Illinois · Nonprofit
EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO
EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 68 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,733,223 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($453,000). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.7M
- Funders on record
- 68
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $4.8M
What Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago does
Mission
To improve the lives of people affected by epilepsy through education, advocacy, research, and connection.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's counseling and case management program provides people living with epilepsy access to supportive counseling and assistance that will enhance their ability to cope with issues related to their medical condition and improve their quality of life. Through supportive counseling, case managers are able to reach out and assure anyone struggling with epilepsy in the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's 44 county service area that they are not alone. In fy25, the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's case management team served 601 individual clients, providing assistance on 15,624 occasions. By participating in this case management program, clients can develop the knowledge and skills necessary to handle common challenges such as isolation, medication compliance, navigating public benefits, difficulties with the school system, and employee discrimination. Most clients needed assistance with obtaining accurate information on epilepsy, evaluation and assessment, referral and entitlement assistance, and employment assistance. The Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's case managers also advocated on behalf of clients on hundreds of…
$1,345,008 spent74% of program spendingThe Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's health education and advocacy (hea) department (previously named the education department) provides no-cost educational programs and trainings that create and promote public awareness surrounding epilepsy to schools, workplaces, law enforcement, community members, and other community organizations. These trainings educate people about epilepsy and teach them how to keep others safe during a seizure. There are two main trainings provided to the public: "seizure training for school personnel, and "seizure recognition & first aid". With local partnerships of third-party educational platforms, and a national partnership with the epilepsy foundation of america, efgc staff provided education to over 9,000 people through virtual and in-person programming. Annually, efgc hosts a free, day-long education conference with speakers and exhibitors to provide a broad platform giving those affected by epilepsy and their families easy access to a range of information including the latest medical treatment options. On november 16, 2024, efgc hosted the 14th annual epilepsy education conference in oak brook, illinois. The free day-long conference was…
$230,557 spentof which $5,000 as grants13% of program spendingThe Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago educates the general community through various publicity outlets, such as, online, television, radio, and social media. "econnections," a quarterly e-newsletter, is sent out four times to the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's entire email database. On average, each e-blast is sent to more than 13,500 subscribers. "econnections" covers a variety of topics relating to the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago and the epilepsy community. Dozens of e-blasts promoting a specific issue, program, or event are additionally sent to the targeted audiences. In fy25, the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago sent more than 130,000 emails to people interested in epilepsy and generated more than 10 million media impressions through marketing campaigns. The Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago utilizes popular social media outlets to increase its online presence. Facebook, x, instagram, youtube, and linkedin collectively boast more than 22,300 followers. Posts regarding the latest information about epilepsy, how it impacts the public, as well as the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's activities, are updated on a daily basis.
$230,557 spentof which $5,000 as grants13% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,806,122.
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.
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 $4.6M to $6.5M (+40%).
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 46% · 2018 49% · 2020 45% · 2021 64% · 2022 52% · 2023 48% · 2024 45% · 2025 38%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Nancy Lida
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 28 funders, grant income rose $40k → $389k.
16 of 68 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% 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: $3.7M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Friends of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago). These are real filings, and they are not money EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO raised.
From the IRS filings of EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 68 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
EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% 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
80% 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 EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 30% · 2018 35% · 2019 41% · 2020 26% · 2021 34% · 2022 28% · 2023 28% — broadly stable.
“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
29% of EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% 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
71% of EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $507k that is directly attributable, 74% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M 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.
Organizations like EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO
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
56% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO: 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 EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO?
- EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 68 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,733,223 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($453,000). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO have?
- IRS filings report 68 organizations giving $1,733,223 in grants to EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO, 35 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $453,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO 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 68 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing