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The a Montgomery Ward Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The a Montgomery Ward Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$683k
Granted FY2025still arriving
56
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$63k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$874kHealth$857kHuman Services$659kHousing & Shelter$550kArts & Culture$366kFood & Nutrition$172kScience & Tech$146kYouth Development$120kOther$0
02FY2025 · 56 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $81k
  • $10k–50k41 grants · $540k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $63k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ASSOCIATED COLLEGES OF ILLINOIS$62,500
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY$40,000
Individual grant recipient$35,899
THE FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY$25,000
WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS$25,000
WINGS PROGRAM INC$24,460
HELPING HAND CENTER$23,500
AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE$19,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
KAA - KIDS ABOVE ALL ILLINOIS$12,000
FRANCISCAN OUTREACH$10,000
HOUSING FORWARD$10,000
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY$10,000
MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION$10,000
ASCENSION IL ALEXIAN BROTHERS HOUSING$10,000
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 (FY20–25, $928k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 88% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%MARKLUND CHILDREN'S HOME: $10k → 8%PIONEER CTR FOR HUMAN SERVIC: $10k → 6%MARKLUND CHARITIES: $10k → 8%NAMI OF DUPAGE CTY ILLINOIS: $10k → 7%NAMI OF DUPAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS: $10k → 7%NAMI OF DUPAGE CTY ILLINOIS: $10k → 7%OUTREACH COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $10k → 7%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $15k → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $13k → 14%INSPIRATION CORPORATION: $10k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $10k → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $10k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $15k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $15k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $10k → 14%MARYVILLE ACADEMY: $10k → 14%CASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICE CORP: $10k → 14%MARYVILLE ACADEMY: $10k → 14%CASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICE CORP: $10k → 14%CASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICE CORP: $10k → 14%MARYVILLE ACADEMY: $10k → 14%CASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICE CORP: $10k → 14%FAMILY RESCUE: $10k → 14%FAMILY RESCUE: $10k → 14%FAMILY RESCUE: $10k → 14%TUESDAY'S CHILD: $10k → 14%TUESDAYS CHILD: $10k → 14%HELPING HAND CENTER: $55k → 14%HELPING HAND CENTER: $45k → 14%HELPING HAND CENTER: $24k → 14%HELPING HAND CENTER: $18k → 14%CLEARBROOK CENTER: $10k → 14%INNER VOICE INC: $20k → 14%INNER VOICE INC: $10k → 14%SOUTH SUBURBAN PADS: $15k → 14%SOUTH SUBURBAN PADS: $10k → 14%GADS HILL CENTER: $10k → 14%GADS HILL CENTER: $10k → 14%THE CHICAGO LIGHTHOUSE: $10k → 14%ORCHARD VILLAGE: $25k → 14%ORCHARD VILLAGE: $20k → 14%SOS Children's Villages Illinois: $15k → 14%Community Support Services Inc: $22k → 14%Community Support Services Inc: $15k → 14%COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES INC: $14k → 14%HOWARD AREA COMMUNITY CENTER: $21k → 14%HOWARD AREA COMMUNITY CENTER: $12k → 14%OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST DAY NURSERY: $19k → 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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.2M · 91 repeat orgs$891k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

91 repeat relationships: 39 still active in FY2025, 52 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

91
65

Total granted

$3.2M
$692k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+15%

Still filing today

80%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $199k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationHousing & ShelterHealthYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • WP
    WINGS PROGRAM INC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $158k · revenue +122%
  • HH
    HELPING HAND CENTER
    4× · 2020–2025 · $141k · revenue +55%
  • FM
    FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
    3× · 2020–2025 · $80k · revenue +112%

Funded once

  • MH
    MERCY HOUSING LAKEFRONT
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -25%
  • CF
    CHICAGO FAMILY HEALTH CENTER INC
    one grant, 2021 · $26k · revenue +1%
  • MH
    MERCY HOUSING INC
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue 0%
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
Child Link Inc

Child Link provides foster care, family counseling, and therapy services to Chicago area adolescents who are at risk of homelessness. Child Link also refers adolescents to other agencies that are able to provide additional resources and…

Human Services
2
Center for Housing and Health

Chh honors every person's right to a home and health care, by bridging the housing and health care systems, to improve the lives of chicagoans experiencing homelessness.

Housing & Shelter
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 Heightening Opportunity and Potential for

Providing academic support to children experiencing homelessness in Chicago and providing resources and services to families experiencing homelessness in Chicago.

Education
5
Lakeside Community Committee

To enhance the quality of life for children and families by inspiring hope and empowerment and growth within all whom we serve.

Human Services
6
Center for Family Services

Administering an array of critical, intensive therapeutic interventions and/or facilitation services to emotionally and behaviorally disturbed clients for whom DCFS is legally responsible in order to stabilize their traditional or home of…

Human Services
7
Depaul Community Services Inc

To provide residential and rehabilitation services to clients with mental illnesses

Health
8
Rimland Services Nfp

Provide community-based residential housing to adults with autism and/or severe developmental disabilities. also provide developmental training and other supports to this same population.

Human Services
9
Infant Welfare Society of Chicago

Infant welfare society of chicago (iws) (d/b/a iws family health) provides quality medical, dental and behavioral health services for the health, physical and mental development of children and their families in the chicagoland community.

—
10
Oak Leyden Developmental Services Inc

To help people with developmental disabilities meet life's challenges and reach their highest potential.

—
11
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
12
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

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.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Home & Aid Society of Ill; the most unlike its peers is The Adler Planetarium. 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

123 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. 123 of the 173 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
122/123
Grantees still filing
94/123
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY: $58,665 · Other+89 more: $1,518,504 · Other+89 moreHELPING HAND CENTER: $141,152 · Human ServicesHELPING HAND CENTERCOMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES INC: $50,520 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICE…THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $47,700 · Human ServicesORCHARD VILLAGE: $45,200 · Human ServicesHoward Area Community Center: $43,688 · Human ServicesCASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION: $40,000 · Human ServicesTHE CENTER OF CONCERN: $40,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY RESCUE INC: $35,000 · Human Services+28 more: $484,457 · Human Services+28 moreAssociated Colleges of Illinois Inc: $341,000 · EducationAssociated Co…CHILD'S VOICE SCHOOL: $25,000 · EducationHEAR SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · EducationHADLEY INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $20,000 · Education+8 more: $71,500 · Education+8 moreKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $110,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C G…FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $80,000 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEU…THE ADLER PLANETARIUM: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ADLER P…TUTORING CHICAGO: $35,000 · Arts & CultureTUTORING CH…SNOW CITY ARTS FOUNDATION: $35,000 · Arts & CultureSNOW CITY A…THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $30,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHICAGO…WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO T…STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $25,000 · Arts & CultureSTEPPENWOLF…Chicago Children's Museum: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $25,000 · Arts & Culture+4 moreWINGS PROGRAM INC: $157,961 · Housing & ShelterWINGS PROGR…MERCY HOUSING LAKEFRONT: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterMERCY HOUSI…HOUSING FORWARD: $42,315 · Housing & ShelterHOUSING FOR…DEBORAH'S PLACE: $40,000 · Housing & ShelterDEBORAH'S P…MERCY HOUSING INC: $25,000 · Housing & ShelterMERCY HOUSI…ALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY: $22,500 · Housing & ShelterALL CHICAGO…MATTHEW HOUSE INC: $20,000 · Housing & ShelterNORTH SIDE HOUSING AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES: $20,000 · Housing & ShelterTHE BOULEVARD OF CHICAGO INC: $20,000 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterEASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX VALLEY REGION: $40,000 · HealthLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $30,000 · HealthFOUNDATION FOR HEARING AND SPEECH RESOURCES: $30,000 · HealthErie Family Health Foundation Inc: $30,000 · HealthMCHENRY COUNTY ADULT PROGRAM: $17,000 · HealthMUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 · HealthIMD Guest House Foundation: $10,000 · HealthSOUTHSIDE PREGNANCY CENTER INC: $10,000 · Health+1 more: $5,000 · HealthAVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE: $70,689 · EmploymentHAVE DREAMS: $40,000 · EmploymentThe Cara Program: $10,000 · Employment
Other$1,577,169Human Services$927,717Education$477,500Arts & Culture$425,000Housing & Shelter$407,776Health$182,000Employment$120,689

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 budgetAssociated Colleges of Illinois Inc: $341,000 over 6y, 4.8% of budgetWINGS PROGRAM INC: $157,961 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetHELPING HAND CENTER: $141,152 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $110,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $80,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE: $70,689 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES INC: $50,520 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMERCY HOUSING LAKEFRONT: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $47,700 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetORCHARD VILLAGE: $45,200 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHoward Area Community Center: $43,688 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetHOUSING FORWARD: $42,315 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetHAVE DREAMS: $40,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCASA CENTRAL SOCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetDEBORAH'S PLACE: $40,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetDANIEL MURPHY SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $40,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEASTER SEALS DUPAGE & THE FOX VALLEY REGION: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ADLER PLANETARIUM: $40,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CENTER OF CONCERN: $40,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCOMMON PANTRY: $37,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetTUTORING CHICAGO: $35,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetFAMILY RESCUE INC: $35,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMARGARETS VILLAGE: $35,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSNOW CITY ARTS FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS ILLINOIS: $32,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCHINESE AMERICAN SERVICE LEAGUE INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMaryville Academy: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDONKA INCORPORATED: $30,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNAMI OF DUPAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS: $30,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetHEPHZIBAH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR HEARING AND SPEECH RESOURCES: $30,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetErie Family Health Foundation Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetThe Inner Voice Inc: $29,700 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCHICAGO FAMILY HEALTH CENTER INC: $25,800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPEOPLE'S RESOURCE CENTER: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMERCY HOUSING INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $25,000 over 3y, 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.

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.

George M Eisenberg Fo…United Way of Metropo…Helen V Brach Foundat…Andrew and Alice Fisc…Polk Bros Foundation …The Chicago Community…WP & HB White Foundat…Circle of Service Fou…The Service Club of C…Dr Scholl FoundationBlowitz-Ridgeway Foun…All Chicago Making Ho…
George M Eisenberg Foundation for CharitiesIL74.7× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Helen V Brach Foundation · Andrew and Alice Fischer Charitable Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · WP & HB White Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · The Service Club of Chicago · Dr Scholl Foundation · Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation · All Chicago Making Homelessness History

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 The a Montgomery Ward Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The a Montgomery Ward Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    44report 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 173 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on a Montgomery Ward’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