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Dunham Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Dunham Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$3.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
45
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$673k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Human Services$2.3MEducation$2.3MCommunity Improvement$2.0MPhilanthropy$1.9MHealth$1.9MArts & Culture$1.3MFood & Nutrition$725kReligion$428kOther$0
02FY2024 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k19 grants · $75k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $177k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+4 grants · $1.8M
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$87M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE WONG FOUNDATION$673,000
Community Foundation of Fox River V$545,675
Quad County Urban League$350,000
Paramount Arts Centre$250,000
Individual grant recipient$226,000
Wayside Cross Ministries$210,000
Forefront$208,068
Women's Business Development Center$150,000
Dominican Literacy Center$100,000
Aurora University$100,000
Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry$100,000
Mutual Ground$75,000
Batavia Foundation for Education Ex$70,000
Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Inc$60,000
MUSICIANS ENDURING LEGACY ORGANIZAT$50,000
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 (FY21–24, $2.8M) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 1% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Metropolitan Family Services: $175k → 7%360 Youth Services: $60k → 7%Family Focus: $25k → 14%360 Youth Services: $25k → 7%Community Support Services: $5k → 14%Community Support Services: $5k → 14%Community Support Services: $5k → 14%Quad County Urban League: $1.1M → 8%Quad County Urban League: $350k → 8%Quad County Urban League: $65k → 8%Quad County Urban League: $30k → 8%Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Inc: $5k → 8%DVSA COMMUNITIES: $5k → 8%Mutual Ground: $85k → 8%Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Inc: $83k → 8%Mutual Ground: $75k → 8%Mutual Ground: $75k → 8%Mutual Ground: $75k → 8%Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Inc: $60k → 8%Association for Individual Developm: $30k → 8%ESSE Adult Day Services: $25k → 8%TriCity Family Services: $102k → 8%Association for Individual Developm: $15k → 8%TriCity Family Services: $100k → 8%Association for Individual Developm: $15k → 8%Marklund: $75k → 8%Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Inc: $8k → 8%ESSE Adult Day Services: $5k → 8%TriCity Family Services: $10k → 8%THE JOSHUA TREE COMMUNITY: $10k → 8%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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$10M · 42 repeat orgs$4.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

42 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

42
39

Total granted

$10M
$3.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+16%

Still filing today

69%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.1M went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureFood & NutritionCivil RightsHealthOther
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

  • QC
    QUAD COUNTY URBAN LEAGUE INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +207% · 34% of their budget
  • PA
    PARAMOUNT ARTS CENTRE
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +109% · 66% of their budget
  • F
    FOREFRONT
    4× · 2021–2024 · $589k · revenue +81%

Funded once

  • VH
    VNA Health Care
    one grant, 2022 · $1.6M · revenue +17%
  • MF
    Metropolitan Family Servicesgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $175k · revenue +89%
  • IA
    INDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY GROUP INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $125k · revenue +61%
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
Center for Family Services

Administering an array of critical, intensive therapeutic interventions and/or facilitation services to emotionally and behaviorally disturbed clients for whom DCFS is legally responsible in order to stabilize their traditional or home of…

Human Services
2
Illinois Institute for Children

Providing Social Services to Families including Child Care

Human Services
3
Illinois Partners for Human Service

Illinois Partners for Human Service's primary activities are (1) strengthening human services in communities throughout Illinois by building a unified human services sector; (2) working with leaders, the public, and others engaged in the…

Human Services
4
United Way of Illinois

Strengthen United Way movement in Illinois

Philanthropy
5
Illinois Self-Advocacy Alliance

The Illinois Self-Advocacy Alliance is a statewide network of self-advocates, self-advocacy groups, and allies in Illinois. We support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to develop self-advocacy skills so they…

Civil Rights
6
Childrens Advocacy Center of East Central Illinois

To assist children who have been victims of abuse

Crime & Legal
7
Dayone Pact

Dayone pact is committed to assisting individuals with disabilities live engaged and meaningful lives through independent service coordination.

—
8
The Arc of Illinois

The Arc of Illinois is committed to empowering persons with disabilities to achieve full participation in community life through informed choices.

—
9
Austin Special Chicago

To provide for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Education
10
Illinois Fiscal Policy Council
Public Benefit
11
The Illinois Center for Autism

Educating and serving children and adults with autism to achieve their highest level of independence within their home, family and community.

Human Services
12
Central Illinois Agency On Aging Inc

Central illinois agency on aging believes in the independence and dignity of older persons, and that each older person should be empowered to exert control over their own life & have access to needed services. we do planning, program…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Support Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Fox Valley Patriotic Organization. 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

60 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 60 of the 98 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
59/60
Grantees still filing
41/60
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VNA Health Care: $1,575,000 · OtherVNA Health CareCommunity Foundation of Fox River V: $1,254,025 · OtherCommunity Foundation of Fox River VSerenity House: $1,250,000 · OtherSerenity HouseWAYSIDE CROSS MINISTRIES: $383,150 · OtherWOMEN'S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $375,000 · OtherMARMION ACADEMY: $340,000 · OtherROSARY HIGH SCHOOL: $340,000 · Other+55 more: $1,875,608 · Other+55 moreQUAD COUNTY URBAN LEAGUE INC: $1,595,000 · Human ServicesQUAD COUNTY URBAN LEAG…MUTUAL GROUND INC: $310,000 · Human ServicesMUTUAL GROUND INCTRICITY FAMILY SERVICES: $212,000 · Human ServicesTRICITY FAMILY SERVICE…Metropolitan Family Services: $175,000 · Human ServicesMetropolitan Family Se…MARIE WILKINSON FOOD PANTRY INC: $155,000 · Human ServicesMARIE WILKINSON FOOD P…ILLINOIS JOINING FORCES FOUNDATION: $110,000 · Human Services+8 more: $305,000 · Human Services+8 moreTHE WONG CENTER FOR EDUCATION: $673,000 · EducationTHE WONG C…FOX VALLEY PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATION: $204,000 · EducationFOX VALLEY…AURORA UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · EducationAURORA UNI…Lewis University: $50,000 · EducationADVANCE ILLINOIS NFP: $50,000 · EducationNorth Central College: $50,000 · Education+4 more: $92,000 · Education+4 morePARAMOUNT ARTS CENTRE: $1,061,000 · Arts & CulturePARAMOUNT…BATAVIA ARTISTS ASSOCIATION NFP INC WATER STREET STUDIOS: $119,118 · Arts & CultureBATAVIA A…+3 more: $40,700 · Arts & CultureFOREFRONT: $589,309 · PhilanthropyAURORA AREA INTERFAITH FOOD PANTRY: $250,000 · Food & NutritionNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $190,000 · Food & NutritionFOX VALLEY FOOD FOR HEALTH INC: $100,000 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $5,000 · Food & NutritionCASA KANE COUNTY: $172,000 · Civil RightsINDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY GROUP INC: $125,000 · Civil Rights
Other$7,392,783Human Services$2,862,000Education$1,269,000Arts & Culture$1,220,818Philanthropy$589,309Food & Nutrition$545,000Civil Rights$297,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetQUAD COUNTY URBAN LEAGUE INC: $1,595,000 over 4y, 34% of budgetVNA Health Care: $1,575,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetPARAMOUNT ARTS CENTRE: $1,061,000 over 4y, 66% of budgetFOREFRONT: $589,309 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetWOMEN'S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $375,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetMUTUAL GROUND INC: $310,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetAURORA AREA INTERFAITH FOOD PANTRY: $250,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetTRICITY FAMILY SERVICES: $212,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetFOX VALLEY PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATION: $204,000 over 2y, 38% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $190,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $175,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCASA KANE COUNTY: $172,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetMARIE WILKINSON FOOD PANTRY INC: $155,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetFOX VALLEY HANDS OF HOPE INC: $152,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetAURORA UNIVERSITY: $150,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY GROUP INC: $125,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBATAVIA ARTISTS ASSOCIATION NFP INC WATER STREET STUDIOS: $119,118 over 1y, 20% of budgetILLINOIS JOINING FORCES FOUNDATION: $110,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetFOX VALLEY FOOD FOR HEALTH INC: $100,000 over 3y, 11% of budget360 YOUTH SERVICES: $85,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetSUICIDE PREVENTION SERVICES INC: $80,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetMARKLUND CHILDRENS HOME: $75,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBatavia Historical Society: $75,000 over 1y, 77% of budgetIllinois Action for Children: $75,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT: $60,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NEIGHBOR PROJECT: $59,500 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetAMERICAN WOMEN FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING: $59,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetFOX VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $56,055 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetLewis University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANDERSON ANIMAL SHELTER: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetADVANCE ILLINOIS NFP: $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetNorth Central College: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOX VALLEY PARK FOUNDATION: $47,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetVALLEY SHELTERED WORKSHOP: $43,900 over 2y, 9.5% of budgetIllinois Bar Foundation: $40,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetDiamond Youth Foundation: $34,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetECUMENICAL SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY INC: $30,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INTERACTIVE CENTER Scitech Fox Valley STEM Programs: $25,200 over 1y, 31% of budgetMARIE WILKINSON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetJENNINGS TERRACE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetAURORA EAST EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $22,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetNORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS FINISHING TRADES INSTITUTE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetElyssas Mission NFP: $13,845 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetPIGMENT INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $13,000 over 3y, 6.1% of budgetCHANGING CHILDREN'S WORLDS FOUNDATION: $12,250 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetTHE JOSHUA TREE COMMUNITY: $10,000 over 1y, 5.1% 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.

Community Foundation …Dunham FundFox Valley United WayThe Bersted FoundationNorthwestern Memorial…McGowan Gin Rosica Fa…The Rich FoundationThe Dupage Community …Juvenile Protective A…Inc Mental Health All…Hansen-Furnas Foundat…The Chicago Community…
Community Foundation of the Fox River ValleyIL74.9× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley · Dunham Fund · Fox Valley United Way · The Bersted Foundation · Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group · McGowan Gin Rosica Family Foundation Inc · The Rich Foundation · The Dupage Community Foundation · Juvenile Protective Association of Aurora Illinois · Inc Mental Health Alliance · Hansen-Furnas Foundation Inc · The Chicago Community Trust

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 Dunham Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dunham Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Dunham Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Dunham 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.

    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 98 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Dunham’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