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Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Donald R Wilson Jr 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.

$469k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$197k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Education$9.4MHealth$1.8MRecreation & Sports$1.0MPublic Benefit$450kArts & Culture$265kAnimals$155kPhilanthropy$50kHuman Services$33kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $105k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $342k
$15,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$5.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
US SAILING FOUNDATION$197,415
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO$94,983
Chicago Architecture Biennial Inc$50,000
University of RI Foundation & Alumni Engagement$39,952
Navy Seal Foundation INC$25,000
Shake-A-Leg Miami Inc$15,000
Callen Lorde Community Health Project Inc$12,500
Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center Inc$12,500
Noble Network of Charter Schools$7,000
Lincoln Park Conservancy$5,000
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum$5,000
University of Chicago$4,524
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 (FY22–25, $133k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center Inc: $13k → 17%CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL: $50k → 14%Chicago Architecture Biennial Inc: $50k → 14%CENTER ON HALSTED: $20k → 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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 11 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +25% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
14

Total granted

$12M
$930k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+17%

Still filing today

82%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsAnimalsArts & CultureHealthOther
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
    7× · 2019–2025 · $9.3M · revenue +25%
  • CI
    CATO INSTITUTE
    2× · 2022–2024 · $450k · revenue +37%
  • SA
    SHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY
    4× · 2018–2022 · $80k · revenue +56%

Funded once

  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO
    one grant, 2021 · $400k
  • PP
    Planned Parenthood of Illinoisgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +52%
  • GP
    GARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY ALLIANCEgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +93%
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
Lincoln Park Zoological Society

Lincoln park zoo is dedicated to connecting people with nature by providing a free, family-oriented wildlife experience in the heart of chicago and by advancing the highest quality of animal care, horticulture, education, science and…

Animals
2
Chicago Zoological Society

To inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature.

Animals
3
Chicago Historical Society

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history…

Arts & Culture
4
Chicago Cultural Alliance

The Chicago Cultural Alliances mission is to connect, promote, and support centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive Chicago. We are an active consortium of 50 cultural heritage museums, centers, and historical societies that…

Arts & Culture
5
Gastro Intestinal Research Foundation Inc

The GI Research Foundation works to treat, prevent, and cure digestive diseases. In collaboration with the physicians and scientists at the University of Chicago Digestive Diseases Center, we fund innovative clinical and laboratory…

Health
6
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
7
Chicago Maritime Museum

Operation of a nautical history museum.

—
8
The Chicago Bar Foundation

The chicago bar foundation brings the legal community together through advocacy, funding, and innovation to improve access to justice for people in need and to make the legal system more fair, equitable, and effective.

Education
9
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
10
A Better Chicago

A better chicago is changing how chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth.

Human Services
11
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.

—
12
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance; the most unlike its peers is The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 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 32 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
15/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

University of Chicago: $9,318,036 · EducationUniversity of Chicago+2 more: $62,000 · EducationANN & ROBERT H LURIE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF CHI: $1,200,000 · OtherANN & ROBERT H LURIE CH…US SAILING FOUNDATION: $497,415 · OtherUS SAILING FOUNDATIONCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO: $400,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF …CHICAGO YACHT CLUB: $320,000 · OtherCHICAGO YACHT CLUBGARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY ALLIANCE: $100,000 · Other+12 more: $287,452 · Other+12 moreCATO INSTITUTE: $450,000 · Public BenefitSHAKE A LEG MIAMI INC: $115,000 · HealthPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $100,000 · HealthFRIENDS OF BERRIEN COUNTY TRAILS: $100,000 · Recreation & SportsCHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $80,000 · AnimalsThe Anti-Cruelty Society: $65,000 · AnimalsALIVE Rescue NFP: $10,000 · AnimalsCHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesCenter on Halsted: $20,000 · Human ServicesLesbian and Gay Community Services Center Inc: $12,500 · Human Services
Education$9,380,036Other$2,804,867Public Benefit$450,000Health$215,000Recreation & Sports$155,000Animals$155,000Human Services$132,500

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: $9,318,036 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $450,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCHICAGO YACHT CLUB: $320,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetSHAKE A LEG MIAMI INC: $115,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY ALLIANCE: $100,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetFRIENDS OF BERRIEN COUNTY TRAILS: $100,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetCHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL INC: $100,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $80,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Anti-Cruelty Society: $65,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetNOBLE NETWORK OF CHARTER SCHOOLS: $37,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN GATEWAYS: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetGLOBAL FAIRNESS INITIATIVE: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION & ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCenter on Halsted: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLesbian and Gay Community Services Center Inc: $12,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALIVE Rescue NFP: $10,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $5,000 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.

John D and Catherine …The Chicago Community…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Paypal Charitable Giv…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Donald R Wilson Jr 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 32 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 Donald R Wilson Jr 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