· Private foundation
James W Thornton 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| SALVATION ARMY | $2,000 |
| MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE | $1,000 |
| GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY | $700 |
| THE ETHEL WALKER SCHOOL | $600 |
| PLANNED PARENTHOOD | $516 |
| Individual grant recipient | $500 |
| WTTW 11 | $500 |
| WORLD WILDLIFE FUND | $500 |
| Individual grant recipient | $309 |
| NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY | $300 |
| SALISBURY SCHOOL | $300 |
| AMERICAN RED CROSS | $300 |
| EASTER SEALS | $206 |
| DUKE UNIVERSITY ANNUAL FUND | $200 |
| BGA ASSOCIATION | $200 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–17, $200) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
28 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down.
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- MOMUSIC OF THE BAROQUE9× · 2017–2025 · $15k · revenue +80%
- EWETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC9× · 2017–2025 · $5k · revenue +85%
- SSSALISBURY SCHOOL INC9× · 2017–2025 · $3k · revenue +95%
Funded once
- WWWORLD WLDLIFE FUNDone grant, 2021 · $500
- NNPRone grant, 2021 · $500
- RREFUGEEONEgraduatedone grant, 2019 · $500 · revenue +332%
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.
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.
The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.
The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.
The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."
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…
The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.
The chicago theatre group is committed to producing both classic and contemporary works giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. by dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, equity, and community - the…
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…
Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.
Education and Research
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.
Smith college educates women of promise for lives of distinction and purpose. a college of and for the world, smith college links the power of the liberal arts to excellence in research and scholarship, developing leaders for society's…
Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.
How this is measured
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 35 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE ↗
- Who funds ETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC ↗
- Who funds SALISBURY SCHOOL INC ↗
- Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF THE PARKS ↗
- Who funds THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY ↗
- Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
- Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC ↗
- Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds EASTER SEALS INC ↗
- Who funds THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
- Who funds SHAWCHICAGO THEATER CO ↗
- Who funds REFUGEEONE ↗
- Who funds THE GRANT KOCH SCHOLARSHIP FUND ↗
- Who funds ALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES ↗
- Who funds Chicago Commons Association ↗
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.
Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization James W Thornton Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from James W Thornton Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on James W Thornton Family’s filings →