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Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Jordan and Jean Nerenberg 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.

$155k
Granted FY2023
39
Grants FY2023
5
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

96% of Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Family Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 31 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 30 organizations, $155k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

23
’21
24
’22
30
’23
31
’24

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

01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Philanthropy$3.2MArts & Culture$186kReligion$70kCivil Rights$43kRecreation & Sports$36kEducation$34kFood & Nutrition$13kSocial Science$10kOther$0
02FY2023 · 39 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k36 grants · $90k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $65k
$2,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLIAN CHICAGO$30,000
UNION FOR REFORM JUDIASM$25,000
BERKELEY-CARROLL STREET SCHOOL$10,000
ANSHE EMET SYNAGOGUE$6,900
ROGUE THEATRE$6,300
TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY$6,000
GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL$6,000
AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INST$5,000
REINVENT ALBANY$5,000
STEEP THEATRE COMPANY$5,000
EMANUEL CONGREGATION$3,500
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY$3,000
CHICAGO HUMANITIES FESTIVAL$3,000
TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$3,000
GROUNDSWELL COMMUNITY MURAL PROJECT$3,000
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 (FY22–23, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 20%, 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%GROUNDSWELL COMMUNITY MURAL PROJECT: $3k → 20%GROUNDSWELL COMMUNITY MURAL PROJECT: $1k → 20%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

VT
IL
NY
PA
CA
VA
MD
AZ
DC
AL
GA
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$369k · 35 repeat orgs$72k to everyone else

35 repeat relationships: 29 still active in FY2023, 6 since wound down; 23 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
11

Total granted

$369k
$20k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+61%

Still filing today

69%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $37k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationCivil RightsEnvironmentHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE
    2× · 2021–2022 · $35k · revenue +111%
  • Northwestern University
    4× · 2021–2024 · $25k · revenue +14%
  • TB
    THE BERKELEY CARROLL SCHOOL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $25k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • FF
    FILM FORUM INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +92%
  • TL
    THE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +18%
  • WT
    Writers Theatre Incgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $3k · revenue +161%
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 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
2
Chicago Theatre Group Inc

The chicago theatre group is committed to producing both classic and contemporary works giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. by dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, equity, and community - the…

Arts & Culture
3
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
4
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
5
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
6
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
7
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
8
The Adler Planetarium

The adler planetarium ('adler') is a not-for-profit cultural institution whose mission is to connect people to the universe and each other under the sky we all share. it aspires to be the world's premier center for engaging in astronomy…

Arts & Culture
9
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
Arts & Culture
10
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
11
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

To create vivid, entertaining theatrical experiences that invigorate and engage people of all ages and identities by illuminating the complexity, ambiguity, and wonder of our world. shared humanity and unforgettable stories - now this is…

Arts & Culture
12
American Repertory Theatre Co Inc

Seeks to expand the boundaries of theater, producing, performing and presenting works of literary, experimental and educational value. provide a home for outstanding artists, a training ground for young artists (including an extensive…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Grant Park Orchestral Association; the most unlike its peers is The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 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

50 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. 50 of the 72 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/50
Grantees still filing
31/50
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $3,014,185 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INCJEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $143,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $11,400 · PhilanthropyUNION FOR REFORM JUDAISM: $34,000 · OtherANSHE EMET SYNAGOGUE: $15,106 · OtherEMANUEL CONGREGATION: $13,100 · OtherNORTHLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY: $12,500 · OtherTHE HABONIM CAMP ASSOCIATION COMPANY INCORPORATED: $11,000 · OtherNEIGHBORS TOGETHER CORPORATION: $10,000 · OtherAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INST: $10,000 · OtherHIGHLAND PARK STRINGS: $6,600 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,900 · Other+32 more: $56,700 · OtherGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $18,900 · Arts & CultureTIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY: $17,000 · Arts & CultureThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $15,000 · Arts & CultureSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $14,750 · Arts & CultureThe Rogue Theatre: $14,300 · Arts & CultureTucson Symphony Society: $11,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Humanities Festival: $9,000 · Arts & CultureArizona Theatre Company: $8,500 · Arts & CultureTUCSON MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORIC BLOCK INC: $6,000 · Arts & CultureSTEEP THEATRE: $5,500 · Arts & CultureFILM FORUM INC: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $12,800 · Arts & CultureTHE BERKELEY CARROLL SCHOOL: $25,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $10,000 · EducationUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $4,350 · EducationTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $3,000 · EducationWOLCOTT SCHOOL: $1,500 · EducationAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $35,000 · Civil RightsREINVENT ALBANY: $5,000 · Civil Rights+1 more: $1,000 · Civil RightsNorthwestern University: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsAlbany Park Theater Project: $10,000 · Youth Development
Philanthropy$3,168,585Other$174,906Arts & Culture$137,750Education$43,850Civil Rights$41,000Recreation & Sports$25,000Youth Development$10,000

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 budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $3,014,185 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $143,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BERKELEY CARROLL SCHOOL: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $18,900 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY: $17,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $14,750 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Rogue Theatre: $14,300 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetTHE HABONIM CAMP ASSOCIATION COMPANY INCORPORATED: $11,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTucson Symphony Society: $11,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBORS TOGETHER CORPORATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetAlbany Park Theater Project: $10,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Humanities Festival: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetArizona Theatre Company: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $6,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTUCSON MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORIC BLOCK INC: $6,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSTEEP THEATRE: $5,500 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetAMERICAN SOCIETY OF OVERSEAS RESEARCH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFILM FORUM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICA ISRAEL DEMOCRACY COALITION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREINVENT ALBANY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $4,350 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGROUNDSWELL COMMUNITY MURAL PROJECTINC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSPRING STREET CLIMATE FUND INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetARIZONA OPERA COMPANY: $3,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGASTRO INTESTINAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH NATIONAL FUND (KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL) INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGround Game Fund: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetARIZONA FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $1,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPILOT LIGHT: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWOLCOTT SCHOOL: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNDER THE SAME SKY FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRemy Bumppo Theatre Company: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJewish Community Legacy Project Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMAOT CHITIM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetART ENCOUNTER: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 …The Chicago Community…Community Foundation …John D and Catherine …Bayless Family Founda…Arts Foundation for T…Jarvis FoundationJewish Community Foun…The Hs Lopez Family F…Brooklyn Community Fo…The Shubert Foundatio…The Gordon Foundation
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan ChicagoIL22.5× affinity9 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · The Chicago Community Trust · Community Foundation for Southern Arizona · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Bayless Family Foundation · Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona · Jarvis Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona · The Hs Lopez Family Foundation · Brooklyn Community Foundation · The Shubert Foundation Inc · The Gordon 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 Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Family 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%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Jordan and Jean Nerenberg 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 72 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Jordan and Jean Nerenberg 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