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Illinois · Private foundation

Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$314k
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
8
Grants FY2024
8
Organizations funded FY2023
63%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2024
$40,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$150,000
Organizations funded a year
5 to 18
FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
2
Total assets, FY2024
$310k
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 63% of the organizations Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 13% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $28k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureHealthEducationHousing & ShelterYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving7$314k29%
FY20238$218k63%
FY20225$233k20%
FY202116$310k38%
FY202010$206k70%
FY20199$317k67%
FY20185$170k60%
FY201718$208kn/a
99% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$1.1MEducation$552kHealth$142kYouth Development$49kPhilanthropy$35kHuman Services$21kRecreation & Sports$20kPublic Safety & Disaster$14kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 40 grantees
All grantees of Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
The Art Institute of Chicago$633,00080%
University of Chicago$382,50050%
Hyde Park Art Center$157,50051%
Westside Health Authority$114,00021%
Onegoal$110,00010%
Chicago West Community Music Center$66,00028%
The Studio Museum in Harlem$55,00020%
Museum of Modern Art$50,00010%
Chicago Chapter Charities Foundation Inc$35,000387%
Illinois Arts Alliance$20,50020%
Tate Americas Foundation$20,00010%
Museum of Contemporary Art$18,00030%
City of Refuge - Chicago$17,00019%
Chicago Police Memorial Foundation$14,00040%
International Neighborhood Collaborative$10,84111%
Chicago Sinfonietta Inc$10,00011%
Provident Foundation$10,000121%
United States Artists Inc$10,00010%
The Joffrey Ballet$10,00010%
Chicago Parks Foundation$10,00010%
New Foundation of Hope$7,75030%
Special Children's Charities$7,50010%
Floating Museum NFP$5,50022%
Autism Speaks Inc$5,00010%
Opportunity International Inc D/B/A Opportunity International-Us$5,00010%
3arts Inc$5,00010%
March of Dimes Inc$5,00010%
Ingenuity Incorporated Chicago$5,00010%
Plano Child Development Center$5,0001n/a
Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation$5,00010%
Maple Morgan Prk Comm Food Pantry$3,8001n/a
Leadership Greater Chicago$3,75010%
The Links Foundation Incorporated$2,60010%
The Chicago Scholars Foundation$2,50010%
Coppin Community Center$2,5001n/a
Lyric Opera of Chicago$2,00010%
One Million Degrees$1,00010%
LAKEVIEW POLAR BEAR CLUB NFP DBA Chicago Polar Bear Club$1,0001n/a
The National Public Housing Museum$50010%
Sit Stay Read Inc$50010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 8 recipients with no EIN on record ($146k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 36 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Art Institute of Chicago: $633,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $382,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHyde Park Art Center: $157,500 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetWestside Health Authority: $114,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetOnegoal: $110,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetChicago West Community Music Center: $66,000 over 2y, 8.0% of budgetThe Studio Museum in Harlem: $55,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Chapter Charities Foundation Inc: $35,000 over 3y, 87% of budgetIllinois Arts Alliance: $20,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTate Americas Foundation: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMuseum of Contemporary Art: $18,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCity of Refuge - Chicago: $17,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetChicago Police Memorial Foundation: $14,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Neighborhood Collaborative: $10,841 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetChicago Sinfonietta Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetProvident Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetUnited States Artists Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Joffrey Ballet: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Parks Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNew Foundation of Hope: $7,750 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSpecial Children's Charities: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFloating Museum NFP: $5,500 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetAutism Speaks Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOpportunity International Inc D/B/A Opportunity International-Us: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget3arts Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMarch of Dimes Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIngenuity Incorporated Chicago: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSolomon R Guggenheim Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Greater Chicago: $3,750 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Links Foundation Incorporated: $2,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Chicago Scholars Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOne Million Degrees: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe National Public Housing Museum: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSit Stay Read Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 36.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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 TrustIL29.8× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Field Foundation of Illinois · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Builders Vision Foundation · The Joyce Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation · Alphawood 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.

Compare Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation with peer funders

About Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation

How much does Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation give?
Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation reported 8 grants totaling $313,500 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 5 and 18 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (57%), Education (28%), Health (7%).
Who are Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: The Art Institute of Chicago ($633k), University of Chicago ($383k), Hyde Park Art Center ($158k).
Does Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 63% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation, Polk Bros Foundation Inc.
Where is Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation based?
Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation is based in IL.

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 48 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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