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Desantis Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Desantis 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.

$27k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$14k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$86kHealth$16kHuman Services$10kEducation$9kRecreation & Sports$8kAnimals$4kCommunity Improvement$3kFood & Nutrition$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $14k
$2,500
Median grant
3
States reached
$4k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SALZBURG FESTIVAL SOCIETY$13,600
FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH$4,200
FRIENDS OF AACA$2,700
ANN & ROBERT H LURIE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL$2,500
WOMEN CARE CENTER$2,000
MEALS ON WHEELS$1,000
EVANSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$500
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 (FY23–24, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CITY KIDS CAMP: $2k → 14%YMCA OF METRO CHICAGO: $500 → 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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$109k · 10 repeat orgs$31k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
11

Total granted

$109k
$23k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+65%

Still filing today

80%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k 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
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentEducationHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • KP
    KITHARA PROJECT INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $15k · revenue +179%
  • SM
    Sing Me A Story Foundation
    2× · 2022–2023 · $10k · revenue +11%
  • FO
    Friends of AACA
    3× · 2023–2025 · $10k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • CL
    CPS LIVES NFPgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +80%
  • LO
    LEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue +26%
  • SI
    STRENGTH IN THE CITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $3k
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
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
2
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
3
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
4
Students Run Chicago
Health
5
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
6
Classical Music Chicago

Presenting free high-quality classical music performances and music education experiences in the Chicago metropolitan area for people of all ages and degrees of musical awareness so they can experience how music enriches life.

Arts & Culture
7
Chicago Harp Quartet
—
8
Chicago Toy & Game Foundation
—
9
Chopin Theatre Productions Nfp

To promote enlightened civic discourse through a diverse range of artistic offerings. We execute our mission by applying prudent business practices without compromising our programming diversity or artistic excellence.

Arts & Culture
10
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
11
Women's Project & Productions Inc

Wp theater is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of women+ at every stage of their careers. for over four decades we have served as leaders of a global movement…

Arts & Culture
12
Lookingglass Theatre Company

Lookingglass theatre company is a national leader in the creation and presentation of innovative, cutting-edge theatrical work. lookingglass interweaves movement, circus arts and narrative in original and captivating ways. guided by an…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Evanston Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Strength in the City 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

18 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. 18 of the 25 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SALZBURG FESTIVAL SOCIETY INC: $26,800 · Arts & CultureTHE SALZBURG FESTIVAL SOCIETY INCKITHARA PROJECT INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureKITHARA PROJECT INCFriends of AACA: $9,635 · Arts & CultureFriends of AACACPS LIVES NFP: $5,000 · Arts & CultureCPS LIVES NFPLEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Arts & CultureLEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES FOUNDATIONCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,500 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureSING ALONG FOUNDATION: $11,500 · OtherSING ALONG FOUNDATIONHAMLIN PARK BASEBALL ASSOCIATION: $7,527 · OtherHAMLIN PARK BASEBALL ASS…STRENGTH IN THE CITY FOUNDATION: $2,500 · OtherSTRENGTH IN THE CITY FOU…Individual grant recipient: $2,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipie…ANN & ROBERT H LURIE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL: $2,500 · OtherANN & ROBERT H LURIE CHI…+5 more: $3,500 · Other+5 morePRIORY IN THE USA OF THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE HOSP / ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM: $9,248 · HealthPRIORY IN THE US…WOMEN'S CARE CENTER INC: $7,500 · HealthWOMEN'S CARE CEN…THE FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH: $4,200 · HealthTHE FOUNDATION F…Sing Me A Story Foundation: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentPOLARIS CHARTER ACADEMY: $8,500 · EducationPAWS CHICAGO: $3,500 · AnimalsCITY KIDS CAMP: $2,000 · Human ServicesThe YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago: $500 · Human Services
Arts & Culture$64,935Other$30,027Health$20,948Youth Development$10,000Education$8,500Animals$3,500Human Services$2,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE SALZBURG FESTIVAL SOCIETY INC: $26,800 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetKITHARA PROJECT INC: $15,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetSing Me A Story Foundation: $10,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetFriends of AACA: $9,635 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetPRIORY IN THE USA OF THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE HOSP / ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM: $9,248 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPOLARIS CHARTER ACADEMY: $8,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN'S CARE CENTER INC: $7,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCPS LIVES NFP: $5,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetLEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY KIDS CAMP: $2,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE TANK LTD: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPADS OF ELGIN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 …The Chicago Community…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL12.9× affinity4 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Desantis Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Desantis Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%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
    1get 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 25 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 Desantis’ 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