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Lydia and Gus Backer Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lydia and Gus Backer 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.

$39k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2024.

Health$18kPublic Safety & Disaster$9kPublic Benefit$8kReligion$5kArts & Culture$3kFood & Nutrition$3kInternational$3kEnvironment$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k15 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$1,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$534k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley$10,000
World Central Kitchen$5,000
Mayo Clinic$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Unicef$2,500
Shirley Ryan Ability Lab$2,500
The Obama Foundation$2,500
Orphans of the Storm Animal Shelter$1,000
Greater Chicago Food Depository$1,000
Writers Theatre$1,000
Entertainment Community Fund$1,000
Food Bank of New York City$1,000
Amnesty International$500
Humane Society of Marathon County$500
Desert Botanic Garden$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY23–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 66% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Desert Botanic Garden: $500 → 11%Mayo Clinic: $5k → 9%Hawaii Community Foundation: $3k → 9%Food Bank of New York City: $1k → 17%PayPal Giving Fund PPGF: $50 → 14%Humane Society of Marathon County: $500 → 11%Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley: $10k → 7%Orphans of the Storm Animal Shelter: $1k → 8%Gabriels Light: $5k → 14%Food Bank of New York City: $500 → 17%World Central Kitchen: $5k → 14%Orphans of the Storm Animal Shelter: $1k → 8%Gabriels Light: $5k → 14%World Central Kitchen: $3k → 14%Highwood Public Library: $500 → 8%North Shore Country Day: $1k → 14%Lake Forest Open Lands Association: $1k → 8%Entertainment Community Fund: $1k → 14%The Community Church: $5k → 8%The Art Institute of Chicago: $210 → 14%American Red Cross: $1k → 14%Art Institute of Chicago: $210 → 14%Writers Theatre: $1k → 14%Writers Theatre: $1k → 14%Chicago Botanic Garden: $189 → 14%Unicef: $3k → 14%Shirley Ryan Ability Lab: $3k → 14%St Jude Children's Research Hospita: $200 → 14%The Obama Foundation: $5k → 14%The Obama Foundation: $3k → 14%Chicago Public Library Foundation: $1k → 14%Friends of the Chicago River: $1k → 14%Greater Chicago Food Depository: $1k → 14%Greater Chicago Food Depository: $500 → 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.

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$33k · 8 repeat orgs$28k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
10

Total granted

$33k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
-6%

Still filing today

88%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 49% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $18k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentAnimalsEducationHealthInternationalOther
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

  • WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $8k · revenue +36%
  • THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $8k · revenue +49%
  • WT
    Writers Theatre Inc
    2× · 2023–2024 · $2k · revenue +89%

Funded once

  • CC
    COMMUNITY CHURCH
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
  • AR
    American Red Cross
    one grant, 2023 · $1k
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE CHICAGO RIVER
    one grant, 2023 · $1k · revenue +15%
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
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
2
Chicago Zoological Society

To inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature.

Animals
3
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
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
Children's Museum of Illinois

The operation of a children's museum.

Arts & Culture
6
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
7
The Chicago Club

The chicago club is and shall continue to be the premier club in the city of chicago, serving the business, civic, educational, and philanthropic leaders, and their families, by providing a private club with outstanding dining, service,…

—
8
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.

—
9
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
10
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
11
Nourishing Hope

Nourishing hope provides food, mental health support, and social services to help all our neighbors thrive.

—
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Horticultural Society; the most unlike its peers is Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. 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

17 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. 17 of the 27 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
11/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCOMMUNITY CHURCH: $4,750 · OtherCOMMUNITY CHURCHUnicef: $2,500 · OtherUnicefAmerican Red Cross: $1,000 · OtherEntertainment Community Fund: $1,000 · OtherNorth Shore Country Day: $1,000 · OtherGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $1,500 · OtherGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORYFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $1,500 · OtherFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITYCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Other+5 more: $1,670 · Other+5 moreEASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX VALLEY REGION: $10,000 · HealthEASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX…MAYO CLINIC: $5,000 · HealthMAYO CLINICRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $2,500 · HealthRehabilitation Institute of C…THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $7,500 · Arts & CultureTHE BARACK OBAMA …Writers Theatre Inc: $2,000 · Arts & CultureWriters Theatre I…FRIENDS OF THE CHICAGO RIVER: $1,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THE CH…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $7,600 · InternationalWORLD CENTRA…HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,500 · PhilanthropyORPHANS OF THE STORM: $2,000 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY OF MARATHON COUNTY INC: $500 · AnimalsLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION: $1,000 · EnvironmentDESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $500 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $189 · Environment
Other$25,920Health$17,500Arts & Culture$10,500International$7,600Philanthropy$2,500Animals$2,500Environment$1,689

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 budgetEASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX VALLEY REGION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $7,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetORPHANS OF THE STORM: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE CHICAGO RIVER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF MARATHON COUNTY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $420 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $189 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.

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.

American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
American Online Giving Foundation IncDE7.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Lydia and Gus Backer Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lydia and Gus Backer Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%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
    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 27 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

    Play a game based on Lydia and Gus Backer 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