Sacks Family Foundation
Highland Park, IL · EIN 36-4053778. Reported 304 grants totalling $31.9M to 136 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". Sacks Family 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 Sacks Family Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 10 grants totalling $2,862,000 to them. That is 10% of the $27.9M 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 | $2,751,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Highland Park Community Foundation | community foundation | Illinois | $110,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Lesea Global Feed the Hungry Inc | grantmaking organization | Indiana | $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 $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $100,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $1,176,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | $5,227,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Barack Obama Foundation | Chicago, IL | $5,000,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish United Fund | Chicago, IL | $2,751,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Tulane University | New Orleans, LA | $2,500,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $2,000,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Steppenwolf Theatre Co | Chicago, IL | $1,080,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Hope Chicago Inc | Chicago, IL | $1,000,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Museum of Contemporary Art | Chicago, IL | $956,761 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $842,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Hyde Park Art Center | Chicago, IL | $815,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Northwestern Memorial Foundation | Chicago, IL | $610,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Eisenhower Medical Center | Rancho Mirage, CA | $500,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Shirley Ryan Ability Lab | Chicago, IL | $500,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Erikson Institute | Chicago, IL | $425,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Anti Defamation League Foundation | New York, NY | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund | New York, NY | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Ctr | Skokie, IL | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Navy Seal Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $375,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Teach for America | Chicago, IL | $375,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Planned Parenthood of Illinois | Chicago, IL | $333,333 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Washington, DC | $300,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Eb Research Partnership | New York, NY | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ellington Fund | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Food Allergy Research and Education | Mclean, VA | $250,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Northwestern University - Hillel | Evanston, IL | $225,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Am Shalom | Glencoe, IL | $200,300 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Breaking Through Inc | Highland Park, IL | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Chicago Architecture Biennial | Chicago, IL | $200,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Communities in Schools of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| We Women Empowered | Chicago, IL | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Help Hope Live | Radnor, PA | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Highland Park Community Foundation | Highland Park, IL | $110,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Institute for Global Health | Chicago, IL | $105,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lurie Children's Foundation | Chicago, IL | $105,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| After School Matters | Chicago, IL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School | Chicago, IL | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lighthouse Residences | Highland Park, IL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance | Chicago, IL | $95,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Youth Guidance | Chicago, IL | $95,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Jewish Community Centers of Chicago | Northbrook, IL | $90,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Chicago Children's Museum | Chicago, IL | $75,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Elnet - Friends of Elnet | Skokie, IL | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Dreams for Kids | Chicago, IL | $60,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Oda Foundation | Plantation, FL | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Rancho Mirage Writers Festival | Rancho Mirage, CA | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Digestive Health Foundation | Chicago, IL | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Joffrey Ballet | Chicago, IL | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Brain Tumor Association | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| American Jewish Committee | New York City, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Defying Legal Gravity Inc | New York, NY | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Musical Arts Institute | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ounce of Prevention Fund | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Partnership for Los Angeles Schools | Los Angeles, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rebecca Copeland Fund for Social Justice | Highland Park, IL | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Start Early | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Michael J Fox Foundation | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| True Star Foundation | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Wisconsin Foundation | Madison, WI | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Reading Power Inc | Lake Forest, IL | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| White Stork - United States Ltd | Winnetka, IL | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Mccallum Theatre | Palm Desert, CA | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Agudath Israel of America | New York City, NY | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation | Chicago, IL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Open Studio Project Inc | Evanston, IL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Bright Star Community Development Corporation Nfp | Chicago, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Core Community Organized Relief Effort | Los Angeles, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Devices 4 the Disabled | Chicago, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Emory University | Atlanta, GA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of Elnet | Skokie, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Friends of the Israel Defense Forces | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hillel the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life | New Orleans, LA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic | Highland Park, IL | $25,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ort America | New York City, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sass Foundation for Medical Research | New York City, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Growing Season | Evanston, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Tulane Hillel | New Orleans, LA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| University of Wisconsin Fdn | Madison, WI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Peoria Inc | Peoria, IL | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Environment Working Group | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Art Center | Highland Park, IL | $19,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Brothers for Life | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Chicago Police Memorial Foundation | Chicago, IL | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Highland Park High School | Highland Park, IL | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Johannesburg Jewish Helping Hand | Wheaton, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Keshet | Chicago, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Niu Foundation | Dekalb, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| West Point Jewish Chapel Fund | West Point, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Insight Project for Kids | Chicago, IL | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| For Autistic Kids Foundation | Glenview, IL | $11,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Amalgamated Charitable Foundation | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Chicago Sinfonietta | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Desert Community Foundation | Palm Desert, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Design Museum of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Dusable Museum of African American History | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Family Action Network | Evanston, IL | $10,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Focus on the Arts | Highwood, IL | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Museum and Foundation | New York City, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Richard H Driehaus Museum | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Township High School District 113 | Highland Park, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| College Bound Opportunities | Riverwoods, IL | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Grace Memorial Baptist Church | Chicago, IL | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Rory David Deutsch Foundation | Highland Park, IL | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Alliance for Excellence | Lake Bluff, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Art on Themart Foundation | Chicago, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Blessing in a Backpack | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Highwood Small Fry | Northbrook, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jacaranda Foundation | New York City, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | New York City, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Palm Springs Art Museum | Palm Springs, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Silver Lining Foundation | Chicago, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Wesleyan University | Middletown, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Blessings in a Backpack | Fort Wayne, IN | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Israel Center for Excellence Through Education | Homer Glen, IL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Painted Turtle | Santa Monica, CA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| 112 Education Fund | Highwood, IL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Fun(d) Run & Walk | Highland Park, IL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Hadassah Chicago-North Shore | Northbrook, IL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lamb's Farm | Libertyville, IL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Salvation Army | Chicago, IL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Scope Midwest | New York, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St Jude Children's Research Hospital | Chicago, IL | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Ctr | Skokie, IL | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Cancer Society | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Artequity | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Feed the Hungry | South Bend, IN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Feeding America | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Greater Chicago Food Depository | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Heifer International | Brevard, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hias | Silver Spring, MD | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lakeview Pantry | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society | Rye Brook, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tri-Con Child Care Center Inc | Highland Park, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Working in the Schools | Chicago, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Auditorium Theatre of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
70 of 136 (51%) 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 67%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.
- Northwestern University
TO SUPPORT THE OSBORN ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP FUND - The Barack Obama Foundation
FUNDING TO BUILD PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY - Tulane University
TO SUPPORT VARIOUS UNIVERSITY CONSTRUCTION COSTS. - The Art Institute of Chicago
TO SUPPORT THE EXHIBITIONS TRUST OF ONE OF THE LEADING FINE-ARTS INSTITUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATE - Museum of Contemporary Art
TO SUPPORT EXHIBITIONS, EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND PERFORMANCES IN CELEBRATION OF THE MUSEUM'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY. - Steppenwolf Theatre Co
TO SUPPORT STEPPENWOLF EDUCATION, STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANYS NATIONALLY RENOWNED ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM THAT DELIVERS HIGH QUALITY ARTS EXPERIENCES AND ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS TO OVER 17,000 STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND FAMILIES EVERY YEAR WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 210 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 | 64 | $5,671,167 | $25,000 |
| 2022 | 77 | $6,799,456 | $25,000 |
| 2023 | 60 | $6,845,671 | $22,500 |
| 2024 | 50 | $5,546,000 | $35,000 |
| 2025 | 53 | $7,015,100 | $50,000 |
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
80% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois.
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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 Sacks Family 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: 833 Central Avenue 1155, Highland Park, IL, 60035. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 36-4053778 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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