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Square One Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Square One Foundation

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.

$7.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
77
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$1.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$8.6MPhilanthropy$3.4MCivil Rights$2.9MPublic Benefit$2.3MCommunity Improvement$1.4MArts & Culture$1.4MHuman Services$574kEnvironment$528kOther$0
02FY2024 · 77 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $513k
  • $50k–250k55 grants · $4.3M
  • $250k+3 grants · $2.4M
$62,500
Median grant
8
States reached
$76M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Jewish United Fund (JUF)$1,500,000
University of Chicago$590,000
William J Brennan Jr Center for Justice Inc$300,000
National Louis University$207,500
THE ELECTION CENTER$200,000
City Bureau$137,500
Palenque LSNA$135,000
Civic News Company$127,500
Chicago United for Equity$100,000
Wisconsin Conservation VOICES$100,000
KidsFirst Chicago$100,000
Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights$95,000
Individual grant recipient$92,500
Mikva Challenge Grant Foundation Inc$85,000
Block Club Chicago$85,000
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 (FY22–24, $413k) 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%Beyond Legal Aid: $70k → 14%Beyond Legal Aid: $50k → 14%Equity and Transformation: $83k → 14%Equity and Transformation: $83k → 14%EQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION: $58k → 14%HANA Center: $70k → 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
NY
MA
OH
PA
CA
NC
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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$17M · 72 repeat orgs$5.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

72 repeat relationships: 50 still active in FY2024, 22 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

72
53

Total granted

$17M
$2.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+24%

Still filing today

81%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 62% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.6M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementCivil RightsYouth DevelopmentCrime & LegalOther
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

  • University of Chicago
    6× · 2018–2024 · $3.8M · revenue +52%
  • WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $905k · revenue +211%
  • NL
    National Louis University
    4× · 2021–2024 · $594k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • UO
    University of Chicago Odyssey Challenge
    one grant, 2023 · $500k
  • CN
    Civic News Company (Chalkbeat)
    one grant, 2023 · $103k
  • RC
    ROSELAND COMMUNITY HOSPITAL ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +61%
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
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
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
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
4
Chicago United

To achieve parity in economic opportunity for people of color by advancing multiracial leadership in corporate governance, expanding the talent pipline for executive-level management, and growing minority businesses.

Philanthropy
5
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
6
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

The chicagoland chamber of commerce combines the power of people, with our legacy of leadership and business advocacy, to drive a dynamic economy. we focus on delivering value for our members, making chicagoland a world-class place to live…

—
7
Live Free Chicago

Live Free Illinois is a statewide organization partnering with over 120 congregations and directly impacted individuals to build safer more equitable communities across Illinois. Operating at the intersection of criminal justice reform and…

—
8
Chicago Committee On Minorities in Large Law Firms

The chicago committee seeks racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession by collaborating with its law firm and corporate membership to: drive sustainable institutional change at law firms and corporate legal departments; provide…

Civil Rights
9
Kipp Chicago Schools

The team at kipp chicago schools is guided by a simple, yet powerful mission: to create a network of excellent schools in chicago that teach our students the character and academic skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond, and to…

Education
10
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
11
Public Interest Law Initiative

PILI engages, inspires and empowers those advancing equal access to justice.

Crime & Legal
12
Ampt Advancing Nonprofits

Advancing Nonprofits is committed to strengthening the organizational health and support long-term development of small nonprofits on Chicagos west and south sides while prioritizing Black- and Latine-led community organizations.…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kids First Chicago for Education; the most unlike its peers is Lugenia Burns Hope Center. 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

103 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. 103 of the 153 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
100/103
Grantees still filing
66/103
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

University of Chicago: $3,831,000 · EducationUniversity of ChicagoWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $905,000 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INCNational Louis University: $594,000 · EducationNational Louis UniversityFRAMEWORKS INSTITUTE: $550,000 · EducationFRAMEWORKS INSTITUTEMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $359,518 · EducationKIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION: $340,500 · Education+21 more: $2,440,000 · Education+21 moreJewish United Fund (JUF): $1,500,000 · OtherJewish United Fund (JUF)University of Chicago Odyssey Challenge: $500,000 · OtherUniversity of Chicago Odyssey ChallengeShriver Center on Urban Poverty: $295,000 · Other+82 more: $5,937,000 · Other+82 moreREFORM FOR ILLINOIS: $314,000 · Civil RightsChicago United for Equity: $285,000 · Civil RightsBLACKROOTS ALLIANCE: $240,000 · Civil RightsInjustice Watch NFP: $170,000 · Civil RightsInvisible Institute: $158,000 · Civil RightsECONOMIC SECURITY PROJECT INC: $151,500 · Civil RightsILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS: $150,000 · Civil Rights+1 more: $25,000 · Civil RightsJEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyThe Chicago Community Trust: $157,500 · PhilanthropySOUTHSIDERS ORGANIZED FOR UNITY AND LIBERATION: $105,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $76,500 · PhilanthropyTIDES FOUNDATION: $75,000 · PhilanthropyTHE MODERN CLASSROOMS PROJECT INC: $55,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $23,994 · PhilanthropyLogan Square Neighborhood Association: $210,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITIES UNITED: $203,500 · Community ImprovementSOUTHWEST ORGANIZING PROJECT: $182,500 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND FAMILY ISSUES: $170,000 · Community ImprovementEnlace Chicago: $165,000 · Community ImprovementTHE EXPERIMENTAL STATION: $100,000 · Community ImprovementTeachers Supporting Teachers: $91,900 · Community ImprovementCOMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION: $60,000 · Community ImprovementMETROPOLITAN PLANNING COUNCIL: $50,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $25,000 · Community ImprovementUNITING VOICES: $392,400 · Arts & CultureCITY BUREAU NFP: $282,500 · Arts & CultureREADER INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM INC: $117,000 · Arts & CultureThe Tiny News Collective Inc: $112,500 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $88,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $75,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $62,500 · Arts & CultureChicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc: $330,500 · Crime & LegalCITIZEN ADVOCACY CENTER: $190,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $90,000 · Crime & LegalLaw Center for Better Housing: $75,000 · Crime & LegalFund for Justice: $40,000 · Crime & Legal+2 more: $26,000 · Crime & Legal
Education$9,020,018Other$8,232,000Civil Rights$1,493,500Philanthropy$1,492,994Community Improvement$1,257,900Arts & Culture$1,129,900Crime & Legal$751,500

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 budgetUniversity of Chicago: $3,831,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $905,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetNational Louis University: $594,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFRAMEWORKS INSTITUTE: $550,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetUNITING VOICES: $392,400 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $359,518 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetKIDS FIRST CHICAGO FOR EDUCATION: $340,500 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetChicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc: $330,500 over 6y, 3.1% of budgetREFORM FOR ILLINOIS: $314,000 over 3y, 46% of budgetADVANCE ILLINOIS NFP: $299,000 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetChicago United for Equity: $285,000 over 7y, 13% of budgetCITY BUREAU NFP: $282,500 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetTHE ELECTION CENTER: $267,500 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetBRAVEN INC: $253,500 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetBLACKROOTS ALLIANCE: $240,000 over 3y, 7.6% of budgetIllinois Institute of Technology: $230,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLATINO POLICY FORUM: $228,500 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetBLOCK CLUB CHICAGO NFP: $227,500 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetEQUITY AND TRANSFORMATION: $223,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN: $220,750 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetThe Partnership for College Completion: $213,000 over 7y, 9.0% of budgetCROSSROADS FUND INC: $210,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetLogan Square Neighborhood Association: $210,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetCOMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND: $209,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCOMMUNITIES UNITED: $203,500 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetWISCONSIN CONSERVATION VOTERS INC: $195,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetCITIZEN ADVOCACY CENTER: $190,000 over 3y, 54% of budgetSOUTHWEST ORGANIZING PROJECT: $182,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $180,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND FAMILY ISSUES: $170,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetInjustice Watch NFP: $170,000 over 3y, 4.9% of budgetASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - CHICAGO: $170,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetEnlace Chicago: $165,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetAccelerate Institute: $160,000 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetInvisible Institute: $158,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $157,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetECONOMIC SECURITY PROJECT INC: $151,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS: $150,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GRAY MATTER EXPERIENCE INC: $135,500 over 3y, 7.0% of budgetBEYOND LEGAL AID: $120,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetSURGE INSTITUTE: $118,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL EDUCATION: $117,500 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetREADER INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM INC: $117,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWEST: $115,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetThe Tiny News Collective Inc: $112,500 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetSOUTHSIDERS ORGANIZED FOR UNITY AND LIBERATION: $105,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetWISCONSIN CONSERVATION VOICES INC: $100,000 over 1y, 3.5% 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.

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.

Polk Bros Foundation …Field Foundation of I…Robert R McCormick Fo…Lloyd a Fry FoundationThe Joyce FoundationThe Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …Arie and Ida Crown Me…Circle of Service Fou…Grand Victoria Founda…United Way of Metropo…Woods Fund of Chicago
Polk Bros Foundation IncIL91.5× affinity44 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Field Foundation of Illinois · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · The Joyce Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Circle of Service Foundation · Grand Victoria Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Woods Fund of 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 Square One Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Square One Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
24report 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 Square One Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Square One 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 153 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 Square One’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