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The Kerr Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Kerr Foundation Inc

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.

$10k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0185% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$5kPublic Benefit$3kHealth$3kEnvironment$3kYouth Development$3kHuman Services$2kCivil Rights$2kRecreation & Sports$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$127k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER$2,000
CIVIC LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION$1,250
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$1,250
HUMANITARIAN SOCIAL INNOVATIONS$1,125
Individual grant recipient$1,000
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN$1,000
THE LICORICE PROJECT$1,000
Individual grant recipient$625
CHARLESTOWN MOTHERS ASSOCIATION$625
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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 68% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHARLESTOWN MOTHERS ASSOCIATION: $625 → 16%HUMANITARIAN SOCIAL INNOVATIONS: $1k → 11%TEMPLE BETH EL OF SOUTH ORANGE: $200 → 10%BARKS OF LOVE: $1k → 11%NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $2k → 14%SMILTE TRAIN: $100 → 17%NATIONAL MENTORING FOUNDATION: $900 → 16%UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND: $100 → 14%DO CANCER INC: $200 → 10%HOWARD CHRISTENSEN NATURE CENTER: $900 → 11%CHICAGO LIGHTS: $700 → 14%LUNCH BREAK: $200 → 6%WWF NATURE CONSERVANCY: $200 → 7%ROLLAN MELTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $700 → 10%CHARLESTOWN MOTHERS ASSOCIATION: $600 → 16%TEMPLE BETH EL OF SOUTH ORANGE: $200 → 10%SMILE TRAIN: $100 → 17%UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND: $100 → 14%HOWARD CHRISTENSEN NATURE CENTER: $500 → 11%CHICAGO LIGHTS: $700 → 14%LUNCH BREAK: $200 → 6%WWF NATURE CONSERVANCY: $200 → 7%ROLLAN MELTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $700 → 10%CHARLESTOWN MOTHERS ASSOCIATION: $550 → 16%CHARITABLE VENTURES: $400 → 10%TEMPLE BETH EL: $562 → 14%MARCH OF DIMES: $900 → 7%ROLLAN MELTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $700 → 10%CHARLESTOWN MOTHERS ASSOCIATION: $250 → 16%THE MALAMA COLLECTIVE: $563 → 10%CHICAGO LIGHTS: $500 → 14%ROLLAN MELTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $500 → 10%COVENANT LIVING OF NORTHBROOK: $500 → 14%THE LICORICE PROJECT: $1k → 14%THE CENTER: $1k → 14%LICORICE PROJECT: $100 → 14%COMMUNITY CENTER PALOS PARK: $700 → 14%LICORICE PROJECT: $100 → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $1k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BOARD: $1k → 14%NORTHSHORE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $900 → 14%ST JOHNS EPISCOPAL: $625 → 14%ST JOHNS EPISCOPAL: $575 → 14%ST JOHNS EPISCOPAL: $500 → 14%ST JOHNS EPISCOPAL: $250 → 14%CIVIC LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%CIVIC LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%CIVIC LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $1k → 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

IL
MI
NY
MA
NV
IA
PA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
DC
TX
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.

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$19k · 15 repeat orgs$13k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +7% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
11

Total granted

$19k
$7k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+7%
-6%

Still filing today

53%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationYouth DevelopmentInternationalHealthArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • TC
    THE CENTER
    2× · 2020–2021 · $1k · revenue +7%
  • SMILE TRAIN INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $200 · revenue +24%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $200 · revenue +39%

Funded once

  • NU
    NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BOARD
    one grant, 2024 · $1k
  • MARCH OF DIMES INC
    one grant, 2024 · $900 · revenue 0%
  • NH
    NORTHSHORE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $900
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
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
2
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
3
The Chicago Scholars Foundation

Chicago scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities.

Education
4
Ucm Network Development Foundation

To promote and support, directly or indirectly, by donation, loan or otherwise, the interests and purposes of ingalls memorial hospital and the university of chicago medical center.

Health
5
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
6
National Comprehensive Cancer Network

To define and advance quality, effective, equitable, and accessible cancer care and prevention so all people can live better lives.

Health
7
Medtech Innovator

Medtech innovator organizes and runs a global competition and virtual accelerator for medical device, digital health, and diagnostic startup companies.

Education
8
National Association of Corporate Directors

We empower directors and transform boards to be future ready.

Public Benefit
9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
10
Nccn Foundation

Through philanthropy, the nccn foundation empowers people through knowledge and advances the mission of nccn to define and advance quality, effective, equitable, and accessible cancer care and prevention so all people can live better lives.

Health
11
National Science and Technology Medals Foundation Inc

The nstmf's mission is to build inclusive stem communities across the united states. fundamental to these communities are the significant, inspirational connections we foster between the individuals who have received national recognition…

—
12
Institute for Nonprofit Practice Inc

The institute for nonprofit practice's mission is to transform communities by equipping the most promising nonprofit leaders with the skills, confidence, and resources they need to make their organizations effective, innovative, and…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is March of Dimes Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Mentoring Foundation. 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

16 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. 16 of the 30 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
7/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROLLAN MELTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $2,600 · OtherROLLAN MELTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLIndividual grant recipient: $1,950 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN: $1,900 · OtherCHICAGO BOTANIC GARDENHOWARD CHRISTENSEN NATURE CENTER: $1,400 · OtherHOWARD CHRISTENSEN NATURE CENTERTHE LICORICE PROJECT: $1,200 · OtherTHE LICORICE PROJECTNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BOARD: $1,125 · OtherNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BOARDIndividual grant recipient: $1,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNORTHSHORE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $900 · OtherCOMMUNITY CENTER PALOS PARK: $700 · OtherMARCH OF DIMES INC: $900 · Other+10 more: $4,125 · Other+10 moreCIVIC LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $3,475 · EducationCIVIC LEADERSHIP…NATIONAL MENTORING FOUNDATION: $900 · EducationNATIONAL MENTORI…UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $200 · EducationCHARLESTOWN MOTHERS ASSOCIATION INC: $2,025 · Youth DevelopmentCHARLESTOWN…THE CENTER: $1,200 · Youth DevelopmentTHE CENTERNATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $2,000 · Civil RightsCHICAGO LIGHTS: $1,900 · PhilanthropyHUMANITARIAN SOCIAL INNOVATIONS: $1,125 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $200 · InternationalNorthwestern University: $1,250 · Recreation & Sports
Other$17,800Education$4,575Youth Development$3,225Civil Rights$2,000Philanthropy$1,900International$1,325Recreation & Sports$1,250

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 budgetCIVIC LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $3,475 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCHARLESTOWN MOTHERS ASSOCIATION INC: $2,025 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetNATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO LIGHTS: $1,900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER: $1,200 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $900 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MENTORING FOUNDATION: $900 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetCHARITABLE VENTURES OF ORANGE COUNTY: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLUNCH BREAK INC: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCANDO CANCER: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $200 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.

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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Kerr Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Kerr Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Lunch Break Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Kerr Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Kerr Foundation Inc 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 30 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 Kerr’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