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The John R Houlsby Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The John R Houlsby Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$153k
Granted FY2021
15
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$19k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2021.

Human Services$304kHealth$225kHousing & Shelter$192kEducation$189kCrime & Legal$152kFood & Nutrition$107kArts & Culture$104kPhilanthropy$100kOther$0
02FY2021 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k4 grants · $34k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $119k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE$19,000
SKYART$10,000
ALMOST HOME KIDS$10,000
BREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC$10,000
CASA OF LAKE COUNTY$10,000
SARAH'S CIRCLE$10,000
CASA OF COOK COUNTY$10,000
HOUSING OPP & MAINTENANCE FOR THE ELDERLY$10,000
FRATERNITE NOTRE DAME$10,000
NEW MOMS$10,000
COMMUNITY HEALTH$10,000
MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE$9,000
GLENWOOD ACADEMY$9,000
NEWROOT LEARNING INSTITUTE$9,000
LAKEVIEW PANTRY$7,000
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 (FY17–21, $424k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHRISTIAN OUTREACH OF LUTHERANS: $10k → 8%SAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE: $20k → 14%SAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE: $19k → 14%JUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%CHRISTIAN OUTREACH OF LUTHERANS: $5k → 8%JUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $10k → 14%INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF EVANSTON INC: $10k → 14%REVIVE CENTER FOR HOUSING AND HEALING: $20k → 14%CARE FOR REAL: $30k → 14%SARAH'S INN: $30k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $20k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $15k → 14%CARE FOR REAL: $5k → 14%ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $35k → 14%ALMOST HOME KIDS: $20k → 14%ALMOST HOME KIDS: $15k → 14%ALMOST HOME KIDS: $10k → 14%CONCORDIA PLACE: $20k → 14%CONCORDIA PLACE: $20k → 14%CONNECTIONS FOR ABUSED WOMEN & THEIR CHILDREN: $10k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $5k → 14%SARAH'S INN: $10k → 14%TEEN LIVING PROGRAMS: $10k → 14%OPEN HEART MAGIC: $10k → 14%NEW MOMS: $35k → 14%NEW MOMS: $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.
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 7% of The John R Houlsby Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 94% of the giving stays in IL; by stated purpose, 91%.

The John R Houlsby 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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 30 repeat orgs$406k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +106% since the first grant, against +54% for those funded once.

30 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2021, 17 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
26

Total granted

$1.1M
$387k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+106%
+54%

Still filing today

80%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $19k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’20’21
Human ServicesEducationHousing & ShelterCrime & LegalEmploymentCivil RightsOther
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

  • NH
    NOURISHING HOPE
    3× · 2017–2021 · $57k · revenue +307%
  • SC
    SARAH'S CIRCLE
    3× · 2017–2021 · $55k · revenue +261%
  • BU
    BREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $50k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • EN
    ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $35k · revenue +54%
  • NL
    NORTH LAWNDALE EMPLOYMENT NETWORKgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +164%
  • SA
    Saint Anthony Hospitalgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +25%
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
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
2
Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness

Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (CCH) builds community power and advances racial equity through organizing, advocacy, legal assistance, and education to prevent and end homelessness because housing is a human right.

Housing & Shelter
3
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
4
Child Link Inc

Child Link provides foster care, family counseling, and therapy services to Chicago area adolescents who are at risk of homelessness. Child Link also refers adolescents to other agencies that are able to provide additional resources and…

Human Services
5
Live Free Chicago

Live Free Illinois is a statewide organization partnering with over 120 congregations and directly impacted individuals to build safer more equitable communities across Illinois. Operating at the intersection of criminal justice reform and…

—
6
Childrens Advocacy Center of East Central Illinois

To assist children who have been victims of abuse

Crime & Legal
7
Chicago Heightening Opportunity and Potential for

Providing academic support to children experiencing homelessness in Chicago and providing resources and services to families experiencing homelessness in Chicago.

Education
8
Children's Home & Aid Society of Ill

Founded in 1883, brightpoint (formerly known as children's home & aid) is a leading statewide organization supporting families so children can thrive.

Human Services
9
Center for Housing and Health

Chh honors every person's right to a home and health care, by bridging the housing and health care systems, to improve the lives of chicagoans experiencing homelessness.

Housing & Shelter
10
Lakeside Community Committee

To enhance the quality of life for children and families by inspiring hope and empowerment and growth within all whom we serve.

Human Services
11
The Children's Place Association

To build a secure and hopeful today so children facing health issues and poverty succeed tomorrow.

Human Services
12
Onward Neighborhood House

We open doors to improve lives and uplift communities through educational, economic and support services.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Moms Inc; the most unlike its peers is Open Heart Magic. 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

47 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. 47 of the 59 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/47
Grantees still filing
39/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NOURISHING HOPE: $57,000 · OtherNOURISHING HOPEBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $50,000 · OtherBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INCCOMMUNITY HEALTH: $50,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY HEALTHFRATERNITE NOTRE DAME INC: $42,500 · OtherFRATERNITE NOTRE DAME INCOUR LADY OF TEPEYAC SCHOOL: $40,000 · OtherOUR LADY OF TEPEYAC SCHOOLCHICAGO JESUIT ACADEMY: $37,500 · OtherBUILD INC: $30,000 · OtherSOUTH SHORE DRILL TEAM: $25,000 · OtherThe Cara Program: $30,000 · OtherNORTH LAWNDALE EMPLOYMENT NETWORK: $25,000 · OtherCASA LAKE COUNTY INC: $50,000 · OtherCASA LAKE COUNTY INCOLD IRVING PARK COMMUNITY CLINIC: $30,000 · OtherSaint Anthony Hospital: $25,000 · OtherSt Leonard's Ministries: $45,000 · OtherSt Leonard's MinistriesBETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION INC: $25,000 · Other+14 more: $180,060 · Other+14 moreAlmost Home Kids: $45,000 · Human ServicesAlmost Home KidsNEW MOMS INC: $45,000 · Human ServicesNEW MOMS INCSARAH'S INN: $40,000 · Human ServicesSARAH'S INNCONCORDIA PLACE: $40,000 · Human ServicesCONCORDIA PLACESAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE: $39,000 · Human ServicesSAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN AL…ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $35,000 · Human ServicesERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSETHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $35,000 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRYCARE FOR REAL: $35,000 · Human ServicesCARE FOR REALREVIVE CENTER FOR HOUSING AND HEALING: $20,000 · Human ServicesJUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Human ServicesASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $15,000 · Human ServicesCOOL MINISTRIES: $15,000 · Human Services+4 more: $40,000 · Human Services+4 moreBERRIEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · PhilanthropyCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF COOK COUNTY: $40,000 · Crime & LegalCHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $30,000 · Crime & LegalLaw Center for Better Housing: $30,000 · Crime & LegalGLENWOOD ACADEMY: $49,000 · EducationNORTH LAWNDALE COLLEGE PREPARATORY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL INC: $15,000 · EducationSAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $15,000 · EducationHIGH JUMP: $10,000 · EducationNEWROOT LEARNING INSTITUTE F/K/A UMOJA STUDENT DEVELOPMENT CORP: $9,000 · EducationMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE: $49,000 · Arts & CultureSkyArt NFP: $45,000 · Arts & CultureSARAH'S CIRCLE: $55,000 · Housing & ShelterTHE BOULEVARD OF CHICAGO INC: $12,000 · Housing & ShelterALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY: $10,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$742,060Human Services$424,000Philanthropy$100,000Crime & Legal$100,000Education$98,000Arts & Culture$94,000Housing & Shelter$77,000

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 budgetBERRIEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $57,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSARAH'S CIRCLE: $55,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCASA LAKE COUNTY INC: $50,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetGLENWOOD ACADEMY: $49,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE: $49,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSt Leonard's Ministries: $45,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetAlmost Home Kids: $45,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSkyArt NFP: $45,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetNEW MOMS INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF COOK COUNTY: $40,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetSARAH'S INN: $40,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCONCORDIA PLACE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE: $39,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $35,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCARE FOR REAL: $35,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBUILD INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetLaw Center for Better Housing: $30,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetOLD IRVING PARK COMMUNITY CLINIC: $30,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetThe Cara Program: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH LAWNDALE EMPLOYMENT NETWORK: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetSaint Anthony Hospital: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetREVIVE CENTER FOR HOUSING AND HEALING: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetILLINOIS COUNCIL AGAINST HANDGUN VIOLENCE: $20,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetST JAMES CATHEDRAL COUNSELING CTR: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetJUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNORTH LAWNDALE COLLEGE PREPARATORY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOOL MINISTRIES: $15,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetTHE BOULEVARD OF CHICAGO INC: $12,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCASA OF RIVER VALLEY: $12,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetFOUNDATIONS OF MUSIC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetINNER-CITY COMPUTER STARS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHIGH JUMP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetALL CHICAGO MAKING HOMELESSNESS HISTORY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIGNITE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHOUSING OPPORTUNITIES AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE ELDERLY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOPEN HEART MAGIC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% 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…Polk Bros Foundation …Circle of Service Fou…United Way of Metropo…Blowitz-Ridgeway Foun…George M Eisenberg Fo…Helen V Brach Foundat…Robert R McCormick Fo…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Dr Scholl FoundationAbbVie FoundationPatrick and Anna M Cu…
The Chicago Community TrustIL41.3× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Circle of Service Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation · George M Eisenberg Foundation for Charities · Helen V Brach Foundation · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Dr Scholl Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    19report 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.

    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 59 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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    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