Illinois · Nonprofit
THE BEAR FOUNDATION
THE BEAR FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $25,000 to it, the largest being BLOCK FAMILY FOUNDATION ($25,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $147k
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $25k
- Net assets
- $137k
What The Bear Foundation does
Mission
The organization raises charitable funds and for other organizations recognized as exempt.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Program
The foundation made various grants to other foundations, charitable organizations, schools, and hospitals to further their organizational missions.
$144,615 spentof which $144,615 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $144,615.
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 2017 to 2018, from $14k to $106k (+645%).
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.
100% of THE BEAR FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
From the IRS filings of THE BEAR FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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.
Where its funders are
100% of THE BEAR FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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 BEAR FOUNDATION receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $25k to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,237 philanthropy nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like THE BEAR FOUNDATION
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.
Public support
54%
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 BEAR FOUNDATION: 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 BEAR FOUNDATION?
- THE BEAR FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $25,000 to it, the largest being BLOCK FAMILY FOUNDATION ($25,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE BEAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $25,000 in grants to THE BEAR FOUNDATION.
- Who is the largest funder of THE BEAR FOUNDATION?
- BLOCK FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $25,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE BEAR FOUNDATION 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 1 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