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The Negaunee Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Negaunee Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$34M
Granted FY2024still arriving
114
Grants FY2024still arriving
16
States reached
$6.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$84MEnvironment$20MHuman Services$8.4MEducation$3.5MRecreation & Sports$2.3MPublic Benefit$1.3MCrime & Legal$1.2MPhilanthropy$1.0MOther$0
02FY2024 · 114 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k15 grants · $69k
  • $10k–50k34 grants · $628k
  • $50k–250k46 grants · $4.5M
  • $250k+19 grants · $29M
$60,000
Median grant
16
States reached
$616M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$6,150,000
FIELD MUSEUM$4,550,000
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN$2,860,000
IL SAINT ANDREW SOCIETY$2,500,000
THE COLBURN SCHOOL$2,050,000
WTTW - NETWORK CHICAGO$1,650,000
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO$1,500,000
OPENLANDS$1,060,000
MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC$1,000,000
MUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$1,000,000
Individual grant recipient$750,000
Music of the Baroque$650,000
MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC$550,000
ANTIOCH COLLEGE$500,000
CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST$400,000
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 (FY20–24, $7.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Gorton Community Center: $10k → 8%Gorton Community Center: $10k → 8%Gorton Community Center: $10k → 8%Gorton Community Center: $5k → 8%Gorton Community Center: $5k → 8%Night Ministry: $20k → 14%Night Ministry: $20k → 14%Night Ministry: $15k → 14%Night Ministry: $15k → 14%Night Ministry: $15k → 14%IL SAINT ANDREW SOCIETY: $2.5M → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $2.5M → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $1.1M → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $550k → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $500k → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $60k → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $50k → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $30k → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $25k → 14%IL Saint Andrew Society: $20k → 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

WA
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
CA
CO
VA
DE
DC
GA
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$123M · 99 repeat orgs$7.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against +32% for those funded once.

99 repeat relationships: 87 still active in FY2024, 12 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

99
11

Total granted

$123M
$860k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+32%

Still filing today

65%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 81% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6.4M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentPublic BenefitHuman ServicesCrime & LegalOther
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

  • FM
    FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $19M · revenue +112%
  • CS
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    5× · 2020–2024 · $15M · revenue +71%
  • CH
    CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $14M · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • CS
    Colburn School of the Performing Ar
    one grant, 2020 · $400k
  • ST
    STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +97%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
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
Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra's mission as a professional orchestra is to utilize the universal expression of music to create profound, inspiring, and personal connections between the people and communities of Chicagos Southland.

Arts & Culture
2
Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc
Arts & Culture
3
Chicago Sinfonietta Inc

Chicago Sinfonietta is a professional orchestra dedicated to modeling and promoting diversity, inclusion, and both racial and cultural equity in the arts through the universal language of symphonic music. Our core values are built around…

Arts & Culture
4
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
5
Cleveland Institute of Music

The cleveland institute of music's mission is to empower the world's most talented classical music students to fulfill their dreams and potential.

Education
6
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
7
Chicago Theatre Group Inc

The chicago theatre group is committed to producing both classic and contemporary works giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. by dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, equity, and community - the…

Arts & Culture
8
Chicago a Cappella

Chicago a cappella advances the art and appreciation of ensemble singing. the organization produces an annual series of concerts in the greater chicago area, produces educational outreach programs, creates studio recordings as well as live…

Arts & Culture
9
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
10
Chicago Humanities Festival

To promote public appreciation, understanding and support of the humanities through festivals and educational programs.

Arts & Culture
11
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
12
Los Angeles Opera Company

To serve the public by producing world-class opera that preserves, promotes and advances the art form while embodying the diversity, spirit and artistic sensibility unique to los angeles. we envision an engaged and enlightened community in…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Music Institute of Chicago; the most unlike its peers is Edinburgh International Festival Usa Inc. 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

76 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 76 of the 123 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
74/76
Grantees still filing
60/76
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $18,856,500 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYChicago Symphony Orchestra: $15,050,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Symphony OrchestraRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $11,010,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATIONLyric Opera of Chicago: $5,850,000 · Arts & CultureLyric Opera of ChicagoTHE COLBURN SCHOOL: $5,800,000 · Arts & CultureTHE COLBURN SCHOOLMERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $3,525,000 · Arts & Culture+25 more: $8,037,000 · Arts & Culture+25 moreWTTW - NETWORK CHICAGO: $6,946,000 · OtherWTTW - NETWORK CHICAGOIndividual grant recipient: $6,150,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipien…OPENLANDS: $2,480,000 · OtherOPENLANDSIndividual grant recipient: $1,500,000 · OtherSteans Music Institute: $1,415,000 · OtherMusic of the Baroque: $1,085,000 · OtherAMER FOUND NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTL: $1,085,000 · OtherVANDERCOOK COLLEGE OF MUSIC: $1,000,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY: $1,000,000 · OtherThe Chicago Community Trust: $1,000,000 · Other+55 more: $6,120,584 · Other+55 moreCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $13,527,500 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HORTIC…TREEPEOPLE INC: $2,150,000 · EnvironmentTREEPEOPLE INC+4 more: $1,048,000 · Environment+4 moreTHE ILLINOIS SAINT ANDREW SOCIETY: $7,285,000 · Human Services+2 more: $125,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $2,781,711 · EducationANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $1,292,857 · EducationLake Forest College: $850,000 · EducationAMERICANS FOR OXFORD INC: $480,000 · EducationUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $450,000 · EducationChiArts Foundation: $225,000 · Education+6 more: $391,000 · EducationNorthwestern University: $1,750,000 · Recreation & SportsCATO INSTITUTE: $500,000 · Public BenefitILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE: $500,000 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $145,000 · Public BenefitTHE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE: $115,000 · Public BenefitLeadership Institute: $75,000 · Public Benefit
Arts & Culture$68,128,500Other$29,781,584Environment$16,725,500Human Services$7,410,000Education$6,470,568Recreation & Sports$1,750,000Public Benefit$1,335,000

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 budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $18,856,500 over 5y, 7.1% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $15,050,000 over 5y, 9.8% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $13,527,500 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $11,010,000 over 5y, 8.8% of budgetTHE ILLINOIS SAINT ANDREW SOCIETY: $7,285,000 over 5y, 28% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $5,850,000 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetTHE COLBURN SCHOOL: $5,800,000 over 5y, 3.3% of budgetMERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $3,525,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $2,781,711 over 2y, 18% of budgetOPENLANDS: $2,480,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetMUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $2,220,000 over 4y, 17% of budgetTREEPEOPLE INC: $2,150,000 over 5y, 4.0% of budgetMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE: $2,075,000 over 5y, 24% of budgetNorthwestern University: $1,750,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $1,292,857 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetVANDERCOOK COLLEGE OF MUSIC: $1,000,000 over 4y, 5.8% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $1,000,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLake Forest College: $850,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $585,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION: $531,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $500,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE: $500,000 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetTHE WETLANDS INITIATIVE: $490,000 over 5y, 5.6% of budgetAMERICANS FOR OXFORD INC: $480,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetThe People's Music School: $480,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetPacific Legal Foundation: $460,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $450,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $435,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM: $400,000 over 5y, 4.9% of budgetMidwest Young Artists: $325,000 over 5y, 7.0% of budgetOLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC: $255,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetCHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS: $250,000 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetChiArts Foundation: $225,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetTHE CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY: $205,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetCEDILLE CHICAGO NFP: $200,000 over 5y, 5.1% of budgetCAMERATA CHICAGO ASSOCIATION: $190,000 over 2y, 20% of budgetJAMES B MORAN CENTER FOR YOUTH ADVOCACY: $175,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $165,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBEGINNING WITH CHILDREN FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $150,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $145,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $140,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetKOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC: $120,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetTHE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE: $115,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetCHICAGO OPERA THEATER: $110,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $85,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLeadership Institute: $75,000 over 5y, 0.1% 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 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ILLINOIS SAINT ANDREW SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds THE COLBURN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds OPENLANDS ↗
  • Who funds MUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds TREEPEOPLE INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds ANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds VANDERCOOK COLLEGE OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds The Chicago Community Trust ↗
  • Who funds Lake Forest College ↗
  • Who funds THE JOFFREY BALLET ↗
  • Who funds LAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds CATO INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds THE WETLANDS INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds AMERICANS FOR OXFORD INC ↗
  • Who funds The People's Music School ↗
  • Who funds Pacific Legal Foundation ↗
  • Who funds UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds THE AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM ↗

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…John D and Catherine …Ncrc Community Develo…Dr Scholl FoundationJohn R Halligan Chari…Zell Family FoundationLloyd a Fry FoundationJewish Federation of …Elizabeth F Cheney Fo…The Irving Harris Fou…Polk Bros Foundation …AbbVie Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL33.9× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · Dr Scholl Foundation · John R Halligan Charitable Fund · Zell Family Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Elizabeth F Cheney Foundation · The Irving Harris Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · AbbVie 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 Negaunee Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Negaunee Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%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
    1get no government money at all
    20report 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 123 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Negaunee’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