Skip to content
The Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$40k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$786kInternational$560kArts & Culture$322kRecreation & Sports$60kCommunity Improvement$20kEmployment$8kPhilanthropy$6kHealth$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CURE VIOLENCE GLOBAL$20,000
GOODMAN THEATRE$10,000
INDEPENDENCE INITIATIVE INC$5,000
PEOPLE'S MUSIC SCHOOL$5,000
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 (FY17–19, $300k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHICAGO LITERACY ALLIANCE: $150k → 14%CHICAGO LITERACY ALLIANCE: $100k → 14%THE CHICAGO LITERACY ALLIANCE NFP: $50k → 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

MN
IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 16 repeat orgs$81k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +15% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
17

Total granted

$1.7M
$76k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+7%

Still filing today

88%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyHealthInternationalOther
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

  • CV
    CURE VIOLENCE GLOBAL
    5× · 2019–2025 · $559k · revenue +21%
  • OB
    OPEN BOOKS LTD
    3× · 2017–2020 · $229k · revenue +49%
  • AS
    ASAH - SERVING THE PRIVATE SPECIAL EDUCATION COMMUNITY SINCE 1974 INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $110k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • GA
    GWYNEDD-MERCY ACADEMY
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • CITY YEAR INC
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +15%
  • WT
    WOMEN TECH FOUNDERS
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
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
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
2
The Chicago High School for the Arts

The chicago high school for the arts (chiarts) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar-artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory…

Education
3
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
4
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
5
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
6
Chicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago

Cinema/Chicago, the non-profit 501(c)(3) presenting organization of the Chicago International Film Festival, enriches the community through year-round programming devoted to international and independent cinema. We strengthen communication…

Arts & Culture
7
Chicago Sinfonietta Inc

Chicago Sinfonietta is a professional orchestra dedicated to modeling and promoting diversity, inclusion, and both racial and cultural equity in the arts through the universal language of symphonic music. Our core values are built around…

Arts & Culture
8
Classical Music Chicago

Presenting free high-quality classical music performances and music education experiences in the Chicago metropolitan area for people of all ages and degrees of musical awareness so they can experience how music enriches life.

Arts & Culture
9
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
10
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
11
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
12
The Chicago Academy for the Arts

The chicago academy for the arts transforms emerging artists through a curriculum and culture which connect intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity to impart the skills to lead and collaborate across diverse communities.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Theatre Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. 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

28 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. 28 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
17/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CURE VIOLENCE GLOBAL: $558,500 · InternationalCURE VIOLENCE GLOBALOPEN BOOKS LTD: $229,000 · EducationOPEN BOOKS LTDINDEPENDENT TELEVISION FESTIVAL INC: $115,000 · EducationINDEPENDENT TELEVISION FESTIV…FRIENDS OF ALCOTT SCHOOL: $70,000 · EducationFRIENDS OF ALCOTT SCHOOLUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $17,000 · Education+2 more: $25,000 · Education+2 moreCHICAGO LITERACY ALLIANCE: $300,000 · Human ServicesCHICAGO LITERACY AL…ASAH - SERVING THE PRIVATE SPECIAL EDUCATION COMMUNITY SINCE 1974 INC: $110,353 · OtherASAH - SERVING T…PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE: $55,000 · OtherPORCHLIGHT MUSIC…GWYNEDD-MERCY ACADEMY: $25,000 · OtherGWYNEDD-MERCY AC…CITY YEAR INC: $10,000 · OtherCHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT: $20,000 · OtherCHICAGO MEDIA PR…+12 more: $33,000 · Other+12 morePorchlight Music Theatre Chicago: $57,400 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $48,000 · Arts & CultureThe People's Music School: $6,500 · Arts & CultureLEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFULCRUM POINT NEW MUSIC PROJECT: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $1,500 · Arts & CultureNorthwestern University: $60,000 · Recreation & SportsChicagoland Entrepreneurial Center: $20,000 · Community ImprovementVOTE RUN LEAD INC: $2,000 · Community Improvement
International$558,500Education$456,000Human Services$300,000Other$253,353Arts & Culture$123,400Recreation & Sports$60,000Community Improvement$22,000

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 budgetCURE VIOLENCE GLOBAL: $558,500 over 5y, 8.0% of budgetCHICAGO LITERACY ALLIANCE: $300,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetOPEN BOOKS LTD: $229,000 over 3y, 6.7% of budgetINDEPENDENT TELEVISION FESTIVAL INC: $115,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetASAH - SERVING THE PRIVATE SPECIAL EDUCATION COMMUNITY SINCE 1974 INC: $110,353 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF ALCOTT SCHOOL: $70,000 over 8y, 6.1% of budgetNorthwestern University: $60,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPorchlight Music Theatre Chicago: $57,400 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $48,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetChicagoland Entrepreneurial Center: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT: $20,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $17,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe People's Music School: $6,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLEAGUE OF CHICAGO THEATRES FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFULCRUM POINT NEW MUSIC PROJECT: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetCOLORECTAL CANCER ALLIANCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVOTE RUN LEAD INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREE SPIRIT MEDIA NFP: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKARAM FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHANNA PERKINS SCHOOL: $500 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…John D and Catherine …AbbVie FoundationGreenleaf Avenue Foun…Jewish Federation of …The Yelp FoundationNcrc Community Develo…Morgan Stanley Global…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Charities Aid Foundat…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…
The Chicago Community TrustIL23.6× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Greenleaf Avenue Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · The Yelp Foundation · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
4report 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 Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Daniel and Genevieve Ratner 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Daniel and Genevieve Ratner’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