Barbara Bluhm-Kaul Foundation
Chicago, IL · EIN 36-7435405. Reported 115 grants totalling $3,334,138 to 54 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". Barbara Bluhm-Kaul Foundation checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations Barbara Bluhm-Kaul Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 6 grants totalling $156,500 to them. That is 5% of the $3,184,149 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago | federated giving programme | Illinois | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Aspen Community Foundation | community foundation | Colorado | $5,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
| Global Philanthropy Partnership | grantmaking organization | Illinois | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $25,000; the smallest was $45 and the largest $537,300.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspen Art Museum | Aspen, CO | $1,231,025 | 7 | 5 | 2025 |
| Orange County Museum of Art | Costa Mesa, CA | $760,574 | 9 | 5 | 2025 |
| Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $303,500 | 12 | 5 | 2025 |
| People for the American Way Foundation | Washington, DC | $155,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish United Fund | Chicago, IL | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Museum of Contemporary Art | Chicago, IL | $103,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Chicago Cares | Chicago, IL | $95,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Washington Institue for Near East Policy | Washington, DC | $67,576 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Chicago Architecture Center | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism | Nw Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Storm King Art Center | New Windsor, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Aspen Music Festival & School | Aspen, CO | $42,300 | 4 | 3 | 2025 |
| Central Fund of Israel | Cedarhurst, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Washington Institute for Near East Policy | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Segerstrom Center for the Arts | Costa Mesa, CA | $24,390 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chicago Sinai Congregation | Chicago, IL | $22,670 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Chicago Symphony Orchestra | Chicago, IL | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Studio Museum of Harlem | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Smart Museum of Art | Chicago, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Joffrey Ballet | Chicago, IL | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Iit College of Architecture | Chicago, IL | $10,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Anderson Ranch Arts Center | Snowmass Village, CO | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Pacific Symphony | Irvince, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Friends of Israel Museum | New York, NY | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Illinois Holocaust Museum | Skokie, IL | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Aspen Community Foundation | Basalt, CO | $5,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education | Skokie, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Illinois Institute of Technology | Chicago, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Joint Action Committee Education | Highland Park, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic | Highland Party, IL | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Planned Parenthood of Illinois | Chicago, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Washington Institute for Near East Policy | Washington, WA | $4,560 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Charter 100 DC | Washington, DC | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Paws Chicago | Chicago, IL | $2,200 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| American Friends of Israel Philharmonic | New York, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chicago Botanical Gardens | Glencoe, IL | $1,800 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Israel Cancer Research Fund | New York, NY | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders Association Inc | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chicago Foundation for Women | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| English in Action | Basalt, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Global Philanthropy Partnership | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Thresholds | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chicago Botanic Garden | Glencoe, IL | $600 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Alzeimer's Association -Il Chapter | Chicago, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Benton Institute for Broadband & Society | Wilmette, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Chabad Jewish Community Center | Green Bay, WI | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Macular Degeneration Research | Clarksburg, MD | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Ark | Chicago, IL | $300 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Jewish Museum | New York, NY | $290 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Greater Chicago Food Depository | Chicago, IL | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Ark | Williamstown, KY | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Jewish Museum | Milwaukee, WI | $108 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Alliance Francaise Chicago | Chicago, IL | $45 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
22 of 54 (41%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 52%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Aspen Art Museum
TO PROMOTE THOUGHT-PROVOKING EXPERIENCES OF ART, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY. - Art Institute of Chicago
COLLECTS AND CONSERVES ART WORKS FOR PUBLIC APPRECIATION. - Chicago Architecture Center
PROMOTE ARCHITECHTURE AND DESIGN - Jewish United Fund
PROMOTE LOCAL AND GLOBAL JEWISH NEEDS - The Washington Institue for Near East Policy
PROMOTE AMEEICAN INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST - Central Fund of Israel
PROMOTION AND ADVANCEMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 87 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | $395,397 | $4,560 |
| 2022 | 26 | $391,240 | $7,500 |
| 2023 | 27 | $657,951 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 16 | $1,029,310 | $22,195 |
| 2025 | 25 | $860,240 | $15,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
39% of its giving went to organizations in Colorado.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Barbara Bluhm-Kaul Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 189 East Lake Shore Drive 19, Chicago, IL, 60611. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 36-7435405 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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