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The Aiko Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Aiko Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$356k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$50k
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$383kScience & Tech$325kInternational$267kRecreation & Sports$111kCommunity Improvement$55kReligion$49kHuman Services$10kArts & Culture$2k
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $144k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $200k
$35,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WHITMAN COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES$50,000
ONE WORLD SURGERY$50,000
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY$50,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$50,000
STANFORD UNIVERSITY$40,000
UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF$35,000
UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF$25,000
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY$25,000
GLENCOE UNION CHURCH$18,500
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$5,000
AFRICAN WOMEN RISING$5,000
AFRICAN WOMEN RISING$2,000
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 (FY25–25, $7k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $5k → 14%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $2k → 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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 11% of The Aiko Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Aiko Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 2.1% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 9 repeat orgs$45k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +8% since the first grant, against -9% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
7

Total granted

$1.0M
$38k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
-9%

Still filing today

89%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureInternationalCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesRecreation & 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

  • UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
    4× · 2021–2025 · $175k · revenue +64%
  • BO
    BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF WHITMAN COLLEGE
    4× · 2022–2025 · $155k · revenue +33%
  • Northwestern University
    4× · 2022–2025 · $110k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • 8I
    826CHI INC
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue -25%
  • CT
    CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +22%
  • TS
    THE SERVICE CLUB OF CHICAGO
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue -9%
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
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
2
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
3
The University of Chicago Charter School Corporation

To Prepare Students for Success in Four-Year Colleges.

Education
4
University of Illinois Foundation

The Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is an independent and separate nonprofit entity from the University of Illinois. Our mission is to encourage and administer private gifts and serve the UI System by working closely with…

Education
5
The Trustees of the Smith College

Smith college educates women of promise for lives of distinction and purpose. a college of and for the world, smith college links the power of the liberal arts to excellence in research and scholarship, developing leaders for society's…

Education
6
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
7
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
8
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
9
Webster University

Founded in 1915, webster is a private non-profit and global university that is committed to delivering high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence.

Education
10
Chicago Charter School Foundation

Our vibrant network of diverse chicago charter schools enables students to thrive every day, puts them on a path to success in college and life, and empowers entrepreneurial educators to pursue excellence through innovation.

Education
11
Intrinsic Schools

The mission of intrinsic schools is to create a revolutionary new school model in order to 1) prepare all students for postsecondary success and world-changing endeavors; and 2) provide the education community with a roadmap to sustainable…

Education
12
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Family Matters Inc; the most unlike its peers is African Women Rising. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

17 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. 17 of the 18 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF WHITMAN COLLEGE: $155,000 · EducationBOARD OF TRUSTEES OF WHITMAN COLLEG…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $130,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND…LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $75,000 · EducationLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY826CHI INC: $15,000 · Education+1 more: $3,000 · EducationKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $325,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin Museum of Sc…+1 more: $1,500 · Arts & CultureUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $175,000 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR U…ONE WORLD SURGERY: $85,000 · InternationalONE WORLD SURGERYNorthwestern University: $110,000 · Recreation & SportsNorthweste…FAMILY MATTERS INC: $50,000 · Community ImprovementTHE SERVICE CLUB OF CHICAGO: $5,000 · Community ImprovementGLENCOE UNION CHURCH: $48,500 · OtherCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO: $5,000 · Other+1 more: $1,000 · OtherAFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $7,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY SCHOLAR HOUSE INC: $5,000 · Housing & Shelter
Education$378,000Arts & Culture$326,500International$260,000Recreation & Sports$110,000Community Improvement$55,000Other$54,500Human Services$12,000Housing & Shelter$5,000

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 budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $325,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $175,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBOARD OF TRUSTEES OF WHITMAN COLLEGE: $155,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $130,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $110,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetONE WORLD SURGERY: $85,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY MATTERS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budget826CHI INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SERVICE CLUB OF CHICAGO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFAMILY SCHOLAR HOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMARIN PROMISE PARTNERSHIP: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budget626 LANDMARK FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEVANSTON WILMETTE GOLF COURSE ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 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.

The Chicago Community…AbbVie FoundationVanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL19.3× affinity8 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · AbbVie Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 The Aiko Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Aiko Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 18 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

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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