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Social Venture Partners Chicago Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Social Venture Partners Chicago Inc

Social venture partners chicago accelerates the positive community change championed by innovative non-profits through engaged investing to build their capacity and impact.

$50k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Youth Development$346kHousing & Shelter$212kCommunity Improvement$96kEducation$93kHuman Services$18kRecreation & Sports$12kCivil Rights$10kArts & Culture$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $23k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $99k
$11,605
Median grant
2
States reached
$199k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TRUE STAR FOUNDATION$25,000
THE BLOC$18,090
530 SCHOLARS$12,170
PEACE RUNNERS 773$12,012
THE BASE CHICAGO$11,605
IMAGINE ENGLEWOOD IF$10,000
LADIES OF VIRTUE$10,000
PROJECT ONE TEN$9,291
AMPLIFIED VOICES$8,525
BURST INTO BOOKS$5,050
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, $33k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%LATINO UNION OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%BURST INTO BOOKS: $5k → 14%THE BLOC: $18k → 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.
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$653k · 8 repeat orgs$159k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +186% since the first grant, against +50% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
7

Total granted

$653k
$83k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+186%
+50%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 37% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $77k 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
EducationYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • TS
    TRUE STAR FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $135k · revenue +287%
  • EI
    EMBARC INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $122k · revenue +62%
  • MT
    METROPOLITAN TENANTS ORGANIZATION
    4× · 2017–2021 · $116k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • PS
    PROJECT SYNCERE
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +13%
  • LL
    Leap Learning Systemsgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $10k · revenue +106%
  • FC
    FIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGOgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +68%
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
Students Run Chicago
Health
2
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
3
Chicago United for Equity

Connecting and amplifying the power of individuals to build a just, equitable, and inclusive city.

Civil Rights
4
One for One Chicago

One for one chicago provides paid work-based learning, mentorship, and career readiness support for young people ages 1524 in chicago communities with high rates of unemployment and limited access to early work experience.

Youth Development
5
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
6
Equality Dream Team

Provide resources and tools to help african american youth from underserved communities aged 14-24 achieve economic sustainability through education, career, and workforce development.

Education
7
Link Unlimited Scholars

To connect Black students with resources and opportunities that strengthen the necessary skills to succeed as they advance to, through, and beyond college.

Education
8
Blocks Together

Blocks Together: Blocks Together (BT) is a membership-based community organizing group in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. Since 1995, BT has empowered residents to work together for systematic changes that bring…

—
9
Focus Fairies Mentoring

Focus Fairies Mentoring is a community-based nonprofit that empowers and uplifts Black girls and young women of color, ages 7 to 21, on Chicago's West and South sides who have experienced vicarious trauma, violence, and systemic inequities.

Youth Development
10
Chicago Youth Programs Inc

Tutoring and mentoring programs for inner city youth.

—
11
Chicago Votes

Chicago Votes is a non-partisan, non-profit organization building a more inclusive democracy by putting power in the hands of young Chicagoans. We're engaging and developing a new generation of leaders by opening the doors of government,…

Civil Rights
12
Highsight

To provide academic & social support to inner-city chicago high school students. program provides scholarships, mentors & tutors to enable students to succeed in the high school of their choice.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Breakthrough Urban Ministries Inc; the most unlike its peers is Project OneTen. 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

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 22 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
17/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

METROPOLITAN TENANTS ORGANIZATION: $115,640 · OtherMETROPOLITAN TENANTS ORGANIZATIONBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $83,000 · OtherBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC530 SCHOLARS: $12,170 · OtherBLACK UNITED FUND OF ILLINOIS INC: $10,000 · OtherAMPLIFIED VOICES: $8,525 · Other+1 more: $7,500 · OtherEMBARC INC: $122,200 · Youth DevelopmentEMBARC INCLADIES OF VIRTUE: $37,500 · Youth DevelopmentLADIES OF VIRTUEProject OneTen: $9,291 · Youth DevelopmentProject OneTenPRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $88,900 · EducationPRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN…ONE MILLION DEGREES: $40,360 · EducationONE MILLION DEGREESPROJECT SYNCERE: $25,000 · EducationPROJECT SYNCERELeap Learning Systems: $10,000 · EducationLeap Learning SystemsTRUE STAR FOUNDATION INC: $135,000 · Arts & CultureTRUE STAR FOUNDATION…FIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGO: $10,000 · Arts & CultureFIREHOUSE COMMUNITY …Imagine Englewood If NFP: $30,000 · Community ImprovementAustin African American Business Network NFP: $10,000 · Community ImprovementTHE BLOC: $18,090 · Human ServicesLatino Union of Chicago: $10,000 · Human ServicesBURST INTO BOOKS: $5,050 · Human ServicesPEACE RUNNERS 773 NFP CO: $12,012 · Recreation & SportsTHE BASEBALL INC: $11,605 · Recreation & Sports
Other$236,835Youth Development$168,991Education$164,260Arts & Culture$145,000Community Improvement$40,000Human Services$33,140Recreation & Sports$23,617

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTRUE STAR FOUNDATION INC: $135,000 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetEMBARC INC: $122,200 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetMETROPOLITAN TENANTS ORGANIZATION: $115,640 over 4y, 5.7% of budgetPRIMO CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $88,900 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $83,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetONE MILLION DEGREES: $40,360 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetLADIES OF VIRTUE: $37,500 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetImagine Englewood If NFP: $30,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetTHE BLOC: $18,090 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPEACE RUNNERS 773 NFP CO: $12,012 over 1y, 6.4% of budgetTHE BASEBALL INC: $11,605 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLeap Learning Systems: $10,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetFIREHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER OF CHICAGO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBLACK UNITED FUND OF ILLINOIS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAustin African American Business Network NFP: $10,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetHOUSING OPPORTUNITIES AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE ELDERLY INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

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…Polk Bros Foundation …Robert R McCormick Fo…United Way of Metropo…The Albert Pick Jr Fu…The Joyce FoundationA Better ChicagoChicago Beyond IncThe Seabury FoundationJohn D and Catherine …AbbVie FoundationVivo Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL28.9× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Robert R McCormick Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · The Albert Pick Jr Fund · The Joyce Foundation · A Better Chicago · Chicago Beyond Inc · The Seabury Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Vivo 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 Social Venture Partners Chicago Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Social Venture Partners Chicago Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • The Baseball Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 22 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $50k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Social Venture Partners Chicago’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