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The Irving Harris Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Irving Harris 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.

$22M
Granted FY2024still arriving
337
Grants FY2024still arriving
29
States reached
$1.3M
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$20MEducation$15MCivil Rights$13MHealth$12MAnimals$8.0MArts & Culture$6.9MCommunity Improvement$6.8MHuman Services$6.7MOther$0
02FY2024 · 337 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k128 grants · $338k
  • $10k–50k82 grants · $2.0M
  • $50k–250k112 grants · $9.3M
  • $250k+15 grants · $11M
$25,000
Median grant
29
States reached
$143M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STAIRWAY FUND$1,333,333
MAKO FOUNDATION$1,000,000
COYDOG FOUNDATION$1,000,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO$1,000,000
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND$1,000,000
GOLDMAN SACHS AND CO LLC$1,000,000
COYDOG FOUNDATION$1,000,000
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND$750,000
HARRIS THEATER FOR MUSIC AND DANCE$500,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO - HARRIS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY STUDIES$400,000
THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION$400,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO - ARTS PUBLIC LIFE$333,333
START EARLY$300,000
HEALTHCONNECT ONE$250,000
THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC (TSNE)$250,000
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 (FY20–24, $6.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 83% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ALLIANCE FOR EARLY SUCCESS: $500k → 5%SISTERSONG INC: $125k → 13%ILLINOIS NETWORK OF CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL AGENCIES: $70k → 11%FAMILY VALUES AT WORK - A MULTISTATE CONSORTIUM: $101k → 17%ZERO TO THREE NAT'L CTR FOR INFANTS TODDLERS & FAMILIES: $202k → 14%FAMILY VALUES AT WORK - A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM: $100k → 17%CHILD TRENDS INCORPORATED: $100k → 8%ZERO TO THREE NAT'L CTR FOR INFANTS TODDLERS & FAMILIES: $200k → 14%FAMILY VALUES AT WORK - A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM: $100k → 17%CHILD TRENDS INCORPORATED: $75k → 8%ZERO TO THREE NAT'L CTR FOR INFANTS TODDLERS & FAMILIES: $200k → 14%FAMILY VALUES AT WORK A MULTISTATE CONSORTIUM: $100k → 17%CHILD TRENDS INCORPORATED: $75k → 8%ZERO TO THREE NAT'L CTR FOR INFANTS TODDLERS & FAMILIES: $200k → 14%FAMILY VALUES AT WORK - A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM: $100k → 17%MANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $50k → 8%NATIONAL BLACK CHILD DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $100k → 8%ZERO TO THREE NAT'L CTR FOR INFANTS TODDLERS & FAMILIES: $200k → 14%MANO A MANO FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $50k → 8%NATIONAL BLACK CHILD DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $100k → 8%ZERO TO THREE NAT'L CTR FOR INFANTS TODDLERS & FAMILIES: $50k → 14%FAMILY VALUES AT WORK - A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM: $50k → 17%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $80k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $75k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $75k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $75k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $75k → 14%JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $105k → 17%JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $105k → 17%JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $105k → 17%JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $105k → 17%JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $105k → 17%FATHERS FAMILIES AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: $100k → 14%FATHERS FAMILIES AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: $100k → 14%FATHERS FAMILIES AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: $100k → 14%FATHERS FAMILIES AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: $75k → 14%HOLISTIC BIRTH COLLECTIVE: $50k → 14%HOLISTIC BIRTH COLLECTIVE: $50k → 14%BLACK MIDWIFERY COLLECTIVE: $50k → 14%HOLISTIC BIRTH COLLECTIVE: $50k → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $90k → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $70k → 14%METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $50k → 14%BRIGHTPOINT: $50k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME AND AID SOCIETY OF ILLINOIS: $50k → 14%BRIGHTPOINT: $50k → 14%JEWISH CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES: $50k → 14%BRIGHTPOINT: $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

ME
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
NE
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
NM
KS
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
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.
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 5% of The Irving Harris Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Irving Harris 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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$80M · 259 repeat orgs$8.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

259 repeat relationships: 196 still active in FY2024, 63 since wound down; 52 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

259
149

Total granted

$80M
$4.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+19%

Still filing today

84%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.7M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthCivil RightsEducationPhilanthropyOther
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

  • MR
    MEADOWS ROAD FOUNDATION (FKA COYDOG FOUNDATION)
    4× · 2020–2024 · $8.0M · revenue +19% · 58% of their budget
  • MA
    MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $3.0M · revenue +22%
  • EI
    Erikson Institute
    5× · 2020–2024 · $2.6M · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • HT
    HARRIS THEATER FOR MUSIC AND DANCE
    one grant, 2022 · $395k
  • TM
    TSNE MISSIONWORKS BUILD INITIATIVE
    one grant, 2021 · $375k
  • UB
    UCSF BENIOFF CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OAKLAND PDN
    one grant, 2021 · $205k
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
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
3
The Chicago Bar Foundation

The chicago bar foundation brings the legal community together through advocacy, funding, and innovation to improve access to justice for people in need and to make the legal system more fair, equitable, and effective.

Education
4
Ampt Advancing Nonprofits

Advancing Nonprofits is committed to strengthening the organizational health and support long-term development of small nonprofits on Chicagos west and south sides while prioritizing Black- and Latine-led community organizations.…

Community Improvement
5
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
6
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
7
Chicago United

To achieve parity in economic opportunity for people of color by advancing multiracial leadership in corporate governance, expanding the talent pipline for executive-level management, and growing minority businesses.

Philanthropy
8
Alternatives Inc

Alternatives, inc.'s mission is to facilitate personal development,strengthen family relationships and enhance the community's well being. serving over 3,000 youth and families annually, the organization offers a range of counseling and…

Health
9
Aids Foundation of Chicago

The aids foundation of chicago mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to hiv and related chronic disease.

Health
10
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…

—
11
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
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Health and Medicine Policy Research Group; the most unlike its peers is Mako Foundation. 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

373 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. 373 of the 475 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.

9
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
69
Early backer (in before they grew)
368/373
Grantees still filing
241/373
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIDELITY CHARITABLE: $9,999,999 · OtherFIDELITY CHARITABLEMEADOWS ROAD FOUNDATION (FKA COYDOG FOUNDATION): $8,000,000 · OtherMEADOWS ROAD FOUNDATION (FKA COYDOG FOUNDATION)GOLDMAN SACHS AND CO LLC: $4,000,000 · OtherGOLDMAN SACHS AND CO LLCSTART EARLY: $2,150,000 · Other+107 more: $28,614,874 · Other+107 moreErikson Institute: $2,636,950 · EducationErikson In…University of Chicago: $1,577,500 · EducationUniversity…JUILLIARD SCHOOL: $1,350,000 · EducationJUILLIARD …UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $773,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY…PROTEUS FUND INC: $529,500 · EducationPROTEUS FU…ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $350,000 · EducationTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $310,000 · Education+5 more: $1,038,000 · Education+5 moreJEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $4,000,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FE…THE STAIRWAY FUND: $1,333,333 · PhilanthropyTHE STAIR…MAKO FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyMAKO FOUN…Groundswell Fund: $500,100 · PhilanthropyGroundswe…+8 more: $992,250 · Philanthropy+8 moreALLIANCE FOR EARLY SUCCESS FKA BIRTH TO FIVE POLICY ALLIANCE: $1,200,000 · Human ServicesZERO TO THREE NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFANTS TODDLERS AND FAMILIES: $1,082,250 · Human ServicesFAMILY VALUES WORK A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM: $551,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $528,500 · Human ServicesSISTERSONG INC: $426,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $387,500 · Human ServicesFATHERS FAMILIES HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: $375,000 · Human ServicesCHILD TRENDS INC: $250,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $250,000 · Human Services+14 more: $2,281,639 · Human ServicesMUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC: $2,950,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $1,600,000 · Arts & CultureThe Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc: $325,000 · Arts & CultureINDIGO CULTURAL CENTER: $283,500 · Arts & Culture+10 more: $1,180,000 · Arts & CultureHEALTHCONNECT ONE: $1,924,750 · HealthRepro TLC: $535,000 · HealthLSU HEALTH FOUNDATION NEW ORLEANS: $420,000 · HealthBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $385,000 · HealthNATIONAL LATINA INSTITUTE FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: $325,000 · HealthREPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACCESS PROJECT INC: $295,000 · HealthFUNDERS FOR REPRODUCTIVE EQUITY: $275,440 · HealthPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $275,000 · HealthForward Together: $261,250 · HealthBlack Mamas Matter Alliance Inc: $245,000 · HealthLA COCINA: $220,000 · Health+9 more: $1,055,500 · HealthTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $2,211,300 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $1,750,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND FAMILY ISSUES: $300,200 · Community ImprovementJewish Council on Urban Affairs: $175,500 · Community Improvement+4 more: $335,200 · Community Improvement
Other$52,764,873Education$8,565,450Philanthropy$7,825,683Human Services$7,331,889Arts & Culture$6,338,500Health$6,216,940Community Improvement$4,772,200

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetMEADOWS ROAD FOUNDATION (FKA COYDOG FOUNDATION): $8,000,000 over 4y, 58% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $4,000,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetMUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC: $2,950,000 over 5y, 18% of budgetErikson Institute: $2,636,950 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $2,211,300 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetSTART EARLY: $2,150,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetHEALTHCONNECT ONE: $1,924,750 over 5y, 24% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $1,750,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $1,600,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $1,577,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJUILLIARD SCHOOL: $1,350,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE STAIRWAY FUND: $1,333,333 over 1y, 83% of budgetALLIANCE FOR EARLY SUCCESS FKA BIRTH TO FIVE POLICY ALLIANCE: $1,200,000 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $1,096,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetZERO TO THREE NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFANTS TODDLERS AND FAMILIES: $1,082,250 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMAKO FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 73% of budgetCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $790,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $774,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $773,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetIllinois Action for Children: $759,050 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetCHICAGO ABORTION FUND: $627,800 over 5y, 8.9% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $601,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ISRAEL FUND: $600,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN WOMEN'S FORUM: $585,350 over 5y, 3.3% of budgetFAMILY VALUES WORK A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM: $551,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetRepro TLC: $535,000 over 5y, 19% of budgetPROTEUS FUND INC: $529,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetJEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $528,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHWEST HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INCORPORATED: $525,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF REICHMAN UNIVERSITY INC: $510,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetGroundswell Fund: $500,100 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetLATINO POLICY FORUM: $480,685 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HARUV-MEHALEV ASSOCIATION LTD: $460,000 over 5y, 84% of budgetSISTERSONG INC: $426,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetLSU HEALTH FOUNDATION NEW ORLEANS: $420,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetILLINOIS CAUCUS FOR ADOLESCENT HEALTH INC: $395,000 over 5y, 19% of budgetFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $387,500 over 5y, 5.8% of budgetBOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION: $385,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFATHERS FAMILIES HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: $375,000 over 4y, 68% of budgetURGE UNITE FOR REPRODUCTIVE & GENDER EQUITY: $361,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetTHE CENTURY FOUNDATION INC: $360,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetRESIST INC: $350,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $350,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budget9TO5 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN INC: $345,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: $342,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetNATIONAL LATINA INSTITUTE FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: $325,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetThe Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc: $325,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $310,000 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds MEADOWS ROAD FOUNDATION (FKA COYDOG FOUNDATION) ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC ↗
  • Who funds Erikson Institute ↗
  • Who funds THIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC ↗
  • Who funds START EARLY ↗
  • Who funds HEALTHCONNECT ONE ↗
  • Who funds FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
  • Who funds THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds JUILLIARD SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE STAIRWAY FUND ↗
  • Who funds ALLIANCE FOR EARLY SUCCESS FKA BIRTH TO FIVE POLICY ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds ZERO TO THREE NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFANTS TODDLERS AND FAMILIES ↗
  • Who funds MAKO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS ↗
  • Who funds NEO Philanthropy Inc ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Illinois Action for Children ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO ABORTION FUND ↗
  • Who funds NEW VENTURE FUND ↗
  • Who funds NEW ISRAEL FUND ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN WOMEN'S FORUM ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY VALUES WORK A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM ↗
  • Who funds Repro TLC ↗
  • Who funds PROTEUS FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHWEST HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF REICHMAN UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds Groundswell Fund ↗
  • Who funds LATINO POLICY FORUM ↗

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.

Polk Bros Foundation …John D and Catherine …Arie and Ida Crown Me…Pritzker Family Found…Circle of Service Fou…Field Foundation of I…United Way of Metropo…Chicago Foundation fo…Lloyd a Fry FoundationRobert R McCormick Fo…The Joyce FoundationThe Chicago Community…
Polk Bros Foundation IncIL100.1× affinity56 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Pritzker Family Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Chicago Foundation for Women · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · The Joyce Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 23%
  • Child Trends Inc: 50% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Finding Common Purpose Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Boston Medical Center Corporation: 23% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Third Sector New England Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Resist Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
51report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Irving Harris Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Irving Harris 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 475 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 Irving Harris’ 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