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Illinois · Nonprofit

JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO

JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 607 organizations whose IRS filings report $244,988,333 to it, the largest being THE PRITZKER FAMILY PHILANTHROPIC FUND ($34,885,000). 441 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$154M
Funders on record
607
Grants received
$245M
Net assets
$204M
441/607 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 38%
01What it does

What Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago does

Mission

Juf provides critical resources that bring food, refuge, health care, education and emergency assistance to over 500,000 chicagoans of all faiths and millions of jews in israel and around the world, funding a network of 100+ agencies, schools, and programs.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Allocations (overseas) - through its allocation to jfna, juf supports services to individuals in israel and 70 other countries. These range from basic social service programs addressing needs of all age groups to formal and informal jewish education/identity development. The major beneficiary organizations which engage in overseas work through support from jfna are the american jewish joint distribution committee, the jewish agency for israel and the world ort.

    $60,429,986 spentof which $57,188,660 as grants$1,705,471 earned by the program
    51% of program spending
  2. ALLOCATIONS (LOCAL) - THE JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO (JUF) CONDUCTS FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES BY MEANS OF ANNUAL CALENDAR YEAR CAMPAIGNS AND MAKES ALLOCATIONS TO JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO (JF) AND JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA (JFNA). THROUGH ITS ALLOCATION TO JF, JUF SUPPORTS VARIOUS NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CHICAGO AREA THAT PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS, INCLUDING HOT MEALS AND GROCERIES, UTILITY AND RENT ASSISTANCE, PRESCRIPTIONS AND MEDICAL CARE FOR IMPOVERISHED FAMILIES; JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT OF WORK; MULTI-FACETED, SPECIALIZED SUPPORT SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES; SUPPORT SERVICES FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS; CARE AND TRANSPORTATION FOR SENIORS; RESPITE SERVICES FOR CAREGIVERS OF FRAIL SENIORS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES; COUNSELING, PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR TROUBLED TEENS; AND AN ENTIRE CONTINUUM OF PREVENTION AND THERAPEUTIC SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES IN CRISIS. BECAUSE THE JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO AND THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO ARE SO CLOSELY LINKED IN NUMEROUS WAYS (COMBINED BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SHARED PROFESSIONAL STAFF,…

    $51,260,768 spentof which $50,954,908 as grants$1,795,931 earned by the program
    43% of program spending
  3. Communications and "jewish chicago: the juf magazine" works to ensure juf/federation maintains a strong public profile across traditional and social media, serving effectively as the voice of chicago's jewish community and bringing juf's mission to life. With an average monthly circulation of 40,000 homes, "jewish chicago" is the largest circulation jewish publication in the chicago area and the midwest and spotlights the breadth, depth, diversity, and vitality of chicago's jewish community.

    $2,530,977 spent$1,076,056 earned by the program
    2% of program spending
  4. Israel office and other programs: the organization maintains a small office in israel with four employees. The israel office expense and employee salaries are paid to jewish federations of north america, which is based in new york, and is the umbrella organization for all jewish federations in north america. The israel office coordinates educational missions and monitors israeli programs that are funded by juf. Juf coordinates missions to israel and various other countries in order to give donors the opportunity to travel with other chicagoans to jewish communities all over the world and see juf dollars at work. The missions also allow individuals to visit with people who live in israel and other countries, explore family roots and learn about worldwide jewish culture. Missions give participants the opportunity to see first-hand what can be accomplished by the jewish people when our energy and resources are operating at full capacity. Juf pays for certain mission travel expenses and then participants reimburse juf for the costs. The revenue and expenses of missions are reported on the 990 on a gross basis.

    $3,505,404 spent$1,453,934 earned by the program
    3% of program spending
  5. Community relations - through its support of the jewish community relations council (jcrc), juf coordinates the collective policies and programs among 43 constituent jewish organizations active in public affairs/community relations work. Jcrc educates and mobilizes the jewish community for action through juf and those constituent groups on internal and domestic issues ranging from israel advocacy to combatting anti-semitism, and works to strengthen our community's intergroup relations (interfaith, interethnic, etc.). Jcrc activities and engagement take place with the media, campuses, government, foreign diplomats and religious and civic leaders.

    $757,462 spent$10,370 earned by the program
    1% of program spending

The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $118,484,597.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($137M) Expenses 100 ($102M) Net assets 100 ($129M)2018 Revenue 84 ($116M) Expenses 105 ($106M) Net assets 96 ($125M)2019 Revenue 72 ($98M) Expenses 102 ($104M) Net assets 96 ($125M)2021 Revenue 85 ($116M) Expenses 107 ($109M) Net assets 127 ($165M)2022 Revenue 87 ($119M) Expenses 113 ($115M) Net assets 117 ($151M)2023 Revenue 86 ($117M) Expenses 122 ($124M) Net assets 120 ($155M)2024 Revenue 119 ($163M) Expenses 137 ($139M) Net assets 154 ($200M)2025 Revenue 113 ($154M) Expenses 138 ($140M) Net assets 158 ($204M)
'17'18'19'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (113)Expenses (138)Net assets (158)Peer revenue range

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 $243M to $219M (−10%).

$226M
$227M
$238M
$243M
$219M
$238M
$250M
$261M
'17'18'19'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 5% · 2023 0% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

82% of JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (80% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 162 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$35M
’17
$9.3M
’18
−$6.0M
’19
$7.8M
’21
$3.6M
’22
−$7.0M
’23
$24M
’24
$14M
’25
1.4
months of
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

Lonnie Nasatir

President/CEO

Board chair

Wendy C Abrams

Board chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'21'22'23'24'25
Listed110110108106107107109112
Joined·+18+19·+19+17+22+20
No longer listed·1821·18172017
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 181 funders to 320 funders, grant income rose $12M → $44M.

37 of 607 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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: $230M from 29 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago). These are real filings, and they are not money JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO raised.

From the IRS filings of JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 607 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

JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 funders to its left

44% 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 JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO.

14%
largest funder
32%
top three
~21
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 13% · 2018 16% · 2019 19% · 2020 22% · 2021 27% · 2022 24% · 2023 19% — 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

58% of JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

94% of JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO's grant income comes from Illinois funders.

ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
NV
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
DE
AZ
KS
NC
OK
GA
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $60M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO's funding base is broadening — from 181 funders to 320 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin9% · below the median
Months of reserve1.4mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)1% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 71 philanthropy nonprofits over $100M, FY2025

Organizations like JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN 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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

85% of spending goes to programs.

Program 85%Management 9%Fundraising 6%

Governance

87
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

87%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

IL

Part of a family of 41 related entities

  • Albert and Lucille Delighter & Marcella Winston Foundation · exempt
  • Bellows Family Foundation · exempt
  • Bls Family Foundation · exempt
  • Bucksbaum Family Foundation · exempt
  • Charles & Audrey Dann Charitable Foundation · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN 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.

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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 JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO?
JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 607 organizations whose IRS filings report $244,988,333 to it, the largest being THE PRITZKER FAMILY PHILANTHROPIC FUND ($34,885,000). 441 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO have?
IRS filings report 607 organizations giving $244,988,333 in grants to JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO, 441 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO?
THE PRITZKER FAMILY PHILANTHROPIC FUND is the largest funder on record, with $34,885,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN 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 607 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