Home/Foundations/Start Early

Start Early

EIN: 36-3186328 • Chicago, IL
Total Assets
$124.4M
Foundation endowment scale
Annual Giving
$36.8M
Annual capital distribution
Typical Grant
$389,431
Most grants: $108K – $918K
Application Status
Accepts New Applicants
Rolling review

About Start Early Grantmaking

Start Early is an institutional grantmaking foundation headquartered in Chicago, IL (EIN: 36-3186328). According to verified IRS Form 990-PF filings, the foundation maintains $124.4M in total assets and distributed $36.8M across 217 grants. Its typical award size is $389,431, with the middle 50% of awards falling between $108K and $918K. Its primary funding focus includes Human Services & Relief (91%), Health Care & Medical Research (4%), Education & Literacy (3%), with the highest concentration of grants awarded in IL (96%) and DC (1%).

Top Funded Causes% Capital
Human Services & Relief91%
$93.8M deployed88 awards
Health Care & Medical Research4%
$4.1M deployed12 awards
Education & Literacy3%
$3.1M deployed23 awards
Employment & Job Training1%
$1.2M deployed4 awards
Crime & Legal1%
$939K deployed4 awards
Top Recipient States% Dollars
IL State Recipients96%
$126.9M funded127 grants
DC State Recipients1%
$1.8M funded8 grants
MD State Recipients1%
$1.4M funded4 grants
NE State Recipients1%
$1M funded12 grants
OK State Recipients1%
$1M funded8 grants
Grant Size DistributionAward Scale
Major Grants ($100K+)69%
149 large institutional grants
Mid-Sized ($25K–$100K)29%
63 standard program grants
Micro & Small (<$25K)2%
5 grassroots micro-awards
Application Guidelines & DeadlinesPublic Filing Data
Application Policy
Accepts Unsolicited Proposals
Submission Deadlines

Rolling review

Geographic Focus & Restrictions

IL statewide and regional focus

Program Officer & Direct Contacts

Unlock Direct Officer Contacts

Subscribe to reveal verified program officer telephone numbers, direct emails, and application review notes.

Unlock Officer Contacts →
Recent Grant AwardsShowing 5 of 217 verified awards
Recipient OrganizationLocationTax YearAward AmountGrant Purpose
Marillac Social CenterChicago, IL2024$3,707,485Comm based family services
Chicago Child Care SocietyChicago, IL2024$3,284,713Comm based family services
El HogarChicago, IL2024$3,118,820Program support
One Hope UnitedLake Villa, IL2024$2,456,810Hs/ehs & comm based family services
Family Focus INCChicago, IL2024$2,288,127Comm based family services
██████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████████████
██████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████████
████████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,█████████████████████████████████████
████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████
███████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,█████████████████████████████████
█████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████████████
████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,██████████████████████████████████████

Unlock All 217 Grants & Program Officer Contacts

See every recipient Start Early funded over recent filings, get verified decision-maker emails, and evaluate your funding match score.

Frequently Asked Questions about Start Early

Does Start Early accept unsolicited grant proposals?

Yes, Start Early accepts unsolicited grant proposals. Submission review cycle: Rolling review.

What is the typical grant size from Start Early?

The median grant size from Start Early is $389,431, with the middle 50% of awards ranging between $108K and $918K.

What causes does Start Early fund?

Over recent Form 990-PF filings, Start Early's primary funding areas have been Human Services & Relief, Health Care & Medical Research, Education & Literacy.

How do I contact Start Early about a grant?

Start Early is headquartered in Chicago, IL. Verified NPO Grant subscribers can access direct program officer telephone extensions, verified work email addresses, and detailed submission guidelines.