· Private foundation
Shea Family Foundation Inc
Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k11 grants · $27k
- $50k–250k2 grants · $113k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| JOFFREY BALLET | $60,000 |
| CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | $52,550 |
| ADVENTURES FOR THE MIND FOUNDATION | $7,500 |
| PALM SPRINGS PATHFINDERS CO THUNDERBIRD COUNTRY CLUB | $5,800 |
| UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME | $5,000 |
| RANCHO MIRAGE LIBRARY FOUNDATION | $2,500 |
| JUNIOR LEAGUE OF CHICAGO | $2,215 |
| ANNUAL CATHOLIC APPEAL OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO | $1,500 |
| IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ST JOSEPH PARISH | $1,500 |
| CLARK CARES FOUNDATION | $500 |
| GENEVA NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND | $250 |
| INTERNATIONAL FOLK ART MARKET | $250 |
| LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | $250 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY22–22, $250) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
15 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- TJTHE JOFFREY BALLET5× · 2020–2024 · $321k · revenue +57%
- CSChicago Symphony Orchestra5× · 2020–2024 · $99k · revenue +71%
- TLTHE LINCOLN ACADEMY OF ILLINOIS3× · 2020–2022 · $12k · revenue +89%
Funded once
- TMTHE MILKEN INSTITUTEgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +182%
- FPForest Preserve Foundation Incone grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -27%
University of Illinois Foundationgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue +74%
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.
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.
The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.
The mission of the university of illinois alumni association is to enhance and advance the relationship between the university of illinois at urbana-champaign (the university) and all its alumni; to inspire lifelong loyalty and pride among…
Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…
The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.
The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.
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…
Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…
Northwestern is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community.
The GI Research Foundation works to treat, prevent, and cure digestive diseases. In collaboration with the physicians and scientists at the University of Chicago Digestive Diseases Center, we fund innovative clinical and laboratory…
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.
The music institute of chicago ("music institute") leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music, by providing widely accessible resources for high quality music teaching, performing, and service activities.
How this is measured
20 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. 20 of the 38 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 THE JOFFREY BALLET ↗
- Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
- Who funds University of Notre Dame du Lac ↗
- Who funds THE ADVENTURES FOR THE MIND FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds THE LINCOLN ACADEMY OF ILLINOIS ↗
- Who funds THE MILKEN INSTITUTE ↗
- Who funds Forest Preserve Foundation Inc ↗
- Who funds THE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF CHICAGO INC ↗
- Who funds University of Illinois Foundation ↗
- Who funds STRONGER THAN EVER ↗
- Who funds DURHAM DEVILS GIVING INC ↗
- Who funds CLARKE CARES FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds AURORA UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds Chicago Blackhawks Foundation ↗
- Who funds CHICAGO SUMMER BUSINESS INSTITUTE INC ↗
- Who funds HEALTHCARE ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS INC ↗
- Who funds THE SERVICE CLUB OF CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds Revive & Thrive Project ↗
- Who funds CHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER ↗
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.
Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Network for Good · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Shea Family Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shea Family Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Shea Family’s filings →