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The Bill Bass Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bill Bass Foundation

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.

$836k
Granted FY2024still arriving
59
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$118k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$1.9MPhilanthropy$1.0MEducation$805kArts & Culture$408kInternational$229kHuman Services$196kCrime & Legal$173kPublic Safety & Disaster$153kOther$0
02FY2024 · 59 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k28 grants · $125k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $443k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $268k
$10,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO$118,000
SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITY LAB$50,000
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FOUNDATION$50,000
LURIE CHILDRENS FOUNDATION$50,000
BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION$46,000
MALNATI BRAIN TUMOR INSTITUTE$35,000
SPECIAL CHILDRENS CHARITIES$28,000
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$25,000
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION$25,000
CHICAGO POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$25,000
CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION$25,000
NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY$20,000
THE NORA PROJECT$20,000
Individual grant recipient$18,000
HAROLD E EISENBERG FOUNDATION$15,000
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 (FY17–24, $138k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 82% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MARKLUND: $10k → 8%MARKLUND CHARITIES: $10k → 8%MARKLUND: $5k → 8%ASIAN HUMAN SERVICES: $10k → 14%MISERICORDIA FAMILY ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $8k → 14%MISERICORDIA FAMILY ASSOCIATION: $3k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $5k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $2k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTED: $10k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $5k → 14%JCC CHICAGO: $25k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $5k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $5k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $5k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $5k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $5k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $3k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS INC: $3k → 14%COUNCIL FOR JEWISH ELDERLY: $5k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
MI
NY
PA
CT
CA
MO
VA
MD
AZ
SC
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.3M · 93 repeat orgs$538k to everyone else

93 repeat relationships: 49 still active in FY2024, 44 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

93
72

Total granted

$5.3M
$468k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+34%

Still filing today

68%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $70k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationPhilanthropyRecreation & 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

  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    8× · 2017–2024 · $824k · revenue +13%
  • II
    Illinois Institute of Technology
    6× · 2017–2023 · $325k · revenue +27%
  • RI
    Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
    7× · 2018–2024 · $270k · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF ILLIOIS I-FUND
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
  • NB
    NORTHWESTERN BRAIN TUMOR INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2017 · $35k
  • JC
    Jewish Community Centers of Chicago
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +6%
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
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
2
Gastro Intestinal Research Foundation Inc

The GI Research Foundation works to treat, prevent, and cure digestive diseases. In collaboration with the physicians and scientists at the University of Chicago Digestive Diseases Center, we fund innovative clinical and laboratory…

Health
3
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
4
Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute

Stanley manne children's research institute strives to generate new knowledge and advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric diseases.

Health
5
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
6
Lurie Children's Surgical Foundation Inc

Provide pediatric and subspecialty surgical, research, and educational services.

—
7
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
8
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
9
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc

The mission of dfci is to provide expert, compassionate, and equitable care to children, adults, and their families, while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. we train new…

Health
10
The Chicago Scholars Foundation

Chicago scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities.

Education
11
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Ann & robert h. lurie children's hospital of chicago is dedicated to the health and well-being of all children. as the pediatric teaching facility for northwestern university feinberg school of medicine, this commitment drives us to be a…

Health
12
Pediatric Faculty Foundation Inc

We value excellence and innovation in clinical and basic research, coordinated and comprehensive patient care, ongoing physician education, and evidence-based child advocacy. our goal is to provide leadership in endeavors that promote the…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. 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

104 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. 104 of the 176 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)
21
Early backer (in before they grew)
103/104
Grantees still filing
73/104
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LURIE CHILDRENS FOUNDATION: $290,000 · OtherLURIE CHILDRENS FOUNDATIONMALNATI BRAIN TUMOR INSTITUTE: $250,000 · OtherMALNATI BRAIN TUMOR INSTITUTEIndividual grant recipient: $118,000 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherCHABAD OF CHAMPAIGN-URBANA NFP: $85,000 · Other+106 more: $1,675,700 · Other+106 moreJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $824,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND O…HAROLD E EISENBERG FOUNDATION: $75,000 · PhilanthropyHAROLD E EISENBERG F…ANTHONY RIZZO FAMILY FOUNDATION: $65,000 · PhilanthropyANTHONY RIZZO FAMILY…Highland Park Community Foundation: $37,500 · Philanthropy+3 more: $73,500 · Philanthropy+3 moreRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $270,000 · HealthRehabilitation…NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $112,500 · HealthNATIONAL MULTI…CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $90,000 · HealthCYSTIC FIBROSI…IMERMAN ANGELS: $60,000 · HealthIMERMAN ANGELSLOYOLA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: $45,000 · HealthLOYOLA UNIVERS…BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $33,750 · HealthUniversity of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation: $30,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $29,000 · Health+13 more: $95,500 · Health+13 moreIllinois Institute of Technology: $325,000 · EducationIllinois In…University of Illinois Foundation: $170,000 · EducationUniversity …Teach for America Inc: $85,000 · EducationTeach for A…+4 more: $26,000 · EducationCHICAGO POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $147,500 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PO…THE JOFFREY BALLET: $100,000 · Arts & CultureTHE JOFFRE…RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $61,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FE…SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER INC: $42,500 · Arts & CultureSIMON WIES…CHAMPAIGN-URBANA BALLET: $36,000 · Arts & CultureCHAMPAIGN-…The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $30,000 · Arts & CultureThe United…HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC: $28,000 · Arts & CultureSTEP UP WOMEN'S NETWORK: $20,000 · Arts & CultureOLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC: $18,500 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $50,500 · Arts & Culture+9 moreBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $166,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $42,500 · InternationalJEWISH NATIONAL FUND (KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL) INC: $20,000 · InternationalInvest for Kids Inc: $36,000 · Human ServicesJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $25,000 · Human ServicesMARKLUND CHILDRENS HOME: $15,000 · Human ServicesTHE CENTER OF CONCERN: $14,000 · Human ServicesMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $12,500 · Human ServicesMARKLUND CHARITIES: $10,000 · Human ServicesASIAN HUMAN SERVICES: $10,000 · Human ServicesCenter on Halsted: $10,000 · Human ServicesCOUNCIL FOR JEWISH ELDERLY: $5,000 · Human Services
Other$2,518,700Philanthropy$1,075,000Health$765,750Education$606,000Arts & Culture$534,000International$228,500Human Services$137,500

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 budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $824,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetIllinois Institute of Technology: $325,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $270,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $170,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION: $166,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $147,500 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $112,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $100,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $85,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHELPING HANDS NETWORK INC: $82,500 over 8y, 12% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $75,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHAROLD E EISENBERG FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 7y, 2.3% of budgetGreater Chicago Legal Clinic: $65,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $65,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetANTHONY RIZZO FAMILY FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $61,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetIMERMAN ANGELS: $60,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetNational Campaign to Stop Violence: $60,000 over 7y, 12% of budgetLOYOLA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN EMPLOYED: $45,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetBRIGHT PROMISES FOUNDATION: $43,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $42,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER INC: $42,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NORA PROJECT: $41,100 over 7y, 2.8% of budgetISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHighland Park Community Foundation: $37,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCHAMPAIGN-URBANA BALLET: $36,000 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetInvest for Kids Inc: $36,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetSECOND SENSE: $35,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $33,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFEMALE STRONG: $32,500 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetMichael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation: $32,500 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetSpecial Children's Charities: $32,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE FIRST TEE OF CHICAGO FOUNDATION: $31,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSAM & MARY PALUMBO FAMILY FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation: $30,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $29,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC: $28,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDRENS BRITTLE BONE FOUNDATION: $27,500 over 6y, 5.4% of budgetJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBRAIN RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH NATIONAL FUND (KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL) INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR ENRICHED LIVING INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSTEP UP WOMEN'S NETWORK: $20,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetOLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC: $18,500 over 5y, 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.

  • Who funds JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Illinois Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds University of Illinois Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds THE JOFFREY BALLET ↗
  • Who funds CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds HELPING HANDS NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds HAROLD E EISENBERG FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Greater Chicago Legal Clinic ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds ANTHONY RIZZO FAMILY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds IMERMAN ANGELS ↗
  • Who funds National Campaign to Stop Violence ↗
  • Who funds LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN EMPLOYED ↗
  • Who funds BRIGHT PROMISES FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES ↗
  • Who funds SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NORA PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds ISRAEL CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds Highland Park Community Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CHAMPAIGN-URBANA BALLET ↗
  • Who funds Invest for Kids Inc ↗
  • Who funds SECOND SENSE ↗

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.

Jewish Federation of …Circle of Service Fou…AbbVie FoundationThe Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …Polk Bros Foundation …Arie and Ida Crown Me…United Way of Metropo…Sam I Am FoundationThe Robert Thomas Bob…Kovler Family Foundat…Baird Foundation Inc
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan ChicagoIL37.7× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Circle of Service Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Sam I Am Foundation · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · Kovler Family Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    27report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 176 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Bill Bass’ 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