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Forest & Found NFP at a glance

· Public charity

Forest & Found NFP

Distribute to charitable organizations the net proceeds generated by thrift store operations.

$136k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$30k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Human Services$156kFood & Nutrition$100kArts & Culture$76kEmployment$38kHealth$37kCrime & Legal$28kHousing & Shelter$25kEducation$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 5 grants below total $95,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $136,000 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $41,000 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$48k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Northern Illinois Food Pantry$30,000
Beacon Place$25,000
Independence Center$15,000
Lake County Haven$15,000
Shields Township Phoenix Rising Foundation$10,000
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 (FY18–25, $133k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Teen Mother Choices: $18k → 8%Beacon Place: $25k → 8%Beacon Place: $20k → 8%The Beacon Place: $20k → 8%The Beacon Place: $12k → 8%The Beacon Place: $8k → 8%Mother's Trust: $20k → 8%Mothers Trust Foundation: $10k → 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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$378k · 8 repeat orgs$115k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
10

Total granted

$378k
$100k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+27%

Still filing today

75%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesFood & NutritionEducationCrime & LegalArts & CultureEmploymentOther
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

  • BW
    BRAVO WAUKEGAN
    3× · 2019–2024 · $53k · revenue +150%
  • IC
    INDEPENDENCE CENTER INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $30k · revenue +36%
  • MT
    Mothers Trust Foundation
    2× · 2021–2024 · $30k · revenue +14%

Funded once

  • AS
    A Safe Place
    one grant, 2023 · $20k
  • TM
    TEEN MOTHER CHOICES INTERNATIONAL
    one grant, 2023 · $18k · revenue +20%
  • WT
    Waukegan To College NFPgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $12k · revenue +162%
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
Illinois Community for Displaced Immigrants

Serving recently arrived migrants and asylum seekers in the Chicagoland area and is committed to upholding the dignity and human rights of immigrants.

Human Services
2
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
3
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
4
Chicago Workers' Collaborative Nfp

Chicago Workers' Collaborative's mission is to promote full employment and equality for the lowest wage-earners, primarily temporary staffing workers, in the Chicago region through leadership and skills training, critical assistance and…

Education
5
Illinois Partners for Human Service

Illinois Partners for Human Service's primary activities are (1) strengthening human services in communities throughout Illinois by building a unified human services sector; (2) working with leaders, the public, and others engaged in the…

Human Services
6
Career Transitions Center of Chicago

We empower professionals to find meaningful employment.

Employment
7
Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence

To support not for profit organizations in innovation, excellence and leadership in their communities.

Community Improvement
8
Latino Resource Institute of Illinois

The mission of the Latino Resource Institute of Illinois is to provide case management, parenting classes, workshops, anger management classes, counseling and other services to families and individuals who are experiencing financial and…

Human Services
9
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Cook County

CASA of Cook County's vision is to protect abused and neglected children by providing them in court, a safe and permanent home, and an opportunity to grow, learn and thrive.

Crime & Legal
10
Thrive Counseling Center

Our mission is to provide community-centered mental health services that empower individuals and families to build resilience and lead lives filled with meaning, connection, and hope.

Health
11
Turning Point Inc

Confronting Domestic Violence in McHenry County

Human Services
12
Chicago Dream Center

Chicago Dream Centers mission is to REACH our community ONE person at a time by connecting them to resources that lead toward overcoming poverty, addiction, homelessness, human trafficking and hunger.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northern Illinois Food Bank; the most unlike its peers is Sports Shed 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

14 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. 14 of the 19 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
8/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CAREER RESOURCE CENTER INC: $32,000 · OtherCAREER RESOURCE CENTER INCINDEPENDENCE CENTER INC: $30,000 · OtherINDEPENDENCE CENTER INCPHOENIX RISING FOUNDATION: $25,000 · OtherPHOENIX RISING FOUNDATIONGIGIS PLAYHOUSE INC: $22,500 · OtherGIGIS PLAYHOUSE INCA Safe Place: $20,000 · OtherA Safe PlaceFox and Trove: $8,000 · OtherSPORTS SHED INC: $8,000 · OtherCHOCOLATE CHIPS ASSOCIATION: $7,500 · OtherThe Balance Project Inc: $7,000 · OtherFARMWORKER AND LANDSCAPER ADVOCACY PROJECT: $6,000 · Other+1 more: $5,500 · OtherThe Beacon Place NFP: $85,000 · Human ServicesThe Beacon Place NFPMothers Trust Foundation: $30,000 · Human ServicesMothers Trust FoundationTEEN MOTHER CHOICES INTERNATIONAL: $17,500 · Human ServicesTEEN MOTHER CHOICES INTERNATIO…NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $100,000 · Food & NutritionNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD …BRAVO WAUKEGAN: $53,000 · Arts & CultureBRAVO WAUKEG…THE LAKE COUNTY HAVEN: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterWaukegan To College NFP: $12,000 · EducationZACHARIAS SEXUAL ABUSE CENTER: $8,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$171,500Human Services$132,500Food & Nutrition$100,000Arts & Culture$53,000Housing & Shelter$15,000Education$12,000Crime & Legal$8,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Beacon Place NFP: $85,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetBRAVO WAUKEGAN: $53,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetCAREER RESOURCE CENTER INC: $32,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetINDEPENDENCE CENTER INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetMothers Trust Foundation: $30,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetTEEN MOTHER CHOICES INTERNATIONAL: $17,500 over 1y, 12% of budgetTHE LAKE COUNTY HAVEN: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSPORTS SHED INC: $8,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetThe Balance Project Inc: $7,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetFARMWORKER AND LANDSCAPER ADVOCACY PROJECT: $6,000 over 1y, 0.9% 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.

AbbVie FoundationBaxter International …The Medline FoundationThe Lake County Commu…United Way of Lake Co…The Chicago Community…Kiwanis Foundation of…Harold M & Adeline S …John and Kathleen Sch…First Bank Chicago Fo…Dr Scholl FoundationBertaud Family Founda…
AbbVie FoundationIL26.1× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: AbbVie Foundation · Baxter International Foundation · The Medline Foundation · The Lake County Community Foundation · United Way of Lake County Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest · Harold M & Adeline S Morrison Family Foundation · John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy · First Bank Chicago Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Bertaud Family 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 Forest & Found NFP funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Forest & Found NFP. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%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
    4report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Forest & Found NFP?

    Find your warmest path to Forest & Found NFP 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 19 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 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 Forest & Found NFP’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