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Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$264k
Granted FY2018
9
Grants FY2018
3
States reached
$63k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

70% of Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation’s FY2021 grant dollars went to Telluride Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 13 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2018, the last year Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 6 organizations, $264k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

6
’17
6
’18
9
’19
11
’20
13
’21

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

International$1.1MRecreation & Sports$1.0MCivil Rights$311kYouth Development$286kArts & Culture$210kEducation$170kCommunity Improvement$100kHuman Services$83kOther$0
02FY2018 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2018

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $101k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $163k
$30,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
American Ireland Fund$63,000
A Better Chicago$50,000
Chicago Public Media$50,000
Center on Halsted$31,000
The Montessori Network$30,000
Border Network for Human Rights$10,000
Coalition Immigrant Justice$10,000
Chicago Community Foundation$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
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 (FY17–21, $293k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%Angel Baskets: $10k → 7%Angel Baskets: $5k → 7%Center on Halsted: $31k → 14%Center on Halsted: $20k → 14%Center on Halsted: $5k → 14%Center on Halsted: $5k → 14%Center on Halsted: $2k → 14%A Better Chicago: $65k → 14%A Better Chicago: $50k → 14%A Better Chicago: $50k → 14%A Better Chicago: $50k → 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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 56% of Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 15 repeat orgs$143k to everyone else

15 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2018, 9 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call). Read against FY2018, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
4

Total granted

$1.2M
$30k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+130%

Still filing today

73%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21
Human ServicesCrime & LegalArts & CulturePhilanthropyHealthEducationOther
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

  • AB
    A Better Chicago
    4× · 2017–2021 · $215k · revenue +76%
  • TM
    THE MONTESSORI NETWORK
    5× · 2017–2021 · $170k · revenue +88%
  • CP
    CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $120k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • BN
    Broader Network for Humans
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • SO
    SOUTHWEST ORGANIZING PROJECTgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +224%
  • AA
    Alianza Americasgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +130%
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
Chicago United for Equity

Connecting and amplifying the power of individuals to build a just, equitable, and inclusive city.

Civil Rights
2
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
3
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
4
Latino Union of Chicago

Latino Union works to defend the rights and dignity of contingent workers, including the right to immigrate, work, live free of oppression and violence, and provide for oneself and one's family.

Human Services
5
Arise Chicago

Arise chicago builds partnerships between faith communities and workers to fight workplace injustice through education, organizing, and advocating for public policy changes.

Employment
6
Chicago Cultural Alliance

The Chicago Cultural Alliances mission is to connect, promote, and support centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive Chicago. We are an active consortium of 50 cultural heritage museums, centers, and historical societies that…

Arts & Culture
7
Community Health Partnership of Illinois

Strive to improve the health and well being of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and other medically vulnerable populations by providing quality accessable, affordable, and culturally responsive health care within the community we serve.

Health
8
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
9
Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc

Secure racial equity and economic opportunity for all

Crime & Legal
10
Chicago Refugee Coalition

The Chicago Refugee Coalition is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated ot the alleviation of human suffering through innovative partnerships, advocacy and community empowerment.

Human Services
11
Cair-Chicago

A grass roots civil rights activisim, community outreach and political empowerment to the community members.

Civil Rights
12
Chicago Parks Foundation

The Chicago Parks Foundation is a separate 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that also serves as the strategic partner for the coordination of fundraising and charitable resources for the Chicago Park District.

Recreation & Sports
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Public Media Inc; the most unlike its peers is Angel Baskets Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

22 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. 22 of the 31 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
17/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE AMERICAN IRELAND FUND (DBA THE IRELAND FUNDS AMERICA/THE IRELAND FUNDS): $1,050,752 · OtherTHE AMERICAN IRELAND FUND (DBA THE IRELAND FUNDS AMER…Illinois Immigration Funders Collab: $150,000 · OtherIllinois Immigration Funders CollabCROSSROADS FUND INC: $90,000 · OtherCROSSROADS FUND INCIndividual grant recipient: $55,000 · Other+16 more: $236,500 · Other+16 moreTELLURIDE FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · Recreation & SportsTELLURIDE FOUNDATIONA Better Chicago: $215,000 · Human ServicesA Better …Center on Halsted: $62,500 · Human ServicesCenter on…Angel Baskets Inc: $15,000 · Human ServicesCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $120,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $55,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MONTESSORI NETWORK: $170,000 · EducationJust For Kids Foundation Inc: $50,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyCABRINI GREEN LEGAL AID: $55,000 · Crime & LegalCHICAGO COMMUNITY BOND FUND: $5,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$1,582,252Recreation & Sports$1,000,000Human Services$292,500Arts & Culture$175,000Education$170,000Philanthropy$70,000Crime & Legal$60,000

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 budgetTHE AMERICAN IRELAND FUND (DBA THE IRELAND FUNDS AMERICA/THE IRELAND FUNDS): $1,050,752 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetTELLURIDE FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetA Better Chicago: $215,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE MONTESSORI NETWORK: $170,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $120,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCROSSROADS FUND INC: $90,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetCenter on Halsted: $62,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetCABRINI GREEN LEGAL AID: $55,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $55,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetJust For Kids Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetTRI-COUNTY HEALTH NETWORK: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetRole Model Movement Inc (NFP): $21,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TELLURIDE MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $17,500 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetAngel Baskets Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetBorder Network for Human Rights: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetAH HAA SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $2,000 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…Telluride FoundationField Foundation of I…Rowan FoundationThe Dalton Family Fou…Clarence J Venne Foun…Woods Fund of ChicagoThe Thomas Phillips a…The Irving Harris Fou…Robert R McCormick Fo…Polk Bros Foundation …
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL19× affinity7 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Telluride Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · Rowan Foundation · The Dalton Family Foundation · Clarence J Venne Foundation · Woods Fund of Chicago · The Thomas Phillips and Jane Moore Johnson Foundation · The Irving Harris Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation 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 Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist 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 31 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist’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