Children's Research Fund Junior Board

What Children's Research Fund Junior Board does

Children's Research Fund Junior Board (CRFJB) is a Chicago-based nonprofit philanthropic organization founded in 1992 and operating as the Junior Board to the Children's Research Fund — a primary philanthropic benefactor of the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The organization is staffed by 7 employees and governed by young professional board members recruited annually from the Chicago metropolitan area through a November interview process. Since its inception, CRFJB has helped raise nearly $2 million for pediatric medical research conducted at Lurie Children's and the Manne Research Institute, supporting investigations in genetics, incurable neuromuscular diseases, epilepsy, and other conditions.

CRFJB has no commercial product or technology platform; its operations are entirely philanthropic. Its business model is donation-based: funds are raised from individual donors, community members, and corporate sponsors — primarily through the Lurie Children's Hospital donation portal (my.luriechildrens.org) and recurring community events such as "Cocktails for a Cause." The organization's principal output is the award of research grants; its current flagship commitment is a 2-year, $250,000 Research Scholar grant awarded in 2024 to Dr. Alex J. Kula, a physician-scientist studying cardiorenal syndrome in young patients with kidney disease. All funded research is conducted within the Manne Research Institute and Lurie Children's Hospital infrastructure, with CRFJB serving as a fundraising and grantmaking conduit rather than a research operator.

The organization is tightly integrated with its parent institution: it shares Lurie Children's office address (225 East Chicago Avenue, Box 4, Chicago, IL 60611), operates under the Founders' Board umbrella, and routes donations through Lurie Children's systems. Membership recruitment, event management, and grant decisions are managed by volunteer board members, with no independent commercial operations, subsidiaries, or geographic footprint beyond the Chicago metropolitan area.

Name

Children's Research Fund Junior Board

Legal name

Children's Research Fund Junior Board

Website

https://crfjb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Children's Research Fund Junior Board is a Chicago-based nonprofit founded in 1992 that raises philanthropic donations from young professionals and community members to fund pediatric medical research at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Lurie Children's Hospital.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pediatric Medical Research Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Chronic Disease & Health Promotion Program Funding (HLAJALAJ)

Keywords

• Pediatric medical research
• Philanthropic fundraising
• Nonprofit grantmaking
• Community charity events
• Childhood disease research

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Donations: CRFJB raises funds through donations from individual donors, community members, and corporate sponsors. The organization channels these donations to support pediatric medical research at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute. Donations are collected via https://my.luriechildrens.org/page/44977/donate/

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CRFJB raises philanthropic funds through community-led events, individual donations, and corporate sponsorships, then channels those funds into pediatric medical research grants awarded to physician-scientists at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The organization operates a named Research Scholar grant program (currently funding Dr. Alex J. Kula with a 2-year, $250,000 award) and runs annual donor cultivation events such as "Cocktails for a Cause." Since 1992 it has helped raise nearly $2 million for translational pediatric research in genetics, neuromuscular diseases, epilepsy, and cardiorenal syndrome.

Product overview

Children's Research Fund Junior Board is a non-profit charitable organization (a philanthropic junior board), not a product or technology company. The organization operates as a fundraising entity supporting pediatric medical research conducted at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The organization does not offer commercial products or services; its activities consist of raising funds, awarding research grants (such as the CRFJB Research Scholar program funding Dr. Alex J. Kula with a 2-year, $250,000 grant), hosting events (such as Cocktails for a Cause), and recruiting board members from young professionals in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CRFJB Research Scholar Grant Program A named grant program that funds a physician-scientist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital to conduct translational pediatric medical research; the current scholar, Dr. Alex J. Kula, researches cardiorenal syndrome in young patients with kidney disease. The program is intended for pediatric researchers whose work aligns with CRFJB's translational research priorities.
• Cocktails for a Cause An annual community fundraising and donor cultivation event hosted by CRFJB in the Chicago metropolitan area that brings together young professional board members, donors, and community supporters to raise funds for pediatric medical research at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute.
• CRFJB Board Membership Membership program for young professionals in the Chicago metropolitan area who join CRFJB to support pediatric medical research; prospective members are added to a list via [email protected] and interviewed every November. Members participate in fundraising leadership, event planning, and grantmaking stewardship.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $2 million raised since 1992 for pediatric medical research
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Dr. Alex J. Kula (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Dr. Kula is the current CRFJB Research Scholar, awarded a 2-year, $250,000 grant to study cardiorenal syndrome in young patients. His research involves recruiting adolescents and young adults for cardiovascular phenotyping using exercise echocardiography and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). He is also leading a feasibility study of SGLT2i in pediatric CKD (NCT: 06430684). His work exemplifies the translational research model CRFJB supports.
• Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of ChicagoflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1992CRFJB is the Junior Board to the Children's Research Fund, a primary philanthropic benefactor of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital. The organization supports the hospital's mission of advancing discovery into new and more effective treatments for childhood diseases. The hospital provides the infrastructure, researchers, and clinical settings where CRFJB-funded research is conducted.
• Stanley Manne Children's Research InstituteflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1992CRFJB supports investigations in genetics, incurable neuromuscular diseases, epilepsy, and other conditions at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute. The institute is the research arm of Lurie Children's Hospital and represents the primary beneficiary of CRFJB fundraising efforts. CRFJB funds specific research positions, such as the current CRFJB Research Scholar Dr. Alex J. Kula.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation: Childhood cancer research grantmaking foundation; comparable mission, donor-base structure, and grantmaking model focused on pediatric disease research at research institutes and children's hospitals.
• St. Baldrick's Foundation: Volunteer-driven foundation funding childhood cancer research grants at research institutions; highly comparable community fundraising and scholar-grant model applied to pediatric medical research.
• Children's Tumor Foundation: Disease-specific pediatric research grantmaker funding NF research; comparable model of funding investigators at academic medical centers and children's hospitals for pediatric genetic and chronic disease research.
• Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation: Disease-specific pediatric research grantmaking foundation supporting research and clinical care for children with brain tumors; directly comparable pediatric research funding model with hospital partnerships.
• Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research: Volunteer-led nonprofit funding childhood cancer research through peer-reviewed grants; comparable donor mobilization, community events, and pediatric research grantmaking focus.
• CureSearch for Children's Cancer: Pediatric cancer research grantmaking nonprofit that funds translational research at children's hospitals and research institutes; directly comparable grantmaking mission and beneficiary model.
• Lurie Children's Foundation: Primary fundraising vehicle for Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago; directly comparable institution-aligned philanthropy for the same beneficiary hospital and research institute.
• Children's Research Fund: Parent flagship organization of CRFJB; raises and deploys substantially larger philanthropic capital for pediatric research at Lurie Children's. Direct peer as the umbrella junior-senior board pair supporting the same beneficiary research institute.

Emerging players

• Starlight Children's Foundation: Pediatric-focused nonprofit operating in the children's hospital ecosystem; comparable beneficiary population (Lurie Children's patients) but focused on quality of life rather than research grantmaking.

Broad incumbents

• Muscular Dystrophy Association: Large established nonprofit funding neuromuscular disease research; broader portfolio than CRFJB but directly comparable in funding pediatric neuromuscular disease research at major research institutes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/medical-research-junior-board-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Children's Research Fund Junior Board