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Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation at a glance

· 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 FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% 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
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $4k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $260k
$40,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$310k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$150,000
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$60,000
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART$50,000
HYDE PARK ART CENTER$40,000
CHICAGO CHAPTER CHARITIES FOUNDATION INC$10,000
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO$2,000
CHICAGO POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$1,000
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART$500
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 (FY19–19, $17k) 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%CITY OF REFUGE - CHICAGO: $17k → 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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 13 repeat orgs$421k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
33

Total granted

$1.6M
$369k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+21%

Still filing today

92%
76%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $52k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentHealthInternationalPublic BenefitOther
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

  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
    8× · 2017–2024 · $633k · revenue +45%
  • University of Chicago
    5× · 2019–2023 · $383k · revenue +25%
  • HYDE PARK ART CENTER
    5× · 2017–2024 · $158k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • O
    ONEGOAL
    one grant, 2018 · $110k · revenue +7%
  • MP
    MORGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2019 · $50k
  • 1W
    19TH WARD YOUTH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
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
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
2
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
3
Design Museum of Chicago

The Design Museum of Chicago strives to inspire, educate and innovate through design. As a resource for the Chicago design community and beyond, the museum facilitates an open dialogue about contemporary and historical design through…

Arts & Culture
4
Chicago Art Department

Cultivates new and emerging Chicago artists, and aims to benefit artists by exploring art and learning. Through exhibitions, artist residencies, classes/workshops and community building, we are dedicated to cultivating new voices, ideas,…

Arts & Culture
5
Chicago Public Art Group

Chicago public art group brings artists and communities together to produce high-quality public art, extending and transforming the tradition of collaborative, community-involved public artwork.

Arts & Culture
6
Chicago Humanities Festival

To promote public appreciation, understanding and support of the humanities through festivals and educational programs.

Arts & Culture
7
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
Arts & Culture
8
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
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
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
Chicago Cultural Alliance

The Chicago Cultural Alliances mission is to connect, promote, and support centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive Chicago. We are an active consortium of 50 cultural heritage museums, centers, and historical societies that…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Illinois Arts Alliance; the most unlike its peers is Plano Child Development Center. 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

39 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 39 of the 48 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
39/39
Grantees still filing
30/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $633,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGOUniversity of Chicago: $382,500 · EducationUniversity of Chicago+3 more: $4,000 · EducationHYDE PARK ART CENTER: $157,500 · Arts & CultureHYDE PARK ART CENTERChicago West Community Music Center: $66,000 · Arts & CultureChicago West Community M…THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM: $55,000 · Arts & CultureTHE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HAR…Museum of Modern Art: $50,000 · Arts & CultureMuseum of Modern ArtTATE AMERICAS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $18,000 · Arts & Culture+10 more: $67,000 · Arts & Culture+10 moreMORGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL: $50,000 · OtherMORGAN PARK H…THREE ARTS FOUNDATION: $45,000 · OtherTHREE ARTS FO…CHICAGO CHAPTER CHARITIES FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · OtherCHICAGO CHAPT…19TH WARD YOUTH FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Other19TH WARD YOU…ILLINOIS ARTS ALLIANCE: $20,500 · OtherILLINOIS ARTS…SPECIAL OLYMPICS CHICAGO: $10,000 · OtherCHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Other+12 more: $46,750 · Other+12 moreONEGOAL: $110,000 · Youth DevelopmentInternational Neighborhood Collaborative: $10,841 · Youth DevelopmentNew Foundation of Hope: $7,750 · Youth DevelopmentWESTSIDE HEALTH AUTHORITY: $114,000 · Housing & ShelterPROVIDENT FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthAUTISM SPEAKS INC: $5,000 · HealthMARCH OF DIMES INC: $5,000 · HealthCITY OF REFUGE - CHICAGO: $17,000 · Human Services
Education$1,019,500Arts & Culture$433,500Other$242,250Youth Development$128,591Housing & Shelter$114,000Health$20,000Human Services$17,000

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 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
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…John D and Catherine …Polk Bros Foundation …Field Foundation of I…Lloyd a Fry FoundationGaylord and Dorothy D…Circle of Service Fou…Builders Vision Found…The Joyce FoundationArie and Ida Crown Me…Joseph & Bessie Feinb…Alphawood Foundation
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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Gary & Denise Gardner Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s 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.

    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

    Play a game based on Gary & Denise Gardner 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