Illinois · Nonprofit
CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION
CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 147 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,535,632 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($413,515). 69 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.6M
- Funders on record
- 147
- Grants received
- $3.5M
- Net assets
- $2.3M
What Children's Heart Foundation does
Mission
The mission of the Children's Heart Foundation (chf) is to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congenital heart defects (chds) by funding the most promising research.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Researchthe Children's Heart Foundation funds the most promising congenital heart defect (chd)research. Since 1996, chf has invested nearly $20 million into chd research and scientific collaborations.in 2024 chf funded nearly $1.8 million in chd research and scientific collaborations across four key initiatives: 1. Independent research funded by the foundation, 2. Collaborative research with the american heart association through joint congenital heart defect research awards, 3. Funding the american academy of pediatrics' pediatric cardiology research fellowship award, and 4. Funding cardiac networks united (cnu), a national pediatric and congenital cardiovascular research network. Chf provided funding for the following independent research:dr. Yuli kim, university of pennsylvania 2 yr. Grant award funded by chf; mend a heart foundation fund restricted funds hepatic perfusion and liver health as assessed by dual cholate clearance assay in fald submitted by yuli kim, m.d., perelman school of medicine at the university of pennsylvania.dr. Robert tranquillo, regents of the university of minnesota - twin cities, 2 yr. Grant award funded by chf; approved by bod in 2024. Growing…
$2,544,642 spentof which $1,780,000 as grants$7,298 earned by the program89% of program spendingAwareness congenital heart walks: the Children's Heart Foundation's congenital heart walk series is the nation's largest walk series solely dedicated to raising awareness and funds for congenital heart defect research. 36 congenital heart walk events took place in 2024. The walks offer a chance to strengthen our community and spread awareness about america's most common birth defect - chds, and we raised almost $2,300,000!fundraising events and campaigns: various fundraising events and campaigns took place throughout 2024, including #givingtuesday, heart month, volunteer appreciation month, and our matching from the heart campaign - all of which helped raise awareness and funds of the Children's Heart Foundation's critical mission.general awareness: the Children's Heart Foundation utilizes social media and video storytelling to spread further awareness of chds and chf. Our social media efforts focus on sharing stories of children, adults, and families impacted by chds, as well as telling our audience about the important research efforts we are funding. These tools help us reach people who may not have previously known about our important work.
$174,296 spent6% of program spendingAdvocacy we endeavored to create more awareness of the need for advocacy for those with chds and their family members by telling their story on our websites, in video, and through special broadcast productions, like the pbs visionaries series. Our advocacy efforts focus on raising awareness of the need for increased funding for research, survivival,longevity and quality of life efforts which have dramatically increased for chd patients. There has been a 37.5% decrease in babies dying at birth which is a tremendous result, but we know that babies are still being born daily with chds.we intend to provide more educational and outreach opportunities around the current environment for congenital heart defects. Our advocacy efforts seek to educate our communities on the significance of congenital heart defects and its impact on individuals and families.
$151,281 spent5% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,870,219.
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 2021 to 2022, from $2.7M to $3.6M (+35%).
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: 2020 5% · 2021 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
117% of CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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.
Board chair
Tamara Thomas
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018, and between the FY2018 and FY2019, and between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 60 funders, grant income rose $148k → $867k.
19 of 147 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 40% 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 CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 147 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
CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
63% 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 CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 36% · 2019 24% · 2020 22% · 2021 17% · 2022 18% · 2023 34% — 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
25% of CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION draws 70% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 26 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.4M 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
CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION
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
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION: 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 CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION?
- CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 147 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,535,632 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($413,515). 69 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 147 organizations giving $3,535,632 in grants to CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION, 69 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $413,515 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHILDREN'S HEART FOUNDATION 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 147 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