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Sage Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sage Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.6M
Granted FY2025still arriving
68
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$5.4MArts & Culture$5.3MHealth$535kReligion$505kCommunity Improvement$440kHuman Services$398kYouth Development$193kHousing & Shelter$188kOther$0
02FY2025 · 68 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k17 grants · $97k
  • $10k–50k43 grants · $767k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $768k
$15,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$47M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Hillsdale College$200,000
Ravinia Festival$120,000
Joffrey Ballet$100,000
Grant Park Orchestral Association$100,000
Window to the World Communications Inc$95,000
AfterImage Public Media$52,500
Lenawee Chamber Foundation$50,000
Orchestral Association Chicago Symphony Orchestra$50,000
Marian Catholic High School$35,000
Big Shoulders Fund$30,000
Joffrey Ballet$25,000
Window to the World Communications Inc$25,000
Providence St Mel School$25,000
Habitat For Humanity Of Lenawee County$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
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 (FY22–25, $330k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 83% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Patient Airlift Services: $10k → 7%Fill a Heart 4 Kids: $8k → 8%Lifeline Pilots: $23k → 14%Patient Airlift Services: $10k → 7%Fill a Heart 4 Kids: $5k → 8%Lifeline Pilots: $20k → 14%Patient Airlift Services: $10k → 7%Tennessee Kids Belong: $20k → 12%Fill a Heart 4 Kids: $5k → 8%Lifeline Pilots: $20k → 14%Patient Airlift Services: $10k → 7%Lifeline Pilots: $20k → 14%Lenawee County Mission Neighbors of Hope: $10k → 12%Associated Charities of Lenawee County: $10k → 12%Lenawee County Mission Neighbors of Hope: $10k → 12%Associated Charities of Lenawee County: $10k → 12%Lenawee County Mission Neighbors of Hope: $10k → 12%The Night Ministry: $15k → 14%The Night Ministry: $15k → 14%The Night Ministry: $15k → 14%The Night Ministry: $15k → 14%South Suburban PADS: $8k → 14%South Suburban PADS: $5k → 14%South Suburban PADS: $5k → 14%Chicago Lighthouse: $8k → 14%Chicago Lighthouse: $8k → 14%Chicago Lighthouse: $8k → 14%Aunt Martha's Health & Wellness: $10k → 14%Sister House: $10k → 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

IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IN
CA
CO
KY
TN
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.3M · 78 repeat orgs$1.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +25% since the first grant, against +6% for those funded once.

78 repeat relationships: 55 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

78
53

Total granted

$8.3M
$1.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+6%

Still filing today

68%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $78k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationHealthHousing & ShelterPhilanthropyOther
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

  • WT
    WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC
    5× · 2019–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +19%
  • GP
    GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2019–2025 · $575k · revenue +95%
  • TJ
    THE JOFFREY BALLET
    4× · 2022–2025 · $440k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • CO
    CROSWELL OPERA HOUSE & FINE ARTS ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $250k · revenue +38%
  • AO
    Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools
    one grant, 2019 · $200k
  • GI
    Genesis International Orphanage Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $120k · revenue +38%
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
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
Arts & Culture
2
Classical Music Chicago

Presenting free high-quality classical music performances and music education experiences in the Chicago metropolitan area for people of all ages and degrees of musical awareness so they can experience how music enriches life.

Arts & Culture
3
The Chicago High School for the Arts

The chicago high school for the arts (chiarts) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar-artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory…

Education
4
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
5
Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra's mission as a professional orchestra is to utilize the universal expression of music to create profound, inspiring, and personal connections between the people and communities of Chicagos Southland.

Arts & Culture
6
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
7
Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Inc

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University ("The Auditorium"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago and to the…

Arts & Culture
8
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
9
The Chicago Academy for the Arts

The chicago academy for the arts transforms emerging artists through a curriculum and culture which connect intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity to impart the skills to lead and collaborate across diverse communities.

—
10
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
11
Chicago Theatre Group Inc

The chicago theatre group is committed to producing both classic and contemporary works giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. by dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, equity, and community - the…

Arts & Culture
12
The Chicago Philharmonic Society

To excite, engage, and transform diverse audiences with the beauty and power of music.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Grant Park Orchestral Association; the most unlike its peers is Park Ridge Fine Arts Society. 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

92 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. 92 of the 140 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
90/92
Grantees still filing
57/92
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $1,627,500 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INCGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $575,000 · Arts & CultureGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATIONTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $440,000 · Arts & CultureTHE JOFFREY BALLETRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $280,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATIONCROSWELL OPERA HOUSE & FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION: $250,000 · Arts & CultureCROSWELL OPERA HOUSE & FINE ARTS ASSOCIATIONLyric Opera of Chicago: $175,000 · Arts & Culture+20 more: $735,000 · Arts & Culture+20 moreOrchestral Association Chicago Symphony Orchestra: $450,000 · OtherOrchestral Association Chicago Symphony …Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools: $200,000 · OtherArchdiocese of Chicago Catholic SchoolsMarian Catholic: $175,000 · OtherSt. Elizabeth Catholic Church: $149,000 · OtherSAND LAKE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: $145,000 · OtherKARTEMQUIN EDUCATIONAL FILMS: $135,000 · Other+71 more: $2,447,750 · Other+71 moreHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $600,000 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEG…ADRIAN COLLEGE: $330,500 · EducationADRIAN COLLEGETHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $200,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUT…Big Shoulders Fund: $180,000 · EducationBig Shoulders Fu…HADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $55,000 · EducationAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $52,500 · Education+5 more: $82,500 · Education+5 moreLENAWEE CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $425,000 · PhilanthropyLENAWEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $37,500 · Philanthropy+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyLIFELINE INC: $82,500 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $75,000 · Human ServicesPATIENT AIRLIFT SERVICES INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesLENAWEE COUNTY MISSION: $30,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $30,000 · Human ServicesASSOCIATED CHARITIES OF LENAWEE COUNTY: $30,000 · Human ServicesTENNESSEE KIDS BELONG INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesSOUTH SUBURBAN PADS: $17,500 · Human ServicesFILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $17,500 · Human Services+5 more: $42,500 · Human ServicesBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LENAWEE INC: $130,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE RYAN LICHT SANG BIPOLAR FOUNDATION INC: $27,500 · HealthEPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF MICHIGAN: $25,000 · HealthMENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION IN MICHIGAN: $17,500 · HealthJULIE AND MICHAEL TRACY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · HealthHEROIN EPIDEMIC RELIEF ORGANIZATION: $15,000 · HealthONE PATIENT - GLOBAL HEALTH INITIATIVE LTD: $12,500 · HealthFace the Future Foundation: $10,000 · HealthAMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Health
Arts & Culture$4,082,500Other$3,701,750Education$1,500,500Philanthropy$472,500Human Services$395,000Youth Development$130,000Health$127,500

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 budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $1,627,500 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $600,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $575,000 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $440,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetLENAWEE CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $425,000 over 5y, 60% of budgetADRIAN COLLEGE: $330,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $280,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCROSWELL OPERA HOUSE & FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION: $250,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $200,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $180,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $175,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSAND LAKE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: $145,000 over 2y, 23% of budgetKARTEMQUIN EDUCATIONAL FILMS: $135,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LENAWEE INC: $130,000 over 5y, 6.0% of budgetGenesis International Orphanage Foundation: $120,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetHabitat for Humanity of Lenawee County: $120,000 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetCEDILLE CHICAGO NFP: $115,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetProvidence St Mel School: $115,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetBulletin of the Atomic Scientists: $110,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $85,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $85,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHOPE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $85,000 over 5y, 6.4% of budgetLIFELINE INC: $82,500 over 4y, 6.6% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $75,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAFTERIMAGE PUBLIC MEDIA: $72,500 over 2y, 6.7% of budgetLENAWEE COUNTY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $69,500 over 5y, 6.0% of budgetAMERICAN THEATRE WING INC: $65,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $55,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $52,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLENAWEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetTHE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE COMPANY: $50,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetCHICAGO MULTI-CULTURAL DANCE CENTER: $50,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetPATIENT AIRLIFT SERVICES INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetALICE LLOYD COLLEGE: $50,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBARENBOIM-SAID FOUNDATION (USA): $50,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetHUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO: $45,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetLENAWEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $37,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLENAWEE COUNTY MISSION: $30,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $30,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetASSOCIATED CHARITIES OF LENAWEE COUNTY: $30,000 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetTHE RYAN LICHT SANG BIPOLAR FOUNDATION INC: $27,500 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetTHE THRESHOLDS: $27,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN DOCUMENTARY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetEPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF MICHIGAN: $25,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDISABLED PATRIOT FUND INC: $21,000 over 4y, 4.7% of budgetCHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS: $20,000 over 2y, 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 WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE JOFFREY BALLET ↗
  • Who funds LENAWEE CHAMBER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ADRIAN COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds CROSWELL OPERA HOUSE & FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Big Shoulders Fund ↗
  • Who funds Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds SAND LAKE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT ↗
  • Who funds KARTEMQUIN EDUCATIONAL FILMS ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LENAWEE INC ↗
  • Who funds Genesis International Orphanage Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Habitat for Humanity of Lenawee County ↗
  • Who funds CEDILLE CHICAGO NFP ↗
  • Who funds Providence St Mel School ↗
  • Who funds Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ↗
  • Who funds SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds HOPE COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds LIFELINE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NIGHT MINISTRY ↗
  • Who funds AFTERIMAGE PUBLIC MEDIA ↗
  • Who funds LENAWEE COUNTY EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN THEATRE WING INC ↗
  • Who funds HADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED ↗

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 loosely connected circle, clustered around a few shared anchors.

Farver FoundationThe Chicago Community…Lenawee Community Fou…Premier Bank Foundati…Douglas and Mary Kapn…John D and Catherine …The S L Hickman Famil…George M Eisenberg Fo…Dr Scholl FoundationTlc Community Credit …Consumers Energy Foun…Jewish Federation of …
Farver FoundationMI26.2× affinity10 shared granteesties to 6 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Farver Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Lenawee Community Foundation · Premier Bank Foundation · Douglas and Mary Kapnick Family Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The S L Hickman Family Foundation · George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities · Dr Scholl Foundation · Tlc Community Credit Union · Consumers Energy Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
21report 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 140 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 Sage’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