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The Kensington Square Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Kensington Square 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.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$275k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% 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$3.4MPhilanthropy$3.0MEducation$2.5MReligion$2.2MHealth$245kEmployment$240kHuman Services$111kYouth Development$110kOther$0
02FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $7k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $320k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $515k
  • $250k+1 grant · $275k
$25,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC (WTTW)$275,000
COURT THEATRE$170,000
MISERICORDIA$100,000
YALE UNIVERSITY$100,000
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE$95,000
OUR LADY OF TEPEYAC HIGH SCHOOL$50,000
OLD ST PATRICK'S CHURCH$40,000
ASU FOUNDATION$35,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF CHICAGO$25,000
GOODMAN THEATRE$25,000
DEPAUL COLLEGE PREP HIGH SCHOOL$25,000
DOMINICAN SISTERS OF SPRINGFIELD$25,000
HEARD MUSEUM$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER$15,000
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 (FY17–25, $141k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY: $10k → 11%HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY: $10k → 11%HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD: $500 → 14%HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD: $500 → 14%INTERFAITH COMMITTEE FOR DETAINED IMMIGRANTS: $10k → 14%UCAN: $100k → 14%UCAN: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
WI
CT
RI
CO
AZ
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.
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.
$9.9M · 44 repeat orgs$607k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

44 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 20 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

44
12

Total granted

$9.9M
$607k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+7%

Still filing today

48%
50%

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 & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthEmploymentFood & NutritionOther
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

  • ST
    STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY
    8× · 2017–2025 · $540k · revenue +59%
  • TC
    The Cara Program
    7× · 2018–2025 · $240k · revenue +111%
  • ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2017–2025 · $158k · revenue +196%

Funded once

  • MU
    Marquette University
    one grant, 2021 · $375k · revenue +16%
  • TT
    TIMELINE THEATRE
    one grant, 2021 · $100k
  • CO
    CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOR
    one grant, 2021 · $50k
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
3
Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Inc

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University ("The Auditorium"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago and to the…

Arts & Culture
4
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
5
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
6
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
7
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
8
University of Miami

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

Education
9
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
10
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
11
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
12
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Theatre Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is Court Theatre Fund. 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

29 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. 29 of the 57 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/29
Grantees still filing
21/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MISERICORDIA: $1,597,000 · OtherMISERICORDIACHARLES SCHWAB CHARITABLE FUND: $1,500,000 · OtherCHARLES SCHWAB CHARITABLE FUNDWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC (WTTW): $1,135,000 · OtherWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC (WTTW)CRISTO REY JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL: $1,035,000 · OtherCRISTO REY JESUIT HIGH SCHOOLOLD ST PATRICKS CHURCH: $340,000 · OtherDEPAUL COLLEGE PREP HIGH SCHOOL: $250,000 · OtherOUR LADY OF TEPEYAC HIGH SCHOOL: $250,000 · Other+23 more: $1,053,809 · Other+23 moreSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $540,000 · Arts & CultureSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE…Court Theatre Fund: $500,000 · Arts & CultureCourt Theatre FundPHOENIX SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $410,000 · Arts & CulturePHOENIX SYMPHONY AS…STEEP THEATRE: $122,000 · Arts & CultureSTEEP THEATREChicago Architecture Foundation: $107,500 · Arts & CultureChicago Architectur…CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $105,000 · Arts & CultureTHE HEARD MUSEUM: $85,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $145,000 · Arts & Culture+4 moreVANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM: $1,500,000 · PhilanthropyVANGUARD CHARI…Marquette University: $375,000 · EducationARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $157,500 · EducationCHILDREN AT THE CROSSROADS FOUNDATION: $120,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $72,000 · Education+2 more: $6,000 · EducationThe Cara Program: $240,000 · EmploymentLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $105,000 · HealthRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $65,000 · HealthRush University Medical Center: $30,000 · Health+1 more: $5,000 · HealthUCAN: $110,000 · Human ServicesHospice of the Valley: $20,000 · Human ServicesIllinois Community for Displaced Immigrants: $10,000 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human Services
Other$7,160,809Arts & Culture$2,014,500Philanthropy$1,500,000Education$730,500Employment$240,000Health$205,000Human Services$141,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetVANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM: $1,500,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $540,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetPHOENIX SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $410,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetMarquette University: $375,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Cara Program: $240,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $157,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSTEEP THEATRE: $122,000 over 4y, 29% of budgetCHILDREN AT THE CROSSROADS FOUNDATION: $120,000 over 6y, 4.6% of budgetUCAN: $110,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetChicago Architecture Foundation: $107,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $105,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLa Rabida Children's Hospital: $105,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HEARD MUSEUM: $85,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $72,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $65,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $55,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $40,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $35,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGoodCity NFP: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetHospice of the Valley: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST MARY'S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPHOENIX ART MUSEUM: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetANGELMAN SYNDROME FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouse of the Good Shepherd: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNEAR NORTH MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $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 VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds PHOENIX SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Marquette University ↗
  • Who funds The Cara Program ↗
  • Who funds ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds STEEP THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN AT THE CROSSROADS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UCAN ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Architecture Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds La Rabida Children's Hospital ↗
  • Who funds THE HEARD MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds GRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds Writers Theatre Inc ↗
  • Who funds Rush University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds GoodCity NFP ↗

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.

John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…Gs Donor Advised Phil…AbbVie FoundationVanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Charities Aid Foundat…American Endowment Fo…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL20.9× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · AbbVie Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Charities Aid Foundation America · American Endowment Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 Kensington Square Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Kensington Square 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 57 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 Kensington Square’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