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Lee Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lee Family Foundation

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.

$275k
Granted FY2025still arriving
67
Grants FY2025still arriving
12
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Human Services$443kEducation$222kFood & Nutrition$199kEnvironment$197kHealth$150kAnimals$121kYouth Development$115kCivil Rights$98kOther$0
02FY2025 · 67 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k56 grants · $140k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $135k
$2,500
Median grant
12
States reached
$7.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK$20,000
MAINSTAY THERAPEUTIC FARM$20,000
CITIZENS FOR SELF GOVERNENCE$15,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
ALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES$10,000
UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY$10,000
SALVATION ARMY$10,000
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION$10,000
PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$10,000
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDENS$10,000
THE CRADLE FOUNDATION$10,000
RAINFOREST TRUST$7,500
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP CHURCH$6,000
FATHER GENE'S HELP CENTER$5,000
SHEDD AQUARIUM$5,000
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 (FY17–25, $277k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 51% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%MAINSTAY THERAPEUTIC FARM: $20k → 6%MAINSTAY THERAPEUTIC FARM: $20k → 6%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $5k → 8%MAINSTAY THERAPEUTIC FARM: $15k → 6%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $5k → 8%MAINSTAY THERAPEUTIC FARM: $13k → 6%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $3k → 8%MAINSTAY THERAPEUTIC FARM: $10k → 6%KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $3k → 8%MAINSTAY THERAPEUTIC FARM: $10k → 6%SHOES THAT FIT: $5k → 14%MAIN STAY THERAPUTC FARM: $8k → 6%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $5k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $5k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $4k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $3k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $3k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $3k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $3k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $3k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTEAD: $2k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $16k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%THE CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%SALUTE INC: $5k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%SALUTE INC: $5k → 14%THE CRADLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%SALUTE INC: $2k → 14%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
IN
OH
NJ
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
DC
OK
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 88 repeat orgs$137k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

88 repeat relationships: 53 still active in FY2025, 35 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

88
26

Total granted

$2.1M
$103k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+16%

Still filing today

65%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $34k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureHealthAnimalsYouth 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

  • NI
    NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK
    9× · 2017–2025 · $150k · revenue +43%
  • TC
    The Cradle Foundation
    9× · 2017–2025 · $96k · revenue +41%
  • MS
    MAIN STAY THERAPEUTIC FARM INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $95k · revenue +79%

Funded once

  • LB
    LAKE BLUFF PARK DISTRICT
    one grant, 2019 · $20k
  • CC
    CLEVELAND CLINIC AKRON GENERAL
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
  • Z
    Z-CENTER
    one grant, 2024 · $8k
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
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.

—
2
Lake Forest College

Provide post-secondary education leading to a baccalaureate degree. Program service expenditures are made in conjunction with the operation of a liberal arts college spread over 107 acres with approximately 63 educational and support…

Education
3
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
4
American Water Works Association

To promote public health, safety, and welfare through the improvement of the quality and quantity of drinking water and the development and furtherance of understanding of the problems relating thereto.

Public Benefit
5
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
6
The Chicago Bar Foundation

The chicago bar foundation brings the legal community together through advocacy, funding, and innovation to improve access to justice for people in need and to make the legal system more fair, equitable, and effective.

Education
7
Volunteers of America of Illinois

Volunteers of america of illinois partners with the people we serve to create transformational and lasting change in their lives through programs that support, empower, and transform.

—
8
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
9
Midwest Dairy Association

Midwest dairy works with others to give consumers an excellent dairy experience increasing sales, fostering innovation, and inspiring consumer confidence of dairy products and practices.

—
10
Lincoln Park Zoological Society

Lincoln park zoo is dedicated to connecting people with nature by providing a free, family-oriented wildlife experience in the heart of chicago and by advancing the highest quality of animal care, horticulture, education, science and…

Animals
11
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
12
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Eagle Community Organization. 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

78 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. 78 of the 130 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)
22
Early backer (in before they grew)
77/78
Grantees still filing
56/78
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SALVATION ARMY: $90,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMYSHELLYS ANGELS SAVING STRAYS INC: $72,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $70,000 · OtherLAKE COUNTY CRISIS CENTER: $55,000 · OtherOUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP CHURCH: $53,500 · OtherST PETER THE APOSTLE CHURCHSCHOOL: $50,000 · OtherCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $90,000 · OtherCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY+91 more: $927,274 · Other+91 moreThe Cradle Foundation: $96,000 · Human ServicesThe Cradle Fo…MAIN STAY THERAPEUTIC FARM INC: $95,000 · Human ServicesMAIN STAY THE…Center on Halsted: $27,500 · Human ServicesCenter on Hal…Mothers Trust Foundation: $19,000 · Human ServicesMothers Trust…KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $15,000 · Human ServicesKEEPING FAMIL…SALUTE INC: $11,750 · Human Services+3 more: $12,600 · Human ServicesNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $150,000 · Food & NutritionNORTHERN …THE NON-GMO PROJECT: $17,500 · Food & NutritionTHE NON-G…MUKWONAGO FOOD PANTRY: $13,500 · Food & NutritionMUKWONAGO…CITIZENS FOR SELF-GOVERNANCE: $112,500 · Civil RightsPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $35,000 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $12,000 · EducationCOMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF LAKE COUNTY: $9,500 · EducationDENISON UNIVERSITY: $9,000 · EducationBelmont University: $8,000 · EducationSouthern Methodist University: $7,500 · EducationKAPPA ALPHA THETA FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 · EducationLOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $5,000 · EducationLAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $3,500 · Education+3 more: $4,700 · EducationTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $47,500 · InternationalRAINFOREST TRUST: $40,000 · InternationalFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $10,000 · InternationalUNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC: $70,000 · PhilanthropyKIWANIS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropyNEW MEXICO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $7,500 · PhilanthropyLittle Heroes League: $3,250 · Philanthropy
Other$1,408,274Human Services$276,850Food & Nutrition$181,000Civil Rights$112,500Education$101,200International$97,500Philanthropy$95,750

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $150,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCITIZENS FOR SELF-GOVERNANCE: $112,500 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetThe Cradle Foundation: $96,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetMAIN STAY THERAPEUTIC FARM INC: $95,000 over 7y, 1.5% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $90,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC: $70,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetLAKE COUNTY CRISIS CENTER: $55,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $47,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LAKE COUNTY HAVEN: $41,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetRAINFOREST TRUST: $40,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetZACHARIAS SEXUAL ABUSE CENTER: $37,500 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetChildrens Oncology Services Inc: $30,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCenter on Halsted: $27,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetThe CROYA Foundation Inc: $27,500 over 9y, 17% of budgetBERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $26,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $26,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES: $25,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $24,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $24,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetREADING POWER INC: $20,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetWINGS PROGRAM INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMothers Trust Foundation: $19,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetTHE NON-GMO PROJECT: $17,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetKEEPING FAMILIES COVERED: $15,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetKIWANIS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMUKWONAGO FOOD PANTRY: $13,500 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetNAMI National: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBRAVO WAUKEGAN: $12,500 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetORPHANS OF THE STORM: $12,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetAUTISM SPEAKS INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY LAKE COUNTY: $12,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSALUTE INC: $11,750 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetPeggy Lillis Foundation: $11,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $10,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetEAGLE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: $10,000 over 3y, 87% of budgetEAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF LAKE COUNTY: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDENISON UNIVERSITY: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBelmont University: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNEW MEXICO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $7,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGorton Community Center: $7,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetKAPPA ALPHA THETA FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $6,750 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDEBORAH'S PLACE: $5,800 over 4y, 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.

  • Who funds NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds CITIZENS FOR SELF-GOVERNANCE ↗
  • Who funds The Cradle Foundation ↗
  • Who funds MAIN STAY THERAPEUTIC FARM INC ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKE COUNTY CRISIS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE LAKE COUNTY HAVEN ↗
  • Who funds RAINFOREST TRUST ↗
  • Who funds ZACHARIAS SEXUAL ABUSE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Childrens Oncology Services Inc ↗
  • Who funds Center on Halsted ↗
  • Who funds The CROYA Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds BERNIE'S BOOK BANK ↗
  • Who funds SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds ALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES ↗
  • Who funds THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JUDICIAL WATCH INC ↗
  • Who funds READING POWER INC ↗
  • Who funds WINGS PROGRAM INC ↗
  • Who funds Mothers Trust Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE NON-GMO PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds KEEPING FAMILIES COVERED ↗
  • Who funds ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗

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 FoundationThe Chicago Community…Kiwanis Foundation of…Baxter International …The Lake County Commu…John and Kathleen Sch…Trustmark FoundationButler Family Foundat…Baird Foundation IncNSTS Charitable Found…Garrett Family Founda…The Grainger Foundati…
AbbVie FoundationIL28.2× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: AbbVie Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest · Baxter International Foundation · The Lake County Community Foundation · John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy · Trustmark Foundation · Butler Family Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · NSTS Charitable Foundation Inc · Garrett Family Foundation · The Grainger Foundation 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 Lee Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lee Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 130 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 Lee 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