What do the evidence tags mean?

Randomized trial: the program was tested against a control group, the strongest proof that it works. Independent study: an outside researcher evaluated it. Self-reported: the organization counts its own results.

How much of my donation reaches programs?

Between 62 and 98 percent here, shown for every charity as a three-year average. It shows how spending is classified, and the evidence tag shows whether the programs work.

Are donations tax deductible?

For 37 of the 39, yes, if you itemize. Chicago CRED is a private operating foundation with different deduction limits, and gifts to Chicago Votes are deductible only through its Education Fund, which this page links. Each entry lists its EIN.

Why is there no overall ranking?

Financial ratios, ratings and program evidence measure different things, and one combined score would invent precision. The picker ranks by one priority at a time, and you choose which.

How current is this information?

Checked on September 20, 2026. Financial figures come from each organization’s latest readable filing: FY2025 for fourteen, FY2024 for nineteen and FY2023 for six.

39 Chicago charities, checked against their filings

What do you want your gift to help with?

Food9 charities
Literacy8 charities
Housing10 charities
Legal aid8 charities
Violence prevention11 charities
Health6 charities
Women and survivors4 charities
Environment3 charities

Not sure yet? Show me the strongest evidence across every cause

charities, each checked against its IRS filings and Charity Navigator record

$1.25B

spent a year between them, from a food bank to a single neighborhood pantry

taken by GiveChi. Every Donate button goes straight to the charity

All 39 charities.

Every charity here was checked on September 20, 2026. Open one for why it matters, its numbers and every caution.

Food and basic needs 6

Beyond Hunger

Food pantry and home delivery in 13 ZIP codes

to programs
85.7%

spent a year
$5.0M

Donate to Beyond Hunger, opens gobeyondhunger.org in a new tab
Care for Real

Food pantries, clothing and home delivery

to programs
93.3%

spent a year
$7.1M

Donate to Care for Real, opens careforreal.org in a new tab
Common Pantry

Client-choice food pantry with hot meals

to programs
87.1%

spent a year
$2.5M

Donate to Common Pantry, opens commonpantry.org in a new tab
Cradles to Crayons

Clothing and essentials for children, through social services
- Finances
  Two consecutive deficits: $0.99M in FY2024 and $1.61M in FY2025.
to programs
89.3%

spent a year
$50.5M

Donate to Cradles to Crayons, opens cradlestocrayons.org in a new tab
Greater Chicago Food Depository

Supplies food to 850+ pantries, kitchens and shelters
- Finances
  Small operating deficits in FY2022, FY2023 and FY2025, against $216M in assets.
to programs
91.8%

spent a year
$243M

Donate to Greater Chicago Food Depository, opens chicagosfoodbank.org in a new tab
Nourishing Hope

Food pantries and grocery delivery, plus counseling
- Finances
  FY2025 deficit of $390,000 on a $20M budget.
to programs
85.8%

spent a year
$20.0M

Donate to Nourishing Hope, opens nourishinghopechi.org in a new tab

Literacy and education 7

After School Matters

Paid after-school apprenticeships for high school teens
- Finances
  FY2024 deficit of $519,000, about 1.4% of expenses, against $58.9M in net assets.
- Funding risk
  Heavily dependent on City of Chicago and CPS funding, both under 2026 budget strain. No cut specific to this organization was found.
to programs
83.2%

spent a year
$38.1M

Donate to After School Matters, opens afterschoolmatters.org in a new tab
Bernie’s Book Bank

Free books for kids, birth to sixth grade

to programs
76.9%

spent a year
$5.7M

Donate to Bernie’s Book Bank, opens berniesbookbank.org in a new tab
Chicago Public Library Foundation

Funds library programs taxes do not cover
- Finances
  FY2024 deficit of $1.36M, absorbed by $38.5M in net assets. Consecutive deficits in FY2018 and FY2019.
to programs
62.3%

spent a year
$5.9M

Donate to Chicago Public Library Foundation, opens secure3.convio.net in a new tab
Chicago Scholars

Mentors first-generation students to college and career
- Finances
  Two consecutive deficits: $987,000 in FY2023 and $1.06M in FY2024, about $2.04M combined. Also consecutive in FY2019 and FY2020. No adverse news coverage was found; this comes from Form 990 data.
to programs
71.8%

spent a year
$7.6M

Donate to Chicago Scholars, opens chicagoscholars.donorsupport.co in a new tab
Literacy Chicago

Free adult literacy, ESL and GED classes
- Funding risk
  90% of revenue is government grants ($805,772 of $897,204).
to programs
76.7%

spent a year
$706K

Donate to Literacy Chicago, opens givebutter.com in a new tab
One Million Degrees

Coaching and money for community college students
- Finances
  FY2024 deficit of $1.39M, following a FY2023 surplus of $19.2M — consistent with a planned spend-down during scale-up. In April 2026 City Colleges announced a five-year expansion with more than $20M initial funding.
to programs
63.1%

spent a year
$8.6M

Donate to One Million Degrees, opens onemilliondegrees.org in a new tab
Open Books

Bookstores that fund K–12 literacy programs
- Finances
  Closed its Logan Square store on 1 March 2026 citing financial challenges; the executive director pointed to changes in funding and priorities. The most recent Form 990 predates this and shows a surplus, so the current position is not public.
- Labor record
  Former Logan Square employees publicly criticized management over sudden terminations in March 2026.
to programs
82.0%

spent a year
$3.4M

Donate to Open Books, opens openbooks.app.neoncrm.com in a new tab

Housing and homelessness 7

All Chicago Making Homelessness History

Coordinates the homelessness response and emergency aid
- Finances
  FY2023 deficit of $1.3M. Revenue swings between $54.9M and $115.5M year to year because government rental assistance passes through the books.
- Funding risk
  As the Continuum of Care lead agency it is the pass-through for federal homelessness funding, and proposed HUD changes project roughly $67M in losses for Chicago.
to programs
96.8%

spent a year
$64.2M

Donate to All Chicago Making Homelessness History, opens allchicago.org in a new tab
Breakthrough

Shelter, housing and services in one neighborhood

to programs
89.3%

spent a year
$13.7M

Donate to Breakthrough, opens breakthrough.org in a new tab
Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness

Homelessness policy, organizing and legal aid

to programs
86.2%

spent a year
$5.3M

Donate to Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, opens act.chicagohomeless.org in a new tab
Deborah’s Place

Supportive housing for women who are homeless
- Funding risk
  Its CEO has said on the record that a proposed federal 30% cap on HUD permanent-housing funds would force evictions at two of its buildings, including The Conservatory Apartments, home to 34 women.
to programs
77.0%

spent a year
$5.1M

Donate to Deborah’s Place, opens deborahsplace.org in a new tab
Franciscan Outreach

Chicago’s largest interim shelters

to programs
79.2%

spent a year
$5.0M

Donate to Franciscan Outreach, opens wl.donorperfect.net in a new tab
La Casa Norte

Shelter and housing for homeless youth and families
- Finances
  Two consecutive deficits: $263,000 in FY2022 and $33,000 in FY2023, both small relative to budget. A larger $1.8M deficit in FY2019.
to programs
not published

spent a year
$7.9M

Donate to La Casa Norte, opens lacasanorte.org in a new tab
The Night Ministry

Overnight outreach, street medicine and youth shelter

to programs
71.0%

spent a year
$11.3M

Donate to The Night Ministry, opens thenightministry.org in a new tab

Legal aid and civic accountability 5

Chicago Votes Education Fund

Registers young and incarcerated voters
- Finances
  Two consecutive deficits: $770,000 in FY2022 and $218,000 in FY2023, recovered to a $714,000 surplus in FY2024.
to programs
77.8%

spent a year
$1.5M

Donate to Chicago Votes Education Fund, opens chicagovotesedfund.com in a new tab
Invisible Institute

Police accountability journalism and public records

to programs
71.7%

spent a year
$1.8M

Donate to Invisible Institute, opens invisible.institute in a new tab
Legal Aid Chicago

Free civil legal help for people in poverty

to programs
81.1%

spent a year
$25.7M

Donate to Legal Aid Chicago, opens legalaidchicago.org in a new tab
National Immigrant Justice Center

Legal representation for immigrants and asylum seekers

to programs
not published

spent a year
not filed

Donate to National Immigrant Justice Center, opens immigrantjustice.salsalabs.org in a new tab
The Resurrection Project

Affordable housing and immigration legal services
- Finances
  Two consecutive deficits: $2.08M in FY2021 and $3.76M in FY2022. Recovered to a $744,000 surplus in FY2024, but Charity Navigator’s financial health sub-score is 0.50 and the overall rating is two stars, tied for the lowest here.
- Funding risk
  Signed an April 2026 letter opposing the Justice Department’s dismantling of the Recognition and Accreditation program, which allows non-attorney immigration representation — a risk to how it delivers legal services.
to programs
97.9%

spent a year
$44.8M

Donate to The Resurrection Project, opens pro.gofundme.com in a new tab

Violence prevention and youth 6

Cara Collective

Job training and placement for people facing barriers

to programs
75.1%

spent a year
$16.6M

Donate to Cara Collective, opens caracollective.org in a new tab
Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center

One place where abused children get help
- Finances
  Five consecutive deficits from FY2020 through FY2024, about $2.27M cumulative on a roughly $8M budget, then a sharp reversal to a $1.88M surplus in FY2025 on a revenue jump. The cause of the reversal is not public, so do not assume it recurs.
to programs
77.1%

spent a year
$10.5M

Donate to Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, opens chicagocac.org in a new tab
Chicago CRED

Outreach, therapy and jobs for men at highest risk
- Finances
  FY2024 deficit of $10.24M, on record-high expenses against sharply lower revenue. Consecutive deficits in FY2021 and FY2022, then a large FY2023 surplus.
to programs
not published

spent a year
$36.3M

Donate to Chicago CRED, opens secure.givelively.org in a new tab
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago

Street outreach and violence interruption
- Finances
  Three consecutive deficits FY2022 through FY2024, all small, returning to surplus in FY2025.
- Funding risk
  Contributions are 99.7% of revenue, which is severe funder concentration.
to programs
92.9%

spent a year
$15.7M

Donate to Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, opens nonviolencechicago.org in a new tab
Metropolitan Family Services

Family services and violence intervention region-wide

to programs
87.7%

spent a year
$178M

Donate to Metropolitan Family Services, opens metrofamily.org in a new tab
Youth Guidance

School counseling programs, including Becoming A Man
- Finances
  Three consecutive and worsening deficits — $655,000 in FY2023, $6.61M in FY2024 and $10.46M in FY2025, roughly $17.7M cumulative. Revenue fell from $58.99M in FY2022 to $44.26M in FY2025 while expenses rose to a record $54.7M. No reporting of layoffs or leadership change was found and the cause is not public.
to programs
82.0%

spent a year
$54.7M

Donate to Youth Guidance, opens give.youth-guidance.org in a new tab

Health 2

Erie Family Health Centers

Community health centers, regardless of ability to pay

to programs
86.2%

spent a year
$111M

Donate to Erie Family Health Centers, opens eriefamilyhealth.org in a new tab
Howard Brown Health

Health center focused on LGBTQ+ patients
- Finances
  FY2024 deficit of about $4.9M and three to four years of management-described operating shortfalls. No going-concern warning, against $124.6M in net assets. Down from 11 locations in 2019 to seven.
- Labor record
  December 2022: 65 positions cut, citing a $12M shortfall. January 2023: roughly 440 employees struck for three days. July 2023: the National Labor Relations Board found unfair labor practices. May 2024: a contract was ratified after the CEO resigned, and two clinics closed. July 2024: 43 more layoffs, about 7% of staff, which the interim CEO described as the third consecutive year of an operating shortfall. November 2024: a $1.108M NLRB settlement covering 55 laid-off workers. A new CEO was named in February 2025 and no labor actions have been found since.
to programs
87.9%

spent a year
$212M

Donate to Howard Brown Health, opens donate.howardbrown.org in a new tab

Women and survivors 3

Apna Ghar

Crisis support for immigrant survivors of violence
- Funding risk
  52.3% of revenue is government funding, a concentration risk their own auditor flags.
to programs
78.9%

spent a year
$5.1M

Donate to Apna Ghar, opens apnaghar.networkforgood.com in a new tab
Chicago Foundation for Women

Grants to groups serving women and girls

to programs
85.2%

spent a year
$5.9M

Donate to Chicago Foundation for Women, opens cfw.org in a new tab
Connections for Abused Women and their Children

Hotline, shelter and advocacy for domestic violence survivors

to programs
72.5%

spent a year
$5.0M

Donate to Connections for Abused Women and their Children, opens cawc.org in a new tab

Environment and land 3

Friends of the Chicago River

Cleanups and restoration for the Chicago River
- Finances
  Four consecutive deficit years, FY2021 through FY2024 — $24,000, $306,000, $41,000 and $348,000 — before recovering to a $21,964 surplus in FY2025. The smallest financial cushion in this guide.
to programs
80.5%

spent a year
$2.5M

Donate to Friends of the Chicago River, opens wl.donorperfect.net in a new tab
Openlands

Protects open space and plants urban trees
- Finances
  The apparent FY2023 deficit of $2.82M reflects the deliberate donation of the 71.55-acre Openlands Lakeshore Preserve plus about $1.36M to the Lake County Forest Preserves, completed 30 August 2023.
to programs
82.9%

spent a year
$7.9M

Donate to Openlands, opens form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io in a new tab
Urban Growers Collective

Urban farms, youth jobs and a mobile market
- Finances
  A $1.12M deficit in FY2023 after revenue fell 36% from a pandemic-relief peak of $4.43M in FY2021, recovered to a $377,000 surplus in FY2024.
to programs
72.6%

spent a year
$4.3M

Donate to Urban Growers Collective, opens urbangrowerscollective.org in a new tab

How we check.

Each charity was checked on September 20, 2026 against its IRS Form 990, its Charity Navigator record and its own reports, and every donation link was opened to confirm it works. Nothing here is paid for, and nothing is ranked on a single score.

How it’s made

GiveChi is generated with AI and overseen by Cody Heart. Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic, gathered the records, wrote the summaries and built the site. Cody Heart sets its direction and reviews the work.

AI can get things wrong. Each charity’s details link to the filings and sources behind its figures, so check the ones that matter to you before a large gift.

What the numbers mean

To programs: The share of spending that goes to programs, averaged over three years. The median here is 82.0%. It shows how spending is classified; the evidence tag shows whether the programs work.
Charity Navigator score: A Charity Navigator score is built from up to four separate assessments, called beacons. Almost every organization here has completed only one of them — Accountability & Finance, which measures financial disclosure and governance. It says nothing about whether the programs work. A 100/100 means the books are clean and public, and no more than that.
Spent a year: Total expenses from the latest readable filing. Size measures reach.
Result: Revenue minus expenses in that year. A deficit is shown in red and explained under Worth knowing.

Evidence

Randomized trial
Tested against a control group. The strongest evidence available for social programs.
Independent study
Evaluated by an outside researcher. Includes studies the organization commissioned itself.
Self-reported
Counted by the organization itself. No outside evaluation of the program’s effect is on file here.

Cautions

Every note on the record stays in. The ones that bear most on a gift (finances, funding risk, labor record) show on the cards; the rest wait in each charity’s details.

Questions

How were these organizations checked?: Each one was checked on September 20, 2026 against its IRS Form 990, its Charity Navigator record and its own reports, and every donation link was opened to confirm it works. A Chicago charity missing from this list has not been judged.
What do the evidence tags mean?: Randomized trial: the program was tested against a control group, the strongest proof that it works. Independent study: an outside researcher evaluated it. Self-reported: the organization counts its own results.
How much of my donation reaches programs?: Between 62 and 98 percent here, shown for every charity as a three-year average. It shows how spending is classified, and the evidence tag shows whether the programs work.
Are donations tax deductible?: For 37 of the 39, yes, if you itemize. Chicago CRED is a private operating foundation with different deduction limits, and gifts to Chicago Votes are deductible only through its Education Fund, which this page links. Each entry lists its EIN.
Why is there no overall ranking?: Financial ratios, ratings and program evidence measure different things, and one combined score would invent precision. The picker ranks by one priority at a time, and you choose which.
How current is this information?: Checked on September 20, 2026. Financial figures come from each organization’s latest readable filing: FY2025 for fourteen, FY2024 for nineteen and FY2023 for six.

Sources

IRS Form 990 filingsProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, opens in a new tab
Charity ratings and program ratiosCharity Navigator, opens in a new tab
Audited financial statements and impact reportingeach organization’s own site
Local news reportingcited on the entries that use it

If a link is dead or a figure is wrong, it gets fixed.