Funding search · EIN 382877392 · Chicago, IL

The Karla Scherer Foundation

Name: The Karla Scherer Foundation grants, 2022–2025
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

81
grants reported: $1.1M
total given: 2022–2025
filing years: $5,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2025. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

University of Chicago Scherer Center3 grants · $185,000
Healthnetwork Foundation3 grants · $160,000
Newberry Library4 grants · $106,000
Project Freedive2 grants · $101,110
Health Network Foundation1 grant · $78,797
University of Chicago2 grants · $77,000
Ocean Connect1 grant · $75,000
Field Museum4 grants · $40,000
Lyric Opera of Chicago4 grants · $35,000
Planned Parenthood Federation of America3 grants · $30,000

Giving over time

$272,320

2022

$249,650

2023

$281,553

2024

$318,297

2025

Grant history

All 81 reported grants, largest first.

$110,000
University of Chicago Scherer Center · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$100,000
Healthnetwork Foundation · Chagrin Falls, OH · 2024
General fund
$78,797
Health Network Foundation · Cleveland, OH · 2025
General fund
$75,000
University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$75,000
Ocean Connect · Wilton, CT · 2022
General fund
$51,110
Project Freedive · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$50,000
Project Freedive · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$50,000
University of Chicago Scherer Center · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$40,000
Healthnetwork Foundation · Chagrin Falls, OH · 2022
General fund
$36,000
Newberry Library · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$28,890
Planned Parenthood · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$25,000
Newberry Library · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$25,000
University of Chicago Scherer Center · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$25,000
Newberry Library · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$20,000
Newberry Library · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$20,000
Healthnetwork Foundation · Chagrin Falls, OH · 2023
General fund
$15,000
Hyde Park & Kenwood Interfaith Council · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$15,000
Planned Parenthood Federation of America · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$11,850
Illinois Policy Institute · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$10,000
Chicago Symphony Orchestra · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$10,000
Field Museum · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$10,000
Lyric Opera of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$10,000
Thomas Jefferson Foundation · Charlottesville, VA · 2025
General fund
$10,000
Field Museum · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$10,000
Hellenic Museum of Michigan · Detroit, MI · 2024
General fund
$10,000
Lyric Opera of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$10,000
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$10,000
Field Museum · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$10,000
Illinois Policy Institute · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$10,000
Lyric Opera of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$10,000
Planned Parenthood Federation of America · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$10,000
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$10,000
Field Museum · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$10,000
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$5,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$5,000
Committee of Arts of the Americas · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$5,000
Leader Dogs for the Blind · Rochester Hills, MI · 2025
General fund
$5,000
Providence St Mel School · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$5,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$5,000
Friends of Music Christ Church · Alexandria, VA · 2024
General fund
$5,000
Leader Dogs for the Blind · Rochester Hills, MI · 2024
General fund
$5,000
Planned Parenthood Federation of America · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$5,000
Providence St Mel School · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$5,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$5,000
Hyde Park & Kenwood Interfaith Council · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$5,000
Leader Dogs for the Blind · Rochester Hills, MI · 2023
General fund
$5,000
Providence St Mel School · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$5,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$5,000
Court Theatre · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$5,000
Friends of Notre Dame De Paris · Etna, NH · 2022
General fund
$5,000
Lyric Opera of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$4,500
Third Coast Percussion Nfp · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$2,500
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$2,000
Third Coast Percussion Nfp · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$2,000
University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$2,000
Providence St Mel School · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$1,500
Kbach Friends of Public Radio Arizona · Tempe, AZ · 2024
General fund
$1,120
Lifeline Theatre · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$1,000
Aclu · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$1,000
Kbach Friends of Public Radio Arizona · Tempe, AZ · 2025
General fund
$1,000
Salvation Army · Alexandria, VA · 2025
General fund
$1,000
Wfmt · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$1,000
Salvation Army · Alexandria, VA · 2024
General fund
$1,000
The River School · Washington, DC · 2024
General fund
$1,000
Wfmt · Chicago, IL · 2024
General fund
$1,000
Kbach Friends of Public Radio Arizona · Tempe, AZ · 2023
General fund
$1,000
Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society · Lansing, MI · 2023
General fund
$1,000
Museum of Chincoteague · Chincoteague Island, VA · 2023
General fund
$1,000
Representus Education Fund · Florence, MA · 2023
General fund
$1,000
Salvation Army · Alexandria, VA · 2023
General fund
$1,000
Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation · Saratoga Springs, NY · 2023
General fund
$1,000
Wfmt · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund
$1,000
Illinois Policy Institute · Chicago, IL · 2022
General fund
$1,000
Kbach Friends of Public Radio Arizona · Tempe, AZ · 2022
General fund
$1,000
Leader Dogs for the Blind · Rochester Hills, MI · 2022
General fund
$1,000
Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation · Saratoga Springs, NY · 2022
General fund
$500
Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society · Chicago, IL · 2025
General fund
$500
Salvation Army · Alexandria, VA · 2022
General fund
$203
Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society · Lansing, MI · 2024
General fund
$200
Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society · Lansing, MI · 2022
General fund
$150
Lifeline Theatre · Chicago, IL · 2023
General fund

Who else funds this kind of work

Same state

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The Chicago Community Trust14,939 grants · $5.82B
The Big Ten Conference60 grants · $3.91B

Similar grant size

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State Employees Credit Union Foundation7,131 grants · $63.0M
Seattle Foundation14,012 grants · $457.3M

Grants already paid are the record; PaperOrbit reads your paper and finds the funders whose record matches it — then explains why.

Search funders like this one

Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.