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The Dover Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Dover 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.

$2.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$2.8M
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$6.6MScience & Tech$950kArts & Culture$342kAnimals$282kHealth$194kHuman Services$66kYouth Development$24kCommunity Improvement$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,819,580
Median grant
1
States reached
$53k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CMS FOUNDATION INC$2,819,580
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 (FY20–25, $6.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%EXODUS FINANCIAL SERVICES: $2k → 14%CMS FOUNDATION INC: $2.8M → 7%JUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $5k → 14%CMS Foundation Inc: $1.9M → 7%JUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $2k → 14%Mount Sinai Health System: $300 → 17%CMS FOUNDATION INC: $1.1M → 7%CMS FOUNDATION INC: $150k → 7%CMS FOUNDATION INC: $249k → 7%CMS FOUNDATION INC: $236k → 7%CMS Foundation Inc: $45k → 7%CMS Foundation Inc: $10k → 7%Gads Hill Center: $5k → 14%Gads Hill Center: $5k → 14%Gads Hill Center: $3k → 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

ME
NH
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
NJ
CA
CO
KY
VA
MD
TN
NC
AL
TX
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 10% of The Dover Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 97% of the giving stays in IL; by stated purpose, 88%.

The Dover Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.2M · 19 repeat orgs$316k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +53% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
69

Total granted

$8.2M
$316k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+53%
+19%

Still filing today

79%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesAnimalsInternationalOther
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

  • CF
    CMS Foundation Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $6.6M · revenue +222% · 76% of their budget
  • KC
    Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
    2× · 2020–2021 · $950k · revenue +28%
  • SA
    SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY
    2× · 2020–2021 · $280k · revenue +111%

Funded once

  • CS
    CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +8%
  • DC
    DUPAGE CHILDREN'S MUSEUMgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $80k · revenue +68%
  • R2
    Ride 2 Recovery dba Project Hero
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -83%
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
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
2
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
3
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
4
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
5
University of Indianapolis

The University of Indianapolis champions lifelong learning through relevant and innovative education that fosters experiential learning, diverse perspectives, service for impact, and a global mindset.

Education
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
7
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
8
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
9
Roosevelt University

Roosevelt university is an independent, non-profit, metropolitan university and national leader in educating socially conscious citizens for active and dedicated lives as leaders in their professions and their communities. the university's…

—
10
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
11
Benedictine University

Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Illinois Inc; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

75 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. 75 of the 89 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
71/75
Grantees still filing
54/75
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CMS Foundation Inc: $6,599,348 · Human ServicesCMS Foundation Inc+4 more: $22,050 · Human ServicesKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $950,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin…CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $150,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PUBLIC ME…CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $100,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO SHAKESPEA…DUPAGE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $80,000 · Arts & CultureDUPAGE CHILDREN'S…+2 more: $6,000 · Arts & CultureSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $280,000 · Animals+4 more: $1,450 · AnimalsAmerican Heart Association Inc: $160,000 · HealthMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF WISCONSIN INC: $10,000 · Health+9 more: $8,300 · HealthUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS OF ILLINOIS INC: $20,000 · OtherINDO AMERICAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $15,000 · OtherTHE KING'S DAUGHTERS' HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $5,000 · OtherSUNSHINE GOSPEL MINISTRIES: $5,000 · OtherMADISON RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT MADISON RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT: $5,000 · OtherMARINE FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL INDIANA INC: $5,000 · OtherMONADNOCK UNITED WAY INC: $5,000 · OtherNORTH SHORE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $5,000 · OtherThe Plank Center: $5,000 · OtherFONDAZIONE CITTA DELLA SPERANZA ONLUS: $5,000 · OtherRide 2 Recovery dba Project Hero: $10,000 · OtherCHICAGO CARES INC: $5,000 · OtherNia Community Development Corporation: $5,000 · OtherINDIANA VETERAN INITIATIVE INC: $5,000 · Other+28 more: $29,134 · OtherMidtown-Metro Achievement Centers: $10,500 · EducationST AMBROSE UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationLAKE FOREST ACADEMY: $5,075 · EducationINDIAN HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $2,500 · EducationSALISBURY SCHOOL INC: $2,500 · Education+9 more: $3,450 · EducationJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CHICAGO: $13,000 · InternationalAGC LTD: $5,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,500 · InternationalFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $1,500 · International+1 more: $438 · International
Human Services$6,621,398Arts & Culture$1,286,000Animals$281,450Health$178,300Other$129,134Education$39,025International$21,438

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCMS Foundation Inc: $6,599,348 over 6y, 76% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $950,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $280,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $160,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $150,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetDUPAGE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $80,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetINDO AMERICAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $15,000 over 2y, 20% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CHICAGO: $13,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGADS HILL CENTER: $12,750 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMidtown-Metro Achievement Centers: $10,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF WISCONSIN INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetST AMBROSE UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $7,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLAKE FOREST ACADEMY: $5,075 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE KING'S DAUGHTERS' HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $5,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSUNSHINE GOSPEL MINISTRIES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMADISON RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT MADISON RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT: $5,000 over 1y, 6.4% of budgetMONADNOCK UNITED WAY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH SHORE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINDIANA VETERAN INITIATIVE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAGC LTD: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetINDIAN HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $3,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEarly Learning Neighborhood Collaborative: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHARED HARVEST FOODBANK INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWorld Affairs Council - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky: $2,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetEXODUS FINANCIAL SERVICES: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPEOPLE'S RESOURCE CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $1,800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLAINSBORO RESCUE SQUAD: $1,584 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE FOREST COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $1,150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY FOR GREATER AUSTIN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWAGS & WHISKERS ANIMAL RESCUE OF MN: $600 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCornerstone University: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOURTE OREILLES LAKES ASSOCIATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $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…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Robert R McCormick Fo…John D and Catherine …Dr Scholl FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …AbbVie FoundationArthur J Gallagher Fo…Dolores Kohl Educatio…The Blackbaud Giving …Community Foundation …Northwestern Memorial…
The Chicago Community TrustIL20.4× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · AbbVie Foundation · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · Dolores Kohl Education Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley · Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Autism Society of America Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 89 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 Dover’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