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Funding · Illinois · Environment

Who funds environment in Illinois

Environment funding in Illinois is unusually spread out: no single organization draws even 12%, though Chicago Horticultural Society leads, and the money reaches 440 groups.

$731M
granted
440
organizations
51%
from in-state

The short version

Largest funders of environment in Illinois

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

1Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation$84M2The Chicago Community Trust$42M3Freedom Together Foundation$37M4United States Energy Foundation$29M5National Marine Manufacturers Association$24M6Hamill Family Foundation$20M7Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund$20M8John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation$17M9The Negaunee Foundation$17M10National Philanthropic Trust$16M

Environment organizations in Illinois that draw the most

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

430 other environment organizations$348M
Chicago Horticultural Society$83MElevate Energy$67MPrairie State Conservation Coalition$48MEnvironmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest$46MOpenlands$34MGrow Boating Inc$24MLittle Village Environmental Justice Org$23M

How to find environment funders in Illinois

  1. 1
    Start with the funders already active in Illinois

    The funders giving the most to environment in Illinois are Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Freedom Together Foundation. A funder already writing environment checks in your state is the warmest place to begin.

  2. 2
    See who funds organizations like yours

    Open the environment 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. 3
    Add the out-of-state funders reaching in

    49% of environment money in Illinois comes from funders elsewhere, so national environment funders are worth approaching even if they are not based in Illinois.

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a environment nonprofit in Illinois?
Start with the funders already giving to environment in Illinois, currently Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Freedom Together Foundation. Then look at who funds the environment organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Illinois from out of state.
Who is the largest environment funder in Illinois?
Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation gives the most to environment organizations in Illinois, $84M across the 2022 and 2023 filings.
How much grant money goes to environment in Illinois?
$731M reached 440 environment organizations in Illinois, from 1,736 funders. 51% 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 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 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

Each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear; 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.