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· Private foundation

Mark Morton Memorial Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$724k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$102k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0198% classified

What you funded, over time

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

Health$1.4MHuman Services$1.3MHousing & Shelter$643kEducation$601kYouth Development$541kReligion$540kFood & Nutrition$231kArts & Culture$195kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k4 grants · $100k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $624k
$73,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE$102,000
WAYSIDE CROSS MINISTRIES$100,000
SCHEDULE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST$80,278
MAYWOOD FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION$75,000
AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE$75,000
CIRCLE URBAN MINISTRIES$73,000
CHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS$65,000
REBUILDING TOGETHER METRO CHICAGO$53,665
OUTREACH COMMUNITY MINISTRIES$35,000
KIDS ABOVE ALL$25,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LAKE COUNTY$20,000
SCHEDULE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST$19,683
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY17–24, $1.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 65% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE OUTREACH HOUSE: $57k → 7%MARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 14%OUTREACH COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $35k → 7%HESED HOUSE: $100k → 8%OUTREACH COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $25k → 7%HESED HOUSE: $100k → 8%HESED HOUSE: $50k → 8%TURNING POINTE AUTISM FOUNDATION: $43k → 7%LITTLE FRIENDS: $26k → 7%RAVENSWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $50k → 14%TURNING POINT AUTISM FOUNDATION: $20k → 7%LOAVES & FISHES COMMUNITY SERVICES: $4k → 7%RAVENSWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $27k → 14%MISERICORDIA HOME: $25k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $50k → 14%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $40k → 14%CRADLES TO CRAYONS CHICAGO: $51k → 14%NEW MOMS INC: $100k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $85k → 14%NEW MOMS: $50k → 14%NEW MOMS INC: $25k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $33k → 14%ALICIA'S HOUSE: $50k → 14%ORCHARD VILLAGE: $56k → 14%COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES: $21k → 14%COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES: $21k → 14%THE CRADLE FOUNDATION: $75k → 14%COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES INC: $15k → 14%CIRCLE URBAN MINISTRIES: $73k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

53%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$3.0M · 20 repeat orgs$2.6M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +78% since the first grant, against +24% for the ones you funded once.

20 repeat relationships — 6 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
51

Total granted

$3.0M
$2.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+78%
+24%

Still filing today

65%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $297k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationHousing & ShelterHealthCommunity ImprovementYouth DevelopmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • PA
    PUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE
    3× · 2017–2021 · $250k · revenue +139%
  • CY
    CHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INC
    3× · 2017–2024 · $185k · revenue +7%
  • NM
    NEW MOMS INC
    3× · 2018–2022 · $175k · revenue +79%

Funded once

  • JA
    JOSEPHINUM ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART
    one grant, 2022 · $85k
  • AH
    ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGOgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $85k · revenue +48%
  • AH
    A HOUSE IN AUSTINgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $80k · revenue +277% · 63% of their budget

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — 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
Erie Neighborhood House

Erie neighborhood house provides the most comprehensive support to immigrant and low-income families in chicago. our mission is to empower our communitylatinx immigrants alongside individuals and families of all backgroundsthrough…

Human Services
3
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
4
Oak Leyden Developmental Services Inc

To help people with developmental disabilities meet life's challenges and reach their highest potential.

—
5
You Can Make It

Providing interim housing for men, women and children, social services, homeless services, emergency shelter, and housing in chicago community for the homeless, poor and disadvantaged.

Human Services
6
Child Link Inc

Child Link provides foster care, family counseling, and therapy services to Chicago area adolescents who are at risk of homelessness. Child Link also refers adolescents to other agencies that are able to provide additional resources and…

Human Services
7
Christopher House

Christopher house is a family of schools that helps children and families succeed in school, the workplace, and life. through our unique and innovative approach, we are effectively closing the opportunity gap through a continuum of…

Human Services
8
Housing Opportunities and Maintenance for the Elderly Inc

Committed to improving the quality of life for chicago's low-income elderly, housing opportunities and maintenance for the elderly (h.o.m.e.) helps seniors remain independent and part of their community by offering opportunities for…

—
9
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.…

—
10
Chicago Heightening Opportunity and Potential for

Providing academic support to children experiencing homelessness in Chicago and providing resources and services to families experiencing homelessness in Chicago.

Education
11
Lakeside Community Committee

To enhance the quality of life for children and families by inspiring hope and empowerment and growth within all whom we serve.

Human Services
12
The Affordable Housing Corporation of Lake County

To provide decent, safe and sanitary housing that is affordable to low and moderate-income persons and to stabilize and strengthen communities by improving the local housing stock. the corporation shall administer programs that revitalize…

Human Services

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Moms Inc and the most unlike its peers is The Home 2 Home Project. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 34 years old; the field is 18. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number20%0%<5yr14%4%5–10yr18%13%10–20yr17%38%20–35yr15%22%35–55yr16%24%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value20%0%<5yr14%3%5–10yr18%7%10–20yr17%34%20–35yr15%30%35–55yr16%26%55yr+

The field is 20% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 15% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/56
the rest of the field
15%
5,555/36,703

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

54 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 54 of the 76 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/54
Grantees still filing
40/54
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

SCHEDULE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST — $561,075 · OtherSCHEDULE AVAILABLE UPON REQUESTWAYSIDE CROSS MINISTRIES — $252,500 · OtherWAYSIDE CROSS MINISTRIESCHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INC — $185,000 · OtherCHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INCONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE — $174,050 · OtherCHRIST THE KING JESUIT COLLEGE PREP — $172,513 · OtherKids Above All Illinois — $155,000 · OtherNAOMI'S HOUSE — $125,000 · OtherTHE FIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ART CENTER — $120,000 · OtherILLINOIS PARTNERS IN HOPE — $119,000 · Other+32 more — $1,479,928 · Other+32 morePUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE — $250,000 · Human ServicesPUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER S…NEW MOMS INC — $175,000 · Human ServicesNEW MOMS INCCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC — $90,940 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INCASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO — $85,000 · Human ServicesASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICA…RAVENSWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC — $77,000 · Human ServicesRAVENSWOOD COMMUNITY SERVI…The Cradle Foundation — $75,000 · Human ServicesThe Cradle FoundationCIRCLE URBAN MINISTRIES — $73,000 · Human ServicesCIRCLE URBAN MINISTRIESTURNING POINTE AUTISM FOUNDATION — $62,600 · Human ServicesOUTREACH COMMUNITY MINISTRIES — $60,000 · Human ServicesTHE OUTREACH HOUSE — $57,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES INC — $56,550 · Human ServicesORCHARD VILLAGE — $55,500 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRY — $50,000 · Human ServicesALICIA'S HOUSE INC — $50,000 · Human Services+5 more — $107,845 · Human Services+5 moreHOUSING FORWARD — $160,000 · Housing & ShelterREBUILDING TOGETHER METRO CHICAGO — $53,665 · Housing & ShelterTHE HOME 2 HOME PROJECT — $50,000 · Housing & ShelterSARAH'S CIRCLE — $50,000 · Housing & ShelterAPNA GHAR INC — $30,000 · Housing & ShelterYoung Mens Educational Network — $108,000 · EducationA HOUSE IN AUSTIN — $80,000 · EducationELIM CHRISTIAN SERVICES — $38,000 · EducationNORTH LAWNDALE COLLEGE PREPARATORY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL INC — $34,000 · EducationJUDSON UNIVERSITY A BAPTIST INSTITUTION — $11,200 · EducationAVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE — $75,000 · EmploymentNORTH LAWNDALE EMPLOYMENT NETWORK — $60,000 · EmploymentWILL COUNTY CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS — $75,000 · Community ImprovementGREATER AUBURN GRESHAM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — $50,000 · Community ImprovementHEROIN EPIDEMIC RELIEF ORGANIZATION — $75,000 · HealthCANINE THERAPY CORPS INC — $15,000 · Health
Other$3,344,066Human Services$1,325,435Housing & Shelter$343,665Education$271,200Employment$135,000Community Improvement$125,000Health$90,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetPUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE — $250,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetCHICAGO YOUTH PROGRAMS INC — $185,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetNEW MOMS INC — $175,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE — $174,050 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetHOUSING FORWARD — $160,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetKids Above All Illinois — $155,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetYoung Mens Educational Network — $108,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC — $90,940 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO — $85,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetA HOUSE IN AUSTIN — $80,000 over 1y, 63% of budgetRAVENSWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC — $77,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetThe Cradle Foundation — $75,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC — $75,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWILL COUNTY CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS — $75,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHEROIN EPIDEMIC RELIEF ORGANIZATION — $75,000 over 2y, 53% of budgetHEPHZIBAH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION — $75,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBEDS PLUS INC — $75,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetAVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE — $75,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMaywood Fine Arts Association — $75,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetCIRCLE URBAN MINISTRIES — $73,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetCHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER — $67,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTURNING POINTE AUTISM FOUNDATION — $62,600 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetNORTH LAWNDALE EMPLOYMENT NETWORK — $60,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetOUTREACH COMMUNITY MINISTRIES — $60,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE OUTREACH HOUSE — $57,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES INC — $56,550 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetORCHARD VILLAGE — $55,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetREBUILDING TOGETHER METRO CHICAGO — $53,665 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetGREATER AUBURN GRESHAM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE HOME 2 HOME PROJECT — $50,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetSARAH'S CIRCLE — $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBIG BROTHERS-BIG SISTERS OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO — $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY — $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING — $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetALICIA'S HOUSE INC — $50,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetGLEN ELLYN FOOD PANTRY — $46,230 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWEST TOWN BIKES NFP — $45,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetWEST SUBURBAN COMMUNITY PANTRY INC — $40,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetELIM CHRISTIAN SERVICES — $38,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH LAWNDALE COLLEGE PREPARATORY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL INC — $34,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY — $33,245 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetStorycatchers — $30,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetAPNA GHAR INC — $30,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF FISHER HOUSE - ILLINOIS INC — $26,900 over 1y, 18% of budgetLITTLE FRIENDS INC — $26,100 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMISERICORDIA HOME — $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBoys & Girls Club of Lake County — $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Chicago Community…United Way of Metropo…George M Eisenberg Fo…John D and Catherine …The Dupage Community …Circle of Service Fou…The Service Club of C…Advocate Health and H…Polk Bros Foundation …Greater Chicago Food …AbbVie FoundationNorthwestern Memorial…
The Chicago Community TrustIL46× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Dupage Community Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · The Service Club of Chicago · Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Greater Chicago Food Depository · AbbVie Foundation · Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Mark Morton Memorial Fund funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%your share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc — 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
27report 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

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Mark Morton Memorial Fund?

Find your warmest path to Mark Morton Memorial Fund 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 76 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines