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Illinois · Private foundation

Robert & Susan Star 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.

$18k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
19
Grants FY2025
13
Organizations funded FY2024
31%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$250
Largest grant, FY2025
$10,000
Organizations funded a year
12 to 26
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
5
Total assets, FY2025
$157k
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 31% of the organizations Robert & Susan Star Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 36% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesInternationalCrime & LegalEnvironmentArts & CultureHealthOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving19$18k32%
FY202413$5k31%
FY202320$10k30%
FY202220$16k15%
FY202115$7k20%
FY202012$7k25%
FY201922$17k45%
FY201826$13kn/a
99% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Youth Development$15kHealth$14kCrime & Legal$11kInternational$11kCivil Rights$11kEducation$10kArts & Culture$6kHuman Services$6kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

MT
IL
NY
MA
OR
SD
CA
UT
CO
DC
AL
TX

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 44 grantees
All grantees of Robert & Susan Star Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Build Inc$13,30070%
The Sparks Foundation$10,00022%
American College of Chest Physicians$10,00010%
Ravinia Nursery School$5,00011%
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc$4,00050%
North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic$3,00050%
Southern Poverty Law Center Inc$2,75030%
Anti-Defamation League$2,50020%
Jewish Child and Family Services$2,00060%
Keshet$2,00080%
The Telluride Medical Center Foundation$1,50060%
Misericordia Foundation$1,50030%
Chicago Horticultural Society$1,45050%
The Young Center for Immigrant Childrens Rights$1,40060%
Urban Gateways$1,00040%
Mass Teacher Resources Inc$1,0001n/a
Sierra Club$90050%
Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund Inc$75030%
Erikson Institute$75020%
National Peace Corps Association$70030%
Sunbird Initiative$70020%
Justice in Motion Inc$50010%
Northern Illinois Food Bank$50010%
Writers Theatre Inc$50010%
Window to the World Communications Inc$50020%
Moab Music Festival Inc$50010%
Psa Project Inc$5001n/a
Mothers Against Senseless Killings Foundation$5001n/a
Music of the Baroque$50010%
North Shore Senior Center$40030%
Reading in Motion$25010%
Covenant House Illinois Inc$25010%
Catholic Charities Inc$2501n/a
Fenix Family Health Center$25010%
Museum of Contemporary Art$24530%
The Josselyn Center Nfp$20010%
Aft Disaster Relief Fund$20010%
The Art Institute of Chicago$15010%
Metropolitan Family Services$10010%
Mesa County Land Conservancy Inc$10010%
St Josephs Indian School$1001n/a
Chimps Inc$10010%
America's Vetdogs the Veterans K-9 Corps Inc$10010%
St Labre Indian School$501n/a

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 17 recipients with no EIN on record ($19k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Robert & Susan Star Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBuild Inc: $13,300 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetThe Sparks Foundation: $10,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetAmerican College of Chest Physicians: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRavinia Nursery School: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetAmerican Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc: $4,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNorth Suburban Legal Aid Clinic: $3,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSouthern Poverty Law Center Inc: $2,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAnti-Defamation League: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Child and Family Services: $2,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetKeshet: $2,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetThe Telluride Medical Center Foundation: $1,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMisericordia Foundation: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Horticultural Society: $1,450 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Young Center for Immigrant Childrens Rights: $1,400 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Gateways: $1,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSierra Club: $900 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEverytown for Gun Safety Support Fund Inc: $750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetErikson Institute: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNational Peace Corps Association: $700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSunbird Initiative: $700 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJustice in Motion Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthern Illinois Food Bank: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWindow to the World Communications Inc: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMoab Music Festival Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMusic of the Baroque: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorth Shore Senior Center: $400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetReading in Motion: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCovenant House Illinois Inc: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFenix Family Health Center: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMuseum of Contemporary Art: $245 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Josselyn Center Nfp: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAft Disaster Relief Fund: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Art Institute of Chicago: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMetropolitan Family Services: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMesa County Land Conservancy Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChimps Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerica's Vetdogs the Veterans K-9 Corps Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 38.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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 TrustIL18.5× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Morton S Abelson Foundation · First Bank Chicago Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · AbbVie Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · 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.

Compare Robert & Susan Star Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Robert & Susan Star Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Robert & Susan Star 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.

About Robert & Susan Star Foundation

How much does Robert & Susan Star Foundation give?
Robert & Susan Star Foundation reported 19 grants totaling $17,750 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 12 and 26 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Robert & Susan Star Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2025, its largest causes are Youth Development (16%), Health (15%), Crime & Legal (12%).
Who are Robert & Susan Star Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2018 to FY2025: Build Inc ($13k), The Sparks Foundation ($10k), American College of Chest Physicians ($10k).
Does Robert & Susan Star Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 31% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Robert & Susan Star Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Robert & Susan Star Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation, Morton S Abelson Foundation.
Where is Robert & Susan Star Foundation based?
Robert & Susan Star Foundation is based in IL.

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 61 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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