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Illinois · Nonprofit

NAVY PIER INC

NAVY PIER INC (Illinois) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,156,634 to it, the largest being PRITZKER FOUNDATION ($2,595,000). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$75M
Funders on record
52
Grants received
$8.2M
Net assets
$108M
27/52 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 4%
01What it does

What Navy Pier Inc does

Mission

Navy pier is the "people's pier and aims to fulfill visionary daniel burnham's edict that chicago's magnificent lakefront remain open and available to the people. Through 50 acres of parks and unmatched views of the city skyline touching the endless shoreline, (see schedule o) navy pier engages locals and vistors by providing dynamic and eclectic experiences through partnerships and programs that inspire discovery and wonder.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. As an icon of the city, navy pier is firmly rooted in chicago's vibrant culture, unique architecture, and connected communities. Navy pier is a vital economic engine and proud first employer, providing space and business development opportunities for small and locally-owned businesses and sustaining 3,000 jobs annually. Navy pier provides a year-round world-class platform for chicago's cultural community, partnering with thousands of individual artists and hundreds of performing organizations that represent the vibrancy of chicago and its 77 neighborhoods. Navy pier is home to nonprofit partners chicago shakespeare theater, chicago children's museum, and chicago public media and proudly presents accessible programming intended to inspire, educate, and authentically connect artists to (see schedule o) audiences. Navy pier is governed by a 30-member volunteer board of directors consisting of business and civic leaders, and continues to operate diligently under its core values of excellence, inclusion, stewardship, and integrity.

    $70,801,492 spent$63,983,647 earned by the program
    100% of program spending
  2. Not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending
  3. Not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $70,801,492.

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 ($65M) Expenses 100 ($64M) Net assets 100 ($137M)2018 Revenue 87 ($57M) Expenses 97 ($62M) Net assets 96 ($131M)2019 Revenue 90 ($59M) Expenses 96 ($61M) Net assets 93 ($127M)2020 Revenue 30 ($19M) Expenses 64 ($41M) Net assets 77 ($105M)2021 Revenue 95 ($62M) Expenses 78 ($50M) Net assets 87 ($119M)2022 Revenue 108 ($70M) Expenses 112 ($71M) Net assets 87 ($119M)2023 Revenue 102 ($67M) Expenses 116 ($74M) Net assets 82 ($112M)2024 Revenue 114 ($75M) Expenses 123 ($78M) Net assets 79 ($108M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (114)Expenses (123)Net assets (79)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 2019 to 2020, from $210M to $187M (−11%).

$224M
$209M
$210M
$187M
$200M
$199M
$187M
$183M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2019 0% · 2020 2% · 2021 20% · 2022 12% · 2023 3% · 2024 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

7% of NAVY PIER INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 812 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$1.6M
’17
−$5.5M
’18
−$2.8M
’19
−$21M
’20
$13M
’21
−$797k
’22
−$7.3M
’23
−$3.8M
’24
3.0
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

Marilynn Gardner

President & CEO

Board chair

Jennifer Steans

Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed3841464347454640
Joined·+6+8+12+14+3+11+1
No longer listed·3315105107
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $15k → $1.9M.

9 of 52 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 11% 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: $2.5M from 8 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Chicago Community Trust). These are real filings, and they are not money NAVY PIER INC raised.

From the IRS filings of NAVY PIER INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 52 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

NAVY PIER INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 58%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

32%
largest funder
58%
top three
~6
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 71% · 2019 20% · 2020 30% · 2021 37% · 2022 60% · 2023 53% — 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

46% of NAVY PIER INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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

96% of NAVY PIER INC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.

IL
MI
CA
AZ
NC
DC

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. $935k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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

NAVY PIER INC's funding base is broadening — from 2 funders to 23 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−5% · below the median
Months of reserve3.0mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)2% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Government funding NAVY PIER INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.1M on record.

Federal$4.1M
grants $4.1Mcontracts $0
18
19
20
22
23
24
25
Top agencies
  • Department of Homeland Security$4.1M
  • National Endowment for the Arts$70k

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 NAVY PIER 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

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

90% of spending goes to programs.

Program 90%Management 8%Fundraising 2%

Governance

30
board members
97%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

69%

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 NAVY PIER 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.

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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 NAVY PIER INC?
NAVY PIER INC (Illinois) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,156,634 to it, the largest being PRITZKER FOUNDATION ($2,595,000). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does NAVY PIER INC have?
IRS filings report 52 organizations giving $8,156,634 in grants to NAVY PIER INC, 27 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of NAVY PIER INC?
PRITZKER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,595,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like NAVY PIER 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 Navy Pier →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 52 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