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The Bear Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

The Bear Foundation

The organization raises charitable funds and for other organizations recognized as exempt.

$173k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$60k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$707kPhilanthropy$103kYouth Development$51kEducation$25kInternational$9k
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 7 grants below total $161,600, the rows itemized in this filing. The $173,095 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $11,495 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $70k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $60k
$9,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$152k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ASCENSION ILLINOIS FOUNDATION$60,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF CHICAGO$45,000
SWEDISH COVENANT HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$25,000
NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$9,500
MIDWEST HEALTH FOUNDATION$8,500
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$7,500
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS$6,100
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 66% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CASTING FOR RECOVERY: $15k → 10%CITY OF HOPE FOUNDATION: $16k → 14%AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: $13k → 14%BUILDON FOUNDATION: $9k → 9%CENTEGRA HEALTH SYSTEM FDN: $13k → 6%MIDWEST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $9k → 7%ASCENSION ILLINOIS FOUNDATION: $60k → 7%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS: $6k → 8%OSF HEART OF MARY MEDICAL CTR: $8k → 11%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF CHICAGO: $45k → 14%CITY OF HOPE FOUNDATION: $6k → 14%AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%CENTEGRA HEALTH SYSTEM FDN: $11k → 6%NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FDN: $30k → 7%BOLLINGBROOK HOSPITAL FDN: $10k → 7%SWEDISH COVENANT HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FDN: $19k → 7%SWEDISH COVENANT HOSPITAL: $8k → 14%NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FDN: $15k → 7%RESURRECTION UNIVERSITY FDN: $15k → 14%AMITA FOUNDATION: $77k → 7%RESURRECTION UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%GLENOAKS HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $19k → 7%NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $8k → 14%GLENOAKS HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $16k → 7%ALEXIAN BROTHERS FOUNDATION: $30k → 14%NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%PRESENCE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $196k → 14%PRESENCE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $106k → 14%PRESENCE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $65k → 14%FITZGERALD FAMILY FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%FITZGERALD FAMILY FOUNDATION: $9k → 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.

62%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$559k · 7 repeat orgs$336k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
9

Total granted

$559k
$182k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-6%
+27%

Still filing today

43%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 5% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $154k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’24
HealthPhilanthropyEducationInternationalYouth 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

  • PH
    PRESENCE HEALTH FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES
    3× · 2017–2019 · $367k
  • NM
    NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE
    4× · 2018–2024 · $72k
  • GH
    GLENOAKS HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    2× · 2018–2019 · $35k · revenue -75%

Funded once

  • AF
    AMITA FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $77k
  • AB
    ALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALTH SYSTEM
    one grant, 2018 · $30k · revenue -14%
  • RU
    RESURRECTION UNIVERSITY FDN
    one grant, 2018 · $15k
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
Edward Hospital

Edward Hospital follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
2
Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare Group

The elmhurst memorial healthcare group follows the mission of endeavor health (f/k/a ns-ee holdings). the mission of endeavor health is to "help everyone in our communities be their best." central to this mission is a commitment to…

—
3
Endeavor Health Medical Group

Endeavor Health Medical Group (EHMG) follows the mission of Endeavor Health. The mission of Endeavor Health is to "help everyone in our communities be their best." Central to this mission is a commitment to providing clinical programs and…

Health
4
Northwest Community Healthcare

NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE follows the mission of Endeavor Health. The mission of Endeavor Health is to "help everyone in our communities be their best." Central to this mission is a commitment to providing clinical programs and…

Health
5
Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare

Elmhurst memorial healthcare follows the mission of endeavor health. the mission of endeavor health is to "help everyone in our communities be their best." central to this mission is a commitment to providing clinical programs and services…

Health
6
Northwest Community Hospital

NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL follows the mission of Endeavor Health (F/K/A NS-EE Holdings). The mission of Endeavor Health is to "help everyone in our communities be their best." Central to this mission is a commitment to providing…

Health
7
Endeavor Health Clinical Operations

Endeavor Health Clinical Operations follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
8
Methodist Medical Center

Methodist Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

Health
9
Cumberland Medical Center

Cumberland Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health, regardless of the patient's ability to pay.

Health
10
Edward Foundation

Edward foundation follows the mission of endeavor health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

—
11
Concord Hospital - Franklin

CH-Franklin is a charitable organization which exists to meet the health needs of individuals within the communities it serves.

Health
12
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Glenoaks Hospital Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Fitzgerald Family Foundation 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

18 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. 18 of the 22 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/18
Grantees still filing
5/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PRESENCE HEALTH FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $366,895 · OtherPRESENCE HEALTH FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEESAMITA FOUNDATION: $76,548 · OtherAMITA FOUNDATIONNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE: $71,657 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCAREGLENOAKS HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $34,760 · OtherGLENOAKS HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONCentegra Health System Foundation: $23,242 · Other+6 more: $56,912 · Other+6 moreEdward-Elmhurst Healthcare: $60,000 · HealthEdward-Elmhurst Health…ALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALTH SYSTEM: $30,250 · HealthALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALT…Swedish Covenant Hospital Foundation: $25,000 · HealthSwedish Covenant Hospi…American Heart Association Inc: $22,500 · HealthAmerican Heart Associa…CITY OF HOPE: $21,000 · HealthCITY OF HOPECASTING FOR RECOVERY: $15,000 · HealthCASTING FOR RECOVERYBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $45,000 · Youth DevelopmentFITZGERALD FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $18,800 · PhilanthropyMIDWEST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $8,500 · PhilanthropyResurrection University: $10,000 · EducationBUILDON INC: $8,800 · International
Other$630,014Health$173,750Youth Development$45,000Philanthropy$27,300Education$10,000International$8,800

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 budgetPRESENCE HEALTH FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $366,895 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetEdward-Elmhurst Healthcare: $60,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $45,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGLENOAKS HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $34,760 over 2y, 18% of budgetALEXIAN BROTHERS HEALTH SYSTEM: $30,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSwedish Covenant Hospital Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCentegra Health System Foundation: $23,242 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $22,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCITY OF HOPE: $21,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFITZGERALD FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $18,800 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCASTING FOR RECOVERY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBolingbrook Hospital Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetResurrection University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwest Community Hospital Foundation: $9,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBUILDON INC: $8,800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMIDWEST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $8,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC: $6,100 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…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL11.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Bear Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bear 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 →
    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 22 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $145k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Bear’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