What Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation does

The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1999 in Northbrook, Illinois, following the death of Harold Eisenberg from liver and pancreatic cancers. The foundation operates two parallel missions under a single entity: funding breakthrough gastrointestinal cancer research in partnership with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University, and providing free commercial real estate education to college students through mentorships, scholarships, competitions, and career development programs.

The foundation's programmatic portfolio spans eight core offerings. On the education side, these include the Mentorship Program (founded in 2000 by Al Klairmont of Imperial Realty, with 2,200+ mentorships delivered via 100+ volunteer industry leaders), the Real Estate Challenge case competition, the Scholars Program, the Level Program, an annual Career Day, and a scholarship program that has awarded more than $600,000 cumulatively. On the fundraising side, the foundation runs the Annual Dinner (600+ attendees) and the Eisenopoly event as primary revenue engines. Cancer research outputs are reported as $4M+ committed cumulatively to the Lurie Center over a 25+ year partnership. The foundation is supported by 4 paid staff, an Associate Board of ~40 young real estate professionals, a Junior Board, a volunteer Board of Directors, and a Real Estate Education Faculty Advisory Board drawn from 26+ partner universities.

The business model is a charitable donations and event-driven revenue model. Income streams include individual and corporate donations via the website, signature event fundraising (a single 2025 dinner raised $700K+), corporate matching gift programs (e.g., Higgins & Brancheau), and planned giving through wills or beneficiary designations. All educational services are provided free of charge to students. The foundation has no proprietary technology product, app, or public API; its digital presence is a marketing and donation portal. Operating geography is the United States, with primary density in the Chicago metropolitan area and growing national student participation through university partnerships.

Name

Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation

Legal name

Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation

Website

https://eisenbergfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that funds gastrointestinal cancer research at Northwestern's Lurie Cancer Center and delivers free commercial real estate education to college students through mentorships, scholarships, case competitions, and career development programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation — Cancer Research & Real Estate Education

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Disease-Specific Research & Support (e.g., Cancer, Diabetes, ALS) (BPAGACAA)

Keywords

• Cancer research funding
• Real estate education
• Student mentorship programs
• College scholarships
• Nonprofit foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Northfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: The foundation raises funds through individual and corporate donations. The website features a donation portal where supporters can contribute. Higgins & Brancheau has matched gifts during National Cancer Survivor Month.
2. Event Fundraising: Annual Dinner events and Eisenopoly events serve as major fundraising opportunities, with the 2025 dinner raising over $700,000. Events feature networking, dinner, and programming to support annual cancer research and educational initiatives.
3. Planned Giving: The foundation accepts planned gifts through wills or beneficiary designations to support long-term cancer research and educational initiatives.
4. Matching Gifts: Corporate matching gift programs where companies match employee donations to the foundation, doubling the impact of contributions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that funds gastrointestinal (GI) cancer research in partnership with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University and delivers commercial real estate education through mentorship, scholarships, career counseling, and case competitions for college students. The foundation also operates signature fundraising events such as the Annual Dinner and Eisenopoly to sustain its programs.

Product overview

The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation operates as a nonprofit organization with two primary missions: funding gastrointestinal cancer research and providing real estate education. The foundation offers a portfolio of educational programs including a Mentorship Program connecting students with industry professionals, the Real Estate Challenge case competition, annual Career Day events, Scholarships, the Scholars Program, and the Level Program. Fundraising initiatives include the Annual Dinner and Eisenopoly events. All programs are designed to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive next generation of commercial real estate industry leaders while supporting breakthrough GI cancer research in partnership with Northwestern University's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mentorship Program A free one-on-one mentorship program connecting college students with commercial real estate industry leaders for full-day in-person immersive experiences or one-hour virtual/in-person career counseling sessions.
• Real Estate Challenge An annual case competition where college student teams develop real estate proposals for actual Chicago development sites and compete for prizes and recognition.
• Scholarships
• Career Day An annual two-day in-person educational forum featuring career readiness programming, site tours of Chicago-based projects, a career and internship fair, and networking with industry professionals.
• Eisenopoly Event An annual fundraising and networking event hosted by the Board of Directors, featuring dinner and programming to support cancer research and educational initiatives.
• Scholars Program A prestigious award program recognizing outstanding students in real estate studies at partner universities.
• Level Program A real estate education program designed to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive next generation of commercial real estate industry leaders.
• Annual Dinner The foundation's signature annual fundraising and networking event welcoming 600+ industry leaders to support cancer research and educational initiatives.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,200+ mentorships and counseling sessions provided to students
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Al Klairmont / Imperial RealtyflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000Al Klairmont, CEO & President of Imperial Realty, founded the Mentor Program in 2000 and serves as Chairman of the Mentor Program. Under his leadership, the foundation has scheduled more than 2,000 mentorships and counseling sessions.
• Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern UniversityflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner25+ year partnership focused on funding breakthrough gastrointestinal cancer research. The foundation is committed to advancing cancer medicine and increasing survivorship by fighting cancers of the esophagus, liver, pancreas, stomach, intestines, gallbladder, colon, and rectum.
• Higgins & BrancheaucoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGenerously agreed to match every $100 gift made during National Cancer Survivor Month (June), effectively doubling donor impact during the matching campaign period.
• Real Estate Education Faculty Advisory Board (26+ Universities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFaculty from universities including Marquette, Roosevelt, Indiana University, Rutgers, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Notre Dame, UIC, Tulane, DePaul, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and others advise on and support foundation educational programs.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Colorectal Cancer Alliance: Largest colorectal cancer-focused nonprofit supporting research, patient services, and advocacy. Comparable as a GI-cancer-specific mission-aligned foundation.
• Lustgarten Foundation: Pancreatic cancer research-focused foundation and one of the largest private funders of pancreatic cancer research. Closest disease-specific peer to Eisenberg's GI-cancer mission given shared pancreatic/GI-cancer focus.
• NAIOP Foundation: Research and education foundation of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association. Directly comparable as a CRE-industry-aligned grantmaking and education foundation serving students and professionals.
• Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research: Foundation dedicated to pancreatic cancer research and patient support. Comparable disease-specific research funding model with similar community fundraising events and academic research partnerships.
• Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN): National organization advancing pancreatic cancer research, patient services, and advocacy. Directly comparable as a disease-specific research and support organization focused on one of the cancers Eisenberg funds.
• V Foundation for Cancer Research: Grantmaking foundation that funds cancer research across U.S. academic medical centers. Comparable to Eisenberg's cancer-research mission as a research-focused grantmaker, though operating at much larger scale and across multiple cancer types.
• ICSC Foundation: Philanthropic arm of the International Council of Shopping Centers supporting retail real estate education and research. Comparable CRE-industry education foundation serving students and emerging professionals.
• Prevent Cancer Foundation: Foundation funding cancer prevention and early-detection research across multiple cancer types. Comparable as a research-grantmaking cancer nonprofit, though broader in cancer scope than Eisenberg.
• Real Estate Education Foundation (REEF): Nonprofit supporting real estate education through scholarships and programs. Comparable education-focused grantmaking model serving students pursuing real estate careers.

Broad incumbents

• American Cancer Society: The largest U.S. cancer nonprofit funding research, patient support, and advocacy across all cancer types. Comparable as a cancer-focused grantmaker and donor-activation organization, though vastly broader in scope and resources.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/eisenbergfndtn
• Facebookfacebook.com/EisenbergFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/harold-e-eisenberg-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation