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Illinois · Private foundation

Illinois Tool Works Foundation

Its FY2022 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$9.5M
Granted FY2021
70
Grants FY2021
70
Organizations funded FY2021
16%
First-time grantees FY2021
Read the full brief

Read this first · the figures below need context

60% of Illinois Tool Works Foundation’s FY2022 grant dollars went to Donatewell, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2022 names 2 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year Illinois Tool Works Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 63 organizations, $9M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

72
’20
63
’21
2
’22

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

Median grant, FY2021
$20,000
Largest grant, FY2021
$4,985,345
Organizations funded a year
70 to 76
FY2020 to FY2021
States reached, FY2021
3
Applications
Takes unsolicited applications
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2021, 16% of the organizations Illinois Tool Works Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 5% of its grant dollars.

The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY202170$9.5M16%
FY202076$7.0Mn/a
99% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2022.

Philanthropy$17MEducation$3.6MArts & Culture$1.6MYouth Development$1.1MHealth$890kAnimals$275kHuman Services$123kPublic Benefit$120kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2022, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc$10,891,57936%
National Merit Scholarship Corporation$602,34431%
Chicago Community Foundation$500,0001n/a
Rush University Medical Center$500,00020%
Kids First Chicago for Education$400,00026%
Junior Achievement of Chicago$385,00024%
Noble Network of Charter Schools$379,10020%
Lawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School$350,00020%
The Arbogast Performing Arts Center$333,33426%
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation$300,00010%
Show all 79 grantees
All grantees of Illinois Tool Works Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc$10,891,57936%
National Merit Scholarship Corporation$602,34431%
Chicago Community Foundation$500,0001n/a
Rush University Medical Center$500,00020%
Kids First Chicago for Education$400,00026%
Junior Achievement of Chicago$385,00024%
Noble Network of Charter Schools$379,10020%
Lawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School$350,00020%
The Arbogast Performing Arts Center$333,33426%
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation$300,00010%
Navy Pier Inc$250,00010%
The Joffrey Ballet$250,00022%
Shedd Aquarium Society$225,00020%
After School Matters Inc$216,66621%
Field Museum of Natural History$170,00020%
Accelerate Institute$150,00023%
Civic Consulting Alliance$100,00021%
Big Shoulders Fund$100,00020%
The Art Institute of Chicago$100,00020%
Teach for America Inc$70,00020%
Chicago Horticultural Society$70,00020%
Fresh Films$55,00019%
Window to the World Communications Inc$50,00020%
Start Early$50,00020%
The Adler Planetarium$50,00020%
YWCA Metropolitan Chicago$50,00020%
Chicago Shakespeare Theater$50,00020%
Ucan$50,00020%
Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois Inc$50,00020%
Chicago Symphony Orchestra$40,00020%
Chicago Zoological Society$30,00020%
The Posse Foundation Inc$30,00020%
Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago$30,00020%
A Better Chicago$30,00020%
Skills for Chicago$30,00020%
American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches$25,00010%
Music Institute of Chicago$25,00010%
Metropolitan Family Services$20,00020%
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago$20,00020%
Salute Inc$20,00021%
Chicago Sinfonietta Inc$20,00021%
Midtown-Metro Achievement Centers$20,00020%
The Newberry Library$20,00020%
Better Government Association Inc$20,00011%
Associated Colleges of Illinois Inc$20,00021%
Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry$20,00020%
Ravinia Festival Association$20,00020%
Edward Foundation$20,00020%
Misericordia Home$20,00020%
Chicago Historical Society$20,00020%
Chicago Youth Centers$20,00020%
Boys & Girls Club of Lake County$20,00021%
Center for Companies That Care$20,00023%
Living Lands & Waters$20,00021%
Youth & Opportunity United Inc$20,00020%
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago$20,00010%
Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago Inc$15,00020%
Museum of Contemporary Art$15,00020%
Chicago Children's Museum$15,00020%
United Negro College Fund Inc$10,00010%
Chicago Council on Science & Technology$10,00022%
Chicago Public Schools Student Science Fair Inc$10,00026%
Center on Halsted$10,00010%
Lyric Opera of Chicago$10,00010%
Steppenwolf Theatre Company$10,00020%
Lincoln Park Zoological Society$10,00010%
ChiArts Foundation$10,00010%
Omni Youth Services Incorporated$10,00020%
Chicago Theatre Group Inc$10,00020%
The Chicago High School for the Arts$10,00010%
Paws Chicago$10,00010%
Bernie's Book Bank$5,00010%
Northwest Suburban Day Care Center$2,20011%
Northern Illinois Food Bank$1,50010%
Greater Chicago Food Depository$1,50010%
Northfield Township Food Pantry$60010%
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago$60010%
Mission of Our Lady of Angels$6001n/a
Pads to Hope Dba-Journeys the Road Home$6001n/a

Plus 8 recipients with no EIN on record ($2.4M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Illinois Tool Works Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUnited Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc: $10,891,579 over 3y, 6.1% of budgetNational Merit Scholarship Corporation: $602,344 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $500,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKids First Chicago for Education: $400,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetJunior Achievement of Chicago: $385,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetNoble Network of Charter Schools: $379,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School: $350,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetThe Arbogast Performing Arts Center: $333,334 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation: $300,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNavy Pier Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Joffrey Ballet: $250,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetShedd Aquarium Society: $225,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAfter School Matters Inc: $216,666 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetField Museum of Natural History: $170,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAccelerate Institute: $150,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetCivic Consulting Alliance: $100,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $100,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Art Institute of Chicago: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Horticultural Society: $70,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFresh Films: $55,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetWindow to the World Communications Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetStart Early: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Adler Planetarium: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetYWCA Metropolitan Chicago: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Shakespeare Theater: $50,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetUcan: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHolocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Posse Foundation Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBoys and Girls Clubs of Chicago: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetA Better Chicago: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSkills for Chicago: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMusic Institute of Chicago: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHubbard Street Dance Chicago: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSalute Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetChicago Sinfonietta Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetMidtown-Metro Achievement Centers: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetThe Newberry Library: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBetter Government Association Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAssociated Colleges of Illinois Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRavinia Festival Association: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEdward Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMisericordia Home: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% 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 76.

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.

Circle of Service Fou…Polk Bros Foundation …The Chicago Community…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Robert R McCormick Fo…John D and Catherine …Motorola Solutions Fo…The Canning FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …The Robert Thomas Bob…Dr Scholl FoundationLloyd a Fry Foundation
Circle of Service FoundationIL41.5× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Circle of Service Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Robert R McCormick Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Motorola Solutions Foundation · The Canning Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Lloyd a Fry 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 Illinois Tool Works Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Illinois Tool Works Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Illinois Tool Works 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.

About Illinois Tool Works Foundation

How much does Illinois Tool Works Foundation give?
Illinois Tool Works Foundation reported 70 grants totaling $9,492,832 in its FY2021 IRS filing. It funded between 70 and 76 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2021.
What does Illinois Tool Works Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2022, its largest causes are Philanthropy (66%), Education (14%), Arts & Culture (6%).
Who are Illinois Tool Works Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2020 to FY2022: United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc ($11M), National Merit Scholarship Corporation ($602k), Chicago Community Foundation ($500k).
Does Illinois Tool Works Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2021, 16% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Illinois Tool Works Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as Illinois Tool Works Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Circle of Service Foundation, Polk Bros Foundation Inc, The Chicago Community Trust.
Where is Illinois Tool Works Foundation based?
Illinois Tool Works 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 88 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Illinois Tool Works’ 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