Illinois · Nonprofit
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC (Illinois) receives grants from 191 organizations whose IRS filings report $26,371,117 to it, the largest being HARVEY L MILLER SUPPORTING FOUNDATION ($4,360,000). 115 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $16M
- Funders on record
- 191
- Grants received
- $26M
- Net assets
- $88M
What Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois Inc does
Mission
The mission of illinois holocaust museum & education center is expressed in its founding principle: remember the past, transform the future. Dedicated to preserving the legacy of the holocaust, the museum honors the memories of those who were lost and those who survived by teaching universal lessons that combat hatred, prejudice, and indifference. The museum fulfills its mission through the exhibition, preservation, and interpretation of its collections; and through education programs and initiatives that foster the promotion of human rights and the elimination of genocide.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program and a significant change in how it conducts a program.
The organization opened a new temporary location, experience 360, downtown chicago in 2025. The organization began licensiing virtual reality films to other museums in 2025.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
The organization's skokie location was temporarily closed for capital projects starting in june 2025 and expects to reopen in fall 2026. A temporary space in downtown chicago was leased in conjunction with the temporary closure of the skokie location.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Illinois holocaust museum & education center's permanent collection consists of over 30,000 items formerly belonging to holocaust victims and survivors. These precious artifacts were donated by individuals living primarily in the midwest who directly experienced the holocaust. To safeguard these pieces during the current construction of the skokie building, the museum's curatorial and registral team executed a comprehensive relocation plan. Every artifact was thoroughly condition-reported, expertly packed, and moved to a secure off-site facility for proper stewardship. As custodians of these items, the museum remains dedicated to using them to tell the stories of the local survivor community.
$6,939,302 spent$423,728 earned by the program71% of program spendingThe museum hosts a wide array of films, discussions, lectures, concerts and family programs to explore deeper aspects of the holocaust, world war ii, and other lessons. Educational programming and outreach at the museum provide forums for visitors to learn about the implications of the holocaust. Docent-led and self-guided tours of the experience360 site in chicago are available for schools, community organizations, and the public.
$1,663,652 spent$47,984 earned by the program17% of program spendingThe experience360 downtown chicago location features cutting-edge technology and immersive storytelling. Experience360 offers visitors an opportunity to engage with history in deeply personal and interactive ways. Exhibits include the itw special exhibition gallery featuring stories of survival, the karkomi family foundation gallery featuring a photogrpahic and narrative time on the holocaust & world war ii, the lillian and larry goodman foundation holography theater, and the northern trust virtual reality theater. The main museum in skokie has 6 core exhibition spaces, including a holographic theater and a suite of 5 vr films that allow visitors to "walk" with survivors in a 360 degree environment through former concentration camps and places of hiding.
$1,218,031 spent$227 earned by the program12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,820,985.
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 2024 to 2025, from $85M to $94M (+10%).
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% · 2022 6% · 2023 9% · 2024 20% · 2025 19%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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
Bernard Cherkasov
Chief executive officer
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 35 funders to 83 funders, grant income rose $1.5M → $3.4M.
22 of 191 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 36% 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: $3.6M from 11 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago). These are real filings, and they are not money HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC raised.
From the IRS filings of HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 191 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
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% 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 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 36% · 2019 28% · 2020 18% · 2021 17% · 2022 15% · 2023 12% — 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 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
89% of HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS 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. $9.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $462k on record.
- Department of Justice$299k
- National Endowment for the Arts$84k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$69k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$5k
- Smithsonian Institution$5k
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 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS 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
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
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 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS 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 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC?
- HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC (Illinois) receives grants from 191 organizations whose IRS filings report $26,371,117 to it, the largest being HARVEY L MILLER SUPPORTING FOUNDATION ($4,360,000). 115 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC have?
- IRS filings report 191 organizations giving $26,371,117 in grants to HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC, 115 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC?
- HARVEY L MILLER SUPPORTING FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,360,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS 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 Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois →
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 191 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