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Friedman Linda D Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Friedman Linda D 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.

$138k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% 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$351kEducation$305kPhilanthropy$200kReligion$189kEmployment$50kRecreation & Sports$50kCommunity Improvement$40kHuman Services$36kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $70k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$316k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROGER BALDWIN FOUNDATION$50,000
ANSHE EMET SYNAGOGUE$25,000
SONIA SHANKMAN ORTHOGENIC SCHOOL$25,000
GLESSNER HOUSE$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
LEGAL AID CHICAGO$7,500
ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM$5,000
STEPPONWOLF THEATER$2,750
LAMBDA LEGAL$1,500
NORTHSHORE SENIOR CENTER$1,000
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 (FY19–25, $31k) 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%NORTHSHORE SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 14%NORTHSHORE SENIOR CENTER: $1k → 14%NORTHSHORE SENIOR CENTER: $1k → 14%NORTHSHORE SENIOR CENTER: $1k → 14%NORTHSHORE SENIOR CENTER: $1k → 14%CHICAGO SKY CARES: $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
WI
NY
OR
CA
TN
DC
GA
TX
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 18 repeat orgs$264k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
23

Total granted

$1.1M
$262k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+31%

Still filing today

67%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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 & CultureHealthAnimalsRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesEmploymentOther
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

  • CITY YEAR INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $125k · revenue +0%
  • MW
    MUDDY WATERS MOJO MUSEUM
    2× · 2021–2022 · $50k · revenue +89%
  • UJ
    URBAN JUNCTURE FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $40k · revenue +1%

Funded once

  • WE
    WOMEN EMPLOYED
    one grant, 2018 · $50k · revenue -14%
  • LO
    LEGENDS OF THE BALL INC
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -54% · 50% of their budget
  • CS
    CHICAGO SKY CARESgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +120%
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 Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
3
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
4
Lookingglass Theatre Company

Lookingglass theatre company is a national leader in the creation and presentation of innovative, cutting-edge theatrical work. lookingglass interweaves movement, circus arts and narrative in original and captivating ways. guided by an…

Arts & Culture
5
League of Chicago Theatres

The league of chicago theatres is an alliance of theatres, which leverages its collective strength to support, promote and advocate for chicago's theatre industry. through the organization's work, its ensure that theatre continues to…

—
6
Pegasus Theatre Chicago

Pegasus Theatre Chicago is a professional theater approaching 45 years of supporting Chicagos diverse community by producing accessible, socially relevant theatre and promoting the development of new artists for the stage. Our mission is…

—
7
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
8
Chicago United for Equity

Connecting and amplifying the power of individuals to build a just, equitable, and inclusive city.

Civil Rights
9
Constellation Performing Arts

Constellation is a performing arts presenter with an emphasis on forward- thinking practices, particularly in the areas of jazz, improvised, experimental, and contemporary classical music.

Arts & Culture
10
Third Coast International Audio Festival

To cultivate a growing international culture of listening.

Arts & Culture
11
The Chicago Network Inc

In furtherance of its charitable and educational goals, the Network's activities consist primarily of providing educational opportunities for its members and the public on issues related to the advancement of women in the workplace. As the…

Community Improvement
12
Threewalls

Threewalls is dedicated to fostering contemporary art practices that respond to lived experiences, encouraging connections beyond art through performance, live exhibits, publications, all while connected segregated communities throughout…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Theatre Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is Humane World for Animals 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

30 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. 30 of the 42 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/30
Grantees still filing
22/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROGER BALDWIN FOUNDATION: $200,000 · OtherROGER BALDWIN FOUNDATIONGLESSNER HOUSE: $180,000 · OtherGLESSNER HOUSEANSHE EMET SYNAGOGUE: $175,000 · OtherANSHE EMET SYNAGOGUESONIA SHANKMAN ORTHOGENIC SCHOOL: $165,000 · OtherSONIA SHANKMAN ORTHOGENIC SCHOOLCITY YEAR INC: $125,000 · OtherCITY YEAR INCILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM: $40,000 · Other+19 more: $122,440 · Other+19 moreMUDDY WATERS MOJO MUSEUM: $50,000 · Arts & CultureMUDDY WATER…FRACTURED ATLAS INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED A…Jazz Institute of Chicago: $20,000 · Arts & CultureJazz Instit…STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $15,550 · Arts & CultureSTEPPENWOLF…Elastic Arts Foundation: $15,000 · Arts & CultureElastic Art…+2 more: $5,500 · Arts & CultureLEGENDS OF THE BALL INC: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsLittle Village Environmental Justice Org: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsWOMEN EMPLOYED: $50,000 · EmploymentURBAN JUNCTURE FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Community ImprovementCHICAGO SKY CARES: $25,000 · Human ServicesNORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $6,000 · Human ServicesGILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO: $5,000 · HealthSHELTER FROM THE STORM INC: $5,000 · HealthNational Alopecia Areata Foundation: $5,000 · HealthIMERMAN ANGELS: $5,000 · Health
Other$1,007,440Arts & Culture$131,050Recreation & Sports$55,000Employment$50,000Community Improvement$40,000Human Services$31,000Health$20,000

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 budgetCITY YEAR INC: $125,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN EMPLOYED: $50,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetMUDDY WATERS MOJO MUSEUM: $50,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetLEGENDS OF THE BALL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 50% of budgetURBAN JUNCTURE FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetCHICAGO SKY CARES: $25,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJazz Institute of Chicago: $20,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $15,550 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetElastic Arts Foundation: $15,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetStudents Without Mothers Inc: $15,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetLEGAL AID CHICAGO: $9,490 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWEST: $6,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $6,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON GROUND: $5,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetGALLOPING OUT: $5,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetLittle Village Environmental Justice Org: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMERMAN ANGELS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNORTHLIGHT THEATRE INC: $3,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKESHET: $3,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ELEPHANT SANCTUARY IN TENNESSEE: $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIgnition Community Glass: $250 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…Lloyd a Fry FoundationField Foundation of I…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Alphawood FoundationWalder FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …Gaylord and Dorothy D…United Way of Metropo…Jewish Federation of …Morgan Stanley Global…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL24.4× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Alphawood Foundation · Walder Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 Friedman Linda D Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Friedman Linda D Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
9report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Friedman Linda D Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Friedman Linda D 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 42 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 Friedman Linda D 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