About Polk Bros Foundation
Polk Bros. Foundation is working to make Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Focus Areas
Community wealth building / economic opportunityHealth / life expectancy / overdose preventionCivic engagement / democracy / power-buildingEducationArts access and learningOrganizational capacity and sector strengtheningEmergency / rapid response grants
Who They Fund
local communities / neighborhoodsfamilies (households with children)arts learners and audience-access populationsunderserved or equity-seeking populations
About Polk Bros Foundation
Polk Bros Foundation Inc. has built a large share of its recent grantmaking around Chicago’s recovery and long-term community stability, including a $500,000 Equitable Recovery Grant to The Barack Obama Foundation and another $500,000 grant to ChiArts Foundation. The foundation’s current work centers on building community wealth, closing the life expectancy gap, and supporting participatory democracy, while also continuing arts access, education, and community-strengthening grants during a transition period. Its recent awards show a mix of broad institutional support and targeted, project-based funding, with $300,000 grants to Chicago Bar Foundation and UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work, both tied to equitable recovery. Chicago-based recipients appear repeatedly across the grant list, including organizations working in education, health, legal services, food access, and civic life. The foundation also uses timed initiatives and cohort-based support, alongside ongoing program areas in school-based arts learning and community wealth building. Recent grants indicate a funder that is deeply tied to Chicago neighborhoods and institutions, but not limited to a single cause area; instead, it distributes capital across a connected set of community conditions that affect opportunity in the city.
What Polk Bros Foundation Funds
In arts access and learning, Polk Bros Foundation Inc. gave $250,000 to Navy Pier Inc for Arts Access and Learning and $250,000 to ChiArts Foundation for Arts Access and Learning. Those grants sit alongside a school-based arts program area focused on arts learning in Chicago Public Schools and other classroom settings. In health, the foundation awarded $300,000 to UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work through its equitable recovery work and $250,000 to Heartland Alliance Health for the same grantmaking stream, linking recovery funding to health and community support. In community wealth building, the foundation’s emerging shared-ownership initiative is aimed at low-income Chicagoans and economically distressed neighborhoods. The grant list also shows support for civic and public-interest infrastructure, including $250,000 to WBEZChicago Public Media for Special Projects and $300,000 to Chicago Bar Foundation for Equitable Recovery.
How Polk Bros Foundation Gives
Typical grant size sits at $2,500 at the 25th percentile, $25,000 at the median, and $50,000 at the 75th percentile. The recent grants list shows both large project grants and recurring support for the same organizations across 2023 and 2024, including ChiArts Foundation, Navy Pier Inc, Big Shoulders Fund, and Greater Chicago Food Depository. Polk Bros Foundation Inc. is a regular funder, not a DAF, and it does not fund individuals or make program-related investments. The grant profile also includes unrestricted advisory cohort grants of $75,000 and transition-period support for current grantees, showing a mix of structured initiative funding and bridge support.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$19.3M
Total Assets
$334.3M
Total Revenue
$40.7M
Total Expenses
$25.6M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $3K and $50K, with a median of $25K.
25th Percentile
$3K
Median
$25K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
Local29 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Polk Bros Foundation Funds
Top 2 recipient countries by grant volume for Polk Bros Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 2,736 | $103.1M | 99.8% |
| 2 | Canada | 4 |
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