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Bross Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bross Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$88k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$50k
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.

Education$169kReligion$30kArts & Culture$11kHealth$5kRecreation & Sports$1kEnvironment$750Housing & Shelter$250Philanthropy$137
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $6k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $32k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$22,250
Median grant
4
States reached
$232k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO$50,000
DIOCESE OF DALLAS$22,250
BROWN UNIVERSITY$10,000
GROTON SCHOOL$6,100
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 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 77% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GROTON SCHOOL: $12k → 8%EARTHJUSTICE: $250 → 10%KCRW FOUNDATION INC: $250 → 14%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $250 → 17%DIOCESE OF DALLAS: $22k → 14%LIVING CHURCH FOUNDATION INC: $2k → 17%MISS PORTERS SCHOOL INC: $2k → 11%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%FACETS-MULTIMEDIA INCORPORATED: $3k → 14%NATURE CONSERVANCY: $250 → 7%ST PAULS SCHOOL: $1k → 7%GROTON SCHOOL: $6k → 8%SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO: $250 → 14%BREARLEY SCHOOL: $4k → 17%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%FACETS-MULTIMEDIA INCORPORATED: $500 → 14%GROTON SCHOOL: $6k → 8%ANTAEUS COMPANY: $500 → 14%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $2k → 14%GROTON SCHOOL: $6k → 8%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%LYCEE FRANCAIS DE CHICAGO INC: $2k → 14%GROTON SCHOOL: $6k → 8%BROWN UNIVERSITY OF PROVIDENCE: $1k → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $1k → 14%GROTON SCHOOL: $5k → 8%CPS LIVES NFP: $5k → 14%GROTON SCHOOL: $5k → 8%LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $2k → 14%PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE: $2k → 8%ST CHRYSOSTOM'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $2k → 14%REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $5k → 14%PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH DIOCESE OF CHICAGO BIS: $5k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $15k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $5k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $50k → 14%THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST: $137 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
IL
WI
NY
MA
CT
RI
CA
VA
TX
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.

69%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$119k · 3 repeat orgs$55k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
18

Total granted

$119k
$33k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+41%

Still filing today

100%
89%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureEnvironmentHealthRecreation & SportsHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • University of Chicago
    2× · 2017–2025 · $70k · revenue +56%
  • GROTON SCHOOL
    5× · 2017–2025 · $46k · revenue +21%
  • FF
    Facets Film Forum
    2× · 2017–2022 · $3k · revenue -51%

Funded once

  • CL
    CPS LIVES NFPgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +141%
  • PE
    PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH DIOCESE OF CHICAGO BIS
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • RI
    Rehabilitation Institute of Chicagograduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +31%
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
2
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
3
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
4
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
7
Lake Forest College

Provide post-secondary education leading to a baccalaureate degree. Program service expenditures are made in conjunction with the operation of a liberal arts college spread over 107 acres with approximately 63 educational and support…

Education
8
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
9
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
10
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
11
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
12
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Miss Porter's School Inc; the most unlike its peers is Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. 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

23 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. 23 of the 26 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
19/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

University of Chicago: $70,000 · EducationUniversity of ChicagoGROTON SCHOOL: $46,400 · EducationGROTON SCHOOL+7 more: $13,300 · Education+7 moreBROWN UNIVERSITY: $41,000 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITYDIOCESE OF DALLAS: $22,250 · OtherDIOCESE OF DALL…PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH DIOCESE OF CHICAGO BIS: $5,000 · OtherPROTESTANT EPIS…ST CHRYSOSTOM'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $1,500 · Other+6 more: $1,387 · OtherCPS LIVES NFP: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFacets Film Forum: $3,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ANTAEUS COMPANY: $500 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $250 · Arts & CultureRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $5,000 · HealthLiving Church Foundation Inc: $1,500 · ReligionNorthwestern University: $1,000 · Recreation & Sports
Education$129,700Community Improvement$41,000Other$30,137Arts & Culture$8,750Health$5,000Religion$1,500Recreation & Sports$1,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUniversity of Chicago: $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGROTON SCHOOL: $46,400 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $41,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCPS LIVES NFP: $5,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREARLEY SCHOOL: $3,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFacets Film Forum: $3,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLycee Francais de Chicago Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMISS PORTER'S SCHOOL INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST PAUL'S SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANTAEUS COMPANY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKCRW FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $137 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.4× affinity5 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 26 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 Bross Family’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