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Make It Better Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Make It Better Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$988k
Granted FY2024still arriving
73
Grants FY2024still arriving
13
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$404kArts & Culture$336kPublic Safety & Disaster$216kHuman Services$142kHousing & Shelter$121kInternational$77kEducation$76kScience & Tech$50kOther$0
02FY2024 · 73 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k39 grants · $63k
  • $10k–50k31 grants · $600k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $325k
$5,125
Median grant
13
States reached
$81k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
American Red Cross$125,000
Nurse Family Partnership wire not showing up in gl$100,000
Nurse Family Partnership$100,000
Cradles to Crayon$25,000
KIPP Chicago Schools$25,000
Pres and Fellows of Harvard College$25,000
Art Institute of Chicago$25,000
A Safe Haven$25,000
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center$25,000
After School Matters$25,000
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC$25,000
US Center for Safe Sport$25,000
Good Jobs Institute$25,000
NAMI Chicago$25,000
The Greater Science Center Berkeley$25,000
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 (FY20–24, $258k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Go Campaign: $10k → 14%American Red Cross: $125k → 14%GO Campaign: $1k → 14%American Red Cross: $5k → 14%GO Campaign: $1k → 14%American Red Cross: $1k → 14%Marillac St Vincent Family Services: $10k → 14%Care for Real: $1k → 14%Care for Real: $1k → 14%The Night Ministry: $10k → 14%Shore Community Services: $1k → 14%Metropolitan Family Services: $25k → 14%Children's Home & Aid Society of Illinois: $10k → 14%McGaw YMCA: $20k → 14%McGaw YMCA: $10k → 14%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $16k → 14%The Honeycomb Project: $1k → 14%Share Our Spare: $10k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
IN
OH
PA
CA
CO
MD
DE
DC
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.

29%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$497k · 15 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 51 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
38

Total granted

$497k
$396k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+13%

Still filing today

80%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 17% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $796k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’22’23’24
Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthEducationInternationalEnvironmentOther
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

  • AS
    A SAFE HAVEN FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $50k · revenue +3%
  • CI
    Chicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago
    3× · 2022–2024 · $45k · revenue +164%
  • TJ
    THE JOFFREY BALLET
    3× · 2022–2024 · $36k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • WT
    Writers Theatre Incgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +89%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • LC
    Lurie Children's Hospital
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
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
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
2
Junior Achievement of Chicago

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

International
3
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
4
Goodwill Industries of Northern Il and Wi Stateline Area Inc

The mission of goodwill is to create opportunities for individuals with barriers to enhance their lives. barriers include physical or mental disabilities, lack of education and job preparation, socio-economic disadvantages, and others.…

—
5
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
6
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
7
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
8
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
9
Alternatives Inc

Alternatives, inc.'s mission is to facilitate personal development,strengthen family relationships and enhance the community's well being. serving over 3,000 youth and families annually, the organization offers a range of counseling and…

Health
10
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
11
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Home & Aid Society of Ill; the most unlike its peers is The Record Community News Group. 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

69 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. 69 of the 105 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
69/69
Grantees still filing
41/69
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Nurse Family Partnership wire not showing up in gl: $100,000 · OtherNurse Family Partnership wire not showing up in…Catch a fire: $70,000 · OtherCatch a fireCITY YEAR INC: $30,000 · OtherGoodman Theater: $28,000 · OtherNAMI Chicago: $25,000 · OtherCradles to Crayon: $25,000 · OtherHarris Theater: $25,000 · OtherUS Center for Safe Sport: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherThe Greater Science Center Berkeley: $25,000 · Other+46 more: $341,202 · Other+46 moreAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $131,181 · Human ServicesAmerican National…Young Mens Christian Assoc McGaw Inc: $30,000 · Human ServicesYoung Mens Christ…Metropolitan Family Services: $25,000 · Human ServicesMetropolitan Fami…CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $16,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYON…Go Campaign: $12,000 · Human ServicesShare our Spare: $10,000 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $10,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $10,000 · Human ServicesMARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES INC: $10,000 · Human Services+3 more: $4,000 · Human ServicesNURSE-FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $100,000 · HealthNURSE-FAMILY PAR…A SAFE HAVEN FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthA SAFE HAVEN FOU…ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $45,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISE…ATHLETES AGAINST ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION: $25,000 · HealthATHLETES AGAINST…TWIST OUT CANCER: $11,000 · HealthSide By Side: $10,000 · Health+4 more: $13,500 · HealthChicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago: $45,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Intern…HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC: $45,000 · Arts & CultureHOLOCAUST MEMO…THE JOFFREY BALLET: $36,000 · Arts & CultureTHE JOFFREY BA…CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $28,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO SHAKES…Writers Theatre Inc: $25,000 · Arts & CultureWriters Theatr…SNOW CITY ARTS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE: $10,000 · Arts & CultureLyric Opera of Chicago: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $4,000 · Arts & CultureKIPP CHICAGO SCHOOLS: $25,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $25,000 · EducationAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $25,000 · EducationGOOD JOBS INSTITUTE INC: $25,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $25,000 · Education+2 more: $2,000 · EducationAMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID: $30,163 · InternationalPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $20,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $20,000 · InternationalTHE SAMBURU PROJECT INC: $15,000 · InternationalGARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY ALLIANCE: $35,000 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $10,000 · EnvironmentAmazon Watch Inc: $10,000 · EnvironmentBRUSHWOOD CENTER AT RYERSON WOODS: $2,000 · Environment
Other$719,202Human Services$258,181Health$254,500Arts & Culture$213,000Education$127,000International$85,163Environment$57,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $131,181 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNURSE-FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetA SAFE HAVEN FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago: $45,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetHOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $36,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY ALLIANCE: $35,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID: $30,163 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetYoung Mens Christian Assoc McGaw Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $28,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNAMI Chicago: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKIPP CHICAGO SCHOOLS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetATHLETES AGAINST ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION: $25,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGOOD JOBS INSTITUTE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSARAH'S CIRCLE: $20,698 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $16,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SAMBURU PROJECT INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetINTERFAITH AMERICA: $12,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGo Campaign: $12,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTWIST OUT CANCER: $11,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetCHICAGO FIRE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSTART EARLY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetShare our Spare: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOUSING OPPORTUNITIES AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE ELDERLY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSNOW CITY ARTS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF DIABLO VALLEY: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSide By Side: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBUILD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALLIES FOR COMMUNITY BUSINESS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTH & OPPORTUNITY UNITED INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGOODWILL LEGACY GROUP FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmazon Watch Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $10,000 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.

The Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …Circle of Service Fou…Dr Scholl FoundationArie and Ida Crown Me…United Way of Metropo…AbbVie FoundationThe Coleman Foundatio…Imc Chicago Charitabl…Polk Bros Foundation …Jewish Federation of …The Siragusa Family F…
The Chicago Community TrustIL29.4× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · AbbVie Foundation · The Coleman Foundation Inc · Imc Chicago Charitable Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · The Siragusa Family 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 Make It Better Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Make It Better Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Wild Salmon Center: 49% of income from government
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
17report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Make It Better Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Make It Better 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 105 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 Make It Better’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