Illinois · Private foundation
The Polsky 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.
- $7.8M
- Granted FY2024(still arriving)
- 39
- Grants FY2024
- 45
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 51%
- First-time grantees FY2023
- Median grant, FY2024
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2024
- $2,293,698
- Organizations funded a year
- 8 to 45
- FY2017 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2024
- 10
- Total assets, FY2024
- $63M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 51% of the organizations The Polsky Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 10% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $456k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024still arriving | 38 | $7.8M | 53% |
| FY2023 | 45 | $4.4M | 51% |
| FY2022 | 35 | $9.0M | 80% |
| FY2021 | 9 | $5.5M | 44% |
| FY2020 | 8 | $5.3M | 63% |
| FY2017 | 9 | $1.8M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Chicago | $5,500,000 | 3 | 0% |
| BRCA Research and Cure Alliance | $2,293,698 | 1 | 100% |
| Voice Health Institute | $1,000,000 | 4 | 97% |
| World Resources Institute | $1,000,000 | 3 | 0% |
| The Barack Obama Foundation | $999,999 | 2 | 0% |
| White Stork - United States Ltd | $789,704 | 3 | 17% |
| The Latin School of Chicago | $296,041 | 5 | 0% |
| Polish Messenger of the Sacred Heart Inc | $190,100 | 1 | n/a |
| Yahad- in Unum Mid-America | $150,000 | 2 | 26% |
| Breakthrough T1d | $150,000 | 3 | 0% |
Show all 53 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 36 recipients with no EIN on record ($20M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
The Polsky Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 3 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 51 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · The Selfreliance Foundation · The Heritage Foundation of First Security Federal Savings Bank Inc · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Circle of Service Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · Kovler Family Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · AbbVie Foundation
How this is measured
About The Polsky Foundation
- How much does The Polsky Foundation give?
- The Polsky Foundation reported 39 grants totaling $7,770,395 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 45 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
- What does The Polsky Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (26%), Philanthropy (24%), Education (23%).
- Who are The Polsky Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: University of Chicago ($5.5M), BRCA Research and Cure Alliance ($2.3M), Voice Health Institute ($1.0M).
- Does The Polsky Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 51% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Polsky Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Polsky Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, The Selfreliance Foundation, The Heritage Foundation of First Security Federal Savings Bank Inc.
- Where is The Polsky Foundation based?
- The Polsky Foundation is based in IL.
Play a game based on Polsky’s filings →