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Daniel R and Karen Kales Lee Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Daniel R and Karen Kales Lee Family 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.

$508k
Granted FY2025still arriving
42
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$1.5MReligion$609kHealth$227kHuman Services$131kArts & Culture$87kYouth Development$86kFood & Nutrition$40kInternational$27kOther$0
02FY2025 · 42 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k29 grants · $63k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $140k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $305k
$2,500
Median grant
7
States reached
$7.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH UNITED FUND$125,000
CJE SENIOR LIFE$70,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS-MAGEN DAVID$60,000
THE ARK$50,000
AM SHALOM$30,200
ISRAEL DOGS FOR THE BLIND$18,000
PROVIDENCE FARM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$18,000
ISRAEL TENNIS & EDUCATION CENTER$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF PALM SPRINGS AND DESERT AREA$13,500
TUTORING CHICAGO$10,000
GLENCOE PUBLIC SAFETY FUND$10,000
ROCHELLE ZELL JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL$10,000
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE CHICAGO$7,500
LYNN SAGE CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $12k) 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%FAMILY SERVICE OF GLENCOE: $5k → 14%FAMILY SERVICES OF GLENCOE: $180 → 14%FAMILY SERVICE OF GLENCOE: $100 → 14%FAMILY SERVICE OF GLENCOE: $100 → 14%FAMILY SERVICE OF GLENCOE: $50 → 14%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $2k → 14%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $1k → 14%BURST INTO BOOKS: $500 → 14%THE BLOC: $500 → 14%JCC CHICAGO: $1k → 14%JCC CHICAGO: $600 → 14%JCC CHICAGO: $300 → 14%JCC CHICAGO: $150 → 14%SHARE OUR SPARE: $1k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
PA
CA
VA
MD
AZ
DC
LA
FL
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.1M · 45 repeat orgs$82k to everyone else

45 repeat relationships: 29 still active in FY2025, 16 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

45
39

Total granted

$3.1M
$52k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+77%

Still filing today

64%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthArts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyFood & NutritionOther
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

  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +13%
  • BB
    BERNIE'S BOOK BANK
    7× · 2017–2023 · $83k · revenue +88%
  • LS
    LYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION
    8× · 2018–2025 · $46k · revenue +100%

Funded once

  • CF
    CENTER FOR JEWISH PHILANTHROPY
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • IC
    ISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $8k · revenue +27%
  • LK
    LIVING KIDNEY DONOR NETWORK
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
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
Gastro Intestinal Research Foundation Inc

The GI Research Foundation works to treat, prevent, and cure digestive diseases. In collaboration with the physicians and scientists at the University of Chicago Digestive Diseases Center, we fund innovative clinical and laboratory…

Health
2
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
3
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
4
Lurie Children's Surgical Foundation Inc

Provide pediatric and subspecialty surgical, research, and educational services.

—
5
Pediatric Faculty Foundation Inc

We value excellence and innovation in clinical and basic research, coordinated and comprehensive patient care, ongoing physician education, and evidence-based child advocacy. our goal is to provide leadership in endeavors that promote the…

Health
6
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
7
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
8
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
9
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
10
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
11
Michael Reese Health Trust

Michael Reese partners with the Chicagoland community to advance and advocate for lasting health solutions. We do this by carrying forward the vision of Michael Reese Hospital's Jewish founders and the generations of philanthropic…

Health
12
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc; the most unlike its peers is Providence Farm Community Foundation. 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

61 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. 61 of the 97 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/61
Grantees still filing
43/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $535,500 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONAMERICAN FRIENDS-MAGEN DAVID: $497,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS-MAGEN DAVIDCJE SENIOR LIFE: $186,700 · OtherCJE SENIOR LIFEAM SHALOM: $158,085 · OtherAM SHALOMTHE ARK: $91,000 · Other+57 more: $325,328 · Other+57 moreJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $1,055,828 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN C…+3 more: $3,500 · PhilanthropyPROVIDENCE FARM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $61,000 · HealthAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: $45,450 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $43,350 · HealthRush University Medical Center: $35,000 · Health+9 more: $7,875 · HealthThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $40,294 · Arts & CultureTUTORING CHICAGO: $15,000 · Arts & CultureWriters Theatre Inc: $13,250 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $12,500 · Arts & CulturePALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $3,750 · Arts & CultureBERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $83,200 · Youth DevelopmentCamp for All Kids: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $45,550 · Housing & ShelterROCHELLE ZELL JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL: $15,000 · EducationRANCHO MIRAGE WRITERS FESTIVAL: $14,000 · EducationRANCHO MIRAGE LIBRARY & OBSERVATORY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Education+4 more: $1,030 · Education
Other$1,793,613Philanthropy$1,059,328Health$192,675Arts & Culture$89,794Youth Development$88,200Housing & Shelter$45,550Education$35,030

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 budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $1,055,828 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetBERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $83,200 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetPROVIDENCE FARM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $61,000 over 3y, 7.6% of budgetLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $45,550 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: $45,450 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $43,350 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $40,294 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $28,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF PALM SPRINGS AND DESERT AREA: $24,590 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetROCHELLE ZELL JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTUTORING CHICAGO: $15,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetRANCHO MIRAGE WRITERS FESTIVAL: $14,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $13,900 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $13,250 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY ACTION NETWORK: $6,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE OF GLENCOE: $5,430 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetPALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCamp for All Kids: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetRANCHO MIRAGE LIBRARY & OBSERVATORY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $2,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $2,050 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF ELNET: $1,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD IN NEED OF DISTRIBUTION INC: $1,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAOT CHITIM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC: $1,800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetARIZONA MUSICFEST INC: $1,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $1,350 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NORA PROJECT: $1,180 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetVISION TO LEARN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHiggy Bears Inc: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMILLENNIAL ACTION PROJECT DBA FUTURE CAUCUS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetArizona Cancer Foundation for Children Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLatinos Progresando: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCANINE THERAPY CORPS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetShare our Spare: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCORE Foundation: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BLOC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBURST INTO BOOKS: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMCDOWELL SONORAN CONSERVANCY: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $375 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARKINSON'S DISEASE RESEARCH SOCIETY: $225 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds BERNIE'S BOOK BANK ↗
  • Who funds PROVIDENCE FARM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ↗
  • Who funds Rush University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FEDERATION OF PALM SPRINGS AND DESERT AREA ↗
  • Who funds ROCHELLE ZELL JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds TUTORING CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds RANCHO MIRAGE WRITERS FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds Writers Theatre Inc ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds ISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY ACTION NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY SERVICE OF GLENCOE ↗
  • Who funds PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds Camp for All Kids ↗
  • Who funds RANCHO MIRAGE LIBRARY & OBSERVATORY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Glencoe Historical Society ↗

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…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Jewish Federation of …AbbVie FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …John D and Catherine …Bednyak Family Founda…Kovler Family Foundat…Imc Chicago Charitabl…The Keith D & Arlene …Sacks Family Foundati…Jarvis Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL24.1× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · AbbVie Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Bednyak Family Foundation · Kovler Family Foundation · Imc Chicago Charitable Foundation · The Keith D & Arlene M Bronstein Foundation · Sacks Family Foundation · Jarvis 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 Daniel R and Karen Kales Lee Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Daniel R and Karen Kales Lee Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 97 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 Daniel R and Karen Kales Lee Family’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