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Illinois · Private foundation

Lavin Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$3.7M
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
41
Grants FY2024
37
Organizations funded FY2023
27%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2024
$10,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$850,000
Organizations funded a year
37 to 100
FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
11
Total assets, FY2024
$50M
Applications
Takes unsolicited applications
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 27% of the organizations Lavin Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 25% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 75% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.2M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23
Human ServicesEducationHealthArts & CulturePhilanthropyFood & NutritionOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving41$3.7M29%
FY202337$4.8M27%
FY202259$4.7M46%
FY202140$2.8M20%
FY2020100$8.7M54%
FY201988$4.7M59%
FY201870$5.2M60%
FY201767$5.1Mn/a
97% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$14MPhilanthropy$14MYouth Development$3.2MHealth$3.1MScience & Tech$1.1MHuman Services$954kArts & Culture$725kRecreation & Sports$678kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OH
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
TN
DC
HI
LA
GA
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 197 grantees
All grantees of Lavin Family Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund$12,118,00080%
Enchanted Backpack$4,935,925557%
Cast Water Safety Foundation$2,923,348586%
Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago$1,450,00070%
Andrew C Langert Family Foundation$1,005,000197%
Center for Humane Technology$1,000,000111%
Northwestern University$607,86460%
After School Matters Inc$440,00061%
Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago$429,36143%
Anti-Defamation League$315,00050%
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago$250,00070%
Nch Healthcare System Inc$250,00031%
American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches$234,08260%
Big Shoulders Fund$207,42230%
Farm Aid Inc$200,00051%
Lexington School Inc$180,00050%
Bnai Abraham-Zion Congregation$161,2503n/a
Chicago Hope Academy$140,00021%
Chicago Historical Society$111,00051%
Junior Achievement of Chicago$110,00041%
Navy Seal Foundation Inc$110,00070%
Youth Haven Inc$100,00012%
Oak Park & River Forest High School Imagine Foundation$100,00014%
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors Inc$100,00011%
World Central Kitchen Inc$100,00030%
Children's Home & Aid Society of Ill$88,71560%
Foodchain Inc$85,00017%
Nourishing Hope$82,51121%
Lyric Opera of Chicago$70,00040%
Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois Inc$65,00011%
Soka Gakkai International-Usa$65,0003n/a
Vocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders$64,0001n/a
Lewis University$60,00030%
Catholic Charities Inc$54,1222n/a
Volunteer Florida Foundation Inc$50,00019%
Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Foundati Dba Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance$50,00011%
Sarah's Inn$49,77031%
Breakthrough Urban Ministries Inc$47,31020%
New Vocations Racehorse Adoption$45,00031%
Millennium Park Foundation$45,00051%
The Chicago Club Preservation Foundation$44,00012%
YWCA Metropolitan Chicago$43,00070%
Field Museum of Natural History$40,00030%
Hua Momona Foundation$40,00012%
Providence St Mel School$37,50050%
Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry$37,50040%
Shedd Aquarium Society$35,55040%
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois$35,00043%
Housing Forward$35,00020%
Friends of Prentice$32,70727%
Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly$32,1071n/a
Ucan$30,51350%
Latino Policy Forum$30,00011%
Jesus Project Ministries$30,00017%
Bluegrass Community & Technical College Foundation Inc$30,000111%
Connections for the Homeless Inc$30,00010%
Lake County Crisis Center$30,00011%
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Joliet$28,50020%
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Inc$27,50040%
Cradles to Crayons Inc$26,51520%
Metropolitan Planning Council$25,00030%
Harvest Church of Memphis$25,0001n/a
Chicago Public Library Foundation$25,00050%
Opportunity Knocks Incorporated$25,00012%
American Friends of Hebrew University Inc$25,00010%
The Art Institute of Chicago$25,00010%
Midtown-Metro Achievement Centers$23,00040%
Chicago Horticultural Society$22,50030%
The Thresholds$20,64920%
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs$20,50040%
Help Agency of the Forest Inc$20,00012%
Amplify Horse Racing$20,000110%
Hearts & Horses Inc$20,00021%
Vanderbilt University$20,00020%
Sunshine Gospel Ministries$20,00011%
Maryville Academy$20,00020%
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Foundation$20,00023%
Chicago Navy Memorial Foundation Inc$20,000186%
Digestive Health Foundation$20,00040%
Lazarus House$19,21240%
Navy Pier Inc$18,00020%
Public Action to Deliver Shelter Inc D/B/A Hesed House$15,88620%
Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation Inc$15,00010%
Ingenuity Incorporated Chicago$15,00030%
World Business Chicago$15,00020%
Clint Clymer & Friends$15,0002n/a
The Civic Federation$15,00011%
The Backside Learning Center Inc$14,42012%
Hinsdale Humane Society$14,17311%
The Night Ministry$13,95330%
Hhplift$12,50030%
US Navy Memorial Foundation$12,50020%
Better Government Association Inc$12,00030%
Dupage Pads Inc$11,11320%
Chicago Fire Department Foundation$11,00041%
Start Early$10,00020%
Off the Street Club$10,00020%
Valley View Educational Enrichment Foundation$10,0001n/a
Thoroughbred Charities of America Inc$10,00011%
College Possible Inc$10,00010%
American Jewish Committee$10,00010%
Israel Cancer Research Fund Inc$10,00010%
Big Thompson Watershed Coalition$10,00010%
Francis W Parker School$10,00010%
Fill a Heart 4 Kids$10,00011%
Recipe for Change$10,00014%
The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago$10,00020%
Heart-J Center for Experiential Lear$10,0001n/a
American Cancer Society Inc$10,00010%
United Service Organizations of Illinois Inc$10,00010%
Childrens Oncology Services Inc$10,00011%
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind Inc$10,00010%
The Lake County Haven$10,00011%
Primo Center for Women & Children$10,00010%
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago$10,00030%
Chicago Symphony Orchestra$10,00010%
St Joseph High School$10,0001n/a
Beat the Streets Chicago$10,00011%
National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum Dba National Veterans Art Museum$10,00016%
Amen House Inc$10,00010%
Oak Park River Forest Community of Congregations$10,0001n/a
Howard Brown Health Center$8,00010%
Belmont Child Care Association Inc$7,91510%
The Food Bank for Larimer County$7,50010%
The Chicago High School for the Arts$7,50020%
Legal Momentum$7,50020%
Trinity High School$7,5001n/a
Imerman Angels$6,50020%
Columbia College Chicago$6,35410%
Moveable Feast Lexington Inc$6,24013%
Greater Chicago Food Depository$6,06020%
Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare$5,0001n/a
American Diabetes Association$5,00010%
Window to the World Communications Inc$5,00010%
Tutoring Chicago$5,00010%
The Womens Treatment Center DBA TWTC Changed to Windy City Cares$5,00010%
United States Fund for Unicef$5,00010%
Tree House Child and Family Center Inc$5,0001n/a
United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc$5,00010%
Illinois Institute of Technology$5,00010%
USA Cares Inc$5,00010%
Little Friends Inc$5,00010%
Culinary Care$5,00011%
Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund Inc$5,00010%
Maryville Academy Foundation$5,00015%
Creativets$5,0001n/a
Teach for America Inc$5,00010%
Josephinum Academy$5,0001n/a
Loaves & Fishes Community Services$5,0001n/a
Burlington-Hampshire Area Food Pantry$5,00017%
Academy for Urban School Leadership$5,00010%
Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching$5,00010%
Geneva Lake Conservancy Inc$5,00010%
Ryan Banks Academy$5,0001n/a
New World Symphony Inc$5,00010%
Lake Geneva Fresh Air Association Inc$5,00010%
Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation$5,00011%
City Year Inc$5,00010%
Invest for Kids Inc$4,50020%
The Family Institute$4,12020%
Barrington Giving Day$4,00012%
Edwin J Gregson Foundation$3,66511%
The Lambs Farm Inc$3,0001n/a
The People's Music School$3,00010%
Breakthrough T1d$2,50010%
Glenwood Academy$2,50010%
Angelman Syndrome Foundation Inc$2,50010%
Jewish Community Council$2,50010%
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras$2,50010%
Sunbird Initiative$2,00010%
Yerkes Future Foundation Inc$2,00010%
Lincoln Presidential Foundation$2,00010%
Beef 4 Hunger$2,0001n/a
Fayette County Public Schools$2,0001n/a
Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation Inc$2,00010%
Real Men Charities$1,57011%
Actt Naturally Inc$1,5001n/a
Lemont Baseball and Softball Club$1,50012%
Impacting Veterans Lives Inc dba Midwest Veterans Closet$1,25110%
Blood Cancer United Inc$1,20020%
Undies for Everyone$1,19010%
The 100 Club of Illinois$1,00010%
Resilience$1,00010%
Advance Illinois Nfp$1,00010%
West Suburban Community Pantry Inc$80020%
My Joyful Heart Nfp$6671n/a
Paws Chicago$56010%
Never Say Never Inc$5001n/a
Sports Shed Inc$49310%
St Joseph Services Inc$41410%
Sylvia's Place$30010%
Reining Liberty Ranch$30010%
Charity Global Inc$30010%
Christian League for the Handicapped Dba Inspiration Ministries$2521n/a
Keep Collier Beautiful Inc$2001n/a
Soul City Incorporated$1981n/a
Waukegan To College NFP$901n/a

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 75 recipients with no EIN on record ($9.3M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Lavin Family Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 4 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 169 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund: $12,118,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetEnchanted Backpack: $4,935,925 over 5y, 57% of budgetCast Water Safety Foundation: $2,923,348 over 5y, 86% of budgetJewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago: $1,450,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetAndrew C Langert Family Foundation: $1,005,000 over 1y, 97% of budgetCenter for Humane Technology: $1,000,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetNorthwestern University: $607,864 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAfter School Matters Inc: $440,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetBoys and Girls Clubs of Chicago: $429,361 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetAnti-Defamation League: $315,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $250,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNch Healthcare System Inc: $250,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $234,082 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $207,422 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFarm Aid Inc: $200,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetLexington School Inc: $180,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Hope Academy: $140,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetChicago Historical Society: $111,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetJunior Achievement of Chicago: $110,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetNavy Seal Foundation Inc: $110,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetYouth Haven Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetOak Park & River Forest High School Imagine Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetTragedy Assistance Program for Survivors Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWorld Central Kitchen Inc: $100,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetChildren's Home & Aid Society of Ill: $88,715 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFoodchain Inc: $85,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetNourishing Hope: $82,511 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $70,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHolocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois Inc: $65,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetLewis University: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVolunteer Florida Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 9.0% of budgetThoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Foundati Dba Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSarah's Inn: $49,770 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetBreakthrough Urban Ministries Inc: $47,310 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNew Vocations Racehorse Adoption: $45,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetMillennium Park Foundation: $45,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetThe Chicago Club Preservation Foundation: $44,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetYWCA Metropolitan Chicago: $43,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetField Museum of Natural History: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHua Momona Foundation: $40,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetProvidence St Mel School: $37,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $37,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetShedd Aquarium Society: $35,550 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Lincoln Academy of Illinois: $35,000 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetHousing Forward: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFriends of Prentice: $32,707 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetUcan: $30,513 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLatino Policy Forum: $30,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 169.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Carol Bernick Family FoundationIL76.6× affinity35 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Carol Bernick Family Foundation · Enchanted Backpack · Patrick G and Shirley W Ryan Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · The Canning Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur 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.

Compare Lavin Family Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Lavin Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Lavin 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.

About Lavin Family Foundation

How much does Lavin Family Foundation give?
Lavin Family Foundation reported 41 grants totaling $3,654,400 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 37 and 100 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Lavin Family Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Education (35%), Philanthropy (34%), Youth Development (8%).
Who are Lavin Family Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund ($12M), Enchanted Backpack ($4.9M), Cast Water Safety Foundation ($2.9M).
Does Lavin Family Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 27% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Lavin Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as Lavin Family Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Carol Bernick Family Foundation, Enchanted Backpack, Patrick G and Shirley W Ryan Foundation.
Where is Lavin Family Foundation based?
Lavin Family Foundation is based in IL.

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 278 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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