Foundations that fund organizations in Chicago, Illinois
Worked out from where the grants went, not where the foundations sit.
Funding landscape for Chicago nonprofits
8,374 private foundations gave $2.1B to Chicago organizations in their latest filings; 27 of the 100 that say either way accept applications.
32,092 grants in total, with a typical foundation's median grant to Chicago around $100K. 59 of these funders are based in Illinois; the rest give here from elsewhere.
- Foundations giving here
- 8,374
- Accept applications
- 27
- of 100 that state a policy
- Dollars to Chicago
- $2.1B
- latest filings
- Grants
- 32,092
- Typical median grant
- $100K
- Based in IL
- 59%
- of funders listed
Funders, by dollars given to Chicago organizations
| Foundation | Based in | Grants here | Dollars here | Median | Accepts applications | Typical purposes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lilly Endowment Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 39 | $133M | $500K | Yes | Employee matching gift(s); Pathways for tomorrow initiative; Christian faith&life storytellg init |
| Arie and Ida Crown Memorial | Chicago, IL | 415 | $55M | $60K | Yes | General operating; Program; General operating;program |
| The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation | Redwood City, CA | 1 | $50M | $50M | Preselected only | To support general operations |
| John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation | Chicago, IL | 232 | $50M | $100K | Preselected only | In support of general operations; In institutional support; In support of place-based community economic development in… |
| Hamill Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 32 | $46M | $278K | Preselected only | Transfer of Cash to Successor Private Foundation; Unrestricted; Transfer of Assets to Successor Private Foundation(See Atta… |
| James S and Paula H Crown Family Foundat | Chicago, IL | 1 | $43M | $43M | Preselected only | General funding |
| Sue Ling Gin Foundation Trust | Chicago, IL | 19 | $34M | $400K | Preselected only | General operations; Sponsorship; The chicago police leadership academy |
| St George Corporation | Burr Ridge, IL | 3 | $33M | $2.0M | Preselected only | Exempt purpose of organization |
| Builders Vision Foundation | Chicago, IL | 128 | $29M | $100K | Preselected only | to provide general operating support; To provide general operating support; to support an award program for teaching artists |
| Gates Foundation | Seattle, WA | 32 | $29M | $501K | Yes | K-12 education; Empower women and girls; Maternal, newborn, child nutrition and health |
| The Andrew W Mellon Foundation | New York, NY | 37 | $29M | $550K | Yes | To support general operations; To continue support for the implementation of an academic l…; To support research, planning, and pilot programming at the… |
| The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Princeton, NJ | 89 | $21M | $90K | Yes | Matching gifts; 81708 general operating support for the action center on ra…; 82008 supporting the acre institute in its work to disrupt… |
| Zell Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 37 | $20M | $100K | Preselected only | General support; Entrepreneurship education - out of corpus |
| Circle of Service Foundation | Chicago, IL | 315 | $19M | $25K | Yes | Community services; Match/discretionary; Education |
| John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy | Lake Forest, IL | 30 | $18M | $338K | Preselected only | Program; General Operating; Capital Expenditure |
| Polk Bros Foundation Inc | Chicago, IL | 471 | $18M | $30K | Yes | Strong Communities; Matching; Arts Access and Learning |
| Stamps Family Charitable Foundation Inc | Boston, MA | 1 | $17M | $17M | Preselected only | Unrestricted Donation |
| Abbvie Foundation | North Chicago, IL | 18 | $17M | $25K | Preselected only | Employee resource group grant - general mission support; Strategic programmatic grant; General Mission Support |
| The Joyce Foundation | Chicago, IL | 164 | $16M | $50K | Yes | Mission fund; Culture; President's discretionary fund |
| The Ford Foundation | New York, NY | 60 | $15M | $100K | Yes | General support; Matching gift; General support and project support for institutional stren… |
| Jpmorgan Chase Foundation | New York, NY | 461 | $15M | $725 | Preselected only | Matching contribution (general operating support); In support of creating economic mobility and career pathways; In support of neighborhood revitalization |
| The Negaunee Foundation | Northbrook, IL | 36 | $14M | $75K | Preselected only | Unrestricted use; Restricted use; Unrestricted |
| Walder Foundation | Wilmington, DE | 84 | $13M | $100K | Preselected only | General Operating Support; Immigration Legal Services; Legal Services |
| Patrick G and Shirley W Ryan Foundation | Chicago, IL | 51 | $11M | $50K | Preselected only | General charitable operations; Support catholic faith; Impact lives of chicago teens |
| Pritzker Family Foundation C/O Pritzker Group | Chicago, IL | 108 | $11M | $50K | Preselected only | General operating support; Reduction of hiv/aids; Research and education on maternal care |
| Walton Family Foundation Inc | Bentonville, AR | 15 | $11M | $350K | Preselected only | To advance quality and equity for students in Illinois by p…; To support nonprofit coalition building at the national and…; to deliver Braven's programming to Arkansas college student… |
| The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation | Palo Alto, CA | 3 | $11M | $588K | Preselected only | To support the obama presidential center; Support for schmidt ai in science postdocs; Support for research on a data-informed framework for the r… |
| Freedom Together Foundation | New York, NY | 15 | $11M | $400K | Preselected only | General operating support; Bargaining for the common good; Access to justice scholars program |
| Michael Reese Health Trust | Elgin, IL | 140 | $11M | $50K | Yes | General operating support; Chicagoland vaccine partnership; The judge john and effie ziegler gutknecht eye clinic |
| The Simons Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 53 | $10M | $67K | Preselected only | Simons investigator in mathematics; 2024-2025 shenoy undergraduate research fellowship in neuro…; Nsf-simons center for quantitative biology |
| The Arthur M Blank Family Foundation | Atlanta, GA | 4 | $10M | $88K | Preselected only | Georgia schools' health & wellness support; Braven atlanta; General operating support |
| Druckenmiller Foundation | New York, NY | 1 | $10M | $10M | Preselected only | General use |
| Wonderful Life Foundation | West Palm Beach, FL | 27 | $9.8M | $50K | Preselected only | General support; General support - payment 5 of 5; Payment 2 of 5 |
| Edlis - Neeson Foundation Nfp | Chicago, IL | 4 | $9.8M | $364K | Preselected only | Unrestricted |
| Frank Family Foundation | Deerfield, IL | 27 | $9.5M | $45K | Preselected only | General fund raising |
| Patricia a Bresky Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 3 | $9.3M | $150K | Preselected only | General Operating Support; General Operating Support. |
| The Walsh Foundation C/O Mjms Family Office Services LLC | Chicago, IL | 40 | $9.0M | $38K | Preselected only | General charitable purposes |
| The Irving Harris Foundation | Chicago, IL | 154 | $9.0M | $10K | Preselected only | General operating support; Endowment grant; General operating support and for ec policy/advocacy efforts |
| Fulk Family Foundation Inc | Lincoln, NE | 29 | $8.9M | $50K | Preselected only | General purpose; Digital infrastructure improvements; General support |
| Wk Kellogg Foundation | Battle Creek, MI | 49 | $8.7M | $100K | Yes | Matching Grant; Early Care and Education; Promise of an Equitable Future |
| Vivo Foundation | Northbrook, IL | 77 | $8.2M | $75K | Preselected only | To further the mission of the donee |
| Chicago Cred Inc | Chicago, IL | 36 | $8.2M | $45K | Preselected only | General Support |
| Field Foundation of Illinois | Chicago, IL | 262 | $7.4M | $25K | Yes | Project - funding for a specific project or program; Operating - funding for ongoing operations of the organizat…; Leaders for new chicago - gen op |
| The Polsky Foundation | Chicago, IL | 23 | $7.3M | $10K | Preselected only | Charity; General fund; General Fund |
| Lloyd a Fry Foundation | Chicago, IL | 267 | $7.2M | $6,000 | Yes | For general operating support; For general operating support. this grant is made in honor…; Of this amount, $10,000 is for the annual gala and $10,000… |
| Healthy Communities Foundation | Riverside, IL | 83 | $7.2M | $60K | Yes | General operating support; General operating support-strategic initiative; General operating support-community health workers |
| Harold B Smith Foundation | Chicago, IL | 2 | $7.0M | $3.5M | Preselected only | Charitable |
| Crankstart Foundation | San Jose, CA | 14 | $6.9M | $400K | Preselected only | General support; To fund bold ideas that create opportunity for chicago youth; To support the growth of braven's program at san francisco… |
| Reva and David Logan Foundation | Chicago, IL | 136 | $6.7M | $30K | Preselected only | General operating support; Winter wear; Fresh produce, winter wear |
| Foglia Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 27 | $6.7M | $100K | Preselected only | General charitable purposes |
| The Bluhm Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 30 | $6.6M | $25K | Preselected only | To further the exempt purpose of the organization |
| Mansueto Foundation | Chicago, IL | 32 | $6.5M | $50K | Preselected only | General support |
| Laura and John Arnold Foundation | Houston, TX | 40 | $6.5M | $110K | Preselected only | To support state policies for contraceptive access via medi…; To support grantee's fiscally sponsored project, illinois c…; To study misdemeanor courts and public defense in an effort… |
| Vulcan Materials Company Foundation | Birmingham, AL | 1 | $6.5M | $6.5M | Yes | to further arts & Culture, Civic & Community, Education, En… |
| John Templeton Foundation | West Conshohocken, PA | 11 | $6.3M | $205K | Yes | Tex fellowship: studying the interplay between quantum syst…; Life history, emergence and long-term trends in ecological…; Cosmology beyond spacetime |
| Donley Foundation-Ud Dtd 12-8-86 | York, PA | 34 | $6.2M | $151K | Preselected only | Unrestricted; The donley fund |
| The Kresge Foundation | Troy, MI | 23 | $5.9M | $150K | Yes | General operating support; Project support for the helping michigan fathers and famili…; Project support for membership, research, and convenings to… |
| Square One Foundation | Chicago, IL | 58 | $5.7M | $61K | Preselected only | General purpose; General Purpose |
| Alphawood Foundation | Chicago, IL | 97 | $5.7M | $30K | Yes | General operations; Illinois immigrant funders collaborative; Architecture collection at the chicago history museum |
| The Coleman Foundation Inc | Chicago, IL | 103 | $5.6M | $50K | Yes | General Operating Support - Entrepreneurship; General Operating Support - Intellectual & Developmental Di…; Grants made at the discretion of Board Members to qualified… |
| The Neubauer Family Foundation | Philadelphia, PA | 2 | $5.6M | $2.8M | Preselected only | Program support |
| The Regenstein Foundation | Chicago, IL | 17 | $5.6M | $50K | Preselected only | Operational support |
| Lohengrin Foundation Inc | Chicago, IL | 57 | $5.5M | $50K | Preselected only | General fund |
| The Henry and Gilda Buchbinder Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 5 | $5.3M | $10K | Preselected only | Charitable |
| The Allstate Foundation | Northbrook, IL | 101 | $5.1M | $1,000 | Yes | Employee helping hands; Helping hands group grants; Agent - individual hh |
| J Christopher and Anne N Reyes Foundation | West Palm Beach, FL | 12 | $5.1M | $100K | Preselected only | General support; For every child fund; 2017 pledge |
| William P Ingersoll Trust Xxxxx8005 | Chicago, IL | 1 | $5.1M | $5.1M | Preselected only | General |
| Wellspring Philanthropic Fund Inc | New York, NY | 15 | $5.0M | $250K | Preselected only | General operating support; Advancing racial justice; Liberatory ideologies, infrastructures, and practices at th… |
| Le Royer Foundation | Chicago, IL | 1 | $5.0M | $5.0M | Preselected only | Exempt purpose of organization |
| Woods Fund of Chicago | Chicago, IL | 107 | $5.0M | $50K | Yes | General operating support |
| Frankel Julius N Foundation | Chicago, IL | 47 | $4.9M | $55K | Yes | Program support; General operating purposes |
| The Canning Foundation | Chicago, IL | 24 | $4.8M | $23K | Preselected only | To further program services; On 02/28/2025, the foundation donated 12,850 shs of sui wit…; On 12/30/2025, the foundation donated 2 shs of brka with a… |
| Cme Group Foundation | Chicago, IL | 98 | $4.8M | $50K | Preselected only | Hunger relief initiatives; General operations; Gen ops |
| Elevance Health Foundation Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 3 | $4.7M | $2.4M | Yes | Feeding America - Food as Medicine program; MANNA Foodbank Hurricane Helene relief |
| Conrad N Hilton Foundation | Westlake Village, CA | 17 | $4.7M | $250K | Yes | For general operating support; To support advocacy and technical assistance to promote the…; To support the first-ever u.s. department of education conv… |
| The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 57 | $4.7M | $50K | Preselected only | General operating support |
| John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation | Winnetka, IL | 19 | $4.7M | $12K | Preselected only | Unrestricted |
| Caerus Foundation Inc | Northbrook, IL | 64 | $4.6M | $45K | Preselected only | Holiday Programming 2024; 2024 Holiday Grant; People's Music School South Side Programs FY24-FY25 |
| Marguerite Casey Foundation | Seattle, WA | 20 | $4.6M | $147K | Preselected only | General operating support; Community organizing; Education |
| The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc | Owings Mills, MD | 41 | $4.6M | $75K | Preselected only | To support the general operations of this organization, whi…; To support the renovation of a communal space for older adu…; To support the operations of the organization, which provid… |
| The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust | New York, NY | 5 | $4.5M | $432K | Preselected only | Expansion of the danatech platform; Implementation and dissemination of tools to harness cgm da…; Danatech diabetes technology platform expansion & maintenan… |
| The Robert E Gallagher Charitable Trust | Glenview, IL | 23 | $4.3M | $30K | Preselected only | General; Education |
| Fatima Foundation of Milwaukee | Eagan, MN | 1 | $4.3M | $4.3M | Preselected only | General operating |
| Ghr Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | 8 | $4.3M | $278K | Preselected only | General Operations; APEX Study; Study of Blood-Based Biomarkers in VA Memory Clinics |
| Dorothea Berggren Charitable Foundation | Chicago, IL | 2 | $4.3M | $2.1M | Preselected only | General operations; Quantum center |
| Rebecca Susan Buffett Foundation | Beverly Hills, CA | 1 | $4.2M | $4.2M | Preselected only | General operating |
| Fidelity Foundation | Boston, MA | 18 | $4.2M | $263K | Yes | Fidelity matching gifts to education; Technology & equipment; Program development / evaluation |
| Northern Trust Foundation | Chicago, IL | 7 | $4.2M | $230K | Preselected only | General support |
| Julian Grace Foundation | Highland Park, IL | 60 | $4.1M | $65K | Preselected only | General operating support |
| Wayne and Nan Kocourek Foundation | Buffalo Grove, IL | 5 | $4.0M | $375K | Preselected only | To support operational and program expenses. |
| Hutchins Family Foundation Inc C/O Glenn H Hutchins | New York, NY | 1 | $4.0M | $4.0M | Preselected only | To support the charity's mission. |
| Darden Restaurants Inc Foundation | Orlando, FL | 1 | $4.0M | $4.0M | Yes | Grants - healthy communities |
| The Brinson Foundation | Chicago, IL | 72 | $4.0M | $50K | Yes | General operating support; General operating support and pdta; Brinson medical research fellowship |
| Malott Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 17 | $3.9M | $25K | Preselected only | Community |
| Wayfarer Foundation | Highland Park, IL | 33 | $3.9M | $115K | Preselected only | General operating support |
| Tawani Charitable Distribution Fund | Chicago, IL | 56 | $3.9M | $18K | Preselected only | General support; 135 tickets to chicago red stars matches at fmv given on 11…; 40 tickets to chicago red stars matches at fmv given on 11/… |
| Cy Twombly Foundation | New York, NY | 1 | $3.8M | $3.8M | Preselected only | Non-cash donation of art for exhibition support |
| The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 2 | $3.8M | $1.9M | Preselected only | To support digital programs; To support healthy eating |
| Sacks Family Foundation C/O Michael Sacks | Highland Park, IL | 27 | $3.8M | $50K | Preselected only | To further the exempt purpose of the organization |
| Buffett Early Childhood Fund | Omaha, NE | 2 | $3.7M | $1.9M | Preselected only | Annual luncheon support; Educare learning network support, first five years fund and… |
Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV, latest electronic return per foundation (2026-10-28). "Accepts applications" reflects the foundation's own checkbox on Part XV line 2. Grants to individuals excluded.
Common questions
Which foundations give to nonprofits in Chicago, Illinois?
Lilly Endowment Inc, Arie and Ida Crown Memorial, The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation, John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation, Hamill Family Foundation and 95 others reported grants to Chicago organizations on their latest Form 990-PF.
How do I approach a foundation that doesn't accept applications?
A foundation that checks "contributes only to preselected organizations" on its 990-PF won't review a cold proposal. Look at who it funds, find a shared board member, grantee or advisor, and ask for an introduction. Foundations that accept applications usually list a contact and deadlines in Part XV; we show that text on each foundation's page.
Is this list complete?
No. It covers private foundations (Form 990-PF filers) whose latest electronic return lists at least one grant to an organization in Chicago. Community foundations and corporate giving programs file different forms and are not included yet.