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Smart Family Foundation of Illinois at a glance

· Private foundation

Smart Family Foundation of Illinois

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.

$4.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
68
Grants FY2024still arriving
16
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$12MArts & Culture$7.9MHealth$3.1MPhilanthropy$2.0MAnimals$515kEnvironment$496kReligion$290kScience & Tech$187kOther$0
02FY2024 · 68 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $61k
  • $10k–50k38 grants · $706k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.1M
  • $250k+5 grants · $2.1M
$25,000
Median grant
16
States reached
$41M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE UNIVERISTY OF CHICAGO$1,000,000
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$310,000
LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY$300,000
KENYON COLLEGE$255,000
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$250,000
NORWOOD SCHOOL$225,000
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION$100,000
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE$100,000
BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART$100,000
GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL$100,000
THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST$97,500
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE CO$76,000
HARVARD UNIVERSITY$75,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$50,000
LINCOLN PARK ZOO$50,000
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 (FY19–24, $61k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SWIPE OUT HUNGER: $5k → 14%YMCA OF MOUNT VERNON: $10k → 12%INVEST FOR KIDS: $5k → 14%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $25k → 14%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $15k → 14%CHICAGO CHILD CARE SOCIETY: $1k → 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
VT
NH
MT
IL
WI
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
VA
MD
TN
DC
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$23M · 77 repeat orgs$750k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

77 repeat relationships: 49 still active in FY2024, 28 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

77
44

Total granted

$23M
$550k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+31%

Still filing today

81%
66%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $200k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHealthHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.3M · revenue +64%
  • FW
    Francis W Parker School
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.1M · revenue +31%
  • KENYON COLLEGE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.7M · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
    one grant, 2019 · $100k
  • RC
    ROTARY CHICAGO FINANCIAL DISTRICT FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $34k
  • MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER INC
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -26%
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
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
4
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
5
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
6
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

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
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
9
DePauw University

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…

Education
10
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
11
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
12
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Theatre Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is American Diabetes Association. 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

108 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. 108 of the 144 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
108/108
Grantees still filing
79/108
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $2,295,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYFrancis W Parker School: $2,133,350 · EducationFrancis W Parker SchoolKENYON COLLEGE: $1,655,000 · EducationKENYON COLLEGEWESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $825,000 · EducationWESLEYAN UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $710,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATIONBARNARD COLLEGE: $400,000 · Education+24 more: $1,988,000 · Education+24 moreTHE UNIVERISTY OF CHICAGO: $3,729,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERISTY OF CHICAGONORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $1,425,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONVASSAR COLLEGE: $920,000 · OtherVASSAR COLLEGE+62 more: $2,204,857 · Other+62 moreSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $1,334,280 · Arts & CultureSTEPPENWOLF THEATR…GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $530,000 · Arts & CultureGRANT PARK ORCHEST…BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART: $465,000 · Arts & CultureBALTIMORE MUSEUM O…WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $350,000 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORL…HYDE PARK ART CENTER: $336,000 · Arts & CultureHYDE PARK ART CENT…The Arts Club of Chicago: $240,000 · Arts & CultureThe Arts Club of C…UNITING VOICES: $231,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $199,636 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $175,000 · Arts & Culture+20 more: $536,200 · Arts & Culture+20 moreThe Chicago Community Trust: $1,897,500 · PhilanthropyPLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC: $100,000 · Philanthropy+5 more: $41,000 · PhilanthropyBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $825,000 · HealthTHE MAVEN PROJECT: $45,000 · HealthBRAIN RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $35,000 · Health+4 more: $55,000 · HealthLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $470,000 · AnimalsFurry Friends Humane Inc: $45,000 · AnimalsNATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION: $236,000 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF THE PARKS: $65,000 · Recreation & Sports+2 more: $20,000 · Recreation & Sports
Education$10,006,350Other$8,278,857Arts & Culture$4,397,116Philanthropy$2,038,500Health$960,000Animals$515,000Recreation & Sports$321,000

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 budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $2,295,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetFrancis W Parker School: $2,133,350 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $1,897,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $1,655,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $1,334,280 over 8y, 1.9% of budgetVASSAR COLLEGE: $920,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetWESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $825,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $825,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $710,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $530,000 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $470,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetBALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART: $465,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetBARNARD COLLEGE: $400,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $350,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetHYDE PARK ART CENTER: $336,000 over 7y, 2.6% of budgetVanderbilt University: $325,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNORWOOD SCHOOL INC: $305,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $250,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetThe Arts Club of Chicago: $240,000 over 6y, 16% of budgetNATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION: $236,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetUNITING VOICES: $231,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetCORPORATION OF HAVERFORD COLLEGE: $225,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $199,636 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $185,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $175,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC: $125,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $110,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $110,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetOPENLANDS: $100,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetGOUCHER COLLEGE: $95,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHORIZONS GREATER WASHINGTON INC: $70,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PARKS: $65,000 over 4y, 7.2% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $60,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetKOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE STUDENT CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $50,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART MIAMI INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MAVEN PROJECT: $45,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY AT GROTON MA CORP: $45,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFurry Friends Humane Inc: $45,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMARINE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $38,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEVERN SCHOOL INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% 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 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Francis W Parker School ↗
  • Who funds The Chicago Community Trust ↗
  • Who funds KENYON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds VASSAR COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds BARNARD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds HYDE PARK ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University ↗
  • Who funds NORWOOD SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds The Arts Club of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNITING VOICES ↗
  • Who funds CORPORATION OF HAVERFORD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds The President and Trustees of Colby College ↗
  • Who funds THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds PLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds OPENLANDS ↗
  • Who funds GOUCHER COLLEGE ↗

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.

Feitler Family FundThe Chicago Community…The Joyce FoundationCircle of Service Fou…Jewish Federation of …Lloyd a Fry FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …John D and Catherine …The Ayco Charitable F…Richard and Mary L Gr…The Robert Thomas Bob…Robert R McCormick Fo…
Feitler Family FundIL49.5× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Feitler Family Fund · The Chicago Community Trust · The Joyce Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Richard and Mary L Gray Foundation · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · Robert R McCormick 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 Smart Family Foundation of Illinois funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Smart Family Foundation of Illinois. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • United Way Miami Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • Baltimore Museum of Art: 4% of income from government
  • Wesleyan University: 1% of income from government
  • Historic Deerfield Inc: 0% of income from government
  • New World Symphony Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Goucher College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
20report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Smart Family Foundation of Illinois?

Find your warmest path to Smart Family Foundation of Illinois 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 144 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Smart Family Foundation of Illinois’ 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