Illinois · Nonprofit
FOREFRONT
FOREFRONT (Illinois) receives grants from 125 organizations whose IRS filings report $65,535,114 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($23,192,275). 79 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $16M
- Funders on record
- 125
- Grants received
- $66M
- Net assets
- $16M
What Forefront does
Mission
We mobilize our members to work collectively around issues that are important to them and to the sector by enhancing the effectiveness of (a) the organizations and individuals who are the members of the corporation and (b) all nonprofit organizations in the state of illinois through development of educational programs and informational resources and through the provision of technical assistance; identifying and promoting the role of philanthropy in the state of illinois; providing opportunities for interaction and communication among the members of the corporation and all nonprofit charitable, religious, literary, scientific and educational organizations in the state of illinois; fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the nonprofit sector, and providing support, training and fiscal sponsorship to advance the growth, management and impact of mission driven organizations to more effectively address social challenges with sustainable solutions.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2023 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
During the year, the fiscal sponsorship agreement with illinois black advocacy initiative (ibai) terminated, and the net assets of that program were released to ibai.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Fresh taste is a sponsored project of Forefront. It is a staffed funder initiative formed in 2002 by a group of illinois-based foundations and chicago city officials interested in changing how food is produced for, and processed and consumed in the chicago region.
$11,707,105 spentof which $11,425,600 as grants$55,928 earned by the program66% of program spendingForefront leverages the collective power of philanthropy and nonprofits to improve lives and strengthen communities. Founded in 1974, Forefront is the only membership association in illinois for funders and nonprofits of all kinds, as well as their advisors and consultants. Some 1,100 individuals and institutions belong to Forefront, and thousands more benefit from its resources, some of which are free. Forefront is based in chicago but serves the entire state. It is a hub for connection and collaboration as well as a source of research, programs, publications, and other tools, including a free library, that strengthen the effectiveness of philanthropy and nonprofits. Through public policy advocacy and media relations, Forefront also serves as a leader and voice for philanthropy and nonprofits, protecting and promoting their critical missions and work.
$4,712,254 spentof which $1,126,060 as grants27% of program spendingConverge consulting is a social enterprise owned and managed by Forefront that delivers financial, accounting, and administrative solutions to nonprofits and foundations so that they can focus on their mission. We work with organizations to address their specific needs onan interim or continuing basis.
$460,184 spent$519,152 earned by the program3% of program spendingPublic policy, illinois black advocacy initiative (ibai), entrepreneurship leadership development institute (edli), chicago african americans in philanthropy (caaip), others.
$771,962 spent4% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $17,651,505.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $9.4M to $26M (+178%).
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 6% · 2021 6% · 2022 3% · 2023 0% · 2024 5% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of FOREFRONT’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (80% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 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 26 funders to 43 funders, grant income rose $791k → $12M.
15 of 125 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% 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 FOREFRONT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 125 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
FOREFRONT leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 62%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
46% 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 FOREFRONT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 19% · 2018 35% · 2019 37% · 2020 55% · 2021 35% · 2022 32% · 2023 31% — growing more concentrated.
“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
48% of FOREFRONT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
82% of FOREFRONT's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $30M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
FOREFRONT holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 490 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 490 philanthropy nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding FOREFRONT receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $881 on record.
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $881
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 FOREFRONT
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
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
61%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Converge Consulting LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FOREFRONT: 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 FOREFRONT?
- FOREFRONT (Illinois) receives grants from 125 organizations whose IRS filings report $65,535,114 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($23,192,275). 79 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FOREFRONT have?
- IRS filings report 125 organizations giving $65,535,114 in grants to FOREFRONT, 79 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FOREFRONT?
- The Chicago Community Trust is the largest funder on record, with $23,192,275 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FOREFRONT 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 2019–2025), and the filings of 125 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