The Robert Allerton Endowment Fund concentrates almost all of its giving on major visual arts institutions, providing large general operating grants to prominent museums. Its funding is focused and high-value, with repeated support for the Art Institute of Chicago and substantial gifts to the Honolulu Academy of Arts, indicating a preference for sustaining established cultural institutions rather than small or emergent arts programs.
Highly concentrated, large-dollar gifts split between two repeat grantees; multiple grants to the same institutions suggesting multi-year or portfolio-style core support rather than dispersed small grants.
Robert Allerton Endowment Fund Xxxxx7501 directs almost all of its recent giving to two major art museums, with repeated general operating support for the Art Institute of Chicago and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The pattern is highly concentrated and high-dollar: its recent awards sit in the seven-figure range and are used for broad institutional support rather than project-specific or individual grants. That makes the fund a steady source of core funding for established visual arts institutions. The Art Institute of Chicago appears as a recurring recipient across 2023, 2024, and 2025, showing a sustained relationship rather than one-off support. Honolulu Academy of Arts is another repeated recipient, receiving substantial general operating grants in each of those same years. Both institutions are major metropolitan museums, and both are supported with unrestricted-style grants that help cover overall operations. The result is a grantmaking profile centered on preserving and sustaining flagship cultural institutions. The fund’s recent record shows no individual support and no program-related investments, reinforcing its role as an institutional arts funder focused on museums with established scale and public reach.
A defining theme is general operating support for major museums. The fund gave $1,669,157 in 2023, $1,619,817 in 2024, and $1,599,935 in 2025 to The Art Institute of Chicago, all tagged GENERAL. It also supports museum institutions outside its donor city. Honolulu Academy of Arts received $834,579 in 2023, $809,909 in 2024, and $799,967 in 2025, also as GENERAL support. Across these grants, the emphasis is on sustaining established cultural organizations with broad institutional budgets rather than narrow projects. The giving pattern points to large-scale support for museum operations in major urban settings. The recent record also indicates that this is not a broad, diversified arts portfolio; instead, it is concentrated on a small set of prominent fine arts museums.
Typical grant size is large, with a p25 of $816,076, a median of $1,217,257, and a p75 of $1,614,846. That distribution fits the recent record, where awards are consistently in the hundreds of thousands to more than $1.6 million. The fund shows repeated support across multiple years rather than one-time gifts: the same recipients appear in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Grants are made as general support, and the foundation does not make grants to individuals or program-related investments. The profile is that of a concentrated institutional funder rather than a broad open application grantmaker.
$2.3M
$36.9M
$2.8M
$2.7M
Most grants fall between $816K and $1.6M, with a median of $1.2M.
25th Percentile
$816K
Median
$1.2M
75th Percentile
$1.6M
About 50% of grants go to recipients in HI.
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Notable grantees: The Art Institute of Chicago, Honolulu Academy of Arts
Giving is regional, but the recipient pattern is heavily concentrated in two places. Chicago receives repeated support through a major museum there, and Honolulu is another recurring location for grants. In the recent sample, all grants went to U.S. recipients. By grant count, Hawaii is the top state, reflecting sustained support to Honolulu-based institutions, while Illinois also receives a large share through Chicago. The recipient cities visible in the recent grants list are Chicago and Honolulu.
Its recent grants go to established visual arts museums, especially major metropolitan fine arts institutions. The recent record centers on The Art Institute of Chicago and Honolulu Academy of Arts, both funded with general operating support.
Typical awards are large: the p25 is $816,076, the median is $1,217,257, and the p75 is $1,614,846. Recent grants also show repeated seven-figure support to museums.
Yes. The Art Institute of Chicago and Honolulu Academy of Arts each received grants in 2023, 2024, and 2025, showing a repeated support pattern rather than one-off funding.
The fund gives most often in Hawaii, with Honolulu Academy of Arts appearing repeatedly in the recent grants list. Illinois also receives substantial support through Chicago-based museum grants.
The recent grants are all tagged GENERAL, indicating general operating support rather than project-specific awards. The pattern is aimed at sustaining overall museum operations.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $1,564,899 | 2026 | GENERAL |
| HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS | HONOLULU, HI | $782,449 | 2026 | GENERAL |
| THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $1,599,935 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS | HONOLULU, HI | $799,967 | 2025 | GENERAL |
| THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $1,619,817 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS | HONOLULU, HI | $809,909 | 2024 | GENERAL |
| THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $1,669,157 | 2023 | GENERAL |
| HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS | HONOLULU, HI | $834,579 | 2023 | GENERAL |
HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS
$782,449GENERAL
HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS
$799,967GENERAL
GENERAL