Skip to content
Good Heart Work Smart Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Good Heart Work Smart 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.

$1.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
97
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0186% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$3.9MEducation$2.6MYouth Development$1.9MHuman Services$835kArts & Culture$690kPhilanthropy$613kHealth$499kCommunity Improvement$189kOther$0
02FY2024 · 97 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k74 grants · $238k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $269k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $255k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.0M
$4,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$2.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OPRFHS Imagine Foundation$1,002,000
One Mind$100,000
Beat the Streets Chicago$55,000
The Neighborhood Bridge$50,000
Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory$50,000
OPRF Community Foundation$31,000
Dominican University$30,000
Individual grant recipient$28,000
Opportunity Knocks$22,000
Sarah's Inn$16,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
Huskie Wrestling Family$15,000
Maywood Fine Arts$11,000
Collaboration for Early Childhood Care$11,000
Housing Forward$10,000
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 (FY18–24, $676k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%JUST LIVE: $1k → 10%UNITY HOSPICE: $1k → 10%JUST LIVE: $1k → 10%DWELL WITH DIGNITY: $5k → 14%Just Live: $1k → 10%DWELL WITH DIGNITY: $5k → 14%DWELL WITH DIGNITY: $3k → 14%YWCA Metropolitan Chicago: $3k → 14%THUMBUDDY SPECIAL: $1k → 7%Harmony Community Cares NFP: $10k → 14%ASPIRE OF ILLINOIS: $2k → 14%Aspire of Illinois: $2k → 14%ASPIRE OF ILLINOIS: $1k → 14%UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago: $1k → 14%Opportunity Knocks: $64k → 14%Opportunity Knocks: $60k → 14%Opportunity Knocks: $22k → 14%OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: $15k → 14%Opportunity Knocks: $13k → 14%OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: $12k → 14%OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: $8k → 14%SARAH'S INN: $115k → 14%SARAH'S INN: $82k → 14%SARAH'S INN: $82k → 14%Sarah's Inn: $25k → 14%Sarah's Inn: $20k → 14%Sarah's Inn: $20k → 14%Sarah's Inn: $16k → 14%NEW MOMS: $14k → 14%New Moms: $11k → 14%New Moms: $9k → 14%New Moms: $8k → 14%New Moms: $8k → 14%NEW MOMS: $5k → 14%NEW MOMS: $3k → 14%Kan-Win: $5k → 14%Kinfolk CoLab: $10k → 14%Chicago Furniture Bank: $5k → 14%Chicago Furniture Bank: $5k → 14%Kan-Win: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
SD
IN
OH
CA
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 150 repeat orgs$950k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

150 repeat relationships: 77 still active in FY2024, 73 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

150
118

Total granted

$12M
$760k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+24%

Still filing today

45%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $190k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentCrime & LegalOther
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

  • PF
    PARKS FOUNDATION OF OAK PARK
    7× · 2018–2024 · $3.7M · revenue +270% · 96% of their budget
  • DU
    DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY
    7× · 2018–2024 · $385k · revenue +34%
  • SI
    SARAH'S INN
    7× · 2018–2024 · $360k · revenue +103%

Funded once

  • OI
    OPRF IMAGINE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $150k
  • RE
    RepresentUs Education Fund
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue -58%
  • IW
    INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY
    one grant, 2019 · $59k
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 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
2
The Chicago Scholars Foundation

Chicago scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities.

Education
3
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
4
Students Run Chicago
Health
5
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
6
Kipp Chicago Schools

The team at kipp chicago schools is guided by a simple, yet powerful mission: to create a network of excellent schools in chicago that teach our students the character and academic skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond, and to…

Education
7
Chicago United for Equity

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

Civil Rights
8
Children's Museum of Oak Park

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

Arts & Culture
9
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
10
Chicago Education Partnership

To create a school that dramatically transforms the lives of k-8 students and prepares them for success in college and in life through: the delivery of a rigorous and personalized academic program, a focus on holistic education, and the…

Education
11
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Moms Inc; the most unlike its peers is All in for Ethan 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

135 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. 135 of the 289 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
28
Early backer (in before they grew)
130/135
Grantees still filing
94/135
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OPRFHS Imagine Foundation: $1,153,299 · OtherOPRFHS Imagine FoundationBegin In Circle Inc: $595,000 · OtherBegin In Circle IncOPRF COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $537,273 · OtherOPRF COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $436,900 · OtherIndividual grant recipientEquity Team Inc: $250,000 · Other+148 more: $3,627,339 · Other+148 morePARKS FOUNDATION OF OAK PARK: $3,680,741 · PhilanthropyPARKS FOUNDATION OF OAK PARK+2 more: $22,500 · PhilanthropyDOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: $385,000 · EducationDOMINICAN…University of Dayton: $356,500 · EducationUniversit…COLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $135,000 · EducationCOLLEGE P…WOMENS GLOBAL EDUCATION PROJECT: $42,500 · EducationCONVERGENCE CENTER FOR POLICY RESOLUTION: $40,000 · Education+13 more: $100,252 · Education+13 moreSARAH'S INN: $359,580 · Human ServicesOPPORTUNITY KNOCKS INCORPORATED: $192,788 · Human ServicesNEW MOMS INC: $55,540 · Human Services+8 more: $65,500 · Human ServicesBEAT THE STREETS CHICAGO: $272,500 · Youth DevelopmentVocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders: $41,500 · Youth DevelopmentNew Foundation of Hope: $14,500 · Youth Development+4 more: $25,300 · Youth DevelopmentRush University Medical Center: $213,000 · HealthWEST SIDE CONNECTOR: $50,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $23,500 · Health+3 more: $13,100 · HealthRepresentUs Education Fund: $100,000 · Public BenefitPRO BONO NETWORK: $11,030 · Public Benefit
Other$6,599,811Philanthropy$3,703,241Education$1,059,252Human Services$673,408Youth Development$353,800Health$299,600Public Benefit$111,030

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetPARKS FOUNDATION OF OAK PARK: $3,680,741 over 7y, 96% of budgetBegin In Circle Inc: $595,000 over 2y, 100% of budgetDOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: $385,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSARAH'S INN: $359,580 over 7y, 5.2% of budgetUniversity of Dayton: $356,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBEAT THE STREETS CHICAGO: $272,500 over 6y, 6.3% of budgetEquity Team Inc: $250,000 over 4y, 60% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $213,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetOAK PARK EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $195,000 over 7y, 14% of budgetOPPORTUNITY KNOCKS INCORPORATED: $192,788 over 7y, 6.0% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $135,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetRepresentUs Education Fund: $100,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE OAK PARK CONSERVATORY: $68,500 over 7y, 21% of budgetYEMBA INC: $62,000 over 5y, 24% of budgetNEW MOMS INC: $55,540 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetHEPHZIBAH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION: $52,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE: $50,500 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetWEST SIDE CONNECTOR: $50,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetREADING BETWEEN THE LINES NFP: $45,500 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetANIMAL CARE LEAGUE: $42,500 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetWOMENS GLOBAL EDUCATION PROJECT: $42,500 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetVocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders: $41,500 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetHOUSING FORWARD: $40,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCONVERGENCE CENTER FOR POLICY RESOLUTION: $40,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetOPENLANDS: $40,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN: $27,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBEYOND HUNGER: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPro Musica Youth Chorus: $25,000 over 7y, 15% of budgetOAK PARK REGIONAL HOUSING CENTER INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetPACTT Learning Center: $23,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $23,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBUILD INC: $23,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSEVEN GENERATIONS AHEAD: $22,500 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetLINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTA: $21,759 over 2y, 75% of budgetTHE FIELD SCHOOL: $21,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetOAK PARK ART LEAGUE: $21,000 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetTHE WEST COOK YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS INC: $20,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetThe Salk Institute for Biological Studies: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBEYE SCHOOL P T O: $19,752 over 5y, 22% of budgetRACE CONSCIOUS DIALOGUES: $19,500 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetNew Foundation of Hope: $14,500 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetTRITON COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $14,000 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKAN-WIN: $12,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDWELL WITH DIGNITY INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetCHICAGO SURVIVORS INC: $11,300 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetPRO BONO NETWORK: $11,030 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetThe Cara Program: $11,000 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds PARKS FOUNDATION OF OAK PARK ↗
  • Who funds Begin In Circle Inc ↗
  • Who funds DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SARAH'S INN ↗
  • Who funds University of Dayton ↗
  • Who funds BEAT THE STREETS CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Equity Team Inc ↗
  • Who funds Rush University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds OAK PARK EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE POSSIBLE INC ↗
  • Who funds RepresentUs Education Fund ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE OAK PARK CONSERVATORY ↗
  • Who funds YEMBA INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW MOMS INC ↗
  • Who funds HEPHZIBAH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds WEST SIDE CONNECTOR ↗
  • Who funds READING BETWEEN THE LINES NFP ↗

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.

Oak Park-River Forest…United Way of Metropo…John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…Polk Bros Foundation …Helen V Brach Foundat…Joseph R & Helen Shak…Westlake Health Found…The Lumpkin Family Fo…Carol Bernick Family …Fifth Third Chicagola…Motorola Solutions Fo…
Oak Park-River Forest Community FoundationIL82.9× affinity38 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Helen V Brach Foundation · Joseph R & Helen Shaker Family Foundation · Westlake Health Foundation · The Lumpkin Family Foundation · Carol Bernick Family Foundation · Fifth Third Chicagoland Foundation · Motorola Solutions 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 Good Heart Work Smart Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Good Heart Work Smart Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Guitars Over Guns Organization Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
32report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 Good Heart Work Smart Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Good Heart Work Smart 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 289 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 Good Heart Work Smart’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