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Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest at a glance

· Private foundation

Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest

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.

$77k
Granted FY2025still arriving
25
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$85kHuman Services$71kRecreation & Sports$59kArts & Culture$45kCrime & Legal$18kYouth Development$14kFood & Nutrition$13kPhilanthropy$11kOther$0
02FY2025 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k22 grants · $47k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $30k
$2,500
Median grant
3
States reached
$801k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BRAVO WAUKEGAN$10,000
KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED$10,000
COLLEGE OF LAKE COUNTY FOUNDATION$10,000
MOTHERS' TRUST FOUNDATION$5,000
GIGIS PLAYHOUSE$2,500
BERNIE'S BOOK BANK$2,500
SPIRIT OF 67 FOUNDATION$2,500
NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK$2,500
FRIENDS OF LAKE COUNTY CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER$2,500
READING POWER INC$2,500
ZACHARIAS SEXUAL ABUSE CENTER$2,500
GLASA$2,500
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB$2,500
FILL A HEART 4 KIDS$2,500
LAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION$2,500
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 (FY20–25, $65k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $10k → 8%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $10k → 8%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $10k → 8%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $10k → 8%COOL MINISTRIES: $2k → 8%COOL MINISTRIES: $750 → 8%COOL MINISTRIES: $750 → 8%MOTHERS' TRUST FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $3k → 8%GORTON CENTER: $2k → 8%GORTON CENTER: $2k → 8%GORTON CENTER: $2k → 8%MOTHERS' TRUST: $2k → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $2k → 8%MOTHERS' TRUST: $1k → 8%MOTHERS' TRUST: $1k → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $1k → 8%MOTHERS' TRUST: $750 → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $750 → 8%MOTHERS' TRUST: $750 → 8%FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $750 → 8%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.
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$290k · 30 repeat orgs$58k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +13% since the first grant, against -16% for those funded once.

30 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
9

Total granted

$290k
$53k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
-16%

Still filing today

57%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationCrime & LegalArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • CO
    College of Lake County Foundation
    3× · 2023–2025 · $40k · revenue +180%
  • NI
    NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK
    6× · 2020–2025 · $11k · revenue +8%
  • MT
    Mothers Trust Foundation
    6× · 2020–2025 · $10k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF LAKE FOREST PARKS & REC FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $35k · revenue -20%
  • LB
    LAKE BLUFF LIBRARY
    one grant, 2021 · $14k
  • KE
    KIWANIS ELIMINATE PROJECT
    one grant, 2020 · $1k
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
Lakeshore Legal Aid

Standing with our neighbors, Lakeshore Legal Aid fights poverty and injustice through advocacy and by providing meaningful and dignified access to the legal system.

Crime & Legal
2
Lakeside Community Committee

To enhance the quality of life for children and families by inspiring hope and empowerment and growth within all whom we serve.

Human Services
3
History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff

Preservation and promotion of community history.

—
4
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.

—
5
Lake County Regional Office of Education Foundation Inc

Financially support the programs, not paid for by tax dollars, that enhance and enrich the educational opportunities of the students in Lake County Illinois.

Education
6
Central Illinois Foodbank Inc

The Foodbank's mission is to provide food, and develop awareness of and creative solutions for food insecurity. Annually, the Foodbank distributes approximately 9.5 million pounds of food to 130 food pantries, soup kitchens, children's…

Food & Nutrition
7
Pitch in

Established in 2011 by retired Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood, and his wife Sarah, Pitch In (fka Wood Family Foundation) seeks to improve the lives of children in four high-need neighborhoods in Chicago: North Lawndale, Humboldt Park,…

Philanthropy
8
Lycee Francais de Chicago Inc

The Lycee Francais de Chicago, driven by our core values of respect, responsibility and the joy of learning, empowers students to grow into active global citizens.

Education
9
Legal Aid Chicago

At legal aid chicago, we work together to provide high quality civil legal aid to people living in poverty and other vulnerable groups.through advocacy, education, collaboration, and litigation we empower individuals, protect fundamental…

Crime & Legal
10
Eldercare Lake County

Promote the health and independence of lake county, il, older adults

Human Services
11
The Lake County Community Foundation

The lake county community foundation is a nonprofit corporation located in lake county, illinois that was established in 2003 to bring together philanthropists and donors, dollars and ideas to build permanent funds to benefit lake county,…

Philanthropy
12
Advocates for Illinois Children

Improve the lives of children in illinois by bringing about significant changes in public policies and programs for children through research, policy analysis and advocacy, public education and community outreach.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Feed My Starving Children Inc; the most unlike its peers is Gorton Community Center. 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

23 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. 23 of the 42 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)
23/23
Grantees still filing
11/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GIGIS PLAYHOUSE INC: $32,500 · OtherGIGIS PLAYHOUSE INCLAKE BLUFF PARK DISTRICT: $23,395 · OtherLAKE BLUFF PARK DISTRICTLAKE BLUFF LIBRARY: $14,000 · OtherLAKE BLUFF LIBRARYALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENCE: $11,000 · OtherALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENCEBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $10,500 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBCROYA: $9,500 · OtherCROYAFAMILY SERVICES OF SOUTH LAKE COUNTY: $5,500 · OtherREADING POWER INC: $6,500 · Other+18 more: $34,947 · Other+18 moreKEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $40,000 · Human ServicesKEEPING FAMILIES COV…Mothers Trust Foundation: $10,000 · Human ServicesMothers Trust Founda…FILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $6,500 · Human ServicesFILL A HEART 4 KIDSGorton Community Center: $4,500 · Human ServicesGorton Community Cen…COOL MINISTRIES: $3,500 · Human ServicesCOOL MINISTRIESCollege of Lake County Foundation: $40,000 · EducationCollege of Lake Cou…Spirit of 67 Foundation: $9,500 · EducationSpirit of 67 Founda…LAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $9,500 · EducationLAKE FOREST HIGH SC…+2 more: $2,000 · EducationFRIENDS OF LAKE FOREST PARKS & REC FOUNDATION: $35,000 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF …Lake County Childrens Advocacy Center: $9,500 · Crime & LegalZACHARIAS SEXUAL ABUSE CENTER: $8,000 · Crime & LegalBRAVO WAUKEGAN: $12,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $125 · Arts & CultureNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $10,500 · Food & Nutrition
Other$147,842Human Services$64,500Education$61,000Recreation & Sports$35,000Crime & Legal$17,500Arts & Culture$12,125Food & Nutrition$10,500

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 budgetKEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $40,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetCollege of Lake County Foundation: $40,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetFRIENDS OF LAKE FOREST PARKS & REC FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetBRAVO WAUKEGAN: $12,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $10,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMothers Trust Foundation: $10,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetSpirit of 67 Foundation: $9,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetLake County Childrens Advocacy Center: $9,500 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetLAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $9,500 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetZACHARIAS SEXUAL ABUSE CENTER: $8,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetREADING POWER INC: $6,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $6,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE JOSSELYN CENTER NFP: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGorton Community Center: $4,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCOOL MINISTRIES: $3,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetKIWANIS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $2,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBOUNCE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMCKINLOCK POST FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLake Forest College: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLake Bluff History Museum: $125 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago: $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 KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED ↗
  • Who funds College of Lake County Foundation ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF LAKE FOREST PARKS & REC FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BRAVO WAUKEGAN ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds Mothers Trust Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Spirit of 67 Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Lake County Childrens Advocacy Center ↗
  • Who funds LAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ZACHARIAS SEXUAL ABUSE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds READING POWER INC ↗
  • Who funds FILL A HEART 4 KIDS ↗
  • Who funds THE JOSSELYN CENTER NFP ↗
  • Who funds Gorton Community Center ↗
  • Who funds COOL MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BERNIE'S BOOK BANK ↗
  • Who funds FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds BOUNCE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MCKINLOCK POST FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Lake Forest College ↗
  • Who funds Lake Bluff History Museum ↗

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.

AbbVie FoundationLee Family FoundationJohn and Kathleen Sch…The Chicago Community…Butler Family Foundat…Trustmark FoundationNorthwestern Memorial…Baxter International …Forest & Found NFPLittle Orchard Founda…Sunshine Charitable F…The Lake County Commu…
AbbVie FoundationIL25.6× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: AbbVie Foundation · Lee Family Foundation · John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy · The Chicago Community Trust · Butler Family Foundation · Trustmark Foundation · Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group · Baxter International Foundation · Forest & Found NFP · Little Orchard Foundation · Sunshine Charitable Foundation · The Lake County Community 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 Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–60%
    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 Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest?

    Find your warmest path to Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest 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 42 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 Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest’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