Illinois · Nonprofit
LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE
LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE (Illinois) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,420,246 to it, the largest being JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION ($3,882,779). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.9M
- Funders on record
- 41
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $6.8M
What Lumen Christi Institute does
Mission
To make the catholic intellectual tradition a vital part of the culture of universities. To enrich academic communities at the university of chicago, across the nation, and the world with the insights of catholic thought. To dialogue with secular culture and renew civilization by forming leaders for a global society in need of catholic wisdom.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The national catholic scholars program develops teams of scholars to generate a renewed catholic tradition in the academy through two programs. The summer seminars in catholic thought give doctoral students from major catholic and secular universities the opportunity to study with a leading catholic scholar. The lumen christi program in social thought organizes major conferences on catholic perspectives on law, economics, politics and society. It seeks to build a network of scholars at major catholic and secular universities who will study catholic social thought and develop it in light of contemporary questions and apply it to the major issues facing our society.
$1,053,564 spent$4,800 earned by the program47% of program spendingThe university program in catholic thought encourages students and faculty at the university of chicago to deeply engage the catholic intellectual and spiritual traditions by hosting both virtual and in-person events with visiting fellows and offering lectures,colloquia, non-credit courses and other events like religious book discussions and book events.
$730,287 spent33% of program spendingThe Lumen Christi Institute cultural forum seeks to engage the church, the academy and the public as a means of promoting the evangelization of culture called for by pope john paul ii. In-person and virtual events in this program have included sacred music concerts,discussions on law and culture, catholic social thought and the economy, religion and secular culture in europe and catholic education.
$445,493 spent$63,525 earned by the program20% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,229,344.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $2.4M to $5.7M (+140%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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
Alietia Caughron
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 24 funders, grant income rose $668k → $1.9M.
10 of 41 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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 LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 41 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
LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 61%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
50% 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 LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 37% · 2018 44% · 2019 24% · 2020 34% · 2021 35% · 2022 64% · 2023 47% — 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
66% of LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 80% 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
LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE draws 78% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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 LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE
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
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
51%
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 LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE: 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 LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE?
- LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE (Illinois) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,420,246 to it, the largest being JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION ($3,882,779). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 41 organizations giving $11,420,246 in grants to LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE, 33 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE?
- JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,882,779 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LUMEN CHRISTI INSTITUTE 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 Lumen Christi Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 41 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