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Frank and Karen Ptak Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Frank and Karen Ptak Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$242k
Granted FY2025still arriving
14
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$32k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2025.

Education$271kHealth$229kHuman Services$229kAnimals$217kPhilanthropy$166kYouth Development$155kFood & Nutrition$100kArts & Culture$37kOther$0
02FY2025 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $232k
$15,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH FOUNDATION OF SOUTH PALM BEACH COUNTY$32,000
MISERICORDIA HEART OF MERCY CENTER$29,000
SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITY LAB$27,000
LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$25,000
LEARN CHARTER SCHOOL NETWORK$24,000
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$21,000
PAWS CHICAGO$15,000
SPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION$14,000
BEST FOOT FORWARD FOUNDATION$12,000
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT CHICAGO$12,000
MCGRAW YMCA$11,000
RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER$10,000
CARES FOUNDATION$5,000
CURRY COLLEGE$5,000
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, $219k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%MISERICORDIA HEART OF MERCY CENTER: $29k → 14%MISERICORDIA HEART OF MERCY CENTER: $29k → 14%MISERICORDIA HEART OF MERCY CENTER: $27k → 14%MISERICORDIA HEART OF MERCY CENTER: $26k → 14%MISERICORDIA HEART OF MERCY CENTER: $23k → 14%MISERICORDIA HEART OF MERCY CENTER: $20k → 14%MCGRAW YMCA: $11k → 14%MCGRAW YMCA: $11k → 14%MCGRAW YMCA: $11k → 14%MCGRAW YMCA: $11k → 14%MCGRAW YMCA: $10k → 14%MCGRAW YMCA: $8k → 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.
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 17 repeat orgs$77k to everyone else

17 repeat relationships: 13 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

17
7

Total granted

$1.3M
$45k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+48%

Still filing today

82%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $32k 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
EducationHuman ServicesHealthAnimalsArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • MH
    MISERICORDIA HOME
    6× · 2020–2025 · $154k · revenue +62%
  • RI
    Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
    6× · 2020–2025 · $132k · revenue +27%
  • JA
    JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CHICAGO
    6× · 2020–2025 · $121k · revenue +29%

Funded once

  • AI
    ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO SUSTAINING FELLOWS
    one grant, 2020 · $12k
  • CY
    Chicago Youth Centersgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +57%
  • FF
    FOUNDATION FOR HOMAN SQUARE F/K/A HOMAN ARTHINGTON FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue -9%
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
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Ann & robert h. lurie children's hospital of chicago is dedicated to the health and well-being of all children. as the pediatric teaching facility for northwestern university feinberg school of medicine, this commitment drives us to be a…

Health
2
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
3
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
4
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
5
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
6
Pediatric Faculty Foundation Inc

We value excellence and innovation in clinical and basic research, coordinated and comprehensive patient care, ongoing physician education, and evidence-based child advocacy. our goal is to provide leadership in endeavors that promote the…

Health
7
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
8
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
9
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
10
Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute

Stanley manne children's research institute strives to generate new knowledge and advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric diseases.

Health
11
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
12
Lurie Children's Surgical Foundation Inc

Provide pediatric and subspecialty surgical, research, and educational services.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Youth Centers; the most unlike its peers is Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. 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

21 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. 21 of the 26 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
16/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MISERICORDIA HOME: $154,000 · Human ServicesMISERICORDIA HOMEYoung Mens Christian Assoc McGaw Inc: $62,000 · Human ServicesYoung Mens Christ…+1 more: $3,000 · Human ServicesLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $131,000 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOL…PAWS CHICAGO: $86,000 · AnimalsPAWS CHICAGORehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $132,000 · HealthRehabilitation …Rush University Medical Center: $62,000 · HealthRush University…DEPAUL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF COMMERCE: $105,000 · OtherDEPAUL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE O…LURIE CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $35,000 · OtherLURIE CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL H…JEWISH FOUNDATION OF SOUTH PALM BEACH COUNTY: $32,000 · OtherJEWISH FOUNDATION OF SOUTH …ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO SUSTAINING FELLOWS: $12,000 · OtherGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $100,000 · OtherGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSI…Writers Theatre Inc: $20,000 · OtherWriters Theatre Inc+6 more: $40,000 · Other+6 moreLawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School: $97,000 · EducationLawndale Educat…SPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $59,000 · EducationSPECIAL OPERATI…BEST FOOT FORWARD FOUNDATION INC: $24,000 · EducationBEST FOOT FORWA…CURRY COLLEGE: $10,000 · EducationJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $75,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNI…JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTH PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $59,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FED…JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CHICAGO: $121,000 · InternationalJUNIOR AC…
Human Services$219,000Animals$217,000Health$194,000Other$344,000Education$190,000Philanthropy$134,000International$121,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMISERICORDIA HOME: $154,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $132,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $131,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CHICAGO: $121,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $100,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School: $97,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $86,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetYoung Mens Christian Assoc McGaw Inc: $62,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $62,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $59,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTH PALM BEACH COUNTY INC: $59,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBEST FOOT FORWARD FOUNDATION INC: $24,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetChicago Youth Centers: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCURRY COLLEGE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR HOMAN SQUARE F/K/A HOMAN ARTHINGTON FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMothers Trust Foundation: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

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.

The Chicago Community…AbbVie FoundationNational Philanthropi…The Blackbaud Giving …Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…The Pfizer Foundation…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
The Chicago Community TrustIL16× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · AbbVie Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Frank and Karen Ptak Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Frank and Karen Ptak 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%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Curry College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 26 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 Frank and Karen Ptak 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