Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

Bayer Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
38
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$400k
Largest
01What you fund
0189% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Health$1.7MEducation$840kArts & Culture$808kPhilanthropy$299kYouth Development$138kHuman Services$118kCivil Rights$114kReligion$107kOther$0
02FY2024 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $83k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $225k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $390k
  • $250k+2 grants · $650k
$6,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FRANCIS W PARKER SCHOOL$400,000
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FOUNDATION$250,000
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN$162,000
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORY ART$127,500
CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA$50,000
ANTI-CRUELTY SOCIETY$50,000
Individual grant recipient$30,000
TROY HIGH SCHOOL$30,000
ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM & EDUCATION CENTER$25,000
LURIE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION$25,000
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE$25,000
SUSAN G KOMEN 3 DAY$20,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
COMMIT 2 CHANGE$15,000
NAVY SEAL FOUNDATION$10,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY17–24, $97k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $3k → 11%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $16k → 17%SUNSHINE SCHOOL AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $1k → 8%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $15k → 17%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $10k → 17%GIFTS FOR THE HOMELESS: $5k → 14%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $10k → 17%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $10k → 17%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $10k → 17%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $3k → 17%COMMIT 2 CHANGE: $3k → 17%ASIAN HUMAN SERVICES: $5k → 14%ASIAN HUMAN SERVICES: $3k → 14%ASIAN HUMAN SERVICES: $3k → 14%COVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS: $1k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

NH
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
PA
CA
VA
MD
AZ
AR
TN
DC
AL
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$4.4M · 59 repeat orgs$573k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +34% since the first grant, against +24% for the ones you funded once.

59 repeat relationships — 31 still active in FY2024, 28 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

59
63

Total granted

$4.4M
$538k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+24%

Still filing today

56%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $35k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesFood & NutritionOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.” Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • UO
    University of Michigan
    7× · 2017–2024 · $600k · revenue +202% · 49% of their budget
  • FW
    Francis W Parker School
    5× · 2019–2024 · $520k · revenue +36%
  • CP
    CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $130k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • CO
    CHIKAMING OPEN LANDS
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +17%
  • WJ
    WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
  • TF
    TEMPLER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $25k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
2
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
3
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

4
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
5
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
6
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
7
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
8
City of Hope

City of Hope's mission is to make hope a reality for all touched by cancer and diabetes. PLEASE SEE SCHEDULE O FOR A CONTINUATION OF OUR MISSION

Health
9
Cancer Research and Biostatistics

To help conquer cancer and other diseases through the application of biostatistical principles and innovative data management methods.

Health
10
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
11
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
12
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Tiger Woods Foundation Inc and the most unlike its peers is The Joe Namath Charitable Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyCommunity FoundationsPolicy Research and AdvocacyEnvironmental Conservation …Animal Rescue and ShelterJewish Community Organizati…Food Banks and PantriesCancer Support ServicesChristian Youth CampsLocal History MuseumsOrchestra and Ensemble Perf…Community Arts CentersChristian Missionary Organi…School District FoundationsYouth Development Centers
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 32 years old; the field is 20. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number18%4%<5yr13%8%5–10yr18%18%10–20yr15%25%20–35yr14%21%35–55yr22%24%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value18%1%<5yr13%3%5–10yr18%12%10–20yr15%14%20–35yr14%33%35–55yr22%37%55yr+

The field is 18% startups (under 5 years old) — 4% of your grantees by number, and just 1% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 12% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/90
the rest of the field
12%
8,891/72,269

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

82 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 82 of the 129 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
81/82
Grantees still filing
57/82
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FOUNDATION — $750,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FOUNDATIONUniversity of Michigan — $599,500 · OtherUniversity of MichiganMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORY ART — $352,500 · OtherMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORY ARTTROY HIGH SCHOOL — $260,000 · OtherTROY HIGH SCHOOLIndividual grant recipient — $160,000 · OtherSUSAN G KOMEN 3 DAY — $120,000 · Other+77 more — $1,209,485 · Other+77 moreFrancis W Parker School — $520,000 · EducationFrancis W Pa…+6 more — $28,160 · EducationCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC — $130,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PU…HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC — $120,000 · Arts & CultureHOLOCAUST …NAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC — $40,000 · Arts & CultureNAVY SEAL …Brothers for Life — $30,000 · Arts & CultureBrothers f…UNITING VOICES — $30,000 · Arts & CultureUNITING VO…The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum Inc — $15,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN THEATRE WING INC — $15,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more — $60,000 · Arts & Culture+7 moreMARCH OF DIMES INC — $40,000 · HealthBoca Raton Regional Hospital Inc — $35,000 · HealthIMERMAN ANGELS — $30,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $22,500 · HealthKIDS KICKING CANCER INC — $10,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1D — $7,500 · Health+6 more — $22,000 · HealthJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO — $105,000 · PhilanthropyClayco Foundation — $18,500 · PhilanthropyNILES ATHLETIC BOOSTERS CLUB — $17,000 · PhilanthropyPAT TILLMAN FOUNDATION — $12,000 · Philanthropy+2 more — $5,816 · PhilanthropyCHIKAMING OPEN LANDS — $100,000 · EnvironmentCOMMIT-2-CHANGE — $76,500 · Human ServicesASIAN HUMAN SERVICES — $10,000 · Human ServicesGIFTS FOR THE HOMELESS — $5,000 · Human Services+3 more — $5,000 · Human Services
Other$3,451,485Education$548,160Arts & Culture$440,000Health$167,000Philanthropy$158,316Environment$100,000Human Services$96,500

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetUniversity of Michigan — $599,500 over 7y, 49% of budgetFrancis W Parker School — $520,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC — $130,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC — $120,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO — $105,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHIKAMING OPEN LANDS — $100,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetCOMMIT-2-CHANGE — $76,500 over 8y, 3.7% of budgetThe Anti-Cruelty Society — $75,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC — $40,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC — $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGLAAD INC — $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBoca Raton Regional Hospital Inc — $35,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBrothers for Life — $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetIMERMAN ANGELS — $30,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetUNITING VOICES — $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO — $28,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE — $27,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC — $22,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWINGS PROGRAM INC — $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetClayco Foundation — $18,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCAMP OUT FOR KIDS — $15,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetThe Wick Theatre & Costume Museum Inc — $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO — $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN THEATRE WING INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF — $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNICARAGUA RESOURCE NETWORK INC — $12,025 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetPAT TILLMAN FOUNDATION — $12,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetASIAN HUMAN SERVICES — $10,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDING SOUTH FLORIDA INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF ISRAELI NAVY SEALS INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPALM VALLEY ANIMAL SOCIETY FKA PALM VALLEY ANIMAL CENTER — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF BERRIEN COUNTY TRAILS — $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetSECURE COMMUNITY NETWORK INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Richard H Driehaus Museum — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKIDS KICKING CANCER INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSpanish River Concerts Inc — $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D — $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE — $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRush University Medical Center — $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPROSPER CHICAGO INC — $5,500 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetTIGER WOODS FOUNDATION INC — $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CAMP AIRY & CAMP LOUISE FOUNDATION INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Artists Coalition — $5,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetAmerican Brain Tumor Association — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds University of Michigan
  • Who funds Francis W Parker School
  • Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC
  • Who funds HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC
  • Who funds JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
  • Who funds CHIKAMING OPEN LANDS
  • Who funds COMMIT-2-CHANGE
  • Who funds The Anti-Cruelty Society
  • Who funds MARCH OF DIMES INC
  • Who funds NAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds GLAAD INC
  • Who funds Boca Raton Regional Hospital Inc
  • Who funds Brothers for Life
  • Who funds IMERMAN ANGELS
  • Who funds UNITING VOICES
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO
  • Who funds ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
  • Who funds WINGS PROGRAM INC
  • Who funds Clayco Foundation
  • Who funds NILES ATHLETIC BOOSTERS CLUB

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Polk Bros Foundation IncIL17.1× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Kovler Family Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Bayer Family Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 70%3%13%28%50%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 5%
  • Feeding South Florida Inc5% of income from government
  • The Camp Airy & Camp Louise Foundation Inc0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY2025

Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending — grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Bayer Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Bayer Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 129 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph