$10010%
The Friendship Bridge$10010%
University of the South$10010%
The Lake County Haven$10010%
Wounded Warrior Project Inc$10010%
Field Museum of Natural History$10010%
Smile Train Inc$5010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 83 recipients with no EIN on record ($679k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Clarks Fork Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMonmouth College: $197,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBridgercare: $118,000 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetLake Forest Open Lands Association: $84,050 over 9y, 1.1% of budgetHenderson County Food Pantry: $45,500 over 6y, 3.9% of budgetFriends of Montana Pbs Inc: $35,500 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetPathfinder International: $33,700 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetLake Forest College: $31,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetThe Chicago Council on Global Affairs: $27,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetGallatin Valley Land Trust: $24,075 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHaven Inc: $20,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetNational Parks Conservation Association: $19,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetIowa Pbs Foundation: $17,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetYellowstone Forever: $16,250 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHistory Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff: $15,500 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetThe Eisenhower Foundation: $15,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetColonial Williamsburg Foundation: $12,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGorton Community Center: $11,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetRagdale Foundation: $11,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetGreater Yellowstone Coalition: $11,250 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetFriends of Lake Forest Parks & Rec Foundation: $11,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetFamily Promise of Gallatin Valley Inc: $10,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBozeman Library Friends and Foundation: $9,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTrigg - C M Russell Foundation Inc: $8,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNorthern Illinois Food Bank: $8,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetEast Woods School Inc: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLake Forest Country Day School: $7,600 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNational Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum: $6,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDesert Caballeros Western Museum: $5,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetThe Trust for Public Land: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMiss Porter's School Inc: $4,600 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetOSF Healthcare Foundation: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCape Eleuthera Foundation Inc: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFood Bank of the Rockies: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIllinois Policy Institute: $4,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetForest Park Conservancy Fka Forest Park Preservation Corporation: $3,600 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetBuchanan Center for the Arts: $3,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetBrushwood Center at Ryerson Woods: $2,800 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMontana Abortion Access Program: $2,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMedecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEagle Mount: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOne Eleuthera Foundation: $2,300 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Fort Ticonderoga Association: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetProject Angel Heart: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAnne K Taylor Fund: $1,900 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLake Forest Foundation for Historic Preservation: $1,850 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetErie Family Health Foundation Inc: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPADS Lake County Inc: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRainbow Riders Nfp: $1,417 over 1y, 0.9% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 90.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber PhilanthropyIL34.3× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy · The Chicago Community Trust · Butler Family Foundation · Harold M & Adeline S Morrison Family Foundation · Red Bird Hollow Foundation · The Grainger Foundation Inc · Hedberg Foundation Inc · The Buchanan Family Foundation · Little Orchard Foundation · Carney Family Foundation · Garrett Family Foundation · David D & Mary F Grumhaus Fund

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.

Compare Clarks Fork Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Clarks Fork Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Clarks Fork 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.

About Clarks Fork Foundation

How much does Clarks Fork Foundation give?
Clarks Fork Foundation reported 68 grants totaling $240,050 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 22 and 70 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Clarks Fork Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (18%), Education (17%), Environment (12%).
Who are Clarks Fork Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Monmouth College ($198k), Bridgercare ($118k), Lake Forest Open Lands Association ($84k).
Does Clarks Fork Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 16% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Clarks Fork Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Clarks Fork Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy, The Chicago Community Trust, Butler Family Foundation.
Where is Clarks Fork Foundation based?
Clarks Fork Foundation is based in IL.

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 189 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

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