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Novakphares Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Novakphares Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$30k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Food & Nutrition$40kHuman Services$32kArts & Culture$30kCivil Rights$21kHousing & Shelter$20kHealth$14kEducation$7kPhilanthropy$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$2,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$161k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK$10,000
THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN$5,000
THE V FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH$2,500
THE TREVOR PROJECT$2,500
INSPIRATION CORPORATION$2,500
INTONATION MUSIC$2,500
CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC$2,500
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH$2,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $47k) 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%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $3k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $3k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $3k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $3k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $3k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $2k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $2k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $1k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $1k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILLINOIS: $4k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILLINOIS: $2k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE ILLINOIS: $1k → 14%SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE 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.
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$165k · 10 repeat orgs$18k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against -11% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
3

Total granted

$165k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
-11%

Still filing today

80%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 75% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesCivil RightsHealthFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentEducationOther
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

  • NI
    NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK
    9× · 2017–2025 · $40k · revenue +43%
  • OF
    ONE FAMILY ILLINOIS
    8× · 2017–2024 · $27k · revenue +49%
  • HR
    HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $21k · revenue +20%

Funded once

  • EC
    EMERALD CITY ONE FUND
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
  • TM
    THE MALALA FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $3k · revenue -11%
  • JR
    JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $3k · revenue -21%
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
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
2
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
3
Junior Achievement of Chicago

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

International
4
Friends of the Children - Chicago

Friends of the children - chicago has a mission of impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors - 12+ years, no matter what. 92% go on to enroll in…

Human Services
5
Children's Museum of Oak Park

To spark curiosity and creativity in all young children through positive, play-based learning experiences.

Arts & Culture
6
Counterpart International Inc

For over 60 years, counterpart international has partnered with communities worldwide to turn local ideas into lasting solutions, connecting local vision with global opportunity. (continued on schedule o)we believe people closest to the…

International
7
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
8
The Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence

The Network is a group of 40+ member organizations dedicated to improving the lives of those impacted by gender-based violence through education, public policy and advocacy, and connecting community members with direct service providers.…

Human Services
9
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
10
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

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

International
11
Imentor Inc

Imentor is a not-for-profit organization that partners with public high schools in low income communities, where a majority of students served will be first-generation college graduates. imentor believes in the transformative power of…

Youth Development
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cradles to Crayons Inc; the most unlike its peers is Friends of an Pritzker School. 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

14 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. 14 of the 16 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
7/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ONE FAMILY ILLINOIS: $27,000 · Human ServicesONE FAMILY ILLINOISInspiration Corporation: $19,500 · Human ServicesInspiration CorporationCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INCEMERALD CITY THEATRE COMPANY: $27,000 · OtherEMERALD CITY THEATRE COMPANYIndividual grant recipient: $12,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientEMERALD CITY ONE FUND: $5,000 · OtherEMERALD CITY ONE FUNDJACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · OtherHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $2,500 · OtherFriends of AN Pritzker School: $2,000 · OtherNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $39,500 · Food & NutritionNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD B…HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC: $21,000 · Civil RightsHUMAN RIGHTS CAM…TREVOR PROJECT INC: $5,000 · Civil RightsTREVOR PROJECT I…HEALTHCARE ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS INC: $6,500 · HealthTHE V FOUNDATION: $2,500 · HealthTHE MALALA FUND: $2,500 · EducationINTONATION MUSIC WORKSHOP: $2,500 · Arts & Culture
Human Services$51,500Other$51,000Food & Nutrition$39,500Civil Rights$26,000Health$9,000Education$2,500Arts & Culture$2,500

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $39,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetEMERALD CITY THEATRE COMPANY: $27,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetONE FAMILY ILLINOIS: $27,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC: $21,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetInspiration Corporation: $19,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetHEALTHCARE ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS INC: $6,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE V FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MALALA FUND: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTONATION MUSIC WORKSHOP: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Amazonsmile Foundation
Amazonsmile FoundationWA2.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Novakphares Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Novakphares 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%3%5%8%10%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
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 16 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

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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