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Enchanted Backpack at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Enchanted Backpack

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
157
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$41k
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$3.2MHuman Services$1.7MHousing & Shelter$170kReligion$162kHealth$152kYouth Development$122kPhilanthropy$106kPublic Safety & Disaster$81kOther$0
02FY2024 · 157 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k121 grants · $574k
  • $10k–50k36 grants · $477k
$4,995
Median grant
8
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HELP AGENCY OF THE FOREST INC SOZO KIDS$41,221
WINGS$25,496
FILL A HEART 4 KIDS$23,687
COLLEGE OF LAKE COUNTY$19,610
CHICAGO HOPE ACADEMY$19,525
SCOTT MIDDLE SCHOOL$17,774
SAINT SABINA CATHOLIC CHURCH$14,381
THE ENDELEO INSTITUTE INC$13,142
AMERICAN RED CROSS$12,353
Individual grant recipient$12,269
OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS$12,216
Individual grant recipient$11,873
ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO$11,708
Individual grant recipient$11,497
JOSEPH BRENNEMANN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL$11,486
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 (FY20–24, $595k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 63% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $22k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $13k → 14%HUMANITARIAN SERVICE PROJECT: $6k → 7%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $12k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%YOUTH HAVEN: $10k → 10%CHI-CARE: $8k → 7%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $5k → 14%MARION COUNTY CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $7k → 16%HESED HOUSE: $21k → 8%HESED HOUSE: $17k → 8%HESED HOUSE: $13k → 8%HESED HOUSE: $6k → 8%MANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $9k → 8%MANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $8k → 8%CASA CENTRAL: $5k → 14%MANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $5k → 8%CASA CENTRAL: $4k → 14%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $29k → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $24k → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $16k → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $12k → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $11k → 8%ARNETTE HOUSE INC: $5k → 16%MARYVILLE ACADEMY: $10k → 14%MARYVILLE ACADEMY: $7k → 14%MARYVILLE ACADEMY: $6k → 14%FAMILY RESCUE: $5k → 14%FAMILY RESCUE: $4k → 14%SOS CHILDRENS VILLAGE OF IL: $10k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $6k → 14%SOS CHILDRENS VILLAGE OF IL: $5k → 14%SOS CHILDRENS VILLAGE OF IL: $5k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $4k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $4k → 14%OPEN ARMS 101: $14k → 14%OPEN ARMS 101: $10k → 14%CHICAGO CHESED FUND: $55k → 14%MADONNA MISSION: $5k → 14%SARAH'S INN: $8k → 14%METROPLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $19k → 14%METROPLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 14%THE ENDELEO INSTITUTE INC: $13k → 14%THE ENDELO INSTITUTE INC: $10k → 14%THE ENDELEO INSTITUTE INC: $8k → 14%SARAH'S INN: $5k → 14%UCAN: $7k → 14%UCAN: $6k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
WI
MI
MA
IN
CA
KY
VA
DC
LA
GA
FL
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.

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.4M · 197 repeat orgs$2.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

197 repeat relationships: 95 still active in FY2024, 102 since wound down; 60 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

197
328

Total granted

$3.4M
$2.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+27%

Still filing today

28%
16%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $462k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationHousing & ShelterPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentHealthOther
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

  • TT
    THE THRESHOLDS
    5× · 2020–2024 · $84k · revenue +46%
  • AN
    American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
    5× · 2020–2024 · $63k · revenue +38%
  • PA
    PUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $60k · revenue +81%

Funded once

  • CC
    CHICAGO CHESED FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $55k · revenue 0%
  • GN
    GIVE N KINDgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $54k · revenue +87%
  • FS
    FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN STATE COLLEGE
    one grant, 2022 · $26k
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
Child Link Inc

Child Link provides foster care, family counseling, and therapy services to Chicago area adolescents who are at risk of homelessness. Child Link also refers adolescents to other agencies that are able to provide additional resources and…

Human Services
2
Lakeside Community Committee

To enhance the quality of life for children and families by inspiring hope and empowerment and growth within all whom we serve.

Human Services
3
Shelter Inc

Shelter's mission is to end the cycle of child abuse by providing a comprehensive network of support to children, their families, and our community to create safe, health, and nurturing homes.

Housing & Shelter
4
Chicago Heightening Opportunity and Potential for

Providing academic support to children experiencing homelessness in Chicago and providing resources and services to families experiencing homelessness in Chicago.

Education
5
House of the Good Shepherd

House of Good Shepherd serves with love and compassion women and children affected by domestic violence by offering a safe place with opportunities for emotional, educational and spiritual growth, giving hope and continued support for a…

Human Services
6
Friends of the Children - Chicago

Friends of the children - chicago has a mission of impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors - 12+ years, no matter what. 92% go on to enroll in…

Human Services
7
Covenant House Illinois Inc

In 34 cities across five countries, covenant house builds bridges to hope for young people facing homelessness and survivors of human trafficking. we meet their immediate needs for food, clothing, protection, and medical and mental health…

Human Services
8
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
9
Center for Housing and Health

Chh honors every person's right to a home and health care, by bridging the housing and health care systems, to improve the lives of chicagoans experiencing homelessness.

Housing & Shelter
10
Christian Social Services of Illinois

Caritas family solutions strengthens the social and emotional well-being of individuals and families in order to create healthy relationships, loving homes and strong communities.

Human Services
11
The Children's Place Association

To build a secure and hopeful today so children facing health issues and poverty succeed tomorrow.

Human Services
12
Respond Now

Respond now connects those in need with health, hunger, and housing services in the chicago southland.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Connections for the Homeless Inc; the most unlike its peers is Cast Water Safety 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

121 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. 121 of the 587 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)
21
Early backer (in before they grew)
120/121
Grantees still filing
84/121
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WINGS: $148,319 · Other+172 more: $3,124,341 · Other+172 moreFILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $92,463 · Human ServicesFILL A HEART …American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $63,254 · Human ServicesAmerican Nati…PUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE: $59,596 · Human ServicesPUBLIC ACTION…CHICAGO CHESED FUND: $54,504 · Human ServicesCHICAGO CHESE…THE ENDELEO INSTITUTE INC: $31,215 · Human ServicesTHE ENDELEO I…Metropolitan Family Services: $30,033 · Human ServicesMetropolitan …MANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $26,850 · Human ServicesMANO A MANO F…OPEN ARMS 101: $23,804 · Human ServicesMaryville Academy: $23,349 · Human ServicesSARAH'S INN: $19,959 · Human ServicesONE FAMILY ILLINOIS: $19,544 · Human Services+4 more: $45,324 · Human Services+4 morePRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $56,217 · EducationCHICAGO HOPE ACADEMY: $19,525 · EducationSAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $17,718 · EducationDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $14,210 · EducationGREAT LAKES ACADEMY INC: $11,682 · EducationGIVE N KIND: $54,197 · Public BenefitImpacting Veterans Lives Inc dba Midwest Veterans Closet: $38,840 · Public BenefitHOUSING FORWARD: $25,843 · Housing & ShelterCONNECTIONS FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $17,312 · Housing & ShelterA SAFE HAVEN FOUNDATION: $31,518 · HealthThe United Way of Lee County Inc: $13,674 · PhilanthropySHALOM ORLANDO INC: $11,261 · Philanthropy
Other$3,272,660Human Services$489,895Education$119,352Public Benefit$93,037Housing & Shelter$43,155Health$31,518Philanthropy$24,935

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetFILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $92,463 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetTHE THRESHOLDS: $84,041 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $63,254 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE: $59,596 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $56,217 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO CHESED FUND: $54,504 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetGIVE N KIND: $54,197 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetST JOSEPH SERVICES INC: $38,999 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetImpacting Veterans Lives Inc dba Midwest Veterans Closet: $38,840 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetA SAFE HAVEN FOUNDATION: $31,518 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ENDELEO INSTITUTE INC: $31,215 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $30,033 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE COUNTY CRISIS CENTER: $29,773 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $26,850 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHOUSING FORWARD: $25,843 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOPEN ARMS 101: $23,804 over 2y, 21% of budgetMaryville Academy: $23,349 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $22,570 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSARAH'S INN: $19,959 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetALTUS ACADEMY: $19,884 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetONE FAMILY ILLINOIS: $19,544 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO HOPE ACADEMY: $19,525 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $17,718 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCONNECTIONS FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $17,312 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $14,210 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services DuPage: $13,802 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe United Way of Lee County Inc: $13,674 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUCAN: $13,548 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREAT LAKES ACADEMY INC: $11,682 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME AND AID SOCIETY FOUNDATI: $11,624 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSHALOM ORLANDO INC: $11,261 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER NORTHWEST INDIANA INC: $11,011 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION: $10,110 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTH HAVEN INC: $10,042 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSUNSHINE GOSPEL MINISTRIES: $9,904 over 4y, 0.5% 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 FILL A HEART 4 KIDS ↗
  • Who funds THE THRESHOLDS ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds PRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO CHESED FUND ↗
  • Who funds GIVE N KIND ↗
  • Who funds ST JOSEPH SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds Impacting Veterans Lives Inc dba Midwest Veterans Closet ↗
  • Who funds A SAFE HAVEN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ENDELEO INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds Metropolitan Family Services ↗
  • Who funds LAKE COUNTY CRISIS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds HOUSING FORWARD ↗

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.

United Way of Metropo…Lavin Family Foundati…The Chicago Community…WP & HB White Foundat…Robert R McCormick Fo…Polk Bros Foundation …Helen V Brach Foundat…Greater Chicago Food …John D and Catherine …Carol Bernick Family …Circle of Service Fou…The Community Foundat…
United Way of Metropolitan Chicago IncIL50.6× affinity26 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Lavin Family Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · WP & HB White Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Helen V Brach Foundation · Greater Chicago Food Depository · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Carol Bernick Family Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · The Community Foundation for Ocala Marion County Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Peaceful Paths Inc: 39% of income from government
  • United Way Miami Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Marion County Children's Alliance Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Created Gainesville Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Arnette House Inc: 7% of income from government
  • United Way of Marion County Inc: 4% of income from government
  • United Way of North Central Florida Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Westjax Outreach Inc Community Health Outreach: 2% of income from government
  • The Pearl Project Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Pace Center for Girlsinc: 2% of income from government
  • Shalom Orlando Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Shelter for Abused Women & Children Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The United Way of Lee County Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Heart of Florida United Way Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Youth Haven Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Marion Senior Services Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
34report 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, 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 Enchanted Backpack?

Find your warmest path to Enchanted Backpack 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 587 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 Enchanted Backpack’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