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James P and Brenda S Grusecki Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

James P and Brenda S Grusecki Family Foundation

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.

$3.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
52
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$3.3MEducation$2.7MHealth$1.8MHuman Services$1.3MHousing & Shelter$745kPublic Benefit$538kPhilanthropy$437kEmployment$360kOther$0
02FY2025 · 52 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $162k
  • $50k–250k35 grants · $2.7M
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$55,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$33M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF ILLINOIS$250,000
BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION$200,000
TIMELINE THEATRE$155,000
SHATTERED GLOBE THEATRE$150,000
GOODMAN THEATRE$130,000
PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE$100,000
Individual grant recipient$100,000
DEBORAH'S PLACE$100,000
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO$100,000
826CHI$85,000
THRESHOLDS$85,000
CHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN$80,000
GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION$75,000
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION$75,000
CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER$75,000
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 (FY17–25, $605k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GIRL VENTURES: $3k → 10%CERES COMMUNITY PROJECT: $3k → 9%NEW MOMS: $130k → 14%NEW MOMS: $115k → 14%NEW MOMS: $105k → 14%NEW MOMS: $70k → 14%NEW MOMS: $40k → 14%NEW MOMS: $40k → 14%NEW MOMS: $30k → 14%NEW MOMS: $30k → 14%NEW MOMS: $30k → 14%CONNECTION FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN: $5k → 14%CONNECTION FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN: $5k → 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

WA
MN
IL
MI
PA
CA
CO
AZ
DC
TX
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 68 repeat orgs$706k to everyone else

68 repeat relationships: 40 still active in FY2025, 28 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

68
22

Total granted

$12M
$174k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+79%

Still filing today

66%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $532k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterHealthCivil RightsOther
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

  • NM
    NEW MOMS INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $590k · revenue +166%
  • PP
    Planned Parenthood of Illinois
    3× · 2023–2025 · $530k · revenue +1%
  • TT
    THE THRESHOLDS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $435k · revenue +48%

Funded once

  • SS
    STRATFORD SHAKESPEARE FEST OF AMER
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • LC
    LUTHERN CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • TR
    THE READER INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY
    one grant, 2022 · $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 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
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
3
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
4
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
5
Alternatives Inc

Alternatives, inc.'s mission is to facilitate personal development,strengthen family relationships and enhance the community's well being. serving over 3,000 youth and families annually, the organization offers a range of counseling and…

Health
6
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
7
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

The chicagoland chamber of commerce combines the power of people, with our legacy of leadership and business advocacy, to drive a dynamic economy. we focus on delivering value for our members, making chicagoland a world-class place to live…

—
8
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
9
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
10
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
11
Children's Museum of Oak Park

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

Arts & Culture
12
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
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 Court Theatre Fund. 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

68 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. 68 of the 104 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
67/68
Grantees still filing
45/68
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE THRESHOLDS: $435,000 · OtherTHE THRESHOLDSSTART EARLY: $435,000 · OtherSTART EARLYGOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING: $380,000 · OtherGOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHINGCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN: $350,000 · OtherCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMENPLANNED PARENTHOOD: $330,000 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES INC: $280,000 · OtherCHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $280,000 · OtherLUTHERAN CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF ILLINOIS: $255,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $235,000 · OtherPORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE: $225,000 · OtherWTTWWFMT: $225,000 · OtherTIMELINE THEATRE: $215,000 · OtherMIDWEST ACCESS COALITION: $215,000 · Other+50 more: $2,575,812 · Other+50 moreShattered Globe Theatre: $415,000 · Arts & CultureShattered Globe Theatr…THEATRE ASPEN: $409,420 · Arts & CultureTHEATRE ASPENCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $325,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE TH…CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $250,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP …CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $225,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA I…THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $200,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUND…Marwen Foundation Inc: $130,000 · Arts & CultureINGENUITY INCORPORATED CHICAGO: $125,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN BLUES THEATER NFP: $125,000 · Arts & CultureLyric Opera of Chicago: $100,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $178,500 · Arts & Culture+6 moreNEW TEACHER CENTER: $400,000 · EducationNEW TEACHER…826CHI INC: $227,500 · Education826CHI INCMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $227,500 · EducationMIKVA CHALL…LITTLE BLACK PEARL WORKSHOP: $115,000 · EducationLITTLE BLAC…University of St Thomas: $90,000 · EducationUniversity …English in Action: $85,000 · EducationEnglish in …AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $75,000 · EducationAMERICAN LI…CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Education+4 more: $55,500 · EducationPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $530,000 · HealthRepro TLC: $215,000 · HealthTHRIVE COUNSELING CENTER: $110,000 · Health+1 more: $5,000 · HealthDEBORAH'S PLACE: $370,000 · Housing & ShelterLA CASA NORTE: $340,000 · Housing & Shelter+2 more: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterNEW MOMS INC: $590,000 · Human Services+3 more: $15,000 · Human ServicesThe Cara Program: $330,000 · Employment
Other$6,435,812Arts & Culture$2,482,920Education$1,325,500Health$860,000Housing & Shelter$720,000Human Services$605,000Employment$330,000

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 budgetNEW MOMS INC: $590,000 over 9y, 2.4% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $530,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTHE THRESHOLDS: $435,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetSTART EARLY: $435,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetShattered Globe Theatre: $415,000 over 9y, 19% of budgetTHEATRE ASPEN: $409,420 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetNEW TEACHER CENTER: $400,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetGOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING: $380,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetDEBORAH'S PLACE: $370,000 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN: $350,000 over 9y, 2.5% of budgetLA CASA NORTE: $340,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetThe Cara Program: $330,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $325,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetLUTHERAN CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF ILLINOIS: $255,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $250,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budget826CHI INC: $227,500 over 8y, 13% of budgetMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $227,500 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $225,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMIDWEST ACCESS COALITION: $215,000 over 9y, 7.7% of budgetRepro TLC: $215,000 over 9y, 4.7% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $140,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago: $140,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCROSSROADS FUND INC: $135,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetMarwen Foundation Inc: $130,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetINGENUITY INCORPORATED CHICAGO: $125,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetAMERICAN BLUES THEATER NFP: $125,000 over 3y, 5.2% of budgetLITTLE BLACK PEARL WORKSHOP: $115,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetTHRIVE COUNSELING CENTER: $110,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSMART POLICY WORKS: $100,000 over 4y, 3.1% of budgetGilloury Institute: $95,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $90,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetEnglish in Action: $85,000 over 9y, 1.8% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $72,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $70,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY: $60,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetREADER INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetMERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $37,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Climate Center: $37,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE EDUCATION FUND INC: $32,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LEARNING CENTER HOUSE OF CONNECTIONS: $30,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetTHE AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetALL VOTING IS LOCAL: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFOREFRONT: $9,312 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetJUSTICE OUTSIDE: $8,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $7,500 over 3y, 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.

  • Who funds NEW MOMS INC ↗
  • Who funds Planned Parenthood of Illinois ↗
  • Who funds THE THRESHOLDS ↗
  • Who funds START EARLY ↗
  • Who funds Shattered Globe Theatre ↗
  • Who funds THEATRE ASPEN ↗
  • Who funds NEW TEACHER CENTER ↗
  • Who funds GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING ↗
  • Who funds DEBORAH'S PLACE ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN ↗
  • Who funds LA CASA NORTE ↗
  • Who funds The Cara Program ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER ↗
  • Who funds LUTHERAN CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF ILLINOIS ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds 826CHI INC ↗
  • Who funds MIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC ↗
  • Who funds MIDWEST ACCESS COALITION ↗
  • Who funds Repro TLC ↗
  • Who funds THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds CROSSROADS FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds Marwen Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds INGENUITY INCORPORATED CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN BLUES THEATER 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.

John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…Lloyd a Fry FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …Arie and Ida Crown Me…Jewish Federation of …Ncrc Community Develo…Circle of Service Fou…United Way of Metropo…The Allstate Foundati…Field Foundation of I…Robert R McCormick Fo…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL36× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · Circle of Service Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · The Allstate Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · Robert R McCormick 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 James P and Brenda S Grusecki Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from James P and Brenda S Grusecki Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    28report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 104 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on James P and Brenda S Grusecki 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