· Private foundation
Ira and Janina Marks Charitable Trust
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k79 grants · $51k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| CNPA | $10,000 |
| CNPA FOUNDATION | $10,000 |
| BOUNCE CHILDRENS FOUNDATION | $7,500 |
| Individual grant recipient | $4,070 |
| EVANSTON WILMETTE GOLF COURSE ASSOC | $4,000 |
| FIELD MUSEUM WOMENS BOARD | $2,250 |
| MCCORMICK FOUNDATION COMMUNITIES MATCH | $2,000 |
| TREES THAT FEED FOUNDATION | $2,000 |
| LIGHTHOUSE PRESERVATION FUND | $2,000 |
| EVANSTON ART CENTER | $2,000 |
| NATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH | $2,000 |
| EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE | $1,000 |
| HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | $1,000 |
| GUITARS OVER GUNS | $1,000 |
| AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE | $1,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY19–25, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
109 repeat relationships: 59 still active in FY2025, 50 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $23k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- CFCNPA FOUNDATION4× · 2022–2025 · $45k · revenue +225% · 100% of their budget
- FMFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY5× · 2019–2024 · $15k · revenue +28%
- YJYOUTH JOB CENTER INC7× · 2019–2025 · $14k · revenue +12%
Funded once
- TJTHE JOHN W O'BRIEN FAMILY FOUNDATIONone grant, 2024 · $6k · revenue 0%
- RFROARING FORK CONSERVANCYgraduatedone grant, 2022 · $4k · revenue +66%
- BWBig Waters Land Trust Incgraduatedone grant, 2021 · $3k · revenue +84%
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.
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.
Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.
Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…
The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…
To promote public health, safety, and welfare through the improvement of the quality and quantity of drinking water and the development and furtherance of understanding of the problems relating thereto.
To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.
Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.
Agu's mission is to advance and support an inclusive community of earth and space scientists and partners dedicated to discovery and solutions to societal challenges. agu seeks to catalyze discovery and solutions to scientific and societal…
American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…
Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.
At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…
The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…
To engage the united states and its citizens in the work of african parks and to promote access to american experience and expertise in the african parks actiities by 1) raising funds for specific projects, activities, training, equipment…
How this is measured
151 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. 151 of the 254 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
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
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 JANINA MARKS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds CNPA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds BOUNCE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
- Who funds YOUTH JOB CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds HYDE PARK ART CENTER ↗
- Who funds EVANSTON ART CENTER ↗
- Who funds ROBERT R MCCORMICK FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ↗
- Who funds THE JOHN W O'BRIEN FAMILY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC ↗
- Who funds OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INC ↗
- Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
- Who funds JEWELERS FOR CHILDREN ↗
- Who funds EVANSTON WILMETTE GOLF COURSE ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Elea Institute ↗
- Who funds ROARING FORK CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds PARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds Big Waters Land Trust Inc ↗
- Who funds United Help Ukraine Inc ↗
- Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC ↗
- Who funds CHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL ↗
- Who funds YOSEMITE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds ASPEN FILM ↗
- Who funds JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ↗
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.
Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Helen V Brach Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Ira and Janina Marks Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ira and Janina Marks Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.
- Guitars Over Guns Organization Inc: 1% of income from government
- Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
- Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Ira and Janina Marks Charitable Trust?
Find your warmest path to Ira and Janina Marks Charitable Trust 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.
Play a game based on Ira and Janina Marks’ filings →