How much does The Barack Obama Foundation give?

The Barack Obama Foundation reported 6 itemized grants totaling $7,140,864, out of $11,386,511 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 6 and 20 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2023.

What does The Barack Obama Foundation fund?

By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2024, its largest causes are Philanthropy (24%), Youth Development (16%), Recreation & Sports (15%).

Who are The Barack Obama Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2018 to FY2024: Gofundmeorg ($7.7M), Chicago Park District ($3.5M), The National Archives Assembly ($2.1M).

Does The Barack Obama Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2023, 62% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Which funders back the same organizations as The Barack Obama Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc, The Chicago Community Trust, Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Where is The Barack Obama Foundation based?

The Barack Obama Foundation is based in IL.

Foundation Dossiers Mostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

Illinois · Public charity

The Barack Obama Foundation

To inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world and to honor the legacy of president.

$11M
Granted FY2024(still arriving): 6
Itemized grants FY2024: 13
Organizations funded FY2023: 62%
First-time grantees FY2023

Read the full brief

Itemized, FY2024: $7.1M; The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2024: $1,000,000
Largest grant, FY2024: $3,454,197
Organizations funded a year: 6 to 20; FY2018 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024: 5
Total assets, FY2024: $1.1B

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 62% of the organizations The Barack Obama Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 54% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4.5M went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

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

Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyEmploymentCommunity ImprovementOther

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.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2024still arriving	6	$7.1M	0%
FY2023	13	$8.3M	62%
FY2022	6	$3.3M	50%
FY2021	14	$5.1M	21%
FY2020	20	$2.2M	15%
FY2019	12	$3.0M	33%
FY2018	17	$3.1M	n/a

100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$8.5MYouth Development$5.8MRecreation & Sports$5.5MEducation$3.7MHuman Services$2.5MArts & Culture$2.3MPublic Benefit$2.1MCommunity Improvement$1.7MOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Gofundmeorg	$7,685,546	5	47%
Chicago Park District	$3,500,000	1	n/a
The National Archives Assembly	$2,083,000	2	n/a
Chicago Park District	$2,000,000	2	n/a
The Urban Alliance Foundation Inc	$1,483,334	4	4%
John Jay College Foundation Inc	$1,250,000	2	15%
Emerald South Economic Development Colloborative	$1,250,000	2	20%
Educational Results Partnership	$1,066,200	1	24%
African American Empowerment Network In	$951,000	4	33%
Thrive Chicago Nfp	$891,949	2	31%

Show all 37 grantees

All grantees of The Barack Obama Foundation by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Gofundmeorg	$7,685,546	5	47%
Chicago Park District	$3,500,000	1	n/a
The National Archives Assembly	$2,083,000	2	n/a
Chicago Park District	$2,000,000	2	n/a
The Urban Alliance Foundation Inc	$1,483,334	4	4%
John Jay College Foundation Inc	$1,250,000	2	15%
Emerald South Economic Development Colloborative	$1,250,000	2	20%
Educational Results Partnership	$1,066,200	1	24%
African American Empowerment Network In	$951,000	4	33%
Thrive Chicago Nfp	$891,949	2	31%
ImpactTulsa Inc	$800,000	1	73%
YouthBuild Newark Inc	$800,000	1	11%
Yonkers Public Schools	$800,000	1	n/a
Youth Guidance	$700,000	3	1%
Centers for Family Development Inc	$684,000	4	3%
Nepperhan Community Center Inc	$650,000	3	3%
Naca-Inspired Schools Network	$634,000	4	1%
Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management	$575,000	3	4%
Civic Heart Community Services	$250,000	3	2%
The Mass Mentoring Partnership Inc	$250,000	3	4%
Urban Strategies Council	$200,000	2	7%
The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago	$157,662	2	0%
New Life Centers of Chicagoland	$151,000	3	2%
The Chicago Community Loan Fund	$150,000	1	2%
Youth Leadership Institute	$134,000	3	1%
Ryse Inc	$134,000	3	2%
Orlando Community & Youth Trust Inc	$134,000	3	5%
Lawndale Christian Legal Center	$134,000	3	2%
Build Inc	$134,000	3	1%
South Shore Drill Team & Performing Arts Ensemble	$120,000	3	5%
Juma Ventures Inc	$100,000	2	1%
The Mentoring Center	$50,000	1	4%
Metropolitan Family Services	$50,000	1	0%
The Fund for Public Schools Inc	$37,500	2	0%
Champs Male Mentoring Program - Chirise	$25,000	1	2%
Gary Comer Youth Center Inc	$15,000	1	0%
Children First Fund the Chicago Public Schools Foundation	$10,000	1	0%

Plus 1 recipient with no EIN on record ($2.3M), not named here.

The Barack Obama Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 4 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 33 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 33.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors IncNY20.2× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Tides Center · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Circle of Service Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · The California Wellness Foundation · The California Endowment

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.

Compare The Barack Obama Foundation with peer funders

About The Barack Obama Foundation

How much does The Barack Obama Foundation give?: The Barack Obama Foundation reported 6 itemized grants totaling $7,140,864, out of $11,386,511 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 6 and 20 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2023.
What does The Barack Obama Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2024, its largest causes are Philanthropy (24%), Youth Development (16%), Recreation & Sports (15%).
Who are The Barack Obama Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2018 to FY2024: Gofundmeorg ($7.7M), Chicago Park District ($3.5M), The National Archives Assembly ($2.1M).
Does The Barack Obama Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2023, 62% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Barack Obama Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc, The Chicago Community Trust, Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Where is The Barack Obama Foundation based?: The Barack Obama Foundation is based in IL.