Polk Bros. Foundation

Polk Bros. Foundation is a US private foundation based in Chicago, IL.

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

Polk Bros. Foundation supports nonprofit organisations working towards a Chicago where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Its primary focus is organisations whose work helps address inequity in Chicago and build pathways out of poverty for the city’s residents. It funds community-driven approaches across three interconnected goals: closing the life expectancy gap, building community wealth across generations, and fostering participatory, multiracial democracy. Eligible organisations must operate in or serve Chicago and meet the Foundation’s baseline criteria. Most funding is available through open or targeted application processes; some is initiated by Foundation staff in response to learning from partners, communities and the field. Its grantmaking is grounded in respect, trust and accessibility, and it keeps early steps simple, asking for a full proposal only when there is a strong likelihood of alignment.

Themes

• Life expectancy gap
• Community wealth
• Participatory democracy

Geographic Focus

Chicago.

What They Don't Fund

• Initiatives or organizations that do not directly serve or benefit the residents of Chicago
• Projects or organizations situated outside the United States
• Religious institutions seeking support for programs whose participants are restricted by religious affiliation or whose services promote a particular creed
• Purchase of fundraising events or raffle tickets or advertising in dinner/gala programs
• Medical or scientific research
• Grants to individuals
• Private foundations or for-profit organizations
• Tax-generating entities (including municipalities, school districts or individual schools) for services within their normal responsibilities
• Organizations that the Foundation knows or has reason to believe engage in hateful activities
• Violence of any kind, either directly or indirectly
• Plan, incite, perpetrate, or otherwise contribute to violence, political or otherwise, nor shall they be used to fund activities that might lead to violence or the violation of local laws
• Organizations known to plan, commit, permit, provoke, enable, or otherwise participate in acts of violence or those that might lead to violence

For the Open Application, organisations whose work aligns with the Foundation’s goals introduce their work through an Introduction for consideration.

Deadlines: Introductions are accepted year-round and reviewed in alignment with quarterly Board meetings in February, May, August and November.

• Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 98% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
• Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 1,960 grants to organisations were $25,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

• The Foundation asks for a full proposal only when there is a strong likelihood of alignment.
• For fiscal sponsors, the Foundation assesses alignment, capacity and oversight case by case.