Illinois · Nonprofit
CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC
CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC (Illinois) receives grants from 233 organizations whose IRS filings report $52,300,628 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($14,372,762). 150 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $36M
- Funders on record
- 233
- Grants received
- $52M
- Net assets
- $86M
What Chicago Public Media Inc does
Mission
Chicago public media's mission is to strengthen the well-being of our local communities and our democracy through independent local journalism. Chicago public media produces accessible, trusted news, information and programming that helps all chicago area residents make informed decisions every day, participate in our diverse communities and make the most of our region.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Chicago public media, inc. Is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that serves the public interest by producing and delivering diverse, compelling content of multiple viewpoints and expression. Chicago public media broadcasts its service on four non-commercial fm radio stations: wbez 91.5 fm in chicago, wbeq 90.7 fm in morris, 91.7 fm (w219cd) in elgin, illinois, and wbek 91.1 fm in kankakee, illinois; virtually via wbez.org, smart speakers, mobile apps, podcasts and in live events that generate conversations across communities.
$17,786,655 spent$435,262 earned by the program99% of program spendingChicago public media operates vocalo, a public media online/on-air service, on 91.1 fm (w216cl) in chicago, illinois, online at vocalo.org, and syndicated on multiple stations around chicagoland. Vocalo was established as an inspirational brand that celebrates our city's cultural diversity and brings the community together around music - specifically, the urban alternative format. In may 2024, vocalo ceased its live broadcast but continues to have pre programmed content on its broadcast and stream while chicago public media considers the next steps for the license.
$249,597 spent1% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $18,036,252.
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 $91M to $106M (+16%).
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: 2017 6% · 2018 4% · 2019 4% · 2020 7% · 2021 15% · 2022 5% · 2023 4% · 2024 5% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 36 funders to 105 funders, grant income rose $2.1M → $7.8M.
24 of 233 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 27% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $14M from 7 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Chicago Community Trust). These are real filings, and they are not money CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC raised.
From the IRS filings of CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 233 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 PUBLIC MEDIA INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
57% 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 PUBLIC MEDIA INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 44% · 2019 40% · 2020 34% · 2021 28% · 2022 16% · 2023 19% — 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
47% of CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
50% of CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $14M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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 PUBLIC MEDIA INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC
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
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 6 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Cpr Communications Services LLC · disregarded
- Chicago Sun-Times Media Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: 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 PUBLIC MEDIA INC?
- CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC (Illinois) receives grants from 233 organizations whose IRS filings report $52,300,628 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($14,372,762). 150 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC have?
- IRS filings report 233 organizations giving $52,300,628 in grants to CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC, 150 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC?
- CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING is the largest funder on record, with $14,372,762 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC 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.
Play a game about who funds Chicago Public Media →
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 233 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