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Fletcher Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Fletcher 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.

$330k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$116k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$665kFood & Nutrition$439kEducation$215kArts & Culture$144kHealth$139kReligion$124kRecreation & Sports$111kCrime & Legal$110kOther$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $62k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $93k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $175k
$5,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$5.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS$115,750
ELAWA FARM FOUNDATION$59,700
FOREST PARK CONSERVANCY$40,500
LAKE FOREST COLLEGE$20,000
LAKE FOREST GARDEN CLUB$12,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$10,000
LAKE FOREST CANCER CENTER$10,000
RAVINIA FESTIVAL$9,350
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN$5,000
RAVINIA NURSERY SCHOOL$5,000
CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH$5,000
DRAGON DIVAS$5,000
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT$5,000
CHISAGO LAKES AREA MIDDLE SCHOOL$5,000
COMMUNITY CHURCH$3,000
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 (FY20–25, $78k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION: $10k → 10%NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION: $10k → 10%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 8%FOREST PARK PRESERVATION: $3k → 8%GORTON COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%MOTHERS TRUST FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%FOREST PARK PRESERVATION: $1k → 8%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
WI
NY
MA
WY
IA
IN
VA
MD
AZ
NC
SC
DC
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.
$2.2M · 52 repeat orgs$179k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

52 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2025, 29 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

52
32

Total granted

$2.2M
$159k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+11%

Still filing today

60%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureEnvironmentCrime & LegalRecreation & 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

  • LF
    LAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $447k · revenue +30%
  • EF
    ELAWA FARM FOUNDATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $391k · revenue +256%
  • CA
    COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF COOK COUNTY
    6× · 2017–2023 · $98k · revenue +382%

Funded once

  • SJ
    St John's Church
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • BL
    BETHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH
    one grant, 2020 · $23k
  • NC
    NORTH CROW WING COUNTY FIRST RESPONDERS
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
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
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
3
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
4
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
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
7
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
8
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
9
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
10
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
11
Drake University

See schedule o.drake's mission is to provide an exceptional learning environment that prepares students for meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments, and responsible global citizenship. the drake experience is distinguished…

Education
12
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.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lake Forest Open Lands Association; the most unlike its peers is Camp Out for Kids. 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

49 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. 49 of the 89 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/49
Grantees still filing
36/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CARDIOVASCULAR INSTITUTE: $90,000 · OtherCARDIOVASCULAR INSTITUTEFOARE: $60,000 · OtherFOAREAQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES RESEARCH CTR: $60,000 · OtherAQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES RESEARCH CTRPelican Lakes Association: $58,000 · OtherPelican Lakes AssociationCITY OF BREEZY POINT: $50,000 · OtherCITY OF BREEZY POINTIndividual grant recipient: $45,000 · OtherLAKES AREA FOOD SHELVES: $45,000 · OtherCHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH: $44,000 · OtherFOREST PARK CONSERVANCY: $43,000 · OtherGEORGETOWN MINISTRY CENTER: $29,000 · Other+44 more: $334,125 · Other+44 moreELAWA FARM FOUNDATION: $391,400 · Arts & CultureELAWA FARM FOUNDATIONRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $59,350 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIAT…Beverly Arts Center of Chicago: $42,500 · Arts & CultureBeverly Arts Center of Ch…THE LOFT INC: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $6,500 · Arts & CultureLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION: $447,300 · EnvironmentLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS A…LAKE FOREST GARDEN CLUB: $37,000 · EnvironmentLAKE FOREST GARDEN CLUBCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $20,000 · Environment+1 more: $3,000 · EnvironmentDUKE UNIVERSITY: $36,880 · EducationLake Forest College: $23,500 · EducationTeach for America Inc: $20,000 · EducationDragon Divas: $19,500 · EducationNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $10,000 · EducationDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationMITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW: $9,500 · EducationTHE BLAKE SCHOOL: $9,000 · EducationPRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE: $8,000 · Education+4 more: $8,000 · EducationNorthwestern University: $90,000 · Recreation & SportsCAMP OUT FOR KIDS: $11,500 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF LAKE FOREST PARKS & REC FOUNDATION: $9,000 · Recreation & SportsCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF COOK COUNTY: $97,500 · Crime & Legal+2 more: $2,800 · Crime & LegalMothers Trust Foundation: $32,000 · Human ServicesGorton Community Center: $22,500 · Human ServicesNeighborhood Outreach Connection: $20,000 · Human ServicesFOREST PARK CONSERVANCY FKA FOREST PARK PRESERVATION CORPORATION: $3,500 · Human Services+2 more: $5,000 · Human Services
Other$858,125Arts & Culture$519,750Environment$507,300Education$154,380Recreation & Sports$110,500Crime & Legal$100,300Human Services$83,000

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 budgetLAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION: $447,300 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetELAWA FARM FOUNDATION: $391,400 over 6y, 6.0% of budgetCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF COOK COUNTY: $97,500 over 6y, 5.6% of budgetNorthwestern University: $90,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $59,350 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBeverly Arts Center of Chicago: $42,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetLAKE FOREST GARDEN CLUB: $37,000 over 3y, 44% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $36,880 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMothers Trust Foundation: $32,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetGEORGETOWN MINISTRY CENTER: $29,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetLake Forest College: $23,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGorton Community Center: $22,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetRAVINIA NURSERY SCHOOL: $22,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LOFT INC: $20,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetNeighborhood Outreach Connection: $20,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetDragon Divas: $19,500 over 5y, 7.0% of budgetCAMP OUT FOR KIDS: $11,500 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHistory Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BLAKE SCHOOL: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF LAKE FOREST PARKS & REC FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSURVIVAL 2 STRENGTH LLC: $9,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetPRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTED HEARTS MINISTRY: $6,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLAKES AREA MUSIC FESTIVAL: $5,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetFOREST PARK CONSERVANCY FKA FOREST PARK PRESERVATION CORPORATION: $3,500 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetEXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INC: $3,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL LOON CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGETOWN VILLAGE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRIDGEVIEW FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRenew Hope: $2,500 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIOWA STATE BAR FOUNDATION: $1,800 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetLAKES AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetESPERANZA COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMidtown-Metro Achievement Centers: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRagdale Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ADVERTISING COUNCIL INC: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds LAKE FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds ELAWA FARM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF COOK COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Beverly Arts Center of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds LAKE FOREST GARDEN CLUB ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Mothers Trust Foundation ↗
  • Who funds GEORGETOWN MINISTRY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Lake Forest College ↗
  • Who funds Gorton Community Center ↗
  • Who funds RAVINIA NURSERY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds THE LOFT INC ↗
  • Who funds Neighborhood Outreach Connection ↗
  • Who funds Dragon Divas ↗
  • Who funds CAMP OUT FOR KIDS ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY ↗

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.

Butler Family Foundat…Clarks Fork FoundationThe Chicago Community…Sheffield FoundationLittle Orchard Founda…Hedberg Foundation IncRed Bird Hollow Found…Woodward Family Chari…John and Kathleen Sch…Saint Paul & Minnesot…The Ayco Charitable F…Garrett Family Founda…
Butler Family FoundationIL24.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Butler Family Foundation · Clarks Fork Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Sheffield Foundation · Little Orchard Foundation · Hedberg Foundation Inc · Red Bird Hollow Foundation · Woodward Family Charitable Foundation · John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation D/B/A Schreiber Philanthropy · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Garrett Family 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 Fletcher Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Fletcher Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%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 · 0–75%
    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 Fletcher Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Fletcher 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 89 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 Fletcher 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