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Illinois · Private foundation

Donald L & Susan J Schwartz 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.

$297k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
17
Grants FY2025
15
Organizations funded FY2024
47%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$500
Largest grant, FY2025
$258,182
Organizations funded a year
15 to 37
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
9
Total assets, FY2025
$1.6M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 47% of the organizations Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 91% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 9% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $184k 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
Human ServicesEnvironmentArts & CulturePhilanthropyEducationInternationalOther
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 arriving15$296k53%
FY202415$202k47%
FY202321$142k43%
FY202219$33k16%
FY202137$140k14%
FY202027$129k52%
FY201925$42k24%
FY201822$37k32%
97% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$551kArts & Culture$333kPhilanthropy$185kReligion$12kCivil Rights$11kPublic Benefit$9kHuman Services$7kEnvironment$3kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
NJ
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
NC
DC
GA
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
Macalester College$550,12080%
Ravinia Festival Association$284,35960%
Chicago Symphony Orchestra$33,50060%
Glencoe Union Church$12,0907n/a
Steppenwolf Theatre Company$4,70040%
The Cradle Foundation$2,99530%
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute$2,33050%
Chicago Horticultural Society$2,30070%
Illinois Policy Institute$1,65050%
Cato Institute$1,20070%
Show all 39 grantees
All grantees of Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Macalester College$550,12080%
Ravinia Festival Association$284,35960%
Chicago Symphony Orchestra$33,50060%
Glencoe Union Church$12,0907n/a
Steppenwolf Theatre Company$4,70040%
The Cradle Foundation$2,99530%
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute$2,33050%
Chicago Horticultural Society$2,30070%
Illinois Policy Institute$1,65050%
Cato Institute$1,20070%
Walnut Cove Members Association Inc$1,20050%
Young America's Foundation$1,00150%
Securefutures Foundation Inc$1,00010%
The Cradle Society$1,00010%
The Heritage Foundation$85020%
The Art Institute of Chicago$72030%
National Center for Public Policy Research$60020%
RISE International$60060%
American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches$50010%
Northwestern University$50010%
Wounded Warrior Project Inc$40020%
Sarah's Circle$40030%
The North Carolina Arboretum Society$30040%
North Shore Senior Center$25010%
Alzheimer's Foundation of America Inc$25010%
The Food Bank for Larimer County$25010%
Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation$20020%
The Salvation Army$1903n/a
Habitat for Humanity Inc$1882n/a
Loras College$15030%
Taxpayer Education Foundation$12520%
White House Historical Association$12520%
Chicago Furniture Bank$10010%
American Macular Degeneration Goehring$1001n/a
Skyland Fire and Rescue Corporation$10010%
Glencoe Historical Society$1001n/a
Macular Degeneration Association$6010%
National Park Foundation$5020%
National Parks Conservation Association$2510%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 37 recipients with no EIN on record ($212k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMacalester College: $550,120 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetRavinia Festival Association: $284,359 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $33,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSteppenwolf Theatre Company: $4,700 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Cradle Foundation: $2,995 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute: $2,330 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Horticultural Society: $2,300 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetIllinois Policy Institute: $1,650 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCato Institute: $1,200 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWalnut Cove Members Association Inc: $1,200 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $1,001 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSecurefutures Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Cradle Society: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Heritage Foundation: $850 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Art Institute of Chicago: $720 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNational Center for Public Policy Research: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRISE International: $600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWounded Warrior Project Inc: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSarah's Circle: $400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe North Carolina Arboretum Society: $300 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNorth Shore Senior Center: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAlzheimer's Foundation of America Inc: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Food Bank for Larimer County: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBlue Ridge Parkway Foundation: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLoras College: $150 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTaxpayer Education Foundation: $125 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWhite House Historical Association: $125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Furniture Bank: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSkyland Fire and Rescue Corporation: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMacular Degeneration Association: $60 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNational Park Foundation: $50 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNational Parks Conservation Association: $25 over 1y, 0.0% 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 34.

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.

The Chicago Community TrustIL13× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift 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 Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation with peer funders

About Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation

How much does Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation give?
Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation reported 17 grants totaling $296,880 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 15 and 37 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (49%), Arts & Culture (30%), Philanthropy (17%).
Who are Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Macalester College ($550k), Ravinia Festival Association ($284k), Chicago Symphony Orchestra ($34k).
Does Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 47% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Donald L & Susan J Schwartz 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 Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, American Endowment Foundation.
Where is Donald L & Susan J Schwartz Foundation based?
Donald L & Susan J Schwartz 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 78 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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