Skip to content
The Comer Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Comer 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.

$198k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$148k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$237kScience & Tech$148kYouth Development$106kArts & Culture$88kEducation$50kHealth$42kInternational$40kCommunity Improvement$22kOther$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $310
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $198k
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COMER SCIENCE AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION$147,879
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION$50,000
LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN$310
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 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 39% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Southside Harm Reduction Services: $100 → 11%San Francisco Safety and Wellness: $20k → 10%DIRECT RELIEF: $40k → 14%Ghetto Film School: $5k → 28%NASTAD: $7k → 14%Wellness AID Services Inc: $100 → 16%Kansas City CARE Clinic: $100 → 15%TEENS TAKE ON CLIMATE: $150k → 5%Bad River Band of Lake Superior: $100 → 14%LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN: $310 → 17%Portsmouth City Health Department: $100 → 22%UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $50k → 9%FACETS MULTIMEDIA: $25k → 14%The Board of Trustees University of: $100 → 19%New Eyes for the Needy Inc: $200 → 16%NASTAD: $4k → 14%COMER SCIENCE AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $148k → 5%FIRST TEE- SOUTHEST WISCONSIN: $22k → 17%Field Museum of Natural History: $1k → 14%National Center of Family Philanthr: $3k → 14%TEENS TAKE ON CLIMATE: $85k → 5%Field Museum of Natural History: $1k → 14%Art Institute of Chicago: $10k → 14%Art Institute of Chicago: $10k → 14%Northwestern University: $400 → 14%High Jump Organization: $1k → 14%Operation Walk Chicago: $5k → 14%Shirley Ryan Ability Lab: $300 → 14%Howard Brown Health Center: $100 → 14%Gary Comer Youth Center: $25k → 14%Gary Comer Youth Center: $25k → 14%Gary Comer Youth Center: $25k → 14%Gary Comer Youth Center: $25k → 14%GARY COMER YOUTH CENTER: $6k → 14%HYDE PARK ART CENTER: $30k → 14%Lyric Opera of Chicago: $1k → 14%AIDS FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO: $250 → 14%Forefront: $813 → 14%Forefront: $150 → 14%Urban Growers Collective: $5k → 14%Forefront: $150 → 14%Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc: $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
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
OH
NJ
CA
MO
MD
DC
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.

50%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$375k · 6 repeat orgs$370k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +88% since the first grant, against +41% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
26

Total granted

$375k
$171k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+88%
+41%

Still filing today

100%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $198k 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
Arts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyEducationEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • GC
    GARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC
    5× · 2017–2021 · $106k · revenue +88%
  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
    2× · 2018–2019 · $20k · revenue +34%
  • NA
    NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF STATE AND TERRITORIAL AIDS DIRECTORSDBA NASTAD
    2× · 2018–2019 · $11k · revenue +82%

Funded once

  • DIRECT RELIEF
    one grant, 2022 · $40k · revenue +8%
  • HYDE PARK ART CENTER
    one grant, 2021 · $30k · revenue -62%
  • FF
    Facets Film Forum
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -20%
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
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
2
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
3
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
4
University Family Physicians Inc

Engage actively and continuously in medical research, education and training in the practice of medicine in conjunction with the department of family medicine of the indiana university school of medicine and indiana university…

—
5
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
6
Arbor Research Collaborative for Health

Arbor research collaborative for health is committed to improving patient care through research that shapes medical policies and practice. in particular, arbor research conducts health outcomes research on chronic disease and end-stage…

Health
7
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
8
University Hospital & Clinics Inc

The organization provides medical care to improve, maintain, and restore the health of the people in the communities we serve.

Health
9
National Association of Corporate Directors

We empower directors and transform boards to be future ready.

Public Benefit
10
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
11
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
12
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hyde Park Art Center; the most unlike its peers is Comer Science & Education Foundation. 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

26 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. 26 of the 35 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/26
Grantees still filing
20/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEENS TAKE ON CLIMATE INC: $235,000 · EnvironmentTEENS TAKE ON CLIMATE INCCOMER SCIENCE & EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $147,879 · PhilanthropyCOMER SCIENCE & EDUCAT…+1 more: $1,113 · PhilanthropyGARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC: $106,499 · Youth DevelopmentGARY COMER YOUTH…UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY…THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $20,000 · EducationTHE ART IN…HYDE PARK ART CENTER: $30,000 · Arts & CultureHYDE PARK …Facets Film Forum: $25,000 · Arts & CultureFacets Fil…MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureMUSIC AND …THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTHE GHETTO…+2 more: $3,000 · Arts & CultureFIRST TEE- SOUTHEST WISCONSIN: $22,000 · OtherFIRST TEE- …San Francisco Safety and Wellness: $20,000 · OtherSan Francis…National Center of Family Philanthr: $3,000 · OtherNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF STATE AND TERRITORIAL AIDS DIRECTORSDBA NASTAD: $10,642 · OtherNATIONAL AL…Operation Walk Chicago: $5,000 · OtherOperation W…URBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE INC: $5,000 · OtherURBAN GROWE…People's Harm Reduction Alliance: $5,000 · OtherPeople's Ha…+15 more: $5,660 · Other+15 moreDIRECT RELIEF: $40,000 · International
Environment$235,000Philanthropy$148,992Youth Development$106,499Education$70,000Arts & Culture$68,000Other$76,302International$40,000

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 budgetTEENS TAKE ON CLIMATE INC: $235,000 over 2y, 74% of budgetCOMER SCIENCE & EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $147,879 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetGARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC: $106,499 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHYDE PARK ART CENTER: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFacets Film Forum: $25,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF STATE AND TERRITORIAL AIDS DIRECTORSDBA NASTAD: $10,642 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetURBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPeople's Harm Reduction Alliance: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOREFRONT: $1,113 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN INC: $310 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAIDS Foundation of Chicago: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew Eyes for the Needy Inc: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKansas City CARE Clinic: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHoward Brown Health Center: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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…AIDS UnitedNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL22.1× affinity10 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · AIDS United · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Comer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Comer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Comer Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Comer Foundation 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.

    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 35 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 Comer’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