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Isaacs 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.

$121k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it funds
0185% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$418kEducation$307kHealth$144kFood & Nutrition$68kReligion$66kInternational$8kHuman Services$2kRecreation & Sports$1kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $55k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$9k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH UNITED FUND OF CHICAGO$50,000
Nourishing Hope$25,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
Givebutter$10,000
PEF Israel Endowment$5,000
Tulane University$5,000
U Chicago Gifts$5,000
Israel Tennis Centers$1,000
Individual grant recipient$189
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 (FY21–21, $2k) 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%Shalva: $2k → 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

IL
WI
NY
MA
IN
MO
VA
DE
LA
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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 13 repeat orgs$240k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +52% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
12

Total granted

$1.6M
$204k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+52%
+20%

Still filing today

69%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $36k 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
EducationPhilanthropyHealthHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterInternationalOther
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

  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    6× · 2019–2024 · $290k · revenue +57%
  • University of Chicago
    3× · 2018–2020 · $160k · revenue +52%
  • Trustees of Tufts College
    2× · 2019–2020 · $70k · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC
    one grant, 2018 · $103k · revenue -5%
  • SH
    SINAI HEALTH SYSTEM
    one grant, 2021 · $52k · revenue +20%
  • LS
    LYNN SAGE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue 0%
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
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
2
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
3
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
4
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
5
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
6
Rush University Medical Center

The mission of Rush is to improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.

Health
7
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
8
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Committed to exceptional healthcare quality for all and actively engaged with our community, einstein drives scientific discovery and educates compassionate leaders in health and science.

Education
9
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
10
Loyola University Medical Center

We, loyola university health system and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities.lumc is a member of loyola university health system and trinity…

Health
11
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
12
Yale University

To improve the world through research, scholarship, education, preservation, and practice.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of Chicago; the most unlike its peers is Camp Nebagamon Foundation. 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

18 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. 18 of the 31 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $767,800 · OtherIndividual grant recipientARK: $101,750 · OtherARKNOURISHING HOPE: $67,500 · OtherNOURISHING HOPE+12 more: $93,754 · Other+12 moreJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $290,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND OF ME…UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $102,500 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF METROPOLIT…+2 more: $6,800 · PhilanthropyUniversity of Chicago: $160,000 · EducationUniversity of Chic…Trustees of Tufts College: $70,000 · EducationTrustees of Tufts …WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $30,000 · EducationWASHINGTON UNIVERS…THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $25,000 · EducationTHE ADMINISTRATORS…THE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $11,800 · Education+2 more: $10,550 · EducationSINAI HEALTH SYSTEM: $51,800 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 · HealthLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterA SPRING OF HOPE INC: $2,500 · InternationalSHALVA INC: $2,000 · Human Services
Other$1,030,804Philanthropy$399,300Education$307,350Health$61,800Housing & Shelter$50,000International$2,500Human Services$2,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $290,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $160,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $102,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $67,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSINAI HEALTH SYSTEM: $51,800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLYNN SAGE FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $11,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP NEBAGAMON FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetPEF ISRAEL ENDOWMENT FUNDS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetA SPRING OF HOPE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSHALVA INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMichael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation: $1,800 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWOLCOTT SCHOOL: $550 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Jewish Federation of Metropolitan ChicagoIL13.4× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Isaacs Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Isaacs Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Isaacs Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Isaacs Family 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 31 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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