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Lavin Family Supporting Foundation at a glance

· Public charity

Lavin Family Supporting Foundation

The Foundation is organized and operated to foster, support, develop, and maintain charitable activities and vital human and educational services by supporting and carrying out the charitable purposes of The Chicago Community Trust by such means as the board of directors of the organization may determine from time to time.

$18M
Granted FY2022
1
Grants FY2022
1
States reached
$18M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2022.

Philanthropy$22MEducation$1.1MFood & Nutrition$270kPublic Safety & Disaster$50kYouth Development$50kHousing & Shelter$35kReligion$30kArts & Culture$25kOther$0
02FY2022 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$18,224,225
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The Chicago Community Foundation$18,224,225
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%DuPage PADS: $10k → 7%Field Museum of Natural History: $25k → 14%CAST Water Safety Foundation: $100k → 14%Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago Inc: $50k → 14%The Chicago Community Foundation: $18.2M → 14%Northwestern Memorial Foundation: $1.3M → 14%Housing Forward: $25k → 14%Lakeview Pantry: $20k → 14%The Thresholds: $20k → 14%The Big Shoulder Fund: $1.0M → 14%The Big Shoulders Fund: $100k → 14%Mission of Our Lady of Mercy: $30k → 14%Breakthrough Urban Ministries Inc: $15k → 14%Enchanted Backpack: $1.0M → 14%Enchanted Backpack: $300k → 14%Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago: $150k → 14%Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago: $150k → 14%Jewish Federation of Metro Chicago: $150k → 14%United Way of Metropolitan Chicago: $50k → 14%The Chicago Community Foundation: $304k → 14%The Chicago Community Trust: $30k → 14%The Chicago Community Trust: $10k → 14%Greater Chicago Food Depository: $250k → 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.
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$21M · 4 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +67% since the first grant, against +46% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2022, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
12

Total granted

$21M
$1.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+67%
+46%

Still filing today

75%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22
PhilanthropyHousing & ShelterEducationFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureOther
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

  • EB
    ENCHANTED BACKPACK
    2× · 2020–2021 · $1.3M · revenue +218% · 47% of their budget
  • BS
    Big Shoulders Fund
    2× · 2020–2021 · $1.1M · revenue +67%
  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    2× · 2019–2020 · $300k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • NM
    NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE
    one grant, 2018 · $1.3M
  • GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY
    one grant, 2020 · $250k · revenue +17%
  • CW
    CAST WATER SAFETY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +37%
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
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
2
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
3
Northern Illinois University Foundation

The niu foundation's mission is to energize and connect the private sector with the niu community to secure and steward resources that support the future and growth of niu.

Education
4
The Richard H Driehaus Foundation
Philanthropy
5
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
6
Chicago House & Social Service Agency

Provides housing and support services to individuals and families impacted by hiv/aids

Health
7
Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance

Cafha provides training and technical assistance to a wide array of stakeholders combating housing discrimination and promoting equitable place-based opportunity through education, advocacy, and collaborative action.

—
8
Chicago's Environmental Fund
—
9
Ywca Metropolitan Chicago

The ywca is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.

Human Services
10
Urban Triage Incorporated

Urban triage transforms culture, institutions, and communities to ensure a humane future.

Philanthropy
11
Chicago Toy & Game Foundation
—
12
United Way of Illinois

Strengthen United Way movement in Illinois

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Breakthrough Urban Ministries Inc; the most unlike its peers is Enchanted Backpack. 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

15 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. 15 of the 18 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
14/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $18,528,225 · OtherCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE: $1,250,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE+4 more: $85,000 · OtherENCHANTED BACKPACK: $1,300,000 · PhilanthropyENCHANTED…JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $300,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UN…JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $150,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FE…CAST WATER SAFETY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $90,000 · PhilanthropyBig Shoulders Fund: $1,100,000 · EducationGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $250,000 · Food & NutritionBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentHOUSING FORWARD: $25,000 · Housing & ShelterDUPAGE PADS INC: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$19,863,225Philanthropy$1,940,000Education$1,100,000Food & Nutrition$250,000Youth Development$50,000Housing & Shelter$35,000Arts & Culture$25,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetENCHANTED BACKPACK: $1,300,000 over 2y, 47% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $1,100,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $300,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAST WATER SAFETY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSING FORWARD: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE THRESHOLDS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDUPAGE PADS INC: $10,000 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.

The Chicago Community…Fidelity Investments …
The Chicago Community TrustIL12.9× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%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
    7report 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 Lavin Family Supporting Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Lavin Family Supporting 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 18 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lavin Family Supporting’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