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The John D & Leslie Henner Burns Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The John D & Leslie Henner Burns Family 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.

$139k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$61k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$744kEducation$165kScience & Tech$113kFood & Nutrition$73kHealth$54kPublic Safety & Disaster$15kHuman Services$14kHousing & Shelter$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $111k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$61,000
CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCESPEGGY NOTEBAERT MUSEUM$50,000
ALL FAITHS FOOD BANK$10,000
THE STANFORD FUND$5,000
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$5,000
OWC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM$5,000
CIVITAS ENSEMBLE$3,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 89% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $10k → 8%USC MARSHALL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: $10k → 14%FIRST IN FOUNDATION: $5k → 11%THE KENNEDY CENTER: $34k → 14%ALL FAITHS FOOD BANK: $10k → 9%RIDGES AND RIVERS BOOK FESTIVAL: $10k → 15%CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCESPEGGY NOTEBAERT MUSEUM: $50k → 14%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $10k → 8%USC SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ARTS: $10k → 14%FIRST IN FOUNDATION: $5k → 11%ALL FAITHS FOOD BANK: $10k → 9%THE DRIFTLESS WRITING CENTER: $10k → 15%PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM: $35k → 14%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $10k → 8%USC MARSHALL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: $10k → 14%ALL FAITHS FOOD BANK: $10k → 9%THE DRIFTLESS WRITING CENTER: $10k → 15%PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM: $30k → 14%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $10k → 8%USC SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ARTS: $10k → 14%ALL FAITHS FOOD BANK: $10k → 9%PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM: $30k → 14%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $10k → 8%CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCESPEGGY NOTEBAERT MUSEUM: $30k → 14%CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCESPEGGY NOTEBAERT MUSEUM: $30k → 14%OWC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: $10k → 9%PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM: $26k → 14%PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM: $26k → 14%PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM: $26k → 14%ANN & ROBERT LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ANN & ROBERT LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ANN & ROBERT LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ANN & ROBERT LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ANN & ROBERT LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $63k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $61k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $46k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $45k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $45k → 14%CHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $10k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $37k → 14%CHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $10k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $32k → 14%CHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $10k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $32k → 14%CHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $10k → 14%CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $20k → 14%NEGAUNEE MUSIC INSTITUTE: $10k → 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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 25 repeat orgs$67k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +58% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 19 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
13

Total granted

$1.0M
$67k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
0%

Still filing today

52%
54%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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 & CultureEducationHealthAnimalsFood & NutritionHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • CS
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    9× · 2017–2025 · $381k · revenue +58%
  • TC
    THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
    6× · 2017–2022 · $173k · revenue +5%
  • Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
    5× · 2017–2021 · $50k · revenue +60%

Funded once

  • TK
    THE KENNEDY CENTER
    one grant, 2024 · $34k
  • NM
    NEGAUNEE MUSIC INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • CF
    CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
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
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
3
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
4
The Adler Planetarium

The adler planetarium ('adler') is a not-for-profit cultural institution whose mission is to connect people to the universe and each other under the sky we all share. it aspires to be the world's premier center for engaging in astronomy…

Arts & Culture
5
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
6
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
7
Lookingglass Theatre Company

Lookingglass theatre company is a national leader in the creation and presentation of innovative, cutting-edge theatrical work. lookingglass interweaves movement, circus arts and narrative in original and captivating ways. guided by an…

Arts & Culture
8
Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute

Stanley manne children's research institute strives to generate new knowledge and advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric diseases.

Health
9
Chicago Historical Society

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history…

Arts & Culture
10
Lyric Opera of Chicago

We believe in the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great art and opera. Lyric Opera of Chicago exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to the Chicago region and the nation, and to advance the…

Arts & Culture
11
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
12
University of Miami

See Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Museum of Contemporary Art; the most unlike its peers is Womens Global Education Project. 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

22 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. 22 of the 40 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
16/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Chicago Symphony Orchestra: $381,050 · Arts & CultureChicago Symphony OrchestraTHE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $173,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCESCIVITAS ENSEMBLE: $27,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $15,300 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCESPEGGY NOTEBAERT MUSEUM: $110,000 · OtherCHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCESPEGGY N…CHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $46,000 · OtherCHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMYUSC SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ARTS: $35,000 · OtherUSC SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ARTSTHE KENNEDY CENTER: $34,220 · OtherTHE KENNEDY CENTERDRIFTLESS WRITING CENTER: $33,000 · OtherDRIFTLESS WRITING CENTEROWC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: $20,000 · OtherOWC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMRIDGES AND RIVERS BOOK FESTIVAL: $15,000 · OtherFIRST IN FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Other+10 more: $52,000 · Other+10 moreTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $65,000 · EducationTHE BOARD …UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $25,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY…THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $15,000 · EducationTHE ART IN…THOREAU COLLEGE INC: $5,000 · Education+2 more: $2,000 · EducationALL FAITHS FOOD BANK INC: $46,000 · Food & NutritionGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $22,000 · Food & NutritionAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: $50,000 · HealthGILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO: $2,500 · HealthSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $3,500 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $3,000 · AnimalsLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,600 · Housing & ShelterTHE BEN HOGAN FOUNDATION: $1,500 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$596,350Other$360,220Education$112,000Food & Nutrition$68,000Health$52,500Animals$6,500Housing & Shelter$1,600Philanthropy$1,500

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 budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $381,050 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $173,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $65,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALL FAITHS FOOD BANK INC: $46,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCIVITAS ENSEMBLE: $27,000 over 9y, 5.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $22,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $9,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $2,300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCEDILLE CHICAGO NFP: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BEN HOGAN FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWOMENS GLOBAL EDUCATION PROJECT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHermitage Artist Retreat Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds ALL FAITHS FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds CIVITAS ENSEMBLE ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds THOREAU COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds GILDA'S CLUB CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds CEDILLE CHICAGO NFP ↗
  • Who funds LYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE BEN HOGAN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WOMENS GLOBAL EDUCATION PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Hermitage Artist Retreat Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ↗

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…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL12× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 John D & Leslie Henner Burns Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The John D & Leslie Henner Burns Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • All Faiths Food Bank Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Hermitage Artist Retreat Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report 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 John D & Leslie Henner Burns Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The John D & Leslie Henner Burns Family 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 40 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 John D & Leslie Henner Burns Family’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