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The Otho Sa Sprague Memorial Institute at a glance

· Private foundation

The Otho Sa Sprague Memorial Institute

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.

$2.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$351k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$10.0MEducation$2.5MFood & Nutrition$983kPhilanthropy$786kYouth Development$564kPublic Safety & Disaster$430kCommunity Improvement$332kHuman Services$221kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $35k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.4M
  • $250k+3 grants · $901k
$100,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$53M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF IL AT CHICAGO$350,878
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$300,000
SINAI HEALTH SYSTEM$250,000
MOBILE CARE FOUNDATION$225,000
RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER$225,000
CHILDREN FIRST FUND$210,000
IWS FAMILY HEALTH$200,000
MICHAEL REESE HEALTH TRUST$100,000
LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN HEALTH CENTER$100,000
UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO$100,000
COMMUNITY HEALTH$75,000
ESPERANZA HEALTH CENTERS$50,000
CHICAGO COALITION TO SAVE OUR MENTAL HEALTH CENTER$50,000
CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$50,000
HEALTH AND MEDICINE POLICY RESEARCH GROUP$25,000
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 (FY18–24, $490k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $75k → 14%American Red Cross: $75k → 14%American Red Cross: $50k → 14%American Red Cross: $50k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $25k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $140k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $50k → 14%THE NIGHT MINISTRY: $25k → 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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 36 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

36 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 24 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
22

Total granted

$15M
$977k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+26%

Still filing today

67%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $360k 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
HealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsFood & 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

  • IP
    Illinois Public Health Institute
    5× · 2017–2021 · $992k · revenue +319%
  • GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $973k · revenue +17%
  • MC
    MOBILE CARE FOUNDATION
    7× · 2019–2025 · $868k · revenue +175%

Funded once

  • SC
    Swedish Covenant Hospital Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $200k · revenue 0%
  • Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $120k · revenue 0%
  • Northwestern Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +26%
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
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
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
Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group

Northwestern memorial healthcare is an integrated healthcare system, consisting of multiple hospitals (including northwestern memorial hospital, an academic medical center) and networks of physicians and healthcare professionals, where the…

Health
4
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Ann & robert h. lurie children's hospital of chicago is dedicated to the health and well-being of all children. as the pediatric teaching facility for northwestern university feinberg school of medicine, this commitment drives us to be a…

Health
5
Endeavor Health Clinical Operations

Endeavor Health Clinical Operations follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
6
Endeavor Health Medical Group

Endeavor Health Medical Group (EHMG) follows the mission of Endeavor Health. The mission of Endeavor Health is to "help everyone in our communities be their best." Central to this mission is a commitment to providing clinical programs and…

Health
7
Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare

Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
8
Rush Copley Medical Center

To improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.

Health
9
Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare Group

The elmhurst memorial healthcare group follows the mission of endeavor health (f/k/a ns-ee holdings). the mission of endeavor health is to "help everyone in our communities be their best." central to this mission is a commitment to…

—
10
Holy Cross Hospital

The hospital is a catholic health care organization sponsored by the sisters of st. casimir. by our commitment to witness to the healing mission of jesus, we contribute to healthy communities and promote quality health care to all with…

Health
11
Edward Hospital

Edward Hospital follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

Health
12
Swedish Covenant Health

Swedish Covenant Health follows the mission of Endeavor Health to "help everyone in our communities be their best."

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Health and Medicine Policy Research Group; the most unlike its peers is City Tech Collaborative. 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

35 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. 35 of the 62 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/35
Grantees still filing
27/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $1,210,441 · OtherTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOI…UIC School of Public Health: $1,110,204 · OtherUIC School of Public HealthILLINOIS CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: $1,080,000 · OtherILLINOIS CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIAT…LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN HEALTH CENTER: $510,000 · OtherLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN HEALTH CENTERMAPSCORPS: $418,524 · OtherMAPSCORPSTHE THRESHOLDS: $410,548 · OtherTHE THRESHOLDSAIDS FOUNDATION: $401,600 · OtherAIDS FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $348,394 · OtherCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $335,000 · Other+23 more: $1,429,406 · Other+23 moreHEARTLAND ALLIANCE HEALTH: $1,638,781 · HealthHEARTLAND ALLIANCE HEALTHIllinois Public Health Institute: $992,267 · HealthIllinois Public Health InstituteMOBILE CARE FOUNDATION: $868,435 · HealthMOBILE CARE FOUNDATIONSINAI HEALTH SYSTEM: $575,000 · HealthSINAI HEALTH SYSTEMHEALTH AND MEDICINE POLICY RESEARCH GROUP: $429,500 · HealthHEALTH AND MEDICINE POLICY RESEARCH GROU…Rush University Medical Center: $300,000 · HealthPublic Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago: $250,382 · HealthSwedish Covenant Hospital Foundation: $200,000 · Health+7 more: $520,700 · Health+7 moreCHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $395,221 · EducationUI LABS INC: $349,500 · EducationPARTNERSHIP FOR A CONNECTED ILLINOIS INC: $235,522 · EducationDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $61,115 · EducationASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGES: $60,000 · Education+2 more: $30,000 · EducationGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $972,800 · Food & NutritionAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $275,000 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $215,000 · Human ServicesUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $400,000 · PhilanthropyFOREFRONT: $22,949 · PhilanthropyGRANTMAKERS IN HEALTH: $19,980 · PhilanthropyCity Tech Collaborative: $190,926 · Community ImprovementNorthwestern University: $100,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$7,254,117Health$5,775,065Education$1,131,358Food & Nutrition$972,800Human Services$490,000Philanthropy$442,929Community Improvement$190,926Recreation & Sports$100,000

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 budgetHEARTLAND ALLIANCE HEALTH: $1,638,781 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetIllinois Public Health Institute: $992,267 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $972,800 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMOBILE CARE FOUNDATION: $868,435 over 7y, 7.2% of budgetSINAI HEALTH SYSTEM: $575,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN HEALTH CENTER: $510,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetHEALTH AND MEDICINE POLICY RESEARCH GROUP: $429,500 over 7y, 6.8% of budgetMAPSCORPS: $418,524 over 5y, 24% of budgetTHE THRESHOLDS: $410,548 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $400,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $395,221 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetUI LABS INC: $349,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $300,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $275,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPublic Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago: $250,382 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR A CONNECTED ILLINOIS INC: $235,522 over 3y, 53% of budgetTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $215,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetSwedish Covenant Hospital Foundation: $200,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetCity Tech Collaborative: $190,926 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetESPERANZA HEALTH CENTERS: $188,200 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCity Colleges of Chicago Foundation: $175,263 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation: $120,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMICHAEL REESE HEALTH TRUST: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNorthwestern University: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OF CHICAGO: $100,000 over 2y, 43% of budgetDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $61,115 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGES: $60,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSt Bernard Hospital: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO COALITION TO SAVE OUR MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS: $50,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOREFRONT: $22,949 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGRANTMAKERS IN HEALTH: $19,980 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetAIDS Foundation of Chicago: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO ASTHMA CONSORTIUM: $2,500 over 1y, 5.6% 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.

  • Who funds HEARTLAND ALLIANCE HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds Illinois Public Health Institute ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds MOBILE CARE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SINAI HEALTH SYSTEM ↗
  • Who funds LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN HEALTH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds HEALTH AND MEDICINE POLICY RESEARCH GROUP ↗
  • Who funds MAPSCORPS ↗
  • Who funds THE THRESHOLDS ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN FIRST FUND THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UI LABS INC ↗
  • Who funds Rush University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERSHIP FOR A CONNECTED ILLINOIS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NIGHT MINISTRY ↗
  • Who funds Swedish Covenant Hospital Foundation ↗
  • Who funds City Tech Collaborative ↗
  • Who funds ESPERANZA HEALTH CENTERS ↗
  • Who funds City Colleges of Chicago Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation ↗
  • Who funds MICHAEL REESE HEALTH TRUST ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds DEPAUL UNIVERSITY ↗

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…Grant Hospital of Chi…Polk Bros Foundation …United Way of Metropo…Visiting Nurse Associ…Illinois Children's H…Michael Reese Health …Lloyd a Fry FoundationArie and Ida Crown Me…Circle of Service Fou…Delta Dental of Illin…Pritzker Family Found…
The Chicago Community TrustIL24.7× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Grant Hospital of Chicago D/B/A Grant Healthcare Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago (Aka) Vna Foundation · Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation · Michael Reese Health Trust · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Circle of Service Foundation · Delta Dental of Illinois Foundation · Pritzker Family 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 Otho Sa Sprague Memorial Institute funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Otho Sa Sprague Memorial Institute. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%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
    10report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Otho Sa Sprague Memorial Institute?

    Find your warmest path to The Otho Sa Sprague Memorial Institute 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 62 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 Otho Sa Sprague Memorial Institute’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

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    The regranting layer
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