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Illinois · Nonprofit

MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO

MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,059,309 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($299,191). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$1.1M
Funders on record
45
Grants received
$2.1M
Net assets
$447k
28/45 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 65%
01What it does

What Math Circles of Chicago does

Mission

Math Circles of Chicago creates opportunities for all children across chicago to develop a passion for mathematics.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. We provide bi-weekly math enrichment programs at 6 hubs around chicago during the academic year, along with 43 after school programs, from september to may, serving over 1,100 children in grades 3-12. 91% of participating students were highly satisfied with these programs

    $459,393 spent
    64% of program spending
  2. In july 2024 we served 133 students in two-week long summer camp programs

    $157,141 spent
    22% of program spending
  3. Throughout the school year we offered 41 math festivals serving over 4,400 students. Typically these festivals are held in partnership with individual chicago public elementary schools.

    $97,858 spent
    14% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $714,392.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20212021 Revenue 100 ($378k) Expenses 100 ($271k) Net assets 100 ($233k)2022 Revenue 137 ($519k) Expenses 149 ($405k) Net assets 149 ($348k)2023 Revenue 183 ($693k) Expenses 253 ($686k) Net assets 152 ($355k)2024 Revenue 226 ($855k) Expenses 295 ($800k) Net assets 176 ($410k)2025 Revenue 281 ($1.1M) Expenses 385 ($1.0M) Net assets 192 ($447k)
20212022202320242025
Revenue (281)Expenses (385)Net assets (192)

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 $233k to $348k (+49%).

$233k
$348k
$355k
$410k
$471k
20212022202320242025
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.

2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.

$107k
’21
$114k
’22
$7k
’23
$55k
’24
$20k
’25
5.4
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

Douglas O'Roark

Executive director

Board chair

Pj Karafiol

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

20212022202320242025
Listed1413131613
Joined·+3+2+3+0
No longer listed·4203
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 19 funders, grant income rose $15k → $450k.

11 of 45 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% 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 MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 45 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

MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left

49% 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 MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO.

15%
largest funder
36%
top three
~15
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 32% · 2019 23% · 2020 23% · 2021 23% · 2022 35% · 2023 37% — 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 MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% give in more than one year at all.

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

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

75% of MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO's grant income comes from Illinois funders.

IL
MI
NY
MA
RI
CA
MD
DE
NC

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. $914k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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

Organizations like MATH CIRCLES OF 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

68% of spending goes to programs.

Program 68%Management 22%Fundraising 10%

Governance

12
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

89%

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

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MATH CIRCLES OF 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 MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO?
MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,059,309 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($299,191). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO have?
IRS filings report 45 organizations giving $2,059,309 in grants to MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of MATH CIRCLES OF CHICAGO?
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $299,191 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like MATH CIRCLES OF 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.

Play a game about who funds Math Circles of Chicago →

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 45 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