Skip to content
Butler Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Butler Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
63
Grants FY2025still arriving
15
States reached
$452k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Religion$2.0MHealth$1.7MEducation$1.5MArts & Culture$1.3MRecreation & Sports$546kHuman Services$428kEnvironment$396kPhilanthropy$215kOther$0
02FY2025 · 63 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $78k
  • $10k–50k41 grants · $658k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $645k
  • $250k+1 grant · $452k
$10,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY INC - METRO NY REGION NOW BLOOD CARE UNITED$451,650
RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION$160,000
JACKSON LABORATORY$158,333
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT$156,500
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$116,000
GREAT LAKES ADAPTIVE SPORTS ASSOC$54,025
BROOKS SCHOOL$38,000
COLGATE UNIVERSITY$30,000
SOUTHWESTERN HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL$30,000
MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA$30,000
PHOENIX SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION$25,000
GROTON SCHOOL$25,000
WAY OF THE RAIN INC$25,000
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY$25,000
ELAWA FARM FOUNDATION$24,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY21–25, $368k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MYOSITIS ASSOCIATION: $10k → 6%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $8k → 14%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $60k → 14%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $35k → 14%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $25k → 14%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $20k → 14%ABILITY 360 INC: $5k → 11%ABILITY 360 INC: $5k → 11%ABILITY 360 INC: $5k → 11%ABILITY 360 INC: $5k → 11%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $20k → 14%ABILITY 360 INC: $5k → 11%MOTHERS TR FOUNDATION: $60k → 8%REVIVE CENTER FOR HOUSING AND HEALING: $15k → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $15k → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $5k → 14%MOTHERS TR FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 8%MOTHERS TR FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 8%FOREST PARK PRESERVATION CORPORATION: $5k → 8%FOREST PARK PRESERVATION CORPORATION: $5k → 8%LITTLE BROTHERS-FRIENDS OF THE ELDERLY: $10k → 14%CHILDRENS HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILLINOIS: $5k → 14%CRADLE FOUNDATION: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
WY
IN
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
NM
KS
NC
DC
GA
FL
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.1M · 83 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

83 repeat relationships: 52 still active in FY2025, 31 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

83
53

Total granted

$6.1M
$778k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+15%

Still filing today

87%
87%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $540k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
    5× · 2021–2025 · $443k · revenue +43%
  • TJ
    THE JACKSON LABORATORY
    5× · 2021–2025 · $338k · revenue +14%
  • GL
    GREAT LAKES ADAPTIVE SPORTS ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $326k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • LL
    LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY INC - METRO NY REGION
    one grant, 2024 · $84k
  • PH
    PROJECT HOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $58k · revenue +75%
  • PC
    Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +10%
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
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.

—
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
4
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
5
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
6
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.

—
7
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
8
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
9
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
10
Lake Forest Academy

Lake forest academy strives to embody in its practices - and to cultivate in its students -excellence of character, scholarship, citizenship, and responsibility.

Education
11
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
12
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is Stonington Village Improvement Assoc 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

130 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 130 of the 149 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
130/130
Grantees still filing
88/130
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY INC - METRO NY REGION NOW BLOOD CARE UNITED: $451,650 · OtherLEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY INC - METRO…CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: $306,500 · OtherCHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRITMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $235,000 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICASOUTHWESTERN HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL: $150,000 · OtherSOUTHWESTERN HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOLLAKE FOREST COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $130,000 · OtherCANEY CREEK COMMUNITY CENTER - ALICE LLOYD COLLEGE: $100,000 · Other+49 more: $1,212,166 · Other+49 moreTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $443,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICA…DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: $160,000 · EducationDOMINICAN UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION: $120,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCH…COLGATE UNIVERSITY: $115,000 · EducationCOLGATE UNIVERSITYVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $105,000 · EducationVILLANOVA UNIVERSITYRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $75,000 · EducationLake Forest College: $75,000 · EducationST STEPHEN'S AND ST AGNES SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $70,000 · EducationCHAMPS MALE MENTORING PROGRAM - CHIRISE: $60,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC: $60,000 · Education+22 more: $472,764 · Education+22 moreTHE JACKSON LABORATORY: $338,333 · HealthTHE JACKSON LABOR…GREAT LAKES ADAPTIVE SPORTS ASSOCIATION: $326,025 · HealthGREAT LAKES ADAPT…CANCER WELLNESS CENTER: $95,000 · HealthCANCER WELLNESS C…BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $92,950 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNIT…Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation: $50,000 · HealthPhoenix Children's Hospital: $50,000 · HealthCOURAGEOUS PARENTS NETWORKINC: $45,000 · HealthTHE WOMAN'S BOARD OF NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $43,000 · Health+9 more: $116,000 · Health+9 moreRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $235,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTI…BALLET ARIZONA: $105,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET ARIZON…FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $103,000 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM …PHOENIX SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $87,500 · Arts & CulturePHOENIX SYMPH…RENDEZVOUS ARTS: $55,000 · Arts & CultureRENDEZVOUS AR…ELAWA FARM FOUNDATION: $54,000 · Arts & CultureELAWA FARM FO…EITELJORG MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INDIANS AND WESTERN ART INC: $40,000 · Arts & CultureSTONINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $32,500 · Arts & Culture+13 more: $199,100 · Arts & Culture+13 moreAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $160,000 · Human ServicesMothers Trust Foundation: $80,000 · Human ServicesGUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesABILITY360 INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesGorton Community Center: $20,000 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $20,000 · Human ServicesREVIVE CENTER FOR HOUSING AND HEALING: $15,000 · Human Services+6 more: $47,500 · Human ServicesLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION: $152,500 · EnvironmentBRUSHWOOD CENTER AT RYERSON WOODS: $70,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: $65,000 · EnvironmentURBAN RIVERS INC: $45,000 · EnvironmentPRESERVATION FOUNDATION OF THE LAKE COUNTY FOREST PRESERVES: $30,000 · Environment+2 more: $10,000 · EnvironmentNorthwestern University: $170,000 · Recreation & SportsJOHN AUSTIN CHELEY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF LAKE FOREST PARKS & REC FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsWEST END HOUSE INC: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$2,585,316Education$1,755,764Health$1,156,308Arts & Culture$911,100Human Services$427,500Environment$372,500Recreation & Sports$210,000

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 budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $443,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JACKSON LABORATORY: $338,333 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREAT LAKES ADAPTIVE SPORTS ASSOCIATION: $326,025 over 5y, 11% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $235,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $235,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNorthwestern University: $170,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: $160,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $160,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION: $152,500 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetLAKE FOREST COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $130,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION: $120,000 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetCOLGATE UNIVERSITY: $115,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET ARIZONA: $105,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $105,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $103,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCANCER WELLNESS CENTER: $95,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $92,950 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPHOENIX SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $87,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMothers Trust Foundation: $80,000 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $75,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $75,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLake Forest College: $75,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetST STEPHEN'S AND ST AGNES SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetBRUSHWOOD CENTER AT RYERSON WOODS: $70,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: $65,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetGUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY ACTION NETWORK: $60,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetCHAMPS MALE MENTORING PROGRAM - CHIRISE: $60,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT HOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $57,500 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCulver Educational Foundation: $56,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetORCHARD SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $55,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetRENDEZVOUS ARTS: $55,000 over 4y, 35% of budgetELAWA FARM FOUNDATION: $54,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetPhoenix Children's Hospital Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPhoenix Children's Hospital: $50,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetALLIES FOR COMMUNITY BUSINESS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBROOKS SCHOOL: $48,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOURAGEOUS PARENTS NETWORKINC: $45,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $45,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL SANCTUARY OF THE ST CROIX VALLEY: $45,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetURBAN RIVERS INC: $45,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetTHE WOMAN'S BOARD OF NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $43,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetEITELJORG MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INDIANS AND WESTERN ART INC: $40,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetHistory Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff: $40,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetUNION LEAGUE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGROTON SCHOOL: $39,431 over 2y, 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.

The Chicago Community…John and Kathleen Sch…Clarks Fork FoundationThe Buchanan Family F…Hedberg Foundation IncHarold M & Adeline S …AbbVie FoundationLittle Orchard Founda…Garrett Family Founda…David D & Mary F Grum…The Gorter Family Fou…The Grainger Foundati…
The Chicago Community TrustIL42.6× affinity40 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy · Clarks Fork Foundation · The Buchanan Family Foundation · Hedberg Foundation Inc · Harold M & Adeline S Morrison Family Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Little Orchard Foundation · Garrett Family Foundation · David D & Mary F Grumhaus Fund · The Gorter Family Foundation · The Grainger Foundation Inc

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 Butler Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Butler Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Triangle Inc: 90% of income from government
  • West End House Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Stonington Village Improvement Assoc Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Berklee College of Music Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
25report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 149 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 Butler 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