The Lila H Borgstrom Foundation gives modest, unrestricted grants primarily to Chicago-area youth-serving organizations, with an emphasis on scholarships, camp experiences, and services that support vulnerable children and families. Their portfolio mixes education-focused scholarship programs, emergency/basic needs providers (food and shelter), and pediatric/medical support organizations, suggesting a local philanthropic focus on improving opportunities and wellbeing for underserved youth. Grants are fairly uniform in size and targeted to program support rather than capital projects.
A defining feature of the Lila H Borgstrom Foundation’s recent giving is its repeated use of scholarship funding for Chicago-area youth-serving organizations. In 2025, the foundation made multiple $10,000 grants to groups such as Big Shoulders Fund, Covenant House Illinois, Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, and Shriners Children's Chicago, showing a consistent preference for support that can be directed toward students and young people facing practical barriers. The portfolio also reaches beyond a single service model. Cradles to Crayons, Greater Chicago Food Depository, and Haven Youth & Family Services point to an interest in basic needs, family stability, and youth support, while Hearts to Art Camp and Camp Kids Are Kids Chicago connect grantmaking to enrichment and camp experiences. The foundation’s awards are modest in scale and appear designed to help organizations that work directly with children, students, and vulnerable families. Across the recent list, the pattern is not tied to one narrow program type; it combines scholarship support, emergency help, and youth development in a way that centers access and wellbeing.
Education access is a clear thread in the foundation’s giving. It awarded $10,000 to Big Shoulders Fund for providing scholarships to students, and gave another $10,000 to Nocc Teal Tote for the same purpose. Support for children and youth also appears in service-oriented grants: Covenant House Illinois received $10,000, while Mercy Home for Boys & Girls also received $10,000, both with scholarship-oriented purposes in the recent grants list. The foundation’s interests extend to health-linked youth support as well. Cancer for College received $10,000, and Shriners Children's Chicago received $10,000, reflecting attention to students and children affected by serious medical needs. Camp and enrichment organizations are part of the mix too: Hearts to Art Camp received $10,000, and Camp Kids Are Kids Chicago received $7,000, both tied to scholarship support in the recent data.
Recent grants cluster tightly around two amounts: $10,000 and $7,000. Most awards in the latest list are $10,000, with a smaller set at $7,000, which suggests a fairly standardized approach to grant size. The listed recipients are all in the United States, and the grants shown are concentrated in 2025. Several organizations appear to be aligned with recurring themes in the foundation’s giving, but only the provided recent-grants list can be used to confirm the current pattern. The foundation is a public charity, not an individual-giving vehicle, and it does not make program-related investments. The purpose language in the grants points to restricted support tied to scholarships and student assistance rather than open-ended capital funding.
$128K
$383K
$256K
$128K
Sign up for a free Kindora account to access AI-generated insights into this funder's giving patterns, decision-makers, and fit signals.
Get Started FreeFree Kindora accounts unlock side-by-side comparisons with foundations that share this funder's focus areas and giving profile.
Get Started FreeSign up free to see how well your nonprofit fits this funder, get an AI-generated pitch, and unlock similar foundations.
Distributed across many local nonprofits with relatively consistent, mid-sized grants (~$7k–$10k); appears to fund mostly program/service support rather than long-term multi-year commitments, with few obvious repeat large donors to the same organization.
Notable grantees: Big Shoulders Fund, Covenant House Illinois, Shriners Children's Chicago, Greater Chicago Food Depository, By The Hand Club for Kids
The recipient list is heavily centered in Chicago. Chicago, IL appears repeatedly across the recent grants, including organizations in food support, scholarship, youth services, medical support, and camp programming. Outside Chicago, the list includes Wilmette, IL; Vista, CA; Dallas, TX; and Austin, TX, each with a single named recipient in the recent-grants table. All listed grants go to U.S. recipients, and the geographic scope of giving is otherwise not specified in the provided data. The pattern shows a strong local concentration around the Chicago area, with a small number of awards reaching other states.
The recent grants point to youth-serving organizations, scholarship providers, camp and enrichment programs, food assistance, and pediatric or illness-related support. Named recipients include Big Shoulders Fund, Shriners Children's Chicago, Greater Chicago Food Depository, and Hearts to Art Camp, with purposes tied to student scholarships and support for children and families.
In the latest grants list, the awards are mostly $10,000, with a smaller group at $7,000. That creates a narrow grant-size band and suggests the foundation uses relatively uniform gifts rather than widely varying award amounts.
Most of the named recipients are in Chicago, IL. The list also includes one organization in Wilmette, IL, and single recipients in Vista, CA, Dallas, TX, and Austin, TX. All of the recent grants shown go to U.S. organizations.
Yes. The grant descriptions repeatedly refer to scholarship support for students. Examples in the recent list include Big Shoulders Fund, Nocc Teal Tote, Covenant House Illinois, and Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, each tied to providing scholarships to students.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRADLES TO CRAYONS | CHICAGO, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY | CHICAGO, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| BIG SHOULDERS FUND | CHICAGO, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| CANCER FOR COLLEGE | VISTA, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| SHRINERS CHILDREN'S CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| COVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS | CHICAGO, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| HAVEN YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES | WILMETTE, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| NOCC TEAL TOTE | DALLAS, TX | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| MERCY HOME FOR BOYS & GIRLS | CHICAGO, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| HEARTS TO ART CAMP | CHICAGO, IL | $10,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| RUBY'S RAINBOW | AUSTIN, TX | $7,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| CAMP KIDS ARE KIDS CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $7,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| BY THE HAND CLUB FOR KIDS | CHICAGO, IL | $7,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
| CULINARY CARE | CHICAGO, IL | $7,000 | 2025 | PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS |
CRADLES TO CRAYONS
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
BIG SHOULDERS FUND
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
CANCER FOR COLLEGE
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
SHRINERS CHILDREN'S CHICAGO
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
COVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
HAVEN YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
NOCC TEAL TOTE
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
MERCY HOME FOR BOYS & GIRLS
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
HEARTS TO ART CAMP
$10,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
RUBY'S RAINBOW
$7,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
CAMP KIDS ARE KIDS CHICAGO
$7,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
BY THE HAND CLUB FOR KIDS
$7,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS
CULINARY CARE
$7,000PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS