Illinois · Nonprofit
THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,543,931 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($750,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 25
- Grants received
- $2.5M
- Net assets
- $10M
What The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago does
Mission
The renaissance society is at its core a space of possibility. For artists, we offer an unfettered platform for bold experimentation. Our work with artists frequently results in newly commissioned art, and these presentations in our gallery at the university of chicago spur further scholarly and creative reflections in our publications and public programs. For visitors, we offer intimate opportunities to engage deeply with art and artists who provide critical responses to our present moment. All exhibitions and events are free to attend.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibitions and new work productions invites artists to create art for the organization to be displayed in the gallery. Exhibitions can be either an individual artist or a group of artists. There are approximately four exhibitions per year in addition to two newly commissioned performance programs. The fiscal 2025 exhibitions were exhibitons by neil beloufa, isabel frances mcguire, wakaliga uganda, and ximena garrido-lecca with commissioned intermissions performances by dorota gaweda and egle kulbokaite, and jacqueline kiyomi gork.
$963,490 spent70% of program spendingPublications and editions. Publications are books created to support the artists exhibiting. In fiscal 2025 the renaissance society produced a book by aria dean with three others in production. The renaissance also produces and distributes editions by contemporary artists, and has sold works of art. In fy25 the renaissance society produced editions by neil beloufa.
$266,051 spent$32,208 earned by the program19% of program spendingEducational events are intended to educate the general public. 30 events were held in fiscal 2025 that included 7 artist talks and lectures, 3 panel discussions, 2 screenings, 1 book launch, 5 concerts, 4 performances, 3 exhibition walk-throughs, 1 student open house, and 4 opening receptions.
$156,565 spent$140,262 earned by the program11% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,386,106.
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 $10M to $8.7M (−16%).
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 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2021 20% · 2022 20% · 2023 43% · 2024 22% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Myriam Ben Salah
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020, and between the FY2020 and FY2021, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $104k → $321k.
11 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO’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 RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
33% 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 RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 45% · 2019 41% · 2020 45% · 2021 55% · 2022 33% · 2023 31% — 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
54% of THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO draws 57% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $705k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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 RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY 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
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
75%
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 RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY 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.
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 RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO?
- THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO (Illinois) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,543,931 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($750,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO have?
- IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $2,543,931 in grants to THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY AT THE UNIVERSITY 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 Renaissance Society at the University 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 25 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