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Pepper Family Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Pepper 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.

$3.7M
Granted FY2025still arriving
51
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$1.0M
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$1.8MAnimals$1.7MRecreation & Sports$1.7MEducation$1.4MHealth$541kHuman Services$307kHousing & Shelter$300kReligion$282kOther$0
02FY2025 · 51 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $430k
  • $50k–250k15 grants · $1.5M
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.8M
$25,500
Median grant
8
States reached
$35M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$1,010,000
JOHN G SHEDD AQUARIUM$510,000
NORTHSHORE HOSPITALS FOUNDATION$300,000
LINCOLN PARK ZOO$230,982
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS$200,000
ADLER PLANETARIUM$146,250
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$105,000
PLYMOUTH PLACE$100,000
CHICAGO SOUTH SIDE BIRTH CENTER$100,000
ARKANSAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS$100,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC DEPT$89,000
BROOKFIELD ZOO$85,000
ST MICHAEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH$63,042
BARRINGTON WHITE HOUSE$55,000
ELGIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$55,000
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 (FY17–25, $490k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%WARP CORPS: $26k → 6%PLYMOUTH PLACE: $100k → 14%PLYMOUTH PLACE: $100k → 14%BARRINGTON YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $42k → 14%BARRINGTON YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $30k → 14%BARRINGTON AREA COUNCIL ON AGING: $6k → 14%BUEHLER YMCA: $10k → 14%BARRINGTON AREA COUNCIL ON AGING: $6k → 14%MADONNA MISSION: $50k → 14%MADONNA MISSION: $50k → 14%MADONNA MISSION: $35k → 14%MADONNA MISSION: $35k → 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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 37 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

37 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 25 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

37
22

Total granted

$11M
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
0%

Still filing today

65%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $645k 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
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesAnimalsHealthYouth 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

  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
    7× · 2017–2025 · $2.2M · revenue +45%
  • Northwestern University
    8× · 2017–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +41%
  • SA
    SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY
    3× · 2023–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • PE
    PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH DIOCESE OF CHICAGO BISHOPS AND TRUSTEES
    one grant, 2018 · $282k
  • MM
    Max McGraw Wildlife Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue +38%
  • GS
    Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana
    one grant, 2023 · $142k · revenue +18%
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
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
2
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
3
The Chicago Community Trust

The Trust is the Chicago region's community foundation and a public charity supported by public donations since its founding in 1915 to provide assistance and relief to the people of the region.

Philanthropy
4
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
5
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
6
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
7
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
8
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
9
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
10
Rush University Medical Center

The mission of Rush is to improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.

Health
11
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
12
The University of Chicago Charter School Corporation

To Prepare Students for Success in Four-Year Colleges.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Horticultural Society; the most unlike its peers is Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. 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

51 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. 51 of the 84 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/51
Grantees still filing
30/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HARPER COLLEGE: $551,000 · OtherHARPER COLLEGEIndividual grant recipient: $301,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientARKANSAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $300,000 · OtherARKANSAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTSBISHOP ANDERSON HOUSE: $300,000 · OtherBISHOP ANDERSON HOUSEPROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH DIOCESE OF CHICAGO BISHOPS AND TRUSTEES: $282,000 · OtherPROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH DIOCESE OF…Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation: $250,000 · OtherMax McGraw Wildlife FoundationMARYVILLE ACADEMY CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $225,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC DEPT: $216,000 · OtherAGC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS: $200,000 · OtherBARRINGTON WHITE HOUSE: $165,000 · OtherKOHL'S CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $150,000 · Other+36 more: $1,173,751 · Other+36 moreTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $2,195,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHI…North Central College: $250,000 · EducationNorth Central College+9 more: $356,936 · Education+9 moreSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $1,510,000 · AnimalsSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIE…LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $685,982 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGI…Chicago Zoological Society: $115,000 · Animals+2 more: $759 · AnimalsNorthwestern University: $1,542,000 · Recreation & SportsNorthwestern …Endeavor Health Clinical Operations: $600,000 · HealthChicago South Side Birth Center: $100,000 · HealthCOMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK INC: $50,000 · Health+2 more: $25,500 · HealthTHE ADLER PLANETARIUM: $312,500 · Arts & CultureELGIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $105,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $70,000 · Arts & CultureQUAD-CITY MUSIC GUILD: $25,526 · Arts & CultureChicago Symphony Orchestra: $22,500 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $12,500 · Arts & CulturePLYMOUTH PLACE INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesMadonna Mission: $170,000 · Human ServicesBARRINGTON YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $72,000 · Human ServicesSALUTE INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesWARP CORPS: $25,500 · Human Services+2 more: $22,000 · Human Services
Other$4,313,751Education$2,801,936Animals$2,311,741Recreation & Sports$1,542,000Health$775,500Arts & Culture$548,026Human Services$539,500

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 budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $2,195,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetNorthwestern University: $1,542,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $1,510,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $685,982 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetEndeavor Health Clinical Operations: $600,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ADLER PLANETARIUM: $312,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNorth Central College: $250,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMax McGraw Wildlife Foundation: $250,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetPLYMOUTH PLACE INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAGC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 2y, 8.0% of budgetMadonna Mission: $170,000 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetGirl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana: $142,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetThe Hap Foundation Inc (F/K/A Journeycare Foundation): $140,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetOPENLANDS: $125,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $115,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetELGIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $105,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetJunior Achievement of Central Ohio Inc: $100,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetACADEMY FOR URBAN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP: $90,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $90,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBARRINGTON YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $72,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $70,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMONMOUTH COLLEGE: $54,936 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBARRINGTON 220 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JAMES CATHEDRAL COUNSELING CTR: $50,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSALUTE INC: $50,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetARDEN SHORE CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $26,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetQUAD-CITY MUSIC GUILD: $25,526 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetMORRIS HOSPITAL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $22,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLawrence Hall: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBARRINGTON AREA COUNCIL ON AGING INC: $12,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetThe YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOLY FAMILY MINISTRIES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO CHILDREN'S THEATRE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGALENA TERRITORY FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORKING IN THE SCHOOLS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO SUNDAY EVENING CLUB: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCURTIS GRANDERSON FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEADHER: $500 over 1y, 0.5% 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 THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Endeavor Health Clinical Operations ↗
  • Who funds THE ADLER PLANETARIUM ↗
  • Who funds North Central College ↗
  • Who funds Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation ↗
  • Who funds PLYMOUTH PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds AGC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Madonna Mission ↗
  • Who funds Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana ↗
  • Who funds The Hap Foundation Inc (F/K/A Journeycare Foundation) ↗
  • Who funds OPENLANDS ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Zoological Society ↗
  • Who funds ELGIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Chicago South Side Birth Center ↗
  • Who funds Junior Achievement of Central Ohio Inc ↗
  • Who funds ACADEMY FOR URBAN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP ↗
  • Who funds Big Shoulders Fund ↗
  • Who funds BARRINGTON YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry ↗
  • Who funds MONMOUTH COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds BARRINGTON 220 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ST JAMES CATHEDRAL COUNSELING CTR ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK INC ↗

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…The Ayco Charitable F…United Way of Metropo…Motorola Solutions Fo…John D and Catherine …Patrick G and Shirley…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…AbbVie FoundationDr Scholl FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …Baird Foundation IncNational Philanthropi…
The Chicago Community TrustIL26× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Motorola Solutions Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Patrick G and Shirley W Ryan Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Baird Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust

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 Pepper Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Pepper Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 Pepper Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Pepper Family 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 84 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 Pepper Family’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