How do I find funders for a human services nonprofit in Illinois?

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

How much grant money goes to human services in Illinois?

$1.5B reached 1,385 human services organizations in Illinois, from 3,037 funders. 71% 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 · Human services

Who funds human services in Illinois

Human services funding in Illinois is unusually spread out: no single organization draws even 12%, though Metropolitan Family Services leads, and the money reaches 1,385 groups.

$1.5B

granted

1,385

organizations

71%

from in-state

The short version

3,037 funders gave $1.5B to 1,385 human services organizations in Illinois across the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings.
71% of that came from funders also based in Illinois; the rest reached in from out of state.
The largest funder of human services in Illinois is The Chicago Community Trust, at $142M.
The human services organization drawing the most is Metropolitan Family Services, at $128M.

Largest funders of human services in Illinois

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

1The Chicago Community Trust$142M 2Jewish Federation of Metropolitan$89M 3Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund$71M 4Start Early$66M 5Anne Ray Foundation$59M 6Metropolitan Family Services DuPage$50M 7Mather Foundation$35M 8American Online Giving Foundation Inc$31M 9Illinois Coalition Against$26M 10Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc$21M

Human services organizations in Illinois that draw the most

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

1,375 other human services organizations$957M

Metropolitan Family Services$128M National Council of YMCAs of the USA$119M

How to find human services funders in Illinois

1
Start with the funders already active in Illinois
The funders giving the most to human services in Illinois are The Chicago Community Trust, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. A funder already writing human services checks in your state is the warmest place to begin.
2
See who funds organizations like yours
Open the human services 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
29% of human services money in Illinois comes from funders elsewhere, so national human services funders are worth approaching even if they are not based in Illinois.

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a human services nonprofit in Illinois?: Start with the funders already giving to human services in Illinois, currently The Chicago Community Trust, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. Then look at who funds the human services organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Illinois from out of state.
Who is the largest human services funder in Illinois?: The Chicago Community Trust gives the most to human services organizations in Illinois, $142M across the 2022 and 2023 filings.
How much grant money goes to human services in Illinois?: $1.5B reached 1,385 human services organizations in Illinois, from 3,037 funders. 71% 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.