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Mazza Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Mazza Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
36
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$300k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$4.6MHealth$2.5MHuman Services$1.8MArts & Culture$1.0MReligion$530kPhilanthropy$500kScience & Tech$170kHousing & Shelter$155kOther$0
02FY2025 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $297k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $450k
  • $250k+5 grants · $1.4M
$15,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$34M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BIG SHOULDERS FUND$300,000
MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION$300,000
LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$300,000
DEPAUL UNIVERSITY$250,000
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$250,000
ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO$200,000
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO$125,000
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO$75,000
LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE$50,000
GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL$40,000
LINCOLN PARK ZOO$30,000
GRIFFIN MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY$25,000
CHRIST THE KING JESUIT COLLEGE PREP$20,000
LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY$20,000
GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$15,000
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 (FY20–25, $1.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WOMEN'S CARE CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 13%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $10k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $10k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $10k → 14%Inspiration Corporation: $10k → 14%Inspiration Corporation: $10k → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $5k → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $5k → 14%Night Ministry: $5k → 14%Marillac St Vincent Family Services: $5k → 14%Night Ministry: $5k → 14%MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $300k → 14%MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $300k → 14%MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $300k → 14%MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $300k → 14%Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly: $25k → 14%Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly: $20k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $20k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $20k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $20k → 14%LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $20k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $15k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $15k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $15k → 14%CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $15k → 14%Chicago Lighthouse: $10k → 14%Chicago Lighthouse: $10k → 14%Chicago Help Initiative: $10k → 14%CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: $5k → 14%Northwestern University Settlement Association: $25k → 14%Northwestern University Settlement Association: $25k → 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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 56 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

56 repeat relationships: 32 still active in FY2025, 24 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

56
23

Total granted

$11M
$825k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
-6%

Still filing today

61%
17%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $225k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationHealthCommunity ImprovementYouth 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

  • BS
    Big Shoulders Fund
    6× · 2020–2025 · $1.7M · revenue +67%
  • DU
    DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +7%
  • MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION
    4× · 2022–2025 · $1.2M · revenue +286%

Funded once

  • LO
    Lyric Opera of Chicago (Don Giovanni)
    one grant, 2020 · $150k
  • MH
    Misericordia Heart of Mercy
    one grant, 2021 · $100k
  • AO
    Archdiocese of Chicago - COVID 19 Relief Fund
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
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
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
3
Concordia University Chicago

Steadfast in jesus christ as revealed in the holy scriptures, concordia university chicago promotes academic rigor in its liberal arts and professional programs; grounds students in objective truth, integrity, and excellence; and practices…

Education
4
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
5
The Chicago High School for the Arts

The chicago high school for the arts (chiarts) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar-artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory…

Education
6
Covenant House Chicago
—
7
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
8
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
9
Music Institute of Chicago

The music institute of chicago ("music institute") leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music, by providing widely accessible resources for high quality music teaching, performing, and service activities.

Arts & Culture
10
Students Run Chicago
Health
11
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
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 The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired; the most unlike its peers is The Chicago Academy of Sciences. 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

40 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. 40 of the 83 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
40/40
Grantees still filing
25/40
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: $1,200,000 · OtherLurie Children's Hospital of ChicagoNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONLURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $600,000 · OtherLURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITALLUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE: $265,000 · OtherLOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO - ARRUPE COLLEGE: $250,000 · OtherLoyola University Arrupe College: $250,000 · OtherRED CLOUD INDIAN SCHOOL: $225,000 · OtherARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO: $200,000 · Other+49 more: $1,750,500 · Other+49 moreBig Shoulders Fund: $1,700,000 · EducationBig Shoulders FundDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $1,250,000 · EducationDEPAUL UNIVERSITYLOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $250,000 · EducationLOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO+2 more: $85,000 · EducationMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $1,200,000 · Human ServicesMISERICORDIA FO…LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $125,000 · Human ServicesLITTLE BROTHERS…THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $80,000 · Human Services+6 more: $150,000 · Human Services+6 moreLyric Opera of Chicago: $300,000 · Arts & CultureGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $190,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $150,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $125,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $60,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $35,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $50,000 · Arts & CultureLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $140,000 · AnimalsGILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO: $50,000 · HealthHIGHSIGHT: $35,000 · Community Improvement
Other$5,740,500Education$3,285,000Human Services$1,555,000Arts & Culture$910,000Animals$140,000Health$50,000Community Improvement$35,000

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 budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $1,700,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $1,250,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $1,200,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $300,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE: $265,000 over 6y, 3.2% of budgetLOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $250,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $190,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetLITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR CHICAGO ST MARY'S HOME: $150,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $150,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $140,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $125,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetLITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $125,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $80,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLOYOLA PRESS: $70,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCristo Rey St Martin College Prep: $65,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO: $50,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetInspiration Corporation: $50,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetALLENDALE ASSOCIATION: $38,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHIGHSIGHT: $35,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTHE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $35,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSt Leonard's Ministries: $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetHorizons for Youth: $30,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAlexian Brothers Bonaventure House: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSING OPPORTUNITIES AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE ELDERLY INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: $15,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ILLINOIS PATRONS OF THE ARTS IN THE VATICAN MUSEUMS: $12,500 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetST JOSEPH THE PROTECTOR FDN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE IGNITES CHICAGO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNITING VOICES: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMARILLAC ST VINCENT FAMILY SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWEST TOWN BIKES NFP: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% 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.

  • Who funds Big Shoulders Fund ↗
  • Who funds DEPAUL UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR CHICAGO ST MARY'S HOME ↗
  • Who funds Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE BROTHERS - FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED ↗
  • Who funds LOYOLA PRESS ↗
  • Who funds Cristo Rey St Martin College Prep ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds GILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Inspiration Corporation ↗
  • Who funds ALLENDALE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds HIGHSIGHT ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ↗

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…Helen V Brach Foundat…United Way of Metropo…WP & HB White Foundat…Dr Scholl FoundationAbbVie FoundationThe Service Club of C…John D and Catherine …Jewish Federation of …The Seabury FoundationGeorge M Eisenberg Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…
The Chicago Community TrustIL32.5× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Helen V Brach Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · WP & HB White Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · The Service Club of Chicago · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · The Seabury Foundation · George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 Mazza Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mazza Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 Mazza Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Mazza 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 83 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 Mazza’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