Funding search
Find who already funds work like yours.
Private foundations don’t post open calls, so nobody can search them. We read IRS filings instead — 9.6 million grants from 174,053 foundations and grantmaking charities, searchable by what the money was actually for.
12 funders with a record of paying for “chicagoans”
Where the money went
Largest: $7,500 to GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY — food for needy chicagoans
Largest: $15,000 to AAIME — bronzeville black chicagoan historical society film screenings and image metadata program
Largest: $30,000 to OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC — provide financial aid and arts programming for chicagoans
The Chicago Community TrustChicago, ILCharity · may take applications
2 matching grants · $381,000 · through 2022Largest: $150,000 to Economic Security Project Inc — to support efforts that build momentum for policy change and implementation that improve economic security for chicagoans and illinoisans including guaranteed income, child and ear…
Largest: $10,000 to DENTAL LIFELINE NETWORK - ILLINOIS — to provide dental care to low-income chicagoans with disabilities or who are elderly or medically fragile.
Telligen Community InitiativeWest Des Moines, IA
1 matching grant · $75,000 · through 2023Largest: $75,000 to COMMUNITYHEALTH — communityhealth is a free clinic serving low-income, uninsured chicagoans, many of whom are immigrants and do not speak english as a first language. it's also a training ground for…
Largest: $26,000 to BRONZEVILLE BLACK CHICAGOAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY — special projects and opportunities grant
Largest: $10,000 to The Night Ministry — health care and support services for vulnerable chicagoans
Wk Kellogg FoundationBattle Creek, MI
1 matching grant · $300,000 · through 2021Largest: $300,000 to CHICAGO VOTES — enable the organization to achieve its mission of building a more inclusive democracy by putting power in the hands of young chicagoans by providing general operating support
Largest: $20,000 to CHICAGO CARES — to engage even more chicagoans in building a more equitable future for our city.
Largest: $1,500 to RICHARD WALLACE — to build social and economic equity for black chicagoans engaged in the informal economy in order to eliminate prejudice and discrimination
Largest: $5,000 to CHICAGO FURNITURE BANK — intermediary between chicagoans with extra furniture and those who need it. they provide furnishing packages to clients
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Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV and Form 990 Schedule I, tax years 2019–2025. These are grants already paid, a record of what an organization funds rather than an open call. Private foundations rarely accept unsolicited applications and the route in is usually a program officer; grantmaking charities and associations more often run real application cycles, so check their website. How this data is built, and its limits →

