· Private foundation
Zell Family 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k2 grants · $10k
- $10k–50k11 grants · $278k
- $50k–250k20 grants · $2.7M
- $250k+21 grants · $62M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY-KELLOGG | $25,000,000 |
| ROCHELLE ZELL JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL | $10,000,000 |
| CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | $8,300,000 |
| CAMP RAMAH IN WISCONSIN ENDOWMENT CORP | $3,000,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | $2,000,000 |
| ZELL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOUNDATION | $2,000,000 |
| MAYO CLINIC | $1,500,000 |
| FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC (FIRE) | $1,350,000 |
| CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | $1,340,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN | $1,250,000 |
| START EARLY | $1,000,000 |
| CHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND | $1,000,000 |
| AMERICAN FRIENDS OF REICHMAN UNIVERSITY (FKA-IDC) | $1,000,000 |
| MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART | $700,000 |
| STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY | $500,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $2.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.
74 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2024, 31 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 55% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $28M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- UOUniversity of Michigan5× · 2020–2024 · $86M · revenue +139% · 57% of their budget
- RZROCHELLE ZELL JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL5× · 2020–2024 · $22M · revenue +0%
- CSChicago Symphony Orchestra5× · 2020–2024 · $20M · revenue +71%
Funded once
- FFFOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC (AKA FIRE)one grant, 2022 · $1.4M
- LPLINCOLN PARK CONSERVANCYone grant, 2022 · $1.3M · revenue -67% · 50% of their budget
- SESTART EARLY (FKA OUNCE OF PREVENTION)one grant, 2022 · $1.1M
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.
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.
The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.
Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.
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…
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…
The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.
The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.
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…
The cleveland institute of music's mission is to empower the world's most talented classical music students to fulfill their dreams and potential.
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…
We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.
See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…
How this is measured
90 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. 90 of the 136 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 University of Michigan ↗
- Who funds BERNARD ZELL ANSHE EMET DAY SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds ROCHELLE ZELL JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
- Who funds University of Chicago ↗
- Who funds ZELL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY ↗
- Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND ↗
- Who funds FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC ↗
- Who funds MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ↗
- Who funds START EARLY ↗
- Who funds Camp Ramah in Wisconsin Endowment Corp ↗
- Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
- Who funds BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds IMENTOR INC ↗
- Who funds JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds LINCOLN PARK CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds ChiArts Foundation ↗
- Who funds MAYO CLINIC ↗
- Who funds TEACH FOR ALL INC ↗
- Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF REICHMAN UNIVERSITY INC ↗
- Who funds YOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORS ↗
- Who funds A Better Chicago ↗
- Who funds THE POINT MAGAZINE ↗
- Who funds THE BOULDER JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER ↗
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: Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · The Irving Harris Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Circle of Service Foundation · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · Julian Family Foundation · The Bluhm Family Foundation · The Negaunee Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Zell Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Zell Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Sharsheret Inc: 4% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Zell Family Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Zell Family 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.
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