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Frankel Julius N Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Frankel Julius N Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$5.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
51
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$1.4M
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$12MHealth$5.9MHuman Services$3.2MPhilanthropy$2.3MYouth Development$1.1MHousing & Shelter$970kEducation$925kAnimals$695kOther$0
02FY2025 · 51 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k19 grants · $530k
  • $50k–250k28 grants · $2.3M
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.3M
$50,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$63M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$1,366,054
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO$375,000
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FOUNDATION$275,000
SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITY LAB$250,000
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION$200,000
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$175,000
THE JOFFREY BALLET OF CHICAGO$115,000
LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER$110,000
LA RABIDA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$100,000
WTTW CHANNEL 11$100,000
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY$100,000
CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER$100,000
CHICAGO HOUSE AND SOCIAL SERVICE$100,000
GOODMAN THEATER$90,000
MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE$90,000
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, $2.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%MARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES: $35k → 14%MARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES: $30k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $210k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $210k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $60k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $60k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $60k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $60k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $60k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $60k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $35k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $35k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $35k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $35k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $35k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $30k → 14%CASA CENTRAL: $20k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $65k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $55k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $55k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $190k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $45k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $45k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $45k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $45k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $45k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $40k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $40k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $70k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $70k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $70k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $70k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $70k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $60k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $60k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $55k → 14%IGNITE: $15k → 14%IGNITE: $15k → 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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$30M · 63 repeat orgs$201k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

63 repeat relationships: 51 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

63
6

Total granted

$30M
$201k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+22%

Still filing today

68%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthAnimalsHousing & ShelterEducationOther
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

  • LO
    Lyric Opera of Chicago
    8× · 2018–2025 · $2.8M · revenue +31%
  • RI
    Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
    6× · 2018–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +41%
  • CS
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    8× · 2018–2025 · $1.4M · revenue +54%

Funded once

  • SM
    ST MARY'S HOME
    one grant, 2018 · $50k
  • NU
    NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • AA
    Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center NFP
    one grant, 2024 · $40k · revenue 0%
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
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
Arts & Culture
2
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
3
Chicago Theatre Group Inc

The chicago theatre group is committed to producing both classic and contemporary works giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. by dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, equity, and community - the…

Arts & Culture
4
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
5
Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Inc

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University ("The Auditorium"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago and to the…

Arts & Culture
6
Children's Museum of Oak Park

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

Arts & Culture
7
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
8
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
9
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
10
Chicago Sinfonietta Inc

Chicago Sinfonietta is a professional orchestra dedicated to modeling and promoting diversity, inclusion, and both racial and cultural equity in the arts through the universal language of symphonic music. Our core values are built around…

Arts & Culture
11
Music Institute of Chicago

The music institute of chicago ("music institute") leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music, by providing widely accessible resources for high quality music teaching, performing, and service activities.

Arts & Culture
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired; the most unlike its peers is Court Theatre Fund. 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

46 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. 46 of the 69 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/46
Grantees still filing
34/46
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $2,301,054 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $1,665,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientANN & ROBERT LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $920,000 · OtherANN & ROBERT LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITALWTTW CHANNEL 11: $735,000 · OtherWTTW CHANNEL 11THE JOFFREY BALLET OF CHICAGO: $695,000 · OtherTHE JOFFREY BALLET OF CHICAGOGOODMAN THEATER: $660,000 · OtherGOODMAN THEATERCHICAGO HOUSE AND SOCIAL SERVICE: $650,000 · OtherLawrence Hall: $565,000 · OtherTHE THRESHOLDS: $555,000 · Other+23 more: $3,585,950 · Other+23 moreLyric Opera of Chicago: $2,825,000 · Arts & CultureLyric Opera of ChicagoChicago Symphony Orchestra: $1,400,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Symphony OrchestraCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $1,050,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATERSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $970,000 · Arts & CultureSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANYGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $575,000 · Arts & CultureGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATIONMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE: $565,000 · Arts & CultureMUSIC OF THE BAROQUECHICAGO OPERA THEATER: $410,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $400,000 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $390,000 · Arts & CultureHUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO: $360,000 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $1,355,000 · Arts & Culture+9 moreRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $1,504,945 · HealthRehabilitatio…ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,075,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S D…La Rabida Children's Hospital: $800,000 · HealthLa Rabida Chi…+1 more: $40,000 · HealthTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $780,000 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT…Metropolitan Family Services: $525,000 · Human ServicesMetropoli…THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $495,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHICA…CASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION: $225,000 · Human ServicesCASA CENT…LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $175,000 · Human ServicesLITTLE BR…MARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES INC: $155,000 · Human ServicesMARILLAC …+1 more: $30,000 · Human ServicesSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $330,000 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $190,000 · AnimalsChicago Zoological Society: $50,000 · AnimalsDEBORAH'S PLACE: $360,000 · Housing & ShelterLA CASA NORTE: $75,000 · Housing & ShelterGLENWOOD ACADEMY: $220,000 · EducationTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $140,000 · Education
Other$12,332,004Arts & Culture$10,300,000Health$3,419,945Human Services$2,385,000Animals$570,000Housing & Shelter$435,000Education$360,000

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 budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $2,825,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $1,504,945 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $1,400,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,075,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $1,050,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $970,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $800,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $780,000 over 8y, 2.5% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $575,000 over 8y, 1.6% of budgetMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE: $565,000 over 8y, 3.2% of budgetLawrence Hall: $565,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetTHE THRESHOLDS: $555,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $525,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $495,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetCHICAGO OPERA THEATER: $410,000 over 8y, 2.4% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $400,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $390,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO: $360,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetDEBORAH'S PLACE: $360,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $330,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $325,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Youth Centers: $320,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER: $310,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetHOUSING OPPORTUNITIES AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE ELDERLY INC: $300,000 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $240,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS: $235,000 over 8y, 1.9% of budgetCASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION: $225,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetGLENWOOD ACADEMY: $220,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $190,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetLITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $175,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetFRANCISCAN OUTREACH: $155,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetMARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES INC: $155,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $140,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ARTS OF LIFE INC: $105,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetBLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER CORPORATION: $100,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetINFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF CHICAGO: $95,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Architecture Foundation: $95,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetLA CASA NORTE: $75,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND SENSE: $40,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetAbove and Beyond Family Recovery Center NFP: $40,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetIGNITE: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLEGAL AID CHICAGO: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Children's Museum: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% 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 Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER ↗
  • Who funds STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds La Rabida Children's Hospital ↗
  • Who funds THE NIGHT MINISTRY ↗
  • Who funds GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE ↗
  • Who funds Lawrence Hall ↗
  • Who funds THE THRESHOLDS ↗
  • Who funds Metropolitan Family Services ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO OPERA THEATER ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds DEBORAH'S PLACE ↗
  • Who funds SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Youth Centers ↗
  • Who funds LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE ELDERLY INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS ↗
  • Who funds CASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds GLENWOOD ACADEMY ↗

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…Polk Bros Foundation …John D and Catherine …United Way of Metropo…Circle of Service Fou…AbbVie FoundationDr Scholl FoundationJewish Federation of …Patrick and Anna M Cu…The Irving Harris Fou…Lloyd a Fry FoundationField Foundation of I…
The Chicago Community TrustIL38.3× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Circle of Service Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund · The Irving Harris Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois

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 Frankel Julius N Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Frankel Julius N Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    12report 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.

    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 69 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 Frankel Julius N’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