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Columbia College Chicago at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

$78M
Granted FY2023
2
Grants FY2023
1
States reached
$6k
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, FY2017 to 2023.

Arts & Culture$149kCommunity Improvement$24k
02FY2023 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 2 grants below total $10,750, the rows itemized in this filing. The $78,381,572 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $78,370,822 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.
$5,750
Median grant
1
States reached
$430M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Filter Photo NFP$5,750
Grant Park Orchestral Association$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 (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MEDIUM FESTIVAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY: $5k → 11%THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $25k → 14%CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE: $6k → 14%CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%Old Town School of Folk Music: $5k → 14%The Chicago High School for the Arts: $10k → 14%Filter Photo NFP: $6k → 14%FILTER PHOTO: $6k → 14%FILTER PHOTO: $6k → 14%Filter Photo LTD: $5k → 14%FILTER PHOTO NFP: $5k → 14%FILTER PHOTO LTD: $5k → 14%Near South Planning Board: $8k → 14%FILTER PHOTO LTD: $5k → 14%NEAR SOUTH PLANNING BOARD: $5k → 14%CINEMACHICAGO: $30k → 14%Hyde Park Art Center: $10k → 14%HYDE PARK ART CENTER: $5k → 14%ARTS ALLIANCE ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%ART EXPOSITIONS LLC: $5k → 14%MIDWEST FILM INC: $7k → 14%Grant Park Orchestral Association: $5k → 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.

37%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$64k · 3 repeat orgs$109k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +54% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2023, 2 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
10

Total granted

$64k
$104k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+23%

Still filing today

100%
90%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 53% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureEducationCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • FP
    FILTER PHOTO NFP
    7× · 2017–2023 · $37k · revenue +11%
  • HYDE PARK ART CENTER
    2× · 2017–2019 · $15k · revenue +64%
  • NS
    NEAR SOUTH PLANNING BOARD
    2× · 2018–2019 · $13k · revenue +54%

Funded once

  • CI
    Chicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago
    one grant, 2017 · $30k · revenue +7%
  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGOgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +45%
  • TC
    THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue +23%
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 Cultural Mile Association
—
2
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
3
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
4
Chicago Wind Symphony
Arts & Culture
5
Chicago Filmmakers

To serve independent film and digital video artists by supporting the creation and dissemination of new media arts works, and to serve Chicago audiences by screening artistically innovative, socially relevant, and diverse films and videos.

Arts & Culture
6
International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago

Develop, promote and increase awareness of latino cultures among latino communities through film and video events, education and other art forms

—
7
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
8
Chicago Cultural Performing Arts and Media Allianc

To provide outreach services and resources

Arts & Culture
9
Chicago Humanities Festival

To promote public appreciation, understanding and support of the humanities through festivals and educational programs.

Arts & Culture
10
Open Space Arts

Open Space Arts is a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to producing bold LGBTQ-focused theater and presenting independent queer cinema. The organization supports emerging and established artists while engaging audiences through live…

Arts & Culture
11
Chicago Art Department

Cultivates new and emerging Chicago artists, and aims to benefit artists by exploring art and learning. Through exhibitions, artist residencies, classes/workshops and community building, we are dedicated to cultivating new voices, ideas,…

Arts & Culture
12
Constellation Performing Arts

Constellation is a performing arts presenter with an emphasis on forward- thinking practices, particularly in the areas of jazz, improvised, experimental, and contemporary classical music.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Illinois Arts Alliance; the most unlike its peers is Grant Park Orchestral Association. 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

13 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. 13 of the 14 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FILTER PHOTO NFP: $36,750 · Arts & CultureFILTER PHOTO NFPChicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago: $30,000 · Arts & CultureChicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-ChicagoHYDE PARK ART CENTER: $15,000 · Arts & CultureHYDE PARK ART CENTERMIDWEST FILM INC: $7,000 · Arts & CultureMIDWEST FILM INCGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $5,000 · Arts & CultureOLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $25,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICA…THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $10,000 · EducationTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FO…Chicago Loop Alliance Foundation: $5,250 · EducationChicago Loop Alliance Foun…NEAR SOUTH PLANNING BOARD: $12,500 · Community ImprovementNEAR SOUTH P…CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE: $6,250 · Community ImprovementCHICAGO LOOP…ILLINOIS ARTS ALLIANCE: $5,102 · OtherILLINOIS …ART EXPOSITIONS LLC: $5,000 · OtherART EXPOS…MEDIUM PHOTOGRAPHY INC DBA MEDIUM PHOTO: $5,000 · OtherMEDIUM PH…
Arts & Culture$98,750Education$40,250Community Improvement$18,750Other$15,102

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 budgetFILTER PHOTO NFP: $36,750 over 7y, 3.3% of budgetChicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago: $30,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHYDE PARK ART CENTER: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNEAR SOUTH PLANNING BOARD: $12,500 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE: $6,250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Loop Alliance Foundation: $5,250 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetILLINOIS ARTS ALLIANCE: $5,102 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMEDIUM PHOTOGRAPHY INC DBA MEDIUM PHOTO: $5,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC: $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.

John D and Catherine …Jentes Family Foundat…Lloyd a Fry FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …Arie and Ida Crown Me…The Chicago Community…Jewish Federation of …Ncrc Community Develo…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL15× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Jentes Family Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · The Chicago Community Trust · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Columbia College Chicago funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Columbia College Chicago. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 14 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $70M of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

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    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