Illinois · Nonprofit
Chicago Commons Association
Chicago Commons Association (Illinois) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,917,788 to it, the largest being JPMORGAN CHASE FOUNDATION ($2,215,450). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $54M
- Funders on record
- 57
- Grants received
- $7.9M
- Net assets
- $15M
What Chicago Commons Association does
Mission
Chicago Commons' mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to overcome poverty, embrace opportunities, and thrive across generations. To fulfill that mission, we provide high quality early childhood education, family-centered adult education, and senior services to more than 3,500 individuals annually.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Early Childhood Development:Chicago Commons has four directly operated early education centers and partners with six external agencies to offer developmentally appropriate learning opportunities, high quality child care, and family centered supports to more than 1,700 children in 18 of Chicago's most disadvantaged communities. Chicago Commons was one of the first preschools in the U.S. to use the Reggio Emilia approach in educating young children and has garnered regional and national recognition for our approach, results, and adaptations of the method. The Reggio Emilia approach is an educational philosophy that views the early years as the most critical time of an individual's development. The program is based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery, in a supportive and enriching space, guided by children's interests. Chicago Commons tailors the Reggio Emilia approach to promote development for all children including those with comprehensive care needs. In our use of the approach, we foster children's natural curiosity, self-confidence, and problem-solving skills to support a love for learning, leading to academic achievement…
$32,648,345 spentof which $13,505,609 as grants$35,317,301 earned by the program67% of program spendingSenior Services:Chicago Commons Senior Services operates one adult day service center and provides in-home services for seniors and adults with disabilities. The program provided services to 1,000 seniors and adults with disabilities to help them continue living in their own home prolonging, and in some cases preventing, the need for institutional care.
$14,609,157 spent$14,994,417 earned by the program30% of program spendingFamily Hub:Chicago Commons Family Hub Program seeks to address the multifaceted needs of families with young children and older adults with the support, resources, and holistic approach that will enable success. Family Hub pairs early education and senior programs with employment, post-secondary education, financial wellness, and health and wellness services.
$1,588,019 spentof which $59,610 as grants$115,393 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $48,845,521.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $21M to $24M (+13%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
6% of Chicago Commons Association’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Edgar E Ramirez
President & CEO
Board chair
Ronald G Kaminski
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 28 funders, grant income rose $281k → $1.0M.
12 of 57 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Chicago Commons Association’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 57 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Chicago Commons Association has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
47% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Chicago Commons Association.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 33% · 2018 46% · 2019 69% · 2020 27% · 2021 38% · 2022 20% · 2023 16% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
61% of Chicago Commons Association's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
Chicago Commons Association draws 68% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Chicago Commons Association has grown faster than half of the 2,396 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,396 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding Chicago Commons Association receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $151.8M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$151.7M
- Department of Veterans Affairs$152k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Chicago Commons Association
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Chicago Commons Association: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Chicago Commons Association?
- Chicago Commons Association (Illinois) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,917,788 to it, the largest being JPMORGAN CHASE FOUNDATION ($2,215,450). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Chicago Commons Association have?
- IRS filings report 57 organizations giving $7,917,788 in grants to Chicago Commons Association, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Chicago Commons Association?
- JPMORGAN CHASE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,215,450 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Chicago Commons Association find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 57 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing