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Straus Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Straus Family 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.

$97k
Granted FY2024still arriving
25
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$10k
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 2024.

Education$103kArts & Culture$81kHealth$78kFood & Nutrition$41kEnvironment$29kHousing & Shelter$28kPhilanthropy$16kYouth Development$16kOther$0
02FY2024 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k24 grants · $87k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$3,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$10,000
HOPE CHICAGO$7,000
CELEBRATE THE BEAT$5,000
BERNIE'S BOOK BANK$5,000
MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION$5,000
EVANSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$5,000
FORMAN SCHOOL$5,000
CAMPERSHIPS FOR NEBAGAMON$5,000
THE CONSERVATION FUND$5,000
SKIDMORE COLLEGE$5,000
FEEDING AMERICA$5,000
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL$5,000
AMERICAN GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY ASSOCIATION (AGPA)$3,000
COMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING$3,000
LAMBDA LEGAL$3,000
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 (FY17–23, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF EVAN: $1k → 14%INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF EVAN: $500 → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $6k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $5k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $1k → 14%TURNING POINT: $2k → 14%TURNING POINT: $2k → 14%TURNING POINT: $500 → 14%TURNING POINT: $500 → 14%TURNING POINT: $500 → 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

VT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
IN
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
VA
AZ
NM
TN
DC
OK
GA
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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$372k · 44 repeat orgs$86k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against -2% for those funded once.

44 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 31 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

44
29

Total granted

$372k
$51k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
-2%

Still filing today

75%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $35k 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 & CultureEducationEnvironmentHealthFood & NutritionHuman ServicesOther
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

  • CN
    CAMP NEBAGAMON FOUNDATION
    7× · 2017–2024 · $25k · revenue +239%
  • FS
    FORMAN SCHOOL INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $22k · revenue +19%
  • AJ
    A JUST HARVEST
    4× · 2019–2024 · $13k · revenue +213%

Funded once

  • LJ
    LITTLE JOHN'S RESTAURANT INC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue 0%
  • HA
    HEARTLAND ALLIANCE
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
  • THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue +1%
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
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
2
Cdp North America Inc

Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…

Environment
3
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
4
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
5
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
6
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
7
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
8
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
9
Counterpart International Inc

For over 60 years, counterpart international has partnered with communities worldwide to turn local ideas into lasting solutions, connecting local vision with global opportunity. (continued on schedule o)we believe people closest to the…

International
10
Alternatives Inc

Alternatives, inc.'s mission is to facilitate personal development,strengthen family relationships and enhance the community's well being. serving over 3,000 youth and families annually, the organization offers a range of counseling and…

Health
11
Boston Architectural College

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

—
12
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Connections for the Homeless Inc; the most unlike its peers is Chicago Cred Inc. 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

61 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. 61 of the 87 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)
60/61
Grantees still filing
34/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $30,500 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOODFORMAN SCHOOL INC: $22,000 · OtherFORMAN SCHOOL INCCOMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING: $14,000 · OtherSIERRA CLUB: $12,000 · OtherLITTLE JOHN'S RESTAURANT INC: $10,000 · OtherHOPE CHICAGO INC: $9,500 · OtherATLANTIC THEATER CO: $9,210 · OtherMIDWEST USTA EDU FOUNDATION: $9,000 · OtherBERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $9,500 · Other+46 more: $143,000 · Other+46 moreCELEBRATE THE BEAT: $49,000 · Arts & CultureCELEBRATE THE BEA…CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $5,500 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PUBLIC ME…Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $4,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin…STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $3,800 · Arts & CultureStraus Historical Society: $3,500 · Arts & CultureNEXT STAGE ARTS PROJECT INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $3,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureCAMP NEBAGAMON FOUNDATION: $25,000 · EducationCAMP NEBAGAM…American Group Psychotherapy Association Inc: $9,000 · EducationAmerican Gro…EVANSTON SCHOLARS: $7,000 · EducationEVANSTON SCH…SKIDMORE COLLEGE: $5,500 · EducationSKIDMORE COL…WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · EducationROOM TO READ: $2,000 · EducationREACH OUT AND READ INC: $2,000 · EducationA JUST HARVEST: $12,500 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $10,000 · HealthFight the New Drug Inc: $5,000 · HealthINSTITUTE FOR THERAPY THROUGH THE ARTS: $3,000 · HealthEvanston Community Foundation: $16,000 · PhilanthropyDAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS -BASED EDUCATION AND WORLD PEACE: $4,500 · PhilanthropyCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 · PhilanthropyInspiration Corporation: $12,000 · Human ServicesTurning Point Inc: $5,000 · Human ServicesINFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF EVANSTON INC: $1,500 · Human ServicesTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $5,000 · EnvironmentCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $4,500 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $3,000 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $2,000 · EnvironmentOUTWARD BOUND INC: $1,000 · Environment350ORG: $1,000 · Environment
Other$268,710Arts & Culture$73,800Education$53,000Health$30,500Philanthropy$21,500Human Services$18,500Environment$16,500

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 budgetCELEBRATE THE BEAT: $49,000 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetCAMP NEBAGAMON FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 7y, 2.2% of budgetFORMAN SCHOOL INC: $22,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetEvanston Community Foundation: $16,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetA JUST HARVEST: $12,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetSIERRA CLUB: $12,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetInspiration Corporation: $12,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLITTLE JOHN'S RESTAURANT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetHOPE CHICAGO INC: $9,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $9,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Group Psychotherapy Association Inc: $9,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Cred Inc: $8,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASSOC FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION: $7,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetEVANSTON SCHOLARS: $7,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL GHOST RANCH FOUNDATION: $5,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSKIDMORE COLLEGE: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTurning Point Inc: $5,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFight the New Drug Inc: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFEED THE CHILDREN INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS -BASED EDUCATION AND WORLD PEACE: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $3,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetStraus Historical Society: $3,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNEXT STAGE ARTS PROJECT INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR THERAPY THROUGH THE ARTS: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTOP BOX FOODS: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROOM TO READ: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREACH OUT AND READ INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRROWESS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSunbird Initiative: $2,000 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 CELEBRATE THE BEAT ↗
  • Who funds CAMP NEBAGAMON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FORMAN SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds Evanston Community Foundation ↗
  • Who funds A JUST HARVEST ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB ↗
  • Who funds Inspiration Corporation ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE JOHN'S RESTAURANT INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPE CHICAGO INC ↗
  • Who funds BERNIE'S BOOK BANK ↗
  • Who funds American Group Psychotherapy Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Cred Inc ↗
  • Who funds BROWN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds ASSOC FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds EVANSTON SCHOLARS ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL GHOST RANCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SKIDMORE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Turning Point Inc ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds Feeding America ↗
  • Who funds THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Fight the New Drug Inc ↗
  • Who funds MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC ↗
  • Who funds FEED THE CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS -BASED EDUCATION AND WORLD PEACE ↗
  • Who funds Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry ↗

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…Evanston Community Fo…AbbVie FoundationThe Weiner-Ellman Fam…Elizabeth Beidler Tis…Lewis-Sebring Family …Finnegan Family Found…Frankel Family Founda…Northwestern Universi…United Way of Metropo…Jewish Federation of …John D and Catherine …
The Chicago Community TrustIL21.4× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Evanston Community Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · The Weiner-Ellman Family Foundation · Elizabeth Beidler Tisdahl Foundation · Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation · Finnegan Family Foundation · Frankel Family Foundation · Northwestern University · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · John D and Catherine T Macarthur 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 Straus Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Straus Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Reach Out and Read Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Feed the Children Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
11report 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 87 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 Straus Family’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