Illinois · Nonprofit
THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE
THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE (Illinois) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $546,118 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($86,150). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $354k
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $546k
- Net assets
- $458k
What The Chicago Help Initiative does
Mission
The Chicago Help Initiative is a consortium of business, residential, religious, social services, institutional and volunteer leaders striving to promote an atmosphere of dignity and compassion toward those in need by providing access to food, health services, shelter and employment. The organization works to educate local businesses and residents as to how they can help ease the plight of the homeless, disadvantaged and out of work individuals and improve their well-being, self esteem and productivity.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Wednesday dinners:each wednesday a nutritious meal is provided to guests at a dinner hall. The meals are donated by the local area restaurants, hotels, business, board members, friends and their families and members of the community who want to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than themselves. The weekly meals are served in a warm and welcoming atmosphere by a host of dedicated volunteers who assure a positive experience for the guests. In addition to the hot meals served, we put together bag meals for those who cannot be accomodated in the hall because of fire code requirements. A typical organization's meal will include guest speakers, live entertainment or game nights. Guest speakers provide information about matters of interest to our clients. Gueast also have access to health and social service programs with various community agencies present at the meals. Approximately 18,500 meals were served during wednesday dinners.
$23,968 spent11% of program spendingHoliday gifts program:every christmas, The Chicago Help Initiative provides gift cards for the guests we serve, focused on those who participate in our programs, are not alone and that they are part of a community. For some of our guests, it can be the only acknowledgement of their value over this holiday period.
$19,852 spent9% of program spendingAdult learning program, housing assistance and social services.
$172,420 spent80% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $216,240.
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 2020 to 2021, from $321k to $409k (+27%).
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: 2021 6% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (91% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $31k → $63k.
10 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 43% 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 CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE’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.
How concentrated its funding is
THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
48% 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 CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 64% · 2019 66% · 2020 20% · 2021 24% · 2022 37% · 2023 20% — 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
36% of THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
74% of THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $236k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 13,062 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,062 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE
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
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE: 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 CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE?
- THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE (Illinois) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $546,118 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($86,150). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $546,118 in grants to THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE?
- The Chicago Community Trust is the largest funder on record, with $86,150 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE 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 Chicago Help Initiative →
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 29 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