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John and Betsy McLinden Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

John and Betsy McLinden Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$40k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$24k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$48kAnimals$38kEducation$14kInternational$13kCivil Rights$13kRecreation & Sports$11kPhilanthropy$9kHealth$7kOther$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $500
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $39k
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$347k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CLAYCO FOUNDATION FOR ILLUMINATION FUNDRAISER$24,081
LINCOLN PARK ZOO$15,000
1916 REDAN FOUNDATION$500
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 (FY17–20, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HAVEN YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $1k → 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

IL
WI
NY
MA
IA
OH
PA
CT
CA
CO
DC
GA
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.

46%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$78k · 7 repeat orgs$93k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
31

Total granted

$78k
$92k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
+16%

Still filing today

71%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $500 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthRecreation & SportsInternationalArts & CultureOther
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

  • RP
    READING POWER INC
    3× · 2017–2023 · $2k · revenue +267%
  • RT
    RESTORING THE PATH
    2× · 2018–2020 · $2k · revenue +307%
  • TV
    THE VOLUNTEER CENTER
    3× · 2017–2020 · $1k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • LP
    LINCOLN PARK CONSERVATORY
    one grant, 2019 · $16k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - GRASSKAMP FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $11k
  • U
    UNICEF
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago

Achieving international impact through world-class research and education in fundamental computer science and information technology.

Education
3
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
4
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
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
7
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
8
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
9
The Rand Corporation

Help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

Public Benefit
10
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
11
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
12
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Theatre Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is 1916 Redan 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

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 40 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)
4
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

CLAYCO FOUNDATION FOR ILLUMINATION FUNDRAISER: $31,581 · OtherCLAYCO FOUNDATION FOR ILLUMINATION FUNDRAISERLINCOLN PARK CONSERVATORY: $15,500 · OtherLINCOLN PARK CONSERVATORYUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - GRASSKAMP FOUNDATION: $10,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - GRASSKAMP FOUNDATIONUNICEF: $10,453 · OtherUNICEFPEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: $10,000 · OtherPEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAYCLAY COUNTY FOUNDATION: $7,500 · OtherCLAY COUNTY FOUNDATION+20 more: $21,700 · Other+20 moreLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $37,500 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL …University of Chicago: $10,000 · EducationIllinois Institute of Technology: $1,000 · Education1916 REDAN FOUNDATION: $500 · Education+1 more: $200 · EducationTHE BAIL PROJECT INC: $5,000 · Crime & LegalRheumatology Research Foundation: $3,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $500 · HealthMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $500 · HealthHAVEN YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC: $1,550 · Human ServicesGRAHAMS FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $2,500 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $500 · International
Other$107,234Animals$37,500Education$11,700Crime & Legal$5,000Health$4,000Human Services$3,550International$3,000

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 budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $37,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BAIL PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRheumatology Research Foundation: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREADING POWER INC: $2,050 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRESTORING THE PATH: $1,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE VOLUNTEER CENTER: $1,100 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetSTEEP ROCK ASSOCIATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGRAHAMS FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetIllinois Institute of Technology: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $900 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget1916 REDAN FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $200 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.

The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation IncNC7.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · 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 John and Betsy McLinden Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from John and Betsy McLinden Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 19%
  • Steep Rock Association Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 40 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on John and Betsy McLinden’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