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Ericka and Matthew Thacker Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ericka and Matthew Thacker Family 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.

$96k
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$26k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$198kReligion$87kHealth$26kRecreation & Sports$14kArts & Culture$11kYouth Development$7kPhilanthropy$4kHuman Services$4kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k26 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $76k
$360
Median grant
7
States reached
$630k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN$25,525
MISHKAN CHICAGO$20,945
BEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORY HIGH SCHOOL$19,200
BERNARD ZELL ANSHE EMET DAY SCHOOL$10,361
OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC INC$3,150
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO$2,710
CIRCESTEEM INC$2,500
TAMARACK CAMPS$1,800
JEWISH UNITED FUND OF CHICAGO$1,800
THE JOFFREY BALLET$1,250
DARE2TRI PARATRIATHLON CLUB$1,230
MICHIGAN HILLEL$1,030
LAKOTA CIRCLE$540
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$410
JEWISH FREE LOAN CHICAGO INC$360
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 (FY21–25, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CIRCESTEEM INC: $3k → 14%CIRCESTEEM INC: $3k → 14%CIRCESTEEM INC: $1k → 14%JEWISH FREE LOAN CHICAGO INC: $360 → 14%CIRCESTEEM INC: $180 → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $180 → 14%LAKOTA CIRCLE: $540 → 14%SHALVA: $180 → 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
NY
IN
PA
CA
MD
DC
TX
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$325k · 34 repeat orgs$34k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +15% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
29

Total granted

$325k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+14%

Still filing today

74%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $29k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationAnimalsHuman ServicesHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BA
    BEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL
    5× · 2021–2025 · $77k · revenue +14%
  • DP
    DARE2TRI PARATRIATHLON CLUB
    4× · 2021–2025 · $12k · revenue +18%
  • OT
    OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $4k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC
    one grant, 2023 · $360 · revenue -45%
  • TA
    THE ADLER PLANETARIUMgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $350 · revenue +91%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF LAKEVIEW HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2024 · $300
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
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
2
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
3
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
4
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
5
Chicago Historical Society

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history…

Arts & Culture
6
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
7
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
8
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
9
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
10
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
11
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Committed to exceptional healthcare quality for all and actively engaged with our community, einstein drives scientific discovery and educates compassionate leaders in health and science.

Education
12
Children's Museum of Oak Park

To spark curiosity and creativity in all young children through positive, play-based learning experiences.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Federation of Detroit; the most unlike its peers is Bronzeville Center for the Arts 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

57 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. 57 of the 72 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
57/57
Grantees still filing
39/57
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BERNARD ZELL ANSHE EMET DAY SCHOOL: $114,246 · EducationBERNARD ZELL ANSHE EMET DAY SCHOOLBEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL: $76,664 · EducationBEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL+6 more: $6,634 · EducationMISHKAN CHICAGO: $85,828 · OtherMISHKAN CHICAGOUniversity of Michigan: $25,525 · OtherUniversity of Michigan+35 more: $16,664 · Other+35 moreDARE2TRI PARATRIATHLON CLUB: $11,979 · Recreation & SportsOLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC: $4,280 · Arts & CultureTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $1,378 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $1,190 · Arts & CultureChicago Windy City Ramblers: $710 · Arts & CultureTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $690 · Arts & CultureThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $540 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $507 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $360 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $920 · Arts & CultureCIRCESTEEM INC: $6,680 · Human ServicesLAKOTA CIRCLE: $540 · Human ServicesJewish Free Loan Chicago Inc: $360 · Human Services+2 more: $360 · Human ServicesJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $2,340 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF DETROIT: $1,800 · PhilanthropyTHE MORGANTE WILSON FOUNDATION: $180 · PhilanthropySHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $650 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $567 · AnimalsPAWS CHICAGO: $516 · AnimalsTOUCHED BY AN ANIMAL: $100 · AnimalsTHE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST USA INC: $100 · AnimalsGREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $100 · Animals
Education$197,544Other$128,017Recreation & Sports$11,979Arts & Culture$10,575Human Services$7,940Philanthropy$4,320Animals$2,033

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 budgetBERNARD ZELL ANSHE EMET DAY SCHOOL: $114,246 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL: $76,664 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $25,525 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetDARE2TRI PARATRIATHLON CLUB: $11,979 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetCIRCESTEEM INC: $6,680 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetOLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC: $4,280 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $3,070 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $2,340 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF WASHTENAW COUNTY INC: $2,050 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF DETROIT: $1,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $1,378 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $1,195 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $1,190 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP NEBAGAMON SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $1,180 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMICHIGAN B'NAI B'RITH HILLEL FOUNDATION INC: $1,030 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF WHITNEY M YOUNG HIGH SCHOOL: $1,018 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TECHNION ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $1,015 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Windy City Ramblers: $710 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $690 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $650 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $567 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN BOOKS LTD: $551 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $540 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $516 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $507 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $455 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Free Loan Chicago Inc: $360 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $360 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE INC: $360 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ADLER PLANETARIUM: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY ACTION NETWORK: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $210 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER: $186 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROGER BALDWIN FOUNDATION OF ACLU INC: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRONZEVILLE CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP FOUNDATION: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO'S GREEN CITY MARKET PROGRAM: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHALVA INC: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHIAS INC: $180 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTOUCHED BY AN ANIMAL: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST USA INC: $100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Circle of Service Fou…John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…Jewish Federation of …Arie and Ida Crown Me…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Andrea and Lawren…Polk Bros Foundation …AbbVie FoundationMorgan Stanley Global…American Endowment Fo…Baird Foundation Inc
Circle of Service FoundationIL25.6× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Circle of Service Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Andrea and Lawrence Wolfe Family Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · AbbVie Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Baird Foundation 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 Ericka and Matthew Thacker Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ericka and Matthew Thacker Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 88%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Ericka and Matthew Thacker Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ericka and Matthew Thacker Family 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 72 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

Play a game based on Ericka and Matthew Thacker Family’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