Illinois · Nonprofit
IRIS FOUNDATION
IRIS FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $427,432 to it, the largest being DELTA PHI FRATERNITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ($427,372). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2020
- $88k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $427k
- Net assets
- $6k
What Iris Foundation does
Mission
The Iris Foundation (the "foundation") exists to support the application, engagement and dissemination of "first principles thinking" in science, education, community, development and civic engagement.the foundation is organized exclusively for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code, including the advancement of education, science and social science by conducting labs, case studies, discussion groups, forums, panels, lecturs, and similar programs.the foundation will offer its facilities and resources to individuals and organizations, including students, professors, and universities, initially with a focus on those students, professors, and universities located within illinois including, without limitaiton, the university of illinois at champaign-urbana, to support labs and case studies to test concepts and generate data to effectuate social and community benefits. The results of these labs will be available
As stated on its FY2020 Form 990.
Program
In pursuit of the foundation mission to support "first principles thinking" in science, education, community development and civic engagement, Iris Foundation develops core organizational tenets and methodology for educational on-boarding and program actualization. The foundation also designs and stabilizes the environment for collaboration, and recruits volunteers for the foundation mission.
The first program described on its most recent Form 990, which lists programs largest first by expense.
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 2019 to 2020, from $472 to $8k (+1629%).
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.
100% of IRIS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (89% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 2 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
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $84k → $79k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 IRIS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
IRIS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 100% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 IRIS FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
100% of IRIS FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $60 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
IRIS FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 525 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 525 science & tech nonprofits under $100k, FY2020
Organizations like IRIS 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
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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
- Delta Phi Fraternity Alumni Association · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for IRIS 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 IRIS FOUNDATION?
- IRIS FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $427,432 to it, the largest being DELTA PHI FRATERNITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ($427,372). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does IRIS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $427,432 in grants to IRIS FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of IRIS FOUNDATION?
- DELTA PHI FRATERNITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION is the largest funder on record, with $427,372 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like IRIS 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.
Play a game about who funds Iris →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2020 (financials across 2019–2020), and the filings of 2 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