Illinois · Nonprofit
THE ARK
THE ARK (Illinois) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $49,187,419 to it, the largest being MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC ($20,036,500). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $14M
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $49M
- Net assets
- $26M
What The Ark does
Mission
The mission of The Ark is to help chicagoland jews who are facing adversity navigate toward self-reliance. Ark professionals, volunteers, and donors provide free, comprehensive services within a framework of jewish values and laws.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Social service assistance: provides case management, food, rent, utility and financial assistance, and legal aid to low-income individuals and families from The Ark's headquarters in chicago. 4,200 clients served.
$4,723,859 spentof which $499,488 as grants54% of program spendingHousing program: provides financial assistance with housing and utility payments to prevent homelessness, manage a few rent-reduced apartments, and assists with temporary hotel stays during crisis. 544 clients served.
$1,109,922 spentof which $807,008 as grants13% of program spendingIntensive day program: addresses the needs of individuals who suffer from chronic mental illness. Oversees clients' housing and budgeting, offers family support; provides therapeutic classes, group activities, communal meals. 174 clients served.
$541,029 spentof which $15,179 as grants6% of program spendingVolunteer and community outreach: recruits and manages over 2,500 professional and lay volunteers; develops volunteer activities.
$529,914 spentof which $291,406 as grants6% of program spendingArk northwest: provides increased access for northwest suburban clients to The Ark's vital human services, including case management, food pantry, rent & utility assistance, job counseling, and delivery of medications from The Ark's pharmacy. 1,041 clients served.
$461,887 spent5% of program spendingClinic: provides medical services, primarily through volunteer physicians and medical professionals, including blood tests and other diagnostic procedures, medications, eyeglasses, and mobility and post-operative aids. 113 clients served.
$406,816 spentof which $8,691 as grants5% of program spendingSpiritual enrichment: provides classes, pastoral counseling, holiday celebrations, and assistance with life-cycle events. 573 client attendance.
$358,976 spent4% of program spendingDental program: provides dental services, through volunteer dentists, including cleanings, fillings, extractions, dental x-rays, and other diagnostic and treatment procedures. 274 clients served.
$351,358 spent4% of program spendingEmployment services: 111 clients served.
$170,416 spent2% of program spendingPsychological services: provides psychological counseling by volunteer psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and counselors, assisted by student interns. 89 clients served.
$155,443 spent2% of program spending
The 10 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,809,620.
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.
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 $16M to $22M (+37%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 4% · 2018 0% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 9% · 2022 1% · 2023 2% · 2024 1% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of THE ARK’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 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.
Chief executive
Marna Goldwin
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $1.4M → $3.8M.
18 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% 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 THE ARK’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 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
THE ARK leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders 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 THE ARK.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 70% · 2018 68% · 2019 54% · 2020 55% · 2021 87% · 2022 48% · 2023 32% — 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
62% of THE ARK's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
78% of THE ARK's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $11M that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $39M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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.
Against its field
THE ARK runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,297 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like THE ARK
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
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
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 THE ARK: 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 THE ARK?
- THE ARK (Illinois) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $49,187,419 to it, the largest being MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC ($20,036,500). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE ARK have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $49,187,419 in grants to THE ARK, 26 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ARK?
- MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC is the largest funder on record, with $20,036,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ARK 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 Ark →
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 40 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