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The Kirch Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Kirch 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.

$52k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Health$133kReligion$51kEducation$44kArts & Culture$27kCommunity Improvement$22kScience & Tech$22kPhilanthropy$9kEnvironment$6kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$2,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$558k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Special Spaces$10,000
NIU Foundation$10,000
Edwards Hospital Foundation$6,310
Yerkes Future Foundation$6,000
Gulfshore Playhouse$5,000
Artis Naples$5,000
Enchanted Backpack$3,000
FGCU Foundation$2,000
Moorings Pres Church$1,715
Our Saviours Church$1,300
First Ev Lutheran Church$1,000
Lurie Children's Hospital Foundation$200
Lyric Opera$100
Hesed House$100
Conservancy of SW Florida$100
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 (FY23–25, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Little Friends: $5k → 7%Hesed House: $100 → 8%Fill A Heart 4 Kids: $1k → 8%Hesed House: $100 → 8%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$315k · 25 repeat orgs$15k to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
16

Total granted

$315k
$14k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+45%

Still filing today

56%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k 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
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentHousing & 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

  • NI
    NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2019–2025 · $22k · revenue +276%
  • YF
    YERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2023–2025 · $22k · revenue +149%
  • GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $15k · revenue +15%

Funded once

  • LF
    LITTLE FRIENDS INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $5k · revenue +13%
  • NB
    New Beginings
    4× · 2022–2025 · $2k
  • DC
    DUPAGE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
    one grant, 2017 · $2k · revenue +9%
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
Children's Museum of Oak Park

To spark curiosity and creativity in all young children through positive, play-based learning experiences.

Arts & Culture
2
Lincoln Children's Museum

The lincoln children's museum invites children to create, discover and learn through the power of play.

Arts & Culture
3
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
4
Cincinnati Museum Center

Cincinnati museum center inspires people of all ages to learn more about our world through science, regional history, and educational, engaging and meaningful experiences.

Arts & Culture
5
Children's Museum of Illinois

The operation of a children's museum.

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
Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago Inc

We are a place that provides experiences and memories to build a foundation for a lifetime of learning.

Arts & Culture
8
Make-a-Wish Foundation of Illinois Inc

Together, we create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

—
9
Naples Zoo Inc

Naples zoo is accredited by the american zoo & aquarium association (aza) and has numerous animal exhibits placed on its 45-acre site. (continued on schedule o)each exhibit is unique and designed to simulate typical conditions for the…

Animals
10
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
11
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
12
Heckscher Museum

Museum has a mission to create opportunties for everyone to experience art that broadens understanding of the past, fosters community connections to the present, and creates diverse possbilities for the future.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Little Friends Inc; the most unlike its peers is Enchanted Backpack. 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

27 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. 27 of the 44 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
21/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Edward Foundation: $91,000 · OtherEdward FoundationIndividual grant recipient: $34,850 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMoorings Pres Church: $24,415 · OtherMoorings Pres ChurchOur Saviours Church: $24,073 · OtherOur Saviours ChurchEdwards Hospital Foundation: $16,310 · OtherEdwards Hospital Foundation+19 more: $18,050 · Other+19 moreNORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $22,000 · EducationNORTHERN ILLINOIS …YERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION INC: $22,000 · EducationYERKES FUTURE FOUN…PRIMERA FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationPRIMERA FOUNDATIONFLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,750 · Education+2 more: $1,100 · EducationGULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureGULFSHORE…ARTIS-NAPLES INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureARTIS-NAP…DUPAGE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $1,500 · Arts & CultureDUPAGE CH…+1 more: $350 · Arts & CultureSPECIAL SPACES INC: $20,000 · Health+3 more: $1,150 · HealthENCHANTED BACKPACK: $9,000 · PhilanthropyLITTLE FRIENDS INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesFILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $1,000 · Human Services+1 more: $200 · Human ServicesGENEVA LAKE CONSERVANCY INC: $3,650 · EnvironmentGENEVA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC: $1,650 · Environment
Other$208,698Education$52,850Arts & Culture$26,850Health$21,150Philanthropy$9,000Human Services$6,200Environment$5,300

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 budgetEdward Foundation: $91,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $22,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetYERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION INC: $22,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSPECIAL SPACES INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetARTIS-NAPLES INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENCHANTED BACKPACK: $9,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLITTLE FRIENDS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPRIMERA FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 5y, 5.9% of budgetGENEVA LAKE CONSERVANCY INC: $3,650 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST MATTHEWS HOUSE INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGENEVA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC: $1,650 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetDUPAGE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATALYST SCHOOLS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFILL A HEART 4 KIDS: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetChildrens Oncology Services Inc: $500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOLISANO CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF NAPLES INC: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $350 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE: $200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGENEVA LAKE MUSEUM INC: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COVE SCHOOL INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GALENA FOUNDATION INC: $50 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 Edward Foundation ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL SPACES INC ↗
  • Who funds GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTIS-NAPLES INC ↗
  • Who funds ENCHANTED BACKPACK ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE FRIENDS INC ↗
  • Who funds PRIMERA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GENEVA LAKE CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ST MATTHEWS HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds GENEVA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds DUPAGE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds CATALYST SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds FILL A HEART 4 KIDS ↗
  • Who funds Childrens Oncology Services Inc ↗
  • Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds GOLISANO CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF NAPLES INC ↗
  • Who funds CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Ronald McDonald House Global ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC ACTION TO DELIVER SHELTER INC D/B/A HESED HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds GENEVA LAKE MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COVE SCHOOL INC ↗

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…The John a Miller Fam…Dean L & Rosemarie Bu…Lavin Family Foundati…Alben F & Clara G Bat…Otzen Family Foundati…A G Cox Charity Trust…The Simms Family Foun…The Anna Emery Hanson…John & Linda Anderson…Joy In Childhood Foun…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…
The Chicago Community TrustIL19.8× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · The John a Miller Family Foundation · Dean L & Rosemarie Buntrock Foundation · Lavin Family Foundation · Alben F & Clara G Bates Foundation · Otzen Family Foundation Incorporated · A G Cox Charity Trust Xxxxx9001 · The Simms Family Foundation · The Anna Emery Hanson Charitable Foundation 1 · John & Linda Anderson Charitable Foundation · Joy In Childhood Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase 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 Kirch Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Kirch Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Gulfshore Playhouse Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 44 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 Kirch’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