Skip to content
The Experimental Station at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

The Experimental Station

THE EXPERIMENTAL STATION was organized to promote, encourage and foster innovative educational and cultural initiatives of all genres, including but not limited to art and design, innovative educational models, food, and alternative media and journalism.

$1.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
30
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$178k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Food & Nutrition$5.2MCommunity Improvement$563kArts & Culture$462kPublic Benefit$183kEnvironment$111kEducation$71kYouth Development$65kRecreation & Sports$39kOther$0
02FY2024 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 30 grants below total $1,267,324, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,485,767 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $218,443 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 $10k7 grants · $50k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $267k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $950k
$20,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREEN CITY MARKET$177,500
CERMAK PRODUCE NO 7 INC$173,175
ONE STOP FOODS & LIQUOR INC$134,287
A&S SUPERMERCADO INC AKA MI MEXICO$109,000
THE LAND CONNECTION$83,950
COMMON GROUND FOOD CO-OP$75,738
ALBERTSON'S COMPANY INC$68,324
NEIGHBORHOOD CO-OP GROCERY$64,525
SUGAR BEET FOOD CO-OP$63,867
UPTOWN FARMERS MARKET NFP$32,000
VILLAGE OF SKOKIE$30,761
FARMERS MARKET OF CARBONDALE$22,000
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN$22,000
MORGAN FOOD LLC$21,860
THE URBAN CANOPY$20,000
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 (FY22–22, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%BURST INTO BOOKS: $16k → 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.

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.4M · 54 repeat orgs$2.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.

54 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2024, 30 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

54
94

Total granted

$4.4M
$2.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+37%

Still filing today

35%
19%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $134k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Food & NutritionCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureEnvironmentOther
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

  • CG
    CHICAGO'S GREEN CITY MARKET PROGRAM
    3× · 2022–2024 · $345k · revenue +38%
  • TL
    THE LAND CONNECTION FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $292k · revenue +129%
  • LS
    LOGAN SQUARE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
    5× · 2018–2023 · $157k · revenue +131%

Funded once

  • CB
    CITY BUREAU NFPgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $251k · revenue +322%
  • TB
    TOP BOX FOODSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue +33%
  • CP
    CERMAK PRODUCE NO 7 INC
    one grant, 2021 · $100k
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
Local Economic and Employment Development Council Inc

North Branch Works is a membership-supported nonprofit neighborhood organization that for more than three decades has promoted balanced, job-creating economic development along the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Employment
2
Cook County Chamber
Philanthropy
3
Highland Park Chamber of Commerce Inc

Local chamber of commerce

—
4
Uptown United

Support of area businesses and the neighborhood.

Unclassified
5
Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago

Strengthen companies in the kinzie industrial corridor and facilitate economic and community development by providing services and incubator space.

—
6
McKinley Park Development Council

The McKinley Park Development Council works to organize, inform, and support neighbors in building the community we want to live in - physically, culturally, and economically.

Community Improvement
7
Illinois Business Alliance

The illinois business alliance is a nonprofit, member-driven business league that exists to improve illinois' business climate and promote the common economic interests of its members.

—
8
Friends of Sears Sunken Garden

Friends of Sears Sunken Garden promotes and assists in the redesign, construction and maintenance of the historic Sears Sunken Garden located in the North Lawndale neighborhood of the City of Chicago for the use and enjoyment of the…

Environment
9
Downtown Development Corporation of Peoria

To promote economic development of downtown peoria, illinois

Community Improvement
10
Development Now for Chicago

Development now for chicago was formed to promote economic development and improve business conditions in the chicago metropolitan area by promoting the selection of chicago as the site of the 2024 democratic national convention and, if…

Community Improvement
11
Herrin Chamber of Commerce

To promote the city of herrin, il

—
12
32ND Street Farmers Market

Year-round farmers market offering produce, fruit, baked goods, prepared food and flowers serving all economic, social and ethnic backgrounds.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Star Farm Chicago; the most unlike its peers is Run a Way Buckers Club 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

39 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. 39 of the 154 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
39/39
Grantees still filing
30/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CERMAK PRODUCE NO 7 INC: $266,825 · OtherCERMAK PRODUCE NO 7 INCONE STOP FOODS & LIQUOR INC: $213,839 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $211,303 · OtherA&S SUPERMERCADO INC AKA MI MEXICO: $197,105 · OtherCITY OF EVANSTON: $175,375 · Other+121 more: $3,568,629 · Other+121 moreCHICAGO'S GREEN CITY MARKET PROGRAM: $345,000 · Food & NutritionCHICAGO'S GREEN C…THE LAND CONNECTION FOUNDATION INC: $291,792 · Food & NutritionTHE LAND CONNECTI…FOOD WORKS: $102,240 · Food & NutritionFOOD WORKSTOP BOX FOODS: $100,000 · Food & NutritionTOP BOX FOODSURBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE INC: $91,000 · Food & NutritionURBAN GROWERS COL…+6 more: $76,249 · Food & Nutrition+6 moreLOGAN SQUARE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $157,000 · Community ImprovementROCK RIVER DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP INC A NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION: $142,222 · Community ImprovementPeoria Riverfront Association: $62,524 · Community ImprovementDOWNTOWN SPRINGFIELD INC: $51,000 · Community ImprovementINNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK: $31,482 · Community ImprovementGarfield Park Community Council: $18,200 · Community Improvement+4 more: $32,872 · Community ImprovementCITY BUREAU NFP: $251,155 · Arts & CultureSOUTH SIDE WEEKLY NFP: $18,533 · Arts & CultureBLACK OAKS CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE RENEWABLE LIVING: $98,965 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $87,000 · EnvironmentRUN A WAY BUCKERS CLUB INC: $59,500 · Youth DevelopmentGARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC: $5,570 · Youth DevelopmentANDERSONVILLE DEVELOPMENT CORP NFP: $33,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$4,633,076Food & Nutrition$1,006,281Community Improvement$495,300Arts & Culture$269,688Environment$185,965Youth Development$65,070Housing & Shelter$33,000

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 budgetCHICAGO'S GREEN CITY MARKET PROGRAM: $345,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetTHE LAND CONNECTION FOUNDATION INC: $291,792 over 4y, 12% of budgetCITY BUREAU NFP: $251,155 over 1y, 15% of budgetLOGAN SQUARE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $157,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetROCK RIVER DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP INC A NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION: $142,222 over 4y, 24% of budgetDEVCORP NORTH DBA ROGERS PARK BUSINESS ALLIANCE: $135,223 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetFOOD WORKS: $102,240 over 4y, 45% of budgetTOP BOX FOODS: $100,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetBLACK OAKS CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE RENEWABLE LIVING: $98,965 over 1y, 21% of budgetURBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE INC: $91,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $87,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSTAR FARM CHICAGO: $76,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetPeoria Riverfront Association: $62,524 over 3y, 47% of budgetRUN A WAY BUCKERS CLUB INC: $59,500 over 1y, 36% of budgetALTON MAIN STREET INC: $59,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetDOWNTOWN SPRINGFIELD INC: $51,000 over 3y, 7.3% of budgetLINCOLN SQUARE RAVENSWOOD CHAMBER OF COM: $34,430 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetANDERSONVILLE DEVELOPMENT CORP NFP: $33,000 over 1y, 49% of budgetTHE WICKER PARK & BUCKTOWN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $32,000 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetINNER-CITY MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK: $31,482 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetILLINOIS STEWARDSHIP ALLIANCE: $23,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetDEKALB CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INC: $20,500 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetSOUTH SIDE WEEKLY NFP: $18,533 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetGOSHEN MARKET FOUNDATION: $18,500 over 2y, 9.8% of budgetGarfield Park Community Council: $18,200 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetPresence Chicago Hospitals Network: $16,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthcenter Chamber of Commerce: $15,500 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetBURST INTO BOOKS: $15,500 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetInvisible Institute: $14,074 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNEIGHBORSPACE: $13,497 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPlant Chicago NFP: $12,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetEast Edgewater Chamber of Commerce: $10,500 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetGLOBAL GARDEN REFUGEE TRAINING FARM: $9,749 over 1y, 17% of budgetGROW GREATER ENGLEWOOD INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDOWNTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOC OF ELGIN: $7,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetBATAVIA MAINSTREET: $7,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetPEORIA GROWN: $6,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetGARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC: $5,570 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMAIN STREET OF STERLING INC: $5,375 over 1y, 1.5% 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 CHICAGO'S GREEN CITY MARKET PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds THE LAND CONNECTION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CITY BUREAU NFP ↗
  • Who funds LOGAN SQUARE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ↗
  • Who funds ROCK RIVER DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP INC A NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds DEVCORP NORTH DBA ROGERS PARK BUSINESS ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds FOOD WORKS ↗
  • Who funds TOP BOX FOODS ↗
  • Who funds BLACK OAKS CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE RENEWABLE LIVING ↗
  • Who funds URBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds STAR FARM CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Peoria Riverfront Association ↗
  • Who funds RUN A WAY BUCKERS CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds ALTON MAIN STREET INC ↗
  • Who funds DOWNTOWN SPRINGFIELD INC ↗

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.

ForefrontBuilders Vision Found…Field Foundation of I…The Lumpkin Family Fo…The Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …United Way of Metropo…The Morton ArboretumReva and David Logan …Illinois Stewardship …Walter S Mander Found…Openlands
ForefrontIL33.4× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Forefront · Builders Vision Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · The Lumpkin Family Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · The Morton Arboretum · Reva and David Logan Foundation · Illinois Stewardship Alliance · Walter S Mander Foundation · Openlands

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%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
    0get no government money at all
    21report 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 Experimental Station?

    Find your warmest path to The Experimental Station 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 154 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.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Experimental Station’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