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Bessie Shields Foundation Xxxxx1004 at a glance

· Private foundation

Bessie Shields Foundation Xxxxx1004

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$61k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$123kArts & Culture$101kEducation$88kAnimals$70kRecreation & Sports$30kEnvironment$27kFood & Nutrition$12kReligion$11k
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $51k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$5,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$951k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATI$10,151
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC$7,200
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY$7,000
LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL$7,000
MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR$6,301
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF$5,500
ART INSITUTE OF CHICAGO$4,100
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN$3,500
Maryland Food Bank Inc$3,384
Paralyzed Veterans of America$3,384
Maryland SPCA$3,384
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

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

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 76% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%TEMPLE UNIVERISTY SCHOOL OF: $5k → 22%STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATI: $19k → 11%AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF: $6k → 17%Paralyzed Veterans of America: $9k → 14%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $10k → 14%Maryland Food Bank Inc: $5k → 11%Maryland SPCA: $5k → 19%STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATI: $18k → 11%AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF: $5k → 17%Paralyzed Veterans of America: $5k → 14%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $7k → 14%Maryland Food Bank Inc: $4k → 11%Maryland SPCA: $4k → 19%STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATI: $16k → 11%AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF: $4k → 17%Paralyzed Veterans of America: $4k → 14%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $7k → 14%STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATI: $10k → 11%AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF: $4k → 17%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $7k → 14%STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATI: $9k → 11%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $6k → 14%Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundati: $5k → 11%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $6k → 14%Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundati: $4k → 11%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $6k → 14%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $5k → 14%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $4k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $9k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $8k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $8k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $7k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $7k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $6k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $6k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $5k → 14%FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $5k → 14%ART INSITUTE OF CHICAGO: $6k → 14%ART INSITUTE OF CHICAGO: $6k → 14%ART INSITUTE OF CHICAGO: $4k → 14%ART INSITUTE OF CHICAGO: $4k → 14%ART INSITUTE OF CHICAGO: $4k → 14%ART INSITUTE OF CHICAGO: $4k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%WINDOW TO THE WORLD: $6k → 14%WINDOW TO THE WORLD: $5k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$457k · 14 repeat orgs$5k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against -1% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
2

Total granted

$457k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
-1%

Still filing today

64%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthEducationAnimalsArts & CultureRecreation & SportsEnvironmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). 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

  • STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION
    7× · 2019–2025 · $80k · revenue ×12
  • THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH
    8× · 2018–2025 · $44k · revenue +479%
  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
    9× · 2017–2025 · $40k · revenue +45%

Funded once

  • GS
    GOOD SHEPHERD HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
  • PH
    PARMA HOSPITAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue -1%
How this is measured

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

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
University of Maryland Neurosurgeryassociates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Education
2
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.

—
3
University of Maryland Neurology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

—
4
University of Maryland Physicians Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

—
5
University of Maryland Anesthesiology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

—
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
7
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
8
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
9
University of Maryland Surgical Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
10
University of Maryland Oncology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
11
University of Maryland Dermatologists Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
12
University of Maryland Otorhino-Laryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Field Museum of Natural History; the most unlike its peers is The Maryland Food Bank Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

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

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 10 of the 16 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
6/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL: $57,969 · OtherLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICALAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF: $27,279 · OtherAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION…AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $25,700 · OtherAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INCTHE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INC: $11,884 · OtherTHE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INCWINDOW TO THE WORLD: $11,000 · OtherWINDOW TO THE WORLDTEMPLE UNIVERISTY SCHOOL OF: $7,510 · Other+1 more: $2,500 · OtherSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $80,476 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWE…THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $40,100 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGOTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $44,301 · HealthTHE MICHAEL J FO…PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA: $20,660 · HealthPARALYZED VETERA…PARMA HOSPITAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION: $2,500 · HealthFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $61,000 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM O…Northwestern University: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $27,433 · EnvironmentTHE MARYLAND SPCA INC: $11,884 · Animals
Other$143,842Education$120,576Health$67,461Arts & Culture$61,000Recreation & Sports$30,000Environment$27,433Animals$11,884

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $80,476 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $61,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $44,301 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $40,100 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $27,433 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA: $20,660 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INC: $11,884 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARYLAND SPCA INC: $11,884 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPARMA HOSPITAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

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

  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds THE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MARYLAND SPCA INC ↗
  • Who funds PARMA HOSPITAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Bessie Shields Foundation Xxxxx1004 funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bessie Shields Foundation Xxxxx1004. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • The Maryland Food Bank Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
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 a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than 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 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 16 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its 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.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Bessie Shields Foundation Xxxxx1004’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home