Illinois · Private foundation
The Barr Fund
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.
- $267k
- Granted FY2023
- 85
- Grants FY2023
- 79
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 18%
- First-time grantees FY2023
Read this first · the figures below need context
100% of The Barr Fund’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 3 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year The Barr Fund named its own grantees at scale: 56 organizations, $267k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
- Median grant, FY2023
- $1,500
- Largest grant, FY2023
- $35,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 69 to 83
- FY2020 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2023
- 13
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 18% of the organizations The Barr Fund funded were first-time grantees, receiving 15% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $37k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 79 | $257k | 18% |
| FY2022 | 83 | $301k | 28% |
| FY2021 | 83 | $298k | 34% |
| FY2020 | 69 | $263k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.
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, FY2020 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence Englewood Charter School Foundation | $150,000 | 4 | 18% |
| Rush University Medical Center | $108,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Legacy Charter School | $104,310 | 4 | 0% |
| Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago | $80,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Ravinia Festival Association | $49,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Shedd Aquarium Society | $37,500 | 4 | 0% |
| Project Exploration | $32,500 | 4 | 1% |
| National Defense University Foundation Inc | $32,500 | 3 | 3% |
| Project Education Plus | $31,000 | 4 | 3% |
| Illinois Network of Charter Schools | $20,000 | 4 | 0% |
Show all 92 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 44 recipients with no EIN on record ($190k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Barr Fund supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Motorola Solutions Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Cme Group Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · The Sidley Austin Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Barr Fund?
Find your warmest path to The Barr Fund 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.
About The Barr Fund
- How much does The Barr Fund give?
- The Barr Fund reported 85 grants totaling $267,140 in its FY2023 IRS filing. It funded between 69 and 83 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2023.
- What does The Barr Fund fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2024, its largest causes are Philanthropy (80%), Education (9%), Health (4%).
- Who are The Barr Fund's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2020 to FY2024: Providence Englewood Charter School Foundation ($150k), Rush University Medical Center ($108k), Legacy Charter School ($104k).
- Does The Barr Fund fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 18% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Barr Fund accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Barr Fund?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation, Arie and Ida Crown Memorial.
- Where is The Barr Fund based?
- The Barr Fund is based in IL.
Play a game based on Barr’s filings →