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The Ruttenbergkagan Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ruttenbergkagan 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.

$327k
Granted FY2025still arriving
74
Grants FY2025still arriving
12
States reached
$70k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$586kInternational$137kArts & Culture$135kEducation$96kCivil Rights$89kYouth Development$78kHealth$74kRecreation & Sports$46kOther$0
02FY2025 · 74 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k65 grants · $161k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $97k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $70k
$2,250
Median grant
12
States reached
$4.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METRO CHICAGO$69,500
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE$20,000
ACCESS COMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK$15,000
WTTW JEWISH HERITAGE PROGRAMMING$12,000
FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES$10,000
CHICAGO CRED$10,000
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$10,000
YOUTH FOR A BETTER FUTURE$10,000
CHICAGO'S WOMENS HEALTH CENTER$10,000
TEMPLE SHALOM$9,350
Individual grant recipient$7,500
CHICAGO GAY MEN'S CHORUS$6,000
PROJECT EDUCATION PLUS$6,000
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM$5,000
COLLEGE POSSIBLE$5,000
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 (FY20–25, $54k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 91% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%INVEST FOR KIDS: $5k → 9%STREET SOCCER USA: $5k → 17%STREET SOCCER USA: $5k → 17%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $3k → 14%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $3k → 14%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $3k → 14%CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $3k → 14%INVEST FOR KIDS: $5k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS: $5k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS: $5k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS: $5k → 14%CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: $3k → 14%CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: $2k → 14%A BETTER CHICAGO: $1k → 14%CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: $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
WI
NY
MA
IA
IN
PA
CA
VA
MD
NM
DC
FL
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 50 repeat orgs$203k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +27% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

50 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 30 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

50
22

Total granted

$1.2M
$109k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
0%

Still filing today

74%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $95k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesInternationalHealthRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    6× · 2020–2025 · $362k · revenue +13%
  • AL
    ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
    4× · 2021–2025 · $52k · revenue +34%
  • YG
    Youth Guidance
    5× · 2021–2025 · $38k · revenue +29%

Funded once

  • JA
    JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL - NORTH AMERICAN COUNCIL
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue -28%
  • WS
    WOLCOTT SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $30k · revenue +14%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PEACE OF MIND INC
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue 0%
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
2
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
3
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
4
The Adler Planetarium

The adler planetarium ('adler') is a not-for-profit cultural institution whose mission is to connect people to the universe and each other under the sky we all share. it aspires to be the world's premier center for engaging in astronomy…

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
7
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
8
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
9
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
10
Children's Museum of Oak Park

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

Arts & Culture
11
Chicago Historical Society

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history…

Arts & Culture
12
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Museum of Contemporary Art; the most unlike its peers is Chicago Cred 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

73 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. 73 of the 104 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
73/73
Grantees still filing
42/73
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $210,200 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONTEMPLE SHALOM: $32,265 · OtherTEMPLE SHALOMWTTW JEWISH HERITAGE PROGRAMMING: $27,000 · OtherWTTW JEWISH HERITAGE PROGRAMMINGNorthwestern University: $19,000 · OtherYouth for A Better Future: $20,000 · Other+49 more: $186,048 · Other+49 moreJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $362,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLI…HAROLD E EISENBERG FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $500 · PhilanthropyFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $80,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF …JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL - NORTH AMERICAN COUNCIL: $50,000 · InternationalJEWISH AGEN…AMERICAN FRIENDS OF PEACE OF MIND INC: $5,000 · International+3 more: $5,500 · InternationalYouth Guidance: $37,500 · EducationYouth Guid…WOLCOTT SCHOOL: $30,000 · EducationWOLCOTT SC…COLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $20,000 · EducationCOLLEGE PO…PROJECT EDUCATION PLUS: $17,000 · EducationPROJECT ED…Francis W Parker School: $13,000 · EducationFrancis W …FRIENDS OF BENNETT DAY SCHOOL: $5,000 · Education+6 more: $8,500 · Education+6 moreANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $52,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $30,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Civil RightsChicago Symphony Orchestra: $22,500 · Arts & CultureThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $9,750 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $8,500 · Arts & CultureFACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $8,000 · Arts & CultureTHE FILM COLLABORATIVE INC: $6,000 · Arts & CultureMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $4,385 · Arts & CultureJUDD FOUNDATION: $4,250 · Arts & CultureREADING IN MOTION: $3,500 · Arts & Culture+11 more: $9,800 · Arts & CultureFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $15,000 · Human ServicesCHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $12,000 · Human ServicesSTREET SOCCER USA INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesInvest for Kids Inc: $10,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: $5,500 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human Services
Other$494,513Philanthropy$382,500International$140,500Education$131,000Civil Rights$87,000Arts & Culture$81,685Human Services$53,500

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 budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $362,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $80,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $52,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL - NORTH AMERICAN COUNCIL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYouth Guidance: $37,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWOLCOTT SCHOOL: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $30,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $22,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetYouth for A Better Future: $20,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetHAROLD E EISENBERG FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetNorthwestern University: $19,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT EDUCATION PLUS: $17,000 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $15,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetBRAIN RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $14,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFrancis W Parker School: $13,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Gay Mens Chorus: $13,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetCHRISTOPHER HOUSE: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTREET SOCCER USA INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetInvest for Kids Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $9,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetIMERMAN ANGELS: $7,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOutreach with Lacrosse Schools: $6,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE FILM COLLABORATIVE INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: $5,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF PEACE OF MIND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF BENNETT DAY SCHOOL: $5,000 over 1y, 25% of budgetNOURISHING HOPE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $4,385 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJUDD FOUNDATION: $4,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetREADING IN MOTION: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLYMPHOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBUILD INC: $2,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Children's Museum: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetZETA BETA TAU FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIKVA CHALLENGE GRANT FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK CONSERVANCY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetISRAEL ON CAMPUS COALITION INC: $1,000 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.

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…Jewish Federation of …Arie and Ida Crown Me…Kovler Family Foundat…Circle of Service Fou…Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Pritzker Pucker F…Polk Bros Foundation …Ruttenberg Arts Found…Imc Chicago Charitabl…Field Foundation of I…John D and Catherine …
The Chicago Community TrustIL34.8× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Kovler Family Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Ruttenberg Arts Foundation · Imc Chicago Charitable Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · John D and Catherine T Macarthur 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 Ruttenbergkagan Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ruttenbergkagan Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Ruttenbergkagan Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Ruttenbergkagan Foundation 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 104 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 Ruttenbergkagan’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