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Janis Morris Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Janis Morris 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.

$19k
Granted FY2024still arriving
15
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$236kPhilanthropy$41kSocial Science$25kFood & Nutrition$12kHuman Services$10kHealth$9kRecreation & Sports$7kReligion$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k14 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$500
Median grant
4
States reached
$415k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$10,000
COUDERT INSTITUTE$2,000
FLAGLER THEATRE$1,500
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$1,500
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO$1,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$500
AUDITORIUM THEATRE$500
CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND$500
MAKE A WISH$400
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS$300
MORTON ARBORETUM$250
REMY BUMPPO THEATER$200
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$200
SHRINERS HOSPTITAL FOR CHILDREN$200
ITALIAN AMERICAN HUMAN RELATIONS FOUNDATION$200
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 (FY17–24, $9k) 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%NIGHT MINISTRY: $1k → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $500 → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $300 → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $300 → 14%SELF HELP HOME: $250 → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $250 → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $200 → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO: $1k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO: $1k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO: $1k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO: $500 → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO: $500 → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO: $500 → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS OF CHICAGO: $500 → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF CHICAGO: $500 → 14%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $300 → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILL: $200 → 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
NY
MA
CO
VA
MD
DC
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$342k · 48 repeat orgs$12k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

48 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 38 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
22

Total granted

$342k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+5%

Still filing today

54%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • CS
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    8× · 2017–2024 · $67k · revenue +58%
  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    5× · 2017–2022 · $39k · revenue +13%
  • GP
    GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION
    7× · 2017–2023 · $31k · revenue +127%

Funded once

  • CH
    Chicago Humanities Festival
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue -3%
  • ST
    SINAI TEMPLE
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
  • CT
    CHICAGO TRIBUNE CHARITIES
    one grant, 2018 · $500
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
Lyric Opera of Chicago

We believe in the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great art and opera. Lyric Opera of Chicago exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to the Chicago region and the nation, and to advance the…

Arts & Culture
2
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
3
Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Inc

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University ("The Auditorium"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago and to the…

Arts & Culture
4
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
Arts & Culture
5
Chicago Historical Society

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history…

Arts & Culture
6
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
7
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
8
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
9
Music Institute of Chicago

The music institute of chicago ("music institute") leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music, by providing widely accessible resources for high quality music teaching, performing, and service activities.

Arts & Culture
10
Children's Museum of Oak Park

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

Arts & Culture
11
Chicago Sun-Times Media Inc

Chicago sun-times serves the public interest by strengthening the well-being of our local communities and our democracy through independent local journalism.

—
12
Navy Pier Inc

Navy pier is the "people's pier and aims to fulfill visionary daniel burnham's edict that chicago's magnificent lakefront remain open and available to the people. through 50 acres of parks and unmatched views of the city skyline touching…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Theatre Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is Paralyzed Veterans of America Vaughan Chapter. 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

44 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. 44 of the 76 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/44
Grantees still filing
31/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Chicago Symphony Orchestra: $67,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Symphony OrchestraGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $30,728 · Arts & CultureGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATIONTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $16,000 · Arts & CultureTHE JOFFREY BALLETMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $10,600 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATIONFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $7,150 · Arts & Culture+12 more: $16,450 · Arts & Culture+12 moreLYRIC OPERA HOUSE: $52,500 · OtherLYRIC OPERA HOUSECOUDERT INSTITUTE: $25,000 · OtherCOUDERT INSTITUTECHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $4,000 · Other+43 more: $36,800 · Other+43 moreJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $38,565 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITE…THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $15,500 · Education+2 more: $500 · EducationGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $10,300 · Food & NutritionJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $5,500 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $2,550 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $300 · Human Services+2 more: $450 · Human ServicesLINCOLN PARK CONSERVANCY: $3,050 · Recreation & SportsNorthwestern University: $2,500 · Recreation & Sports
Arts & Culture$157,928Other$118,300Philanthropy$38,565Education$16,000Food & Nutrition$10,300Human Services$8,800Recreation & Sports$5,550

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 budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $67,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $38,565 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $30,728 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $16,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $15,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $10,600 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $10,300 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $7,150 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $5,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $3,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $3,250 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK CONSERVANCY: $3,050 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $3,050 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR HEARING AND SPEECH RESOURCES: $3,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $2,800 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $2,550 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Humanities Festival: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNorthwestern University: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY: $1,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN GATEWAYS: $1,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RESOURCE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHLIGHT THEATRE INC: $650 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAccess Living of Metropolitan Chicago: $650 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO MARITIME MUSEUM: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMusic Theatre Works Inc: $450 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $350 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS INC: $300 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MORTON ARBORETUM: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS MEMORIAL FUND INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SELFHELP HOME INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONE FAMILY ILLINOIS: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Society of the Four Arts Inc: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA VAUGHAN CHAPTER: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLifeline Productions Inc: $100 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.

  • Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE JOFFREY BALLET ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds Jewish Community Centers of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR HEARING AND SPEECH RESOURCES ↗
  • Who funds WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NIGHT MINISTRY ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Humanities Festival ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds URBAN GATEWAYS ↗
  • Who funds THE RESOURCE FOUNDATION INC ↗

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 …Ncrc Community Develo…The Chicago Community…Lloyd a Fry FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …Jewish Federation of …Bayless Family Founda…Elizabeth F Cheney Fo…The Service Club of C…Dr Scholl FoundationThe Shubert Foundatio…Gs Donor Advised Phil…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL18.8× affinity7 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 · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Bayless Family Foundation · Elizabeth F Cheney Foundation · The Service Club of Chicago · Dr Scholl Foundation · The Shubert Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

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 Janis Morris Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Janis Morris Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 76 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 Janis Morris’ 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