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Efs Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Efs Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$10M
Granted FY2020
79
Grants FY2020
4
States reached
$350k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2020.

Human Services$2.5MEducation$2.4MHealth$1.7MYouth Development$883kFood & Nutrition$853kArts & Culture$780kHousing & Shelter$646kRecreation & Sports$463kOther$0
02FY2020 · 79 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k4 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $450k
  • $50k–250k37 grants · $5.2M
  • $250k+17 grants · $4.7M
$120,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$350,000
YWCA - ELGIN$301,250
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB DUNDEE$300,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ELGIN$300,000
CENTRO DE INFORMACION$300,000
SUMMIT SCHOOL$300,000
ELGIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION$300,000
COMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER$300,000
SENIOR SERVICES ASSOCIATES INC$265,000
SALVATION ARMY$255,000
FISH FOOD PANTRY$254,892
FOX VALLEY HANDS OF HOPE$250,000
NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK$250,000
PADS OF ELGIN INC$250,000
ST EDWARD CATHOLIC HS$250,000
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 (FY17–20, $889k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 70% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HUMANITARIAN SERVICE PROJECT: $3k → 7%CHILDREN'S HOME & AID: $25k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME & AID: $9k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME & AID: $8k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME & AID: $7k → 14%LUTHERAN LIFE COMMUNITIES: $6k → 14%YWCA - ELGIN: $301k → 14%MARKLUND CHILDREN'S HOME: $8k → 8%MARKLUND CHILDREN'S HOME: $200k → 14%MARKLUND CHILDREN'S HOME: $7k → 8%MARKLUND CHILDREN'S HOME: $6k → 8%COMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER: $16k → 14%COMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER: $11k → 14%COMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER: $10k → 14%YWCA - ELGIN: $10k → 14%YWCA - ELGIN: $9k → 14%YWCA - ELGIN: $9k → 14%LUTHERAN LIFE COMMUNITIES: $4k → 8%HUMANITARIAN SERVICE PROJECT: $3k → 14%HUMANITARIAN SERVICE PROJECT: $3k → 14%FOX VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACTION: $210k → 8%FOX VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACTION: $8k → 8%FOX VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACTION: $8k → 8%OAK CREEK RESIDENCE ASSOCIATION: $5k → 8%FOX VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACTION: $7k → 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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$10M · 78 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

78 repeat relationships: 63 still active in FY2020, 15 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

78
12

Total granted

$10M
$69k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
-6%

Still filing today

55%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.8M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
EducationHuman ServicesHealthArts & CultureFood & NutritionHousing & 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

  • CF
    CENTER FOR INFORMATION OF ELGIN (CENTRO DE INFORMACION)
    4× · 2017–2020 · $341k · revenue +448% · 32% of their budget
  • CC
    COMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $337k · revenue +87%
  • TY
    The Young Womens Christian Association Elgin Illinois
    4× · 2017–2020 · $330k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • RF
    ROYAL FAMILY KIDS CAMPS
    one grant, 2017 · $17k
  • TS
    THE SALVATION ARMY - TEXAS FLOOD RELIEF FUND
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • NH
    NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF CHICAGO INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $9k · revenue +123%
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
Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce

The Elgin Area Chamber connects communities through engagement, advocacy, collaboration, and leadership.

Community Improvement
2
Eldercare Lake County

Promote the health and independence of lake county, il, older adults

Human Services
3
Senior Services Center of Will County

To enhance the quality of life of the older person, support theirindependence, encourage their involvement in the community, provide analternative to loneliness and isolation and provide a community focalpoint where older persons come…

—
4
Executive Service Corps of Chicago

Executive Service Corps is the premier nonprofit consultancy that engages highly skilled professionals who use their experience and expertise to provide nonprofits with the consulting services they need to be successful. Our vision is to…

Community Improvement
5
Childrens Advocacy Center of East Central Illinois

To assist children who have been victims of abuse

Crime & Legal
6
Illinois Presbyterian Home

Operate homes for the aged and to conduct charitable and benevolent enterprises

Human Services
7
Greater Family Health

To provide quality, affordable health care for all, including those without the ability to pay.

Health
8
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
9
Energy Education Council

Enhancing lives by promoting the safe & efficient use of electricity.

Education
10
Community Nutrition Network and Senior Services Association

The organization operates congregate and home delivered meal programs in suburban cook, grundy, will and kendall counties under contracts and grants with age option and ageguide (formerly northeastern illinois area agency on aging(neil)).…

Human Services
11
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…

—
12
Seniors Assistance Center

Seniors Assistance Center provides necessary services to senior citizens of unincorporated Norwood Park Township, and the villages of Norridge and Harwood Heights. These services include home delivered meals, information and assistance,…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Home & Aid Society of Ill; the most unlike its peers is Max McGraw Wildlife 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

59 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. 59 of the 106 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.

8
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
21
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/59
Grantees still filing
44/59
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $350,000 · OtherCENTER FOR INFORMATION OF ELGIN (CENTRO DE INFORMACION): $340,500 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC: $327,500 · OtherSUMMIT SCHOOL INC: $327,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB DUNDEE: $326,000 · OtherST EDWARD CATHOLIC HS: $292,500 · OtherSENIOR SERVICES ASSOCIATES INC: $289,500 · OtherFOX VALLEY HANDS OF HOPE INC: $275,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $275,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY: $255,000 · Other+66 more: $4,473,007 · Other+66 moreELGIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $310,500 · EducationELGIN COMMUN…JUDSON UNIVERSITY A BAPTIST INSTITUTION: $222,500 · EducationJUDSON UNIVE…ELGIN ACADEMY: $143,000 · EducationELGIN ACADEM…DUNDEE TOWNSHIP ROTARY FOUNDATION: $134,000 · EducationDUNDEE TOWNS…GUADALUPANO CLUB OF ELGIN: $125,000 · EducationGUADALUPANO …CAL'S ALL-STAR ANGEL FOUNDATION INC: $116,000 · EducationCAL'S ALL-ST…ELGIN YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $106,500 · EducationELGIN YOUTH …U-46 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $70,000 · EducationU-46 EDUCATI…+2 more: $54,500 · EducationCOMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER INC: $336,500 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY C…The Young Womens Christian Association Elgin Illinois: $329,500 · Human ServicesThe Young W…Riverwoods Christian Center dba Fox Valley Christian Action: $232,000 · Human ServicesRiverwoods …MARKLUND CHILDRENS HOME: $220,400 · Human ServicesMARKLUND CH…CHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $48,500 · Human Services+3 more: $22,300 · Human ServicesFISH FOOD PANTRY: $283,392 · Food & NutritionNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $279,500 · Food & NutritionFOOD FOR GREATER ELGIN INC: $275,000 · Food & NutritionELGIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $221,700 · Arts & CultureELGIN MASTER CHORALE INC: $123,000 · Arts & CultureCHILDRENS THEATRE OF ELGIN & FOX VALLEY THEATRE COMPANY: $102,000 · Arts & CultureSIDE STREET STUDIO ARTS: $37,000 · Arts & CultureGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $200,000 · PhilanthropyGAIL BORDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $183,000 · PhilanthropyPADS OF ELGIN INC: $276,500 · Housing & ShelterFellowship Housing Corporation: $45,000 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $8,500 · Housing & Shelter
Other$7,531,007Education$1,282,000Human Services$1,189,200Food & Nutrition$837,892Arts & Culture$483,700Philanthropy$383,000Housing & Shelter$330,000

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 budgetCENTER FOR INFORMATION OF ELGIN (CENTRO DE INFORMACION): $340,500 over 4y, 32% of budgetCOMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER INC: $336,500 over 4y, 11% of budgetThe Young Womens Christian Association Elgin Illinois: $329,500 over 4y, 22% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC: $327,500 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetSUMMIT SCHOOL INC: $327,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetELGIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $310,500 over 4y, 13% of budgetSENIOR SERVICES ASSOCIATES INC: $289,500 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetFISH FOOD PANTRY: $283,392 over 4y, 14% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $279,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPADS OF ELGIN INC: $276,500 over 4y, 34% of budgetFOOD FOR GREATER ELGIN INC: $275,000 over 4y, 4.4% of budgetFOX VALLEY HANDS OF HOPE INC: $275,000 over 4y, 44% of budgetRiverwoods Christian Center dba Fox Valley Christian Action: $232,000 over 4y, 17% of budgetJUDSON UNIVERSITY A BAPTIST INSTITUTION: $222,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetELGIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $221,700 over 4y, 9.1% of budgetMARKLUND CHILDRENS HOME: $220,400 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGAIL BORDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $183,000 over 4y, 44% of budgetECKER CENTER FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INC: $161,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetELGIN ACADEMY: $143,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetDUNDEE TOWNSHIP ROTARY FOUNDATION: $134,000 over 4y, 22% of budgetGUADALUPANO CLUB OF ELGIN: $125,000 over 1y, 98% of budgetELGIN MASTER CHORALE INC: $123,000 over 4y, 50% of budgetCAL'S ALL-STAR ANGEL FOUNDATION INC: $116,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetELGIN YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $106,500 over 3y, 14% of budgetCHILDRENS THEATRE OF ELGIN & FOX VALLEY THEATRE COMPANY: $102,000 over 4y, 36% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS: $88,817 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetVNA Health Care: $85,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetU-46 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 3y, 34% of budgetTHREE FIRES COUNCIL INC BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA #127: $58,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetKids Above All Illinois: $54,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $48,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetANDERSON ANIMAL SHELTER: $47,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetFellowship Housing Corporation: $45,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetTHE LITERACY CONNECTION: $40,500 over 3y, 16% of budgetSIDE STREET STUDIO ARTS: $37,000 over 4y, 7.2% of budgetFamily Service Association of Greater Elgin Area: $35,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CHICAGO: $35,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetMax McGraw Wildlife Foundation: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF ELGIN INC: $17,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetIndependence Health & Therapy: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetYOUTH LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $14,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetFIDELITER CHARITIES: $13,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetHELPHOPELIVE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLUTHERAN LIFE COMMUNITIES: $9,800 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF CHICAGO INC: $8,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFox Valley Pregnancy Center: $8,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFOX VALLEY SPECIAL RECREATION FOUNDATION: $5,500 over 4y, 2.4% 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 CENTER FOR INFORMATION OF ELGIN (CENTRO DE INFORMACION) ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds The Young Womens Christian Association Elgin Illinois ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC ↗
  • Who funds SUMMIT SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds ELGIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SENIOR SERVICES ASSOCIATES INC ↗
  • Who funds FISH FOOD PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds PADS OF ELGIN INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD FOR GREATER ELGIN INC ↗
  • Who funds FOX VALLEY HANDS OF HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds Riverwoods Christian Center dba Fox Valley Christian Action ↗
  • Who funds JUDSON UNIVERSITY A BAPTIST INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds ELGIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MARKLUND CHILDRENS HOME ↗
  • Who funds GARY SINISE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE ↗
  • Who funds SUICIDE PREVENTION SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds GAIL BORDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ECKER CENTER FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INC ↗
  • Who funds FOX VALLEY BEAUX ARTS ↗
  • Who funds ELGIN ACADEMY ↗

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.

Grand Victoria Founda…Community Foundation …Seigle FoundationUnited Way of Metropo…Harvey and Ethel Daeu…The Bersted FoundationHoffer FoundationNorthwestern Memorial…United Way of Elgin I…Arthur J Gallagher Fo…Motorola Solutions Fo…The Dupage Community …
Grand Victoria FoundationIL55× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grand Victoria Foundation · Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley · Seigle Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Harvey and Ethel Daeumer Foundation · The Bersted Foundation · Hoffer Foundation · Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group · United Way of Elgin Inc · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · Motorola Solutions Foundation · The Dupage Community 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 Efs Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Efs Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    22report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 Efs Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Efs 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 106 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Efs’ 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