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Filkins Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Filkins 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.

$35M
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$21M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$42MInternational$23MCommunity Improvement$2.7MPhilanthropy$1.1MHuman Services$114kRecreation & Sports$71kCivil Rights$51kSocial Science$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $31k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $60k
  • $250k+3 grants · $35M
$1,063,280
Median grant
3
States reached
$113M
Total assets

Anchored by a single position: about 99% of reported assets are held in Berkshire Hathaway Class A.

Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC DBA CURE BLINDNESS PROJECT$20,702,516
ORBIS$12,790,068
NANCY LF DAVIS FAMILY FOUNDATION$1,063,280
WESTSIDE FOUNDATION$60,000
METROPOLITAN OMAHA MEDICAL SOCIETY$31,349
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 (FY19–23, $216k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, 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%SHARE-A-FARE: $5k → 12%GIFT OF SIGHT: $68k → 12%GIFT OF SIGHT: $66k → 12%GIFT OF SIGHT: $40k → 12%GIFT OF SIGHT: $36k → 12%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

VT
NY
NV
IA
OH
PA
CA
CO
NE
VA
NC
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$68M · 13 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
10

Total granted

$68M
$70k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+45%

Still filing today

54%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.1M 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
HealthInternationalArts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationOther
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

  • CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
    7× · 2017–2023 · $116k · revenue +63%
  • PM
    PAULI MURRAY CENTER FOR HISTORY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
    5× · 2019–2023 · $51k · revenue +148%
  • CO
    CITY OF PHILADELPHIA TRUSTEE ADMINISTERING WILLS EYE HOSPITAL
    4× · 2019–2022 · $31k · revenue +29%

Funded once

  • HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $16k · revenue +343%
  • AI
    ALBRIGHT INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2020 · $12k
  • WP
    WINTER PARK SKI EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $11k · revenue -75%
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
Doheny Eye Institute

To further the conservation, improvement and restoration of human eyesight" (mrs. doheny - 1947).

—
2
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc

The mission of dfci is to provide expert, compassionate, and equitable care to children, adults, and their families, while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. we train new…

Health
3
The Glaucoma Foundation Inc

The glaucoma foundation, inc. is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to eradicating glaucoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness. the strategy to achieve this goal is two-fold: raise public awareness concerning…

Health
4
Jaeb Center for Health Research Foundation Inc

Our mission is to expand scientific knowledge and improve public health by designing and conducting world-class clinical trials and epidemiologic research.

Unclassified
5
Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary

THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY ("THE INFIRMARY") IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT TEACHING HOSPITAL CONDUCTING PATIENT CARE AND RESEARCH. THE INFIRMARY IS A TEACHING HOSPITAL OF HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL AND AN INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH.…

Health
6
Brightfocus Foundation

Brightfocus foundation funds exceptional research worldwide to defeat alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma and provides expert information on these heartbreaking diseases. please refer to schedule o for a complete…

Health
7
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
8
Blue Nevus Melanoma Foundation

A foundation to support research for Blue Nevus Melanoma (BNM). BNM is an ultra rare condition and an aggressive form of Melanoma cancer. There is a dire need to develop new treatments and drugs for it as the standard of care for Melanoma…

Health
9
The Foundation Fighting Blindness Inc

To drive the research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures, for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, usher syndrome, and the spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases.

Health
10
The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Fdn Group

Susan g. komen 's mission is to save lives by meeting the most critical needs in our communities & investing in breakthrough research to prevent & cure breast cancer.

—
11
Oregon Health & Science University Foundation

Oregon health & science university is a nonprofit organization established in 1970 to secure private philanthropic support to advance ohsu's vital missions, and to invest and manage gifts responsibly to honor donors' wishes.

Education
12
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Associates Inc

MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR ASSOCIATES, INC. ("MEEA") IS A SPECIALTY PHYSICIAN GROUP PRACTICE. IT PROVIDES CARE FOR PATIENTS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, INC. ("MEEI"), A RELATED ORGANIZATION. THE PRACTICE SPECIALIZES IN…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is City of Philadelphia Trustee Administering Wills Eye Hospital; the most unlike its peers is Nancy Lf Davis Family Foundation. 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

17 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. 17 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC DBA CURE BLINDNESS PROJECT: $41,314,668 · OtherHIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC DBA CURE BLINDNESS PROJECTWESTSIDE FOUNDATION: $2,804,975 · OtherWESTSIDE FOUNDATION+11 more: $295,758 · OtherPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC: $22,870,998 · InternationalPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC+1 more: $15,869 · InternationalNANCY LF DAVIS FAMILY FOUNDATION: $1,063,280 · HealthCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $116,155 · Health+3 more: $46,154 · HealthGift of Sight: $210,519 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesPAULI MURRAY CENTER FOR HISTORY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: $50,978 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $4,230 · EducationColumbine Community Foundation: $2,028 · Philanthropy
Other$44,415,401International$22,886,867Health$1,225,589Human Services$215,519Arts & Culture$51,478Education$4,230Philanthropy$2,028

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC: $22,870,998 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetGift of Sight: $210,519 over 4y, 67% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $116,155 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetEYE TUMOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $76,145 over 7y, 10% of budgetPAULI MURRAY CENTER FOR HISTORY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: $50,978 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetCITY OF PHILADELPHIA TRUSTEE ADMINISTERING WILLS EYE HOSPITAL: $31,154 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC: $15,869 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWINTER PARK SKI EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10,579 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetBABY2BABY: $5,571 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHARE A FARE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $4,230 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetColumbine Community Foundation: $2,028 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.

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 FundMA3.3× affinity4 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 Filkins Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Filkins Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–40%
    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 Filkins 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