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Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara 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.

$93k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$334kRecreation & Sports$279kHealth$252kAnimals$186kArts & Culture$65kPhilanthropy$62kYouth Development$10kReligion$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $73k
$5,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$1.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LINCOLN PARK ZOO$35,000
CURE$15,000
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$12,500
HISTORY MAKERS$10,000
NATIONAL MILL DOG RESCUE$5,000
COLLEGE POSSIBLE$5,000
UNITED WAY OF METRO CHICAGO$5,000
MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER$1,500
CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION$1,000
THE CYCLE EFFECT$1,000
THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA$1,000
JEWISH UNITED FUND$500
CHICAGO BAR FOUNDATION$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 (FY21–25, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%FAMILY FOCUS: $1k → 14%CARPLS: $5k → 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

ME
IL
WI
MI
NY
PA
NJ
RI
CA
CO
VA
AZ
DC
GA
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 16 repeat orgs$151k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
33

Total granted

$1.1M
$130k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+21%

Still filing today

88%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $21k 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
EducationRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyHealthHuman 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

  • MP
    MILLENNIUM PARK FOUNDATION
    4× · 2018–2024 · $275k · revenue +340%
  • TL
    THE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO
    6× · 2017–2022 · $256k · revenue +34%
  • LP
    LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
    8× · 2018–2025 · $180k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $30k · revenue +32%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CIRIGLIANO CLINICAL CARE ENDOWMENT FUND
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
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 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
2
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
3
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
4
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
5
Junior Achievement of Chicago

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

International
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
7
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
8
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
9
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
10
The Chicago Scholars Foundation

Chicago scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities.

Education
11
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
12
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc; the most unlike its peers is Be a Gift 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

32 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 32 of the 55 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)
32/32
Grantees still filing
25/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $255,600 · EducationTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGOPRINCETON DAY SCHOOL INC: $30,000 · EducationPRINCETON DAY SCHOOL INCTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $30,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF …COLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $15,000 · Education+4 more: $7,750 · EducationCURE: $127,925 · OtherCUREUniversity of Michigan: $50,000 · OtherUniversity of MichiganUNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CIRIGLIANO CLINICAL CARE ENDOWMENT FUND: $25,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA …Individual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $12,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE: $10,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $10,000 · Other+26 more: $38,410 · Other+26 moreMILLENNIUM PARK FOUNDATION: $275,000 · Recreation & SportsMILLENNIUM PARK FOUNDATIO…+3 more: $10,001 · Recreation & SportsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $180,000 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOO…UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $40,000 · PhilanthropyJupiter Medical Center Foundation Inc: $32,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $3,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $1,000 · PhilanthropyTHE HISTORYMAKERS: $65,000 · Arts & CultureCOORDINATED ADVICE & REFERRAL PROGRAM FOR LEGAL SERVICES: $5,000 · Human ServicesCHALLENGED ATHLETES INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $1,000 · Human Services
Education$338,350Other$298,835Recreation & Sports$285,001Animals$180,000Philanthropy$76,000Arts & Culture$65,000Human Services$8,000

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 budgetMILLENNIUM PARK FOUNDATION: $275,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $255,600 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $180,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HISTORYMAKERS: $65,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $50,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJupiter Medical Center Foundation Inc: $32,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPRINCETON DAY SCHOOL INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOS OUTREACH: $7,501 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWALKING MOUNTAINS: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOORDINATED ADVICE & REFERRAL PROGRAM FOR LEGAL SERVICES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEAGLE VALLEY LAND TRUST: $2,200 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHALLENGED ATHLETES INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME INCORPORATED: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC: $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRESPIRATORY HEALTH ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPERSPECTIVES CHARTER SCHOOLS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Chicago School of Professional Psychology: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALS UNITED GREATER CHICAGO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBE A GIFT FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE CHICAGO BAR FOUNDATION: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Chicago Community…The Sidley Austin Fou…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Baird Foundation IncBorgen Family Foundat…Polk Bros Foundation …United Way of Metropo…John D and Catherine …The Ayco Charitable F…National Philanthropi…The Blackbaud Giving …Jpmorgan Chase Founda…
The Chicago Community TrustIL20.8× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · The Sidley Austin Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Baird Foundation Inc · Borgen Family Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Jpmorgan Chase 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 Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%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
    3get 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
    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 55 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 Randy and Michele Mehrberg Schara 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