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Field Foundation of Illinois at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Field Foundation of Illinois

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$11M
Granted FY2025still arriving
299
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$1.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$14MCommunity Improvement$4.0MCivil Rights$3.5MPhilanthropy$3.4MHuman Services$3.3MEducation$1.6MYouth Development$1.6MCrime & Legal$1.3MOther$0
02FY2025 · 299 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k21 grants · $79k
  • $10k–50k219 grants · $4.6M
  • $50k–250k54 grants · $3.3M
  • $250k+5 grants · $2.7M
$25,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$49M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS$1,156,480
UNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY$556,440
SICF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$430,444
UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS$346,135
10 INDIVIDUALS - DETAILS UPON REQUE$250,000
Individual grant recipient$200,000
ENRICH CHICAGO$100,000
TRUE STAR FOUNDATION$100,000
UPRISING THEATER$100,000
ALT SPACE CHICAGO$100,000
THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$100,000
MITCHELL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN$75,000
PRISON NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS PROJECT$75,000
BORDERLESS MAGAZINE NFP$75,000
DEFINITION THEATRE COMPANY$75,000
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 (FY20–25, $3.7M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: $1.2M → 15%YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: $1.1M → 15%YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: $30k → 15%YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: $30k → 15%YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: $27k → 15%SOCIALWORKS: $20k → 14%PROJECT I AM NFP: $20k → 14%URBAN INITIATIVES INC: $20k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $30k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 14%CHAPIN HALL CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $15k → 14%KAN WIN: $20k → 14%THE NETWORK ADVOCATING AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $25k → 14%LIFTUP COMMUNITIES: $15k → 14%PASO - WEST SUBURBAN ACTION PROJECT: $47k → 14%PASO - WEST SUBURBAN ACTION PROJECT: $30k → 14%LATINO UNION OF CHICAGO: $25k → 14%LATINO UNION OF CHICAGO: $25k → 14%EQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION: $50k → 14%EQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION: $50k → 14%ORGANIC ONENESS: $25k → 14%ORGANIC ONENESS: $25k → 14%EQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION (EAT): $25k → 14%EQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION (EAT): $25k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $24k → 14%CASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION: $20k → 14%(UN)LEARNING SPACE NFP: $20k → 14%JANE ADDAMS SENIOR CAUCUS: $20k → 14%HANA CENTER: $50k → 14%THE HANA CENTER: $50k → 14%HANA CENTER: $45k → 14%HANA CENTER: $25k → 14%THE HANA CENTER: $20k → 14%HANA CENTER: $20k → 14%MUJERES LATINAS EN ACCION: $40k → 14%MUJERES LATINAS EN ACCION: $25k → 14%BRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE: $28k → 14%BRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE: $25k → 14%CHICAGO COMMONS: $25k → 14%BRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE: $18k → 14%SEGUNDO RUIZ BELVIS CULTURAL CENTER: $30k → 14%SEGUNDO RUIZ BELVIS CULTURAL CTR: $30k → 14%SEGUNDO RUIZ BELVIS CULTURAL CENTER: $25k → 14%SEGUNDO RUIZ BELVIS CULTURAL CENTER: $25k → 14%NEW ECLIPSE COMMUNITY ALLIANCE: $20k → 14%NORTHWEST SIDE HOUSING CENTER: $25k → 14%SEGUNDO RUIZ BELVIS CULTURAL CTR: $25k → 14%NORTHWEST SIDE HOUSING CENTER: $25k → 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
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
DC
LA
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.

70%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26M · 241 repeat orgs$11M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

241 repeat relationships: 143 still active in FY2025, 98 since wound down; 113 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

241
297

Total granted

$26M
$7.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+2%

Still filing today

78%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.6M 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 & CultureEducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementCivil RightsYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • YN
    YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS
    2× · 2024–2025 · $2.4M · revenue +0%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $711k · revenue +28%
  • BM
    Borderless Magazine NFP
    5× · 2020–2025 · $360k · revenue +554%

Funded once

  • SI
    Southern Illinois Community Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $422k · revenue 0%
  • 1I
    13 INDVIDUALS - DETAIL UPON REQUEST
    one grant, 2020 · $325k
  • 1I
    10 INDIVIDUALS - DETAILS UPON REQUEST
    one grant, 2024 · $250k
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
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
2
Chicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago

Cinema/Chicago, the non-profit 501(c)(3) presenting organization of the Chicago International Film Festival, enriches the community through year-round programming devoted to international and independent cinema. We strengthen communication…

Arts & Culture
3
Chicago Humanities Festival

To promote public appreciation, understanding and support of the humanities through festivals and educational programs.

Arts & Culture
4
Live Free Chicago

Live Free Illinois is a statewide organization partnering with over 120 congregations and directly impacted individuals to build safer more equitable communities across Illinois. Operating at the intersection of criminal justice reform and…

—
5
Chicago Cultural Mile Association
—
6
Chicago Refugee Coalition

The Chicago Refugee Coalition is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated ot the alleviation of human suffering through innovative partnerships, advocacy and community empowerment.

Human Services
7
Chicago Public Art Group

Chicago public art group brings artists and communities together to produce high-quality public art, extending and transforming the tradition of collaborative, community-involved public artwork.

Arts & Culture
8
Third Coast International Audio Festival

To cultivate a growing international culture of listening.

Arts & Culture
9
Chicago Independent Radio Project

Operation of studio space and facilities for community radio station. The station is intended to benefit thousands of listeners and various music and arts appreciation groups throughout the chicago area.

Arts & Culture
10
Classical Music Chicago

Presenting free high-quality classical music performances and music education experiences in the Chicago metropolitan area for people of all ages and degrees of musical awareness so they can experience how music enriches life.

Arts & Culture
11
The Chicago High School for the Arts

The chicago high school for the arts (chiarts) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar-artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory…

Education
12
Audience Architects Nfp dba See Chicago Dance

To advocate for the dance field and strengthen a diverse range of dance organizations and artists through services and programs that build and engage audiences.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago; the most unlike its peers is The Green Lantern Gallery and Press Nfp. 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

427 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. 427 of the 658 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.

20
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
106
Early backer (in before they grew)
417/427
Grantees still filing
241/427
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $500,000 · OtherSICF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $448,044 · Other+92 more: $9,520,425 · Other+92 moreBorderless Magazine NFP: $360,000 · Arts & CultureTRUE STAR FOUNDATION INC: $358,000 · Arts & CultureALT SPACE CHICAGO: $297,500 · Arts & Culture+60 more: $6,325,300 · Arts & Culture+60 moreYWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: $2,357,008 · Human ServicesYWCA NORTHWES…THE HANA CENTER: $210,000 · Human ServicesTHE HANA CENT…EQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION: $150,000 · Human ServicesSegundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center: $145,000 · Human Services+6 more: $398,440 · Human Services+6 moreUNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY: $1,046,440 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY…UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC: $710,820 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY…Southern Illinois Community Foundation: $421,509 · PhilanthropySouthern I…FOREFRONT: $150,770 · PhilanthropyFOREFRONT+4 more: $230,000 · Philanthropy+4 moreChicago United for Equity: $265,000 · Civil RightsInvisible Institute: $215,000 · Civil RightsOrganized Communities Against Deportations: $187,500 · Civil RightsCHANGING WORLDS: $140,000 · Civil RightsALTERNATIVE NEWSWEEKLY FOUNDATION: $125,000 · Civil RightsILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS: $125,000 · Civil RightsChicago Votes: $85,000 · Civil RightsInjustice Watch NFP: $80,000 · Civil RightsRESTORE JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $60,000 · Civil RightsSTRATEGY FOR ACCESS FOUNDATION NFP: $57,500 · Civil RightsSouthside Together Organizing For Power: $250,000 · Community ImprovementBRIGHTON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: $160,000 · Community ImprovementLogan Square Neighborhood Association: $140,000 · Community ImprovementINNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK: $125,000 · Community ImprovementRESIDENT ASSOCIATION OF GREATER ENGLEWOOD: $115,000 · Community ImprovementPILSEN ALLIANCE: $110,000 · Community ImprovementKenwood Oakland Community Organization: $90,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITIES UNITED: $80,000 · Community ImprovementSOUTHWEST ORGANIZING PROJECT: $70,000 · Community ImprovementCHICAGO DEFENDER CHARITIES INC: $50,000 · Community ImprovementPUBLIC NARRATIVE: $310,000 · EducationBLOCK CLUB CHICAGO NFP: $205,000 · EducationINVESTIGATIVE PROJECT ON RACE & EQUITY: $200,000 · EducationGrassroots Collaborative: $90,000 · EducationLITTLE BLACK PEARL WORKSHOP: $65,000 · Education
Other$10,468,469Arts & Culture$7,340,800Human Services$3,260,448Philanthropy$2,559,539Civil Rights$1,340,000Community Improvement$1,190,000Education$870,000

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 budgetYWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: $2,357,008 over 2y, 19% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY: $1,046,440 over 2y, 11% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC: $710,820 over 2y, 18% of budgetSouthern Illinois Community Foundation: $421,509 over 1y, 20% of budgetBorderless Magazine NFP: $360,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetTRUE STAR FOUNDATION INC: $358,000 over 5y, 6.7% of budgetPUBLIC NARRATIVE: $310,000 over 5y, 22% of budgetALT SPACE CHICAGO: $297,500 over 4y, 75% of budgetChicago United for Equity: $265,000 over 6y, 9.1% of budgetCHICAGO COMMUNITY BOND FUND: $250,000 over 5y, 9.8% of budgetSouthside Together Organizing For Power: $250,000 over 6y, 16% of budgetInvisible Institute: $215,000 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetTHE HANA CENTER: $210,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetBLOCK CLUB CHICAGO NFP: $205,000 over 4y, 3.1% of budgetDEFINITION THEATRE COMPANY: $201,000 over 5y, 6.9% of budgetSOUTH SIDE WEEKLY NFP: $200,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetINVESTIGATIVE PROJECT ON RACE & EQUITY: $200,000 over 2y, 34% of budgetSisters in Cinema NFP: $197,000 over 4y, 28% of budgetSouth Side Community Art Center: $190,000 over 5y, 7.4% of budgetOrganized Communities Against Deportations: $187,500 over 4y, 9.5% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $180,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Torture Justice Center: $180,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetPUBLIC MEDIA INSTITUTE: $180,000 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetGICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC: $175,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN CENTER: $175,000 over 4y, 6.2% of budgetArab American Action Network: $171,000 over 5y, 6.2% of budgetHealing to Action: $165,000 over 6y, 6.1% of budgetREADER INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM INC: $164,500 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - CHICAGO: $160,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetBRIGHTON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: $160,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetFOREFRONT: $150,770 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetEQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION: $150,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetRED CLAY DANCE COMPANY INC: $150,000 over 5y, 7.1% of budgetMUNTU DANCE THEATRE: $150,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetENRICH CHICAGO: $148,750 over 4y, 21% of budgetLittle Village Environmental Justice Org: $145,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetSegundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center: $145,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetMANDALA SOUTH ASIAN PERFORMING ARTS INC: $142,500 over 3y, 20% of budgetLATINO POLICY FORUM: $140,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetLogan Square Neighborhood Association: $140,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetCOLLABORACTION THEATRE CO: $140,000 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetCHANGING WORLDS: $140,000 over 4y, 6.8% of budgetElastic Arts Foundation: $140,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetREPARATIONS MEDIA NFP: $130,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetFull Spectrum Features NFP: $126,000 over 6y, 11% of budgetKUUMBA LYNX: $125,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetChicago Artists Coalition: $125,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetALTERNATIVE NEWSWEEKLY FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 1y, 2.3% 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 YWCA NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC ↗
  • Who funds Southern Illinois Community Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Borderless Magazine NFP ↗
  • Who funds TRUE STAR FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC NARRATIVE ↗
  • Who funds ALT SPACE CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Chicago United for Equity ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO COMMUNITY BOND FUND ↗
  • Who funds Southside Together Organizing For Power ↗
  • Who funds Invisible Institute ↗
  • Who funds THE HANA CENTER ↗
  • Who funds BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO NFP ↗
  • Who funds DEFINITION THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY NFP ↗
  • Who funds INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT ON RACE & EQUITY ↗
  • Who funds Sisters in Cinema NFP ↗
  • Who funds South Side Community Art Center ↗
  • Who funds Organized Communities Against Deportations ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Torture Justice Center ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC MEDIA INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN INDIAN CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Arab American Action Network ↗
  • Who funds Healing to Action ↗
  • Who funds READER INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM INC ↗
  • Who funds ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds BRIGHTON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL ↗

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.

Polk Bros Foundation …John D and Catherine …The Joyce FoundationGaylord and Dorothy D…Lloyd a Fry FoundationCrossroads Fund IncUnited Way of Metropo…Walder FoundationRobert R McCormick Fo…Woods Fund of ChicagoChicago Foundation fo…Illinois Humanities C…
Polk Bros Foundation IncIL197.5× affinity130 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Joyce Foundation · Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Crossroads Fund Inc · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Walder Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Woods Fund of Chicago · Chicago Foundation for Women · Illinois Humanities Council 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 Field Foundation of Illinois funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Field Foundation of Illinois. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    87report 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.

    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 658 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 Field Foundation of Illinois’ 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