How do I find funders for a arts and culture nonprofit in Illinois?

Start with the funders already giving to arts and culture in Illinois, currently Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, The Chicago Community Trust, National Philanthropic Trust. Then look at who funds the arts and culture organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Illinois from out of state.

Who is the largest arts and culture funder in Illinois?

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund gives the most to arts and culture organizations in Illinois, $155M across the 2022 and 2023 filings.

How much grant money goes to arts and culture in Illinois?

$1.0B reached 1,134 arts and culture organizations in Illinois, from 2,117 funders. 40% came from funders also based in Illinois.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Funding · Illinois · Arts and culture

Who funds arts and culture in Illinois

$1.0B reached 1,134 arts and culture organizations in Illinois, from 2,117 funders, with no single one dominating.

$1.0B

granted

1,134

organizations

40%

from in-state

The short version

2,117 funders gave $1.0B to 1,134 arts and culture organizations in Illinois across the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings.
40% of that came from funders also based in Illinois; the rest reached in from out of state.
The largest funder of arts and culture in Illinois is Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, at $155M.
The arts and culture organization drawing the most is The Barack Obama Foundation, at $243M.

Largest funders of arts and culture in Illinois

The funders giving the most to arts and culture organizations in Illinois, in-state and out. Pick one for its dossier.

1Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund$155M 2The Chicago Community Trust$90M 3National Philanthropic Trust$48M 4The Andrew W Mellon Foundation$35M 5John D and Catherine T Macarthur$33M 6Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc$26M 7Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund$25M 8American Endowment Foundation$20M 9The Negaunee Foundation$18M 10Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program$17M

Arts and culture organizations in Illinois that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

1,124 other arts and culture organizations$462M

The Barack Obama Foundation$243M Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and$90M Chicago Symphony Orchestra$42M Field Museum of Natural History$37M Museum of Contemporary Art$30M Lyric Opera of Chicago$28M

How to find arts and culture funders in Illinois

1
Start with the funders already active in Illinois
The funders giving the most to arts and culture in Illinois are Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, The Chicago Community Trust, National Philanthropic Trust. A funder already writing arts and culture checks in your state is the warmest place to begin.
2
See who funds organizations like yours
Open the arts and culture organizations on this page that resemble yours in size or work, and look at who funds them. Shared funders are the strongest signal of fit.
3
Add the out-of-state funders reaching in
60% of arts and culture money in Illinois comes from funders elsewhere, so national arts and culture funders are worth approaching even if they are not based in Illinois.

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a arts and culture nonprofit in Illinois?: Start with the funders already giving to arts and culture in Illinois, currently Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, The Chicago Community Trust, National Philanthropic Trust. Then look at who funds the arts and culture organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Illinois from out of state.
Who is the largest arts and culture funder in Illinois?: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund gives the most to arts and culture organizations in Illinois, $155M across the 2022 and 2023 filings.
How much grant money goes to arts and culture in Illinois?: $1.0B reached 1,134 arts and culture organizations in Illinois, from 2,117 funders. 40% came from funders also based in Illinois.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

More from the funding graph

The regranting layer

51% of grant dollars pass through an intermediary

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

Strange bedfellows

the named clusters of US funding

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Giving abroad

which US foundations fund each country

Cause is the recipient's NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File; location is the recipient's state on its most recent filing. Grant figures are read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, among recipients resolved by EIN. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.