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MEB Charitable Foundation DBA Robbins-Berger Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

MEB Charitable Foundation DBA Robbins-Berger Charitable 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.

$261k
Granted FY2024still arriving
37
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Food & Nutrition$253kArts & Culture$115kHealth$103kPhilanthropy$86kCivil Rights$72kHuman Services$65kYouth Development$48kAnimals$42kOther$0
02FY2024 · 37 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k27 grants · $88k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $123k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$5.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$50,000
JEWISH UNITED FUND$33,000
THE THEATRE LAB$15,000
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum$15,000
CAMP FOR ALL KIDS$10,000
Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina$10,000
Nourishing Hope$10,000
PAWS CHICAGO$10,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF ILLINOIS$10,000
LOU AND JEAN MALNATI BRAIN TUMOR INSTITUTE$10,000
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights$7,000
One Family Illinois$5,000
ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM$5,000
HIGH JUMP$5,000
HIAS$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 (FY21–24, $60k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Cradles to Crayons: $2k → 8%CAMP KESEM: $5k → 14%CAMP KESEM: $1k → 14%Night Ministry: $5k → 14%Night Ministry: $5k → 14%Night Ministry: $5k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $5k → 14%CONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN: $5k → 14%CONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN: $5k → 14%CONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN: $5k → 14%CONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN: $1k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%One Family Illinois: $5k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES ILLINOIS: $1k → 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

MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
OH
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
HI
TX
FL
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$837k · 45 repeat orgs$69k to everyone else

45 repeat relationships: 34 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

45
11

Total granted

$837k
$55k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
+36%

Still filing today

78%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationFood & NutritionHealthHuman ServicesAnimalsOther
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

  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    4× · 2021–2024 · $71k · revenue +33%
  • TU
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    3× · 2022–2024 · $40k · revenue +8%
  • TT
    THE THEATRE LAB INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $40k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue -45%
  • SH
    STUDENTS HELPING HONDURAS INC DBA ONE THOUSAND SCHOOLSgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +58%
  • MH
    MAUI HUMANE SOCIETYgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +79%
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
Legal Aid Chicago

At legal aid chicago, we work together to provide high quality civil legal aid to people living in poverty and other vulnerable groups.through advocacy, education, collaboration, and litigation we empower individuals, protect fundamental…

Crime & Legal
2
Center for Housing and Health

Chh honors every person's right to a home and health care, by bridging the housing and health care systems, to improve the lives of chicagoans experiencing homelessness.

Housing & Shelter
3
Chicago Children's Advocacy Center

The chicago children's advocacy center unites public, private, and community partners to ensure the safety, health, and well-being of abused children.

Crime & Legal
4
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
5
Aids Foundation of Chicago

The aids foundation of chicago mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to hiv and related chronic disease.

Health
6
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
7
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
8
Nijc Nfp

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) is a leader in advancing immigrant rights through its unique strategy drawing on its legal services to promote legal reform through litigation, advocacy and strategic communications.

Crime & Legal
9
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
10
The Global FoodBanking Network

To nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.

International
11
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
12
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Immigration Law Center; the most unlike its peers is Camp for All Kids. 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

48 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. 48 of the 60 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/48
Grantees still filing
30/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $210,000 · Food & NutritionGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSIT…FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $10,000 · Food & Nutrition+3 more: $13,000 · Food & Nutrition+3 moreLOU AND JEAN MALNATI BRAIN TUMOR INSTITUTE: $40,000 · OtherLOU AND JEAN MALNATI BRAIN TUMOR INSTITUTENOURISHING HOPE: $20,000 · OtherNOURISHING HOPEILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM: $16,000 · OtherHoward Brown Health Center: $12,000 · OtherCamp for All Kids: $30,000 · OtherCamp for All KidsRole Model Movement Inc (NFP): $12,000 · OtherPAWS CHICAGO: $26,000 · OtherPAWS CHICAGOHIGH JUMP: $16,000 · OtherHIAS INC: $15,500 · OtherGENDER JUSTICE: $15,000 · OtherNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $15,000 · OtherREFUGEEONE: $13,500 · Other+22 more: $121,000 · Other+22 moreThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $40,000 · Arts & CultureThe United …THE THEATRE LAB INC: $39,850 · Arts & CultureTHE THEATRE…FRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF …+3 more: $6,000 · Arts & Culture+3 moreJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $70,500 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNI…HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropyHAWAII COM…THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $20,000 · Human ServicesONE FAMILY ILLINOIS: $16,000 · Human ServicesCONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN: $16,000 · Human ServicesCamp Kesem National: $6,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $31,000 · HealthRape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): $10,000 · HealthTWLOHA INC: $6,000 · HealthELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 · HealthHOPE FOR THE DAY: $2,000 · HealthILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS: $17,000 · Civil RightsMIDWEST ACCESS COALITION: $15,000 · Civil RightsNATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $11,000 · Civil Rights
Food & Nutrition$233,000Other$352,000Arts & Culture$95,850Philanthropy$85,500Human Services$60,000Health$51,000Civil Rights$43,000

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 budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $210,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $70,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE THEATRE LAB INC: $39,850 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $31,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCamp for All Kids: $30,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $26,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS: $17,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetONE FAMILY ILLINOIS: $16,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH JUMP: $16,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN: $16,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHIAS INC: $15,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIDWEST ACCESS COALITION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGENDER JUSTICE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetREFUGEEONE: $13,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHoward Brown Health Center: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRole Model Movement Inc (NFP): $12,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES: $8,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLAUREL SCHOOL: $8,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Anti-Cruelty Society: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCamp Kesem National: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS: $6,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTWLOHA INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFLORENCE IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE RIGHTS PROJECT INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO ABORTION FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF THE MAHONING VALLEY: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUTH FOR JUSTICE RIGHTS IN IRAN: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE FOR THE DAY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPUPPET CO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

AbbVie FoundationThe Chicago Community…United Way of Metropo…John D and Catherine …National Philanthropi…Baird Foundation IncJpmorgan Chase Founda…Vanguard Charitable E…The Pfizer Foundation…The Blackbaud Giving …American Online Givin…Morgan Stanley Global…
AbbVie FoundationIL14.8× affinity6 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 · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Baird Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 MEB Charitable Foundation DBA Robbins-Berger Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from MEB Charitable Foundation DBA Robbins-Berger Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 88%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 60 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 MEB Charitable Foundation DBA Robbins-Berger’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