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Plinth

· Private foundation

Edward S Sprague Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$99k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172025.

Health$172kEducation$156kYouth Development$128kHuman Services$128kArts & Culture$86kEnvironment$81kHousing & Shelter$68kFood & Nutrition$57kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $6k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $93k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ALPHONSUS ACADEMY & CENTER FOR THE ARTS$13,042
ASSOCIATION HOUSE$10,000
FOUNDATION FOR THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH$10,000
MIDTOWN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$10,000
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND$10,000
SIERRA CLUB$10,000
BERNIES BOOK BANK$10,000
DEBORAH'S PLACE$10,000
BOUNCE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION$10,000
NOURSHING HOPE$5,000
DEPAUL COLLEGE PREP$1,200
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY17–25, $128k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ASSOCIATION HOUSE: $10k → 8%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $8k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$825k · 22 repeat orgs$80k to everyone else

22 repeat relationships — 8 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
12

Total granted

$825k
$55k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+84%
+159%

Still filing today

64%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 75% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k 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
HealthEducationHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • AH
    ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO
    6× · 2017–2025 · $68k · revenue +84%
  • DP
    DEBORAH'S PLACE
    6× · 2017–2025 · $65k · revenue +130%
  • LH
    LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2017–2023 · $60k · revenue +353%

Funded once

  • RA
    ROBERT A REAUMOND FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue +159%
  • TH
    THE HADELY SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
  • ED
    ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
    one grant, 2023 · $5k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Hugo W Moser Research Institute At Kennedy Krieger Inc

The hugo w. moser research institute at kennedy krieger, inc. (the "research institute") is an internationally recognized research facility finding answers to problems and injuries that affect a child's developing brain. researchers have…

Science & Tech
2
Brightfocus Foundation

Brightfocus foundation funds exceptional research worldwide to defeat alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma and provides expert information on these heartbreaking diseases. please refer to schedule o for a complete…

Health
3
Target Als Foundation Inc

Our mission is to break down barriers to als research to find effective treatments. by uniting academia, the pharma and biotech industry, government, venture capital, related nonprofits, and the als community, we aim to overcome the…

Education
4
Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute

Stanley manne children's research institute strives to generate new knowledge and advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric diseases.

Health
5
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred hutch cancer center ("fred hutch") unites innovative research and compassionate care to prevent and eliminate cancer and infectious disease. continued on schedule o

Health
6
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

SRAlab is dedicated to providing the best patient outcomes through the highest-quality clinical care, translational research, scientific discovery and education.

Health
7
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc

The mission of dfci is to provide expert, compassionate, and equitable care to children, adults, and their families, while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. we train new…

Health
8
The Adler Planetarium

The adler planetarium ('adler') is a not-for-profit cultural institution whose mission is to connect people to the universe and each other under the sky we all share. it aspires to be the world's premier center for engaging in astronomy…

Arts & Culture
9
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
10
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
11
Management Sciences for Health Inc

(msh) saves lives and improves the health of the world's poorest (see schedule o) and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.

International
12
Access to Advanced Health Institute

Aahi is a nonprofit biotech research institute, bringing together the best experts, technologies, and platforms to create accessible, high-quality products and solutions for harnessing the immune system to alleviate disease.

Health

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Connections for the Homeless Inc and the most unlike its peers is Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Inc. 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

19 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 19 of the 37 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/19
Grantees still filing
17/19
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND — $54,000 · OtherCHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLINDLUMINARTS - FORMERLY UNION LEAGUE CIVIC & ARTS FOUND — $42,000 · OtherLUMINARTS - FORMERLY UNION LEAGUE CIVIC &…ST ALPHONSUS CHURCH — $39,433 · OtherST ALPHONSUS CHURCHMISERACORDIA HEART OF MERCY — $30,000 · OtherMISERACORDIA HEART OF MERCYSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION — $20,000 · OtherSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONST JUDE RESEARCH HOSPITAL — $20,000 · OtherST JUDE RESEARCH HOSPITALENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $20,500 · OtherENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATEDWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC — $15,000 · OtherLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY — $13,569 · Other+14 more — $78,134 · Other+14 moreMidtown-Metro Achievement Centers — $73,000 · EducationMidtown-Metro Achieve…FRIENDS OF BURLEY — $53,621 · EducationFRIENDS OF BURLEYHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED — $42,500 · EducationHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR …ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO — $67,500 · Human ServicesASSOCIATION HOU…LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION — $60,000 · Human ServicesLYDIA HOME ASSO…SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN — $41,500 · HealthSHRINERS HOS…BREAKTHROUGH T1D — $30,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH…BOUNCE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION — $21,000 · HealthBOUNCE CHILD…Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Inc — $10,000 · HealthFoundation f…DEBORAH'S PLACE — $65,000 · Housing & Shelter+1 more — $1,200 · Housing & ShelterEMBARC INC — $40,230 · Youth DevelopmentBERNIE'S BOOK BANK — $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE LAMBS FARM INC — $51,500 · Employment
Other$332,636Education$169,121Human Services$127,500Health$102,500Housing & Shelter$66,200Youth Development$55,230Employment$51,500

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetMidtown-Metro Achievement Centers — $73,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO — $67,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetDEBORAH'S PLACE — $65,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetLYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION — $60,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF BURLEY — $53,621 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetTHE LAMBS FARM INC — $51,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED — $42,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN — $41,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEMBARC INC — $40,230 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D — $30,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBOUNCE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION — $21,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $20,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBERNIE'S BOOK BANK — $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC — $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY — $13,569 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Midtown-Metro Achievement Centers
  • Who funds ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO
  • Who funds DEBORAH'S PLACE
  • Who funds LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF BURLEY
  • Who funds THE LAMBS FARM INC
  • Who funds HADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED
  • Who funds SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN
  • Who funds EMBARC INC
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH T1D
  • Who funds BOUNCE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
  • Who funds BERNIE'S BOOK BANK
  • Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
  • Who funds ROBERT A REAUMOND FOUNDATION
  • Who funds Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Inc
  • Who funds Humane World for Animals Inc
  • Who funds CONNECTIONS FOR THE HOMELESS INC

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Chicago Community TrustIL14.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Edward S Sprague Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 0%
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 37 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph