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Robert & Susan Star Foundation at a glance

· 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 FY2025still arriving
19
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% 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
02FY2025 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k18 grants · $8k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$250
Median grant
5
States reached
$157k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CHEST PHYSICIANS$10,000
BUILD INC$2,000
MASS TEACHER RESOURCES$1,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL$500
MISERICORDIA FAMILY ASSOCIATION$500
WAKING IN THE SCHOOLS - WITS$500
WRITERS THEATRE$500
NORTH SUBURBAN LEGAL AID CLINIC$500
CHICAGO BOTANICAL GARDEN$300
COVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS$250
NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION$250
NATIONAL IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CENTER$250
YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS$250
KESHET$250
JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES$250
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 (FY18–25, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $200 → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $100 → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $100 → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $100 → 14%COVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS: $250 → 14%MISERICORDIA FAMILY ASSOCIATION: $500 → 14%MISERICORDIA FAMILY ASSOCIATION: $500 → 14%MISERICORDIA FAMILY ASSOCIATION: $500 → 14%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $250 → 14%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $250 → 14%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $250 → 14%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $250 → 14%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $200 → 14%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $200 → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $250 → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $250 → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $250 → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $250 → 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

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

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$68k · 30 repeat orgs$24k to everyone else

30 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
25

Total granted

$68k
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+51%

Still filing today

70%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 33% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesCrime & LegalHealthCivil RightsEducationOther
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

  • BI
    BUILD INC
    7× · 2018–2025 · $13k · revenue +523%
  • TS
    THE SPARKS FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2023 · $10k · revenue +124%
  • AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $4k · revenue +110%

Funded once

  • RN
    RAVINIA NURSERY SCHOOLgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue +51%
  • MB
    MURPHY'S BACKPACK FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $600
  • JI
    JUSTICE IN MOTION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $500 · revenue +97%
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
2
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
3
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
4
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
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
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
7
National Public Radio Inc

National public radio, inc. ("npr") works collaboratively with member public radio station licensees ("member stations") to create a more informed public, one that is challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of…

Arts & Culture
8
Lyric Opera of Chicago

We believe in the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great art and opera. Lyric Opera of Chicago exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to the Chicago region and the nation, and to advance the…

Arts & Culture
9
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
10
Twin Cities Diversity in Practice

To attract, recruit, advance, and retain attorneys of color in the twin cities through education and collaboration with member organizations.

Community Improvement
11
American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois

Defend freedom of speech, press, assembly, and other rights guaranteed by the us constitution and the constitution of the state of illinois.

—
12
Society for Neuroscience

Sfn's mission is to: 1. advance the understanding of the brain and the nervous system by bringing together scientists of all segments of neuroscience, by facilitating the integration of research directed at all levels of biological…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is North Shore Senior Center; the most unlike its peers is The Sparks 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

38 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. 38 of the 61 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/38
Grantees still filing
26/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BUILD INC: $13,300 · OtherBUILD INCAmerican College of Chest Physicians: $10,000 · OtherAmerican College of Chest PhysiciansNATIONAL IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CENTER: $6,500 · OtherNATIONAL IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CENTERRAVINIA NURSERY SCHOOL: $5,000 · OtherRAVINIA NURSERY SCHOOLUNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL: $2,500 · OtherMISERICORDIA: $2,000 · OtherKESHET: $2,000 · Other+30 more: $15,790 · Other+30 moreTHE SPARKS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · InternationalTHE SPARKS FO…NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION: $700 · InternationalNATIONAL PEAC…NORTH SUBURBAN LEGAL AID CLINIC: $3,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,750 · Crime & LegalEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $750 · Crime & LegalJUSTICE IN MOTION INC: $500 · Crime & LegalAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 · Civil RightsANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $2,500 · Civil RightsJewish Child and Family Services: $2,000 · Human ServicesMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $1,500 · Human ServicesTHE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDRENS RIGHTS: $1,400 · Human ServicesNORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $400 · Human ServicesCOVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS INC: $250 · Human Services+1 more: $100 · Human ServicesURBAN GATEWAYS: $1,000 · Arts & CultureWriters Theatre Inc: $500 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $500 · Arts & CultureMOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $500 · Arts & CultureMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE: $500 · Arts & CultureREADING IN MOTION: $250 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $245 · Arts & CultureTHE TELLURIDE MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $1,500 · HealthFenix Family Health Center: $250 · HealthTHE JOSSELYN CENTER NFP: $200 · Health
Other$57,090International$10,700Crime & Legal$7,000Civil Rights$6,500Human Services$5,650Arts & Culture$3,495Health$1,950

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 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
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 BUILD INC ↗
  • Who funds THE SPARKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds American College of Chest Physicians ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA NURSERY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTH SUBURBAN LEGAL AID CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds Jewish Child and Family Services ↗
  • Who funds KESHET ↗
  • Who funds THE TELLURIDE MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds THE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDRENS RIGHTS ↗
  • Who funds URBAN GATEWAYS ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB ↗
  • Who funds EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds Erikson Institute ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Sunbird Initiative ↗
  • Who funds JUSTICE IN MOTION INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds Writers Theatre Inc ↗
  • Who funds WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE ↗

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…John D and Catherine …Morton S Abelson Foun…First Bank Chicago Fo…Polk Bros Foundation …United Way of Metropo…AbbVie FoundationNational Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…
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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Robert & Susan Star Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert & Susan Star 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%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 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.

    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

    Play a game based on Robert & Susan Star’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