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John and Marilyn Wells Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

John and Marilyn Wells Family 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.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
42
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% 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$4.8MHuman Services$3.2MHousing & Shelter$2.1MEducation$2.0MPhilanthropy$684kReligion$204kMembership Benefit$200kCrime & Legal$184kOther$0
02FY2024 · 42 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k27 grants · $71k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $160k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $550k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$5,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ART$500,000
ENTERTAINMENT COMMUNITY FUND$100,000
ALEXANDRIA HOUSE$100,000
SUNNYSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH$100,000
LOS ANGELES ROOM & BOARD$100,000
MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND$100,000
LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION$50,000
CORPORATION FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING$45,000
UCLA$25,000
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS$25,000
NATIONAL FOSTER YOUTH INSTITUTE$25,000
BUTTERFLY'S HAVEN$10,000
MAYORS FUND FOR LOS ANGELES$10,000
USC CENTER ON PHILANTHROPY AND PUBLIC POLICY$10,000
UNITED WAY$10,000
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 (FY17–24, $4.2M) 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.

area typical 11%FUNDERS TOGETHER TO END HOMELESSNESS: $1k → 16%THE ONETA FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%FUNDERS TOGETHER TO END HOMELESSNESS: $1k → 16%FUNDERS TOGETHER TO END HOMELESSNESS: $1k → 16%THE COLLEAGUES: $1k → 14%DOWNTOWN WOMENS CENTER: $12k → 14%DOWNTOWN WOMENS CENTER: $5k → 14%DOWNTOWN WOMENS CENTER: $5k → 14%DOWNTOWN WOMENS CENTER: $5k → 14%DOWNTOWN WOMENS CENTER: $5k → 14%DOWNTOWN WOMENS CENTER: $5k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $1.0M → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $200k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $100k → 14%IMAGINE LA: $30k → 14%IMAGINE LA: $10k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $10k → 14%IMAGINE LA: $10k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $5k → 14%IMAGINE LA: $10k → 14%IMAGINE LA: $10k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $5k → 14%IMAGINE LA: $10k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $3k → 14%IMAGINE LA: $5k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $550k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $500k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $300k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $300k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $300k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $300k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $250k → 14%MOTION PICTURE & TELEVISION FUND: $100k → 14%JOVENES: $5k → 14%JOVENES: $5k → 14%JOVENES: $3k → 14%BUTTERFLY'S HAVEN: $10k → 14%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $30k → 14%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $30k → 14%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $25k → 14%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $25k → 14%UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $10k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 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

MN
NY
MA
OR
PA
CA
CO
KY
DC
HI
GA
TX
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 53 repeat orgs$538k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

53 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
42

Total granted

$13M
$507k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+15%

Still filing today

68%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k 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
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationInternationalPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • MP
    MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUND
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.6M · revenue +77%
  • CM
    Carnegie Mellon University
    3× · 2017–2019 · $1.5M · revenue +15%
  • AH
    ALEXANDRIA HOUSE
    7× · 2018–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • TT
    The Thacher School Incgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $150k · revenue +26%
  • SF
    STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE
    one grant, 2021 · $80k
  • AA
    ARRAY ALLIANCE INC
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue -51%
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
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
2
Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall

The organization is a non-partisan, membership based speakers' forum that connects business leaders, community members, and engaged individuals with shared interest in local, national, and global affairs. it provides an open and accessible…

International
3
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

The Television Academy is dedicated to celebrating excellence, innovation and the advancement of the telecommunications arts and sciences through recognition, education and leadership, while fostering a diverse, inclusive and accessible…

—
4
The California Channel

To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…

—
5
Cangress Dba Los Angeles Community Action Network

Community organizing, education, advocacy, leadership development, direct services and organizational development for communities faced with immense poverty.

Community Improvement
6
Los Angeles Conservancy

The los angeles conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization that works through education and advocacy to recognize, preserve, and revitalize the historic architectural and cultural resources of los angeles county.

Arts & Culture
7
Arts for La

Arts for la leads communities, artists and organizations to advocate for an equitable, healthy, and creative los angeles region through the arts.

Arts & Culture
8
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

Chamber's mission: design and advance opportunities and solutions for a thriving regional economy that are inclusive and globally competitive. 1) advocacy - be a bold advocate for business as a driver of a strong economy that enables…

—
9
Los Angeles Opera Company

To serve the public by producing world-class opera that preserves, promotes and advances the art form while embodying the diversity, spirit and artistic sensibility unique to los angeles. we envision an engaged and enlightened community in…

Arts & Culture
10
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
11
Hollywood Food Coalition

Hollywood food coalition welcomes people to dinner each night. we rescue and redistribute food daily to other organizations. we care for our immediate community through our wellness program. we build community with and through our…

—
12
Newfilmmakers Los Angeles

Works by emerging filmmkaers from around the world, providing the losangeles community of entertainment professionals and film goers with aconstant surge of monthly screening events. nfmla provides a forumwhere filmmakers can be recognized…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles; the most unlike its peers is My Dog Is My Home Inc. 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

64 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 64 of the 102 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
63/64
Grantees still filing
51/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ART: $4,250,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTCarnegie Mellon University: $1,500,000 · OtherCarnegie Mellon University+65 more: $1,349,602 · Other+65 moreMOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUND: $2,600,000 · Human ServicesMOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUNDALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $1,322,500 · Human ServicesALEXANDRIA HOUSE+10 more: $286,550 · Human Services+10 moreTHE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA: $650,000 · Membership BenefitUNITED WAY INC: $540,000 · PhilanthropySOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS: $55,325 · PhilanthropyLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $29,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $15,000 · PhilanthropyCORPORATION FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: $360,000 · Housing & ShelterLos Angeles Room & Board: $220,000 · Housing & ShelterLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $400,000 · Arts & CultureARRAY ALLIANCE INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureWRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION: $17,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $19,070 · Arts & CultureThe Thacher School Inc: $150,000 · EducationTHE COLORADO COLLEGE: $75,000 · EducationTHE SCHOOL OF LOS ANGELES: $45,000 · EducationTHE SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Education+3 more: $6,627 · Education
Other$7,099,602Human Services$4,209,050Membership Benefit$650,000Philanthropy$639,325Housing & Shelter$580,000Arts & Culture$486,070Education$291,627

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 budgetMOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUND: $2,600,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $1,500,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $1,322,500 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetTHE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA: $650,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED WAY INC: $540,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $400,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCORPORATION FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: $360,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetLos Angeles Room & Board: $220,000 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetTHE RAPE FOUNDATION: $180,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetSUNNYSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH: $175,000 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetThe Thacher School Inc: $150,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $120,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetImagine Los Angeles Inc: $85,100 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetTHE COLORADO COLLEGE: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS: $55,325 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL FOSTER YOUTH INSTITUTE: $55,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetARRAY ALLIANCE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGO FOR PAS ALLIANCE: $50,000 over 1y, 33% of budgetTHE SCHOOL OF LOS ANGELES: $45,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBig Sunday: $44,500 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetDOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER: $37,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $29,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF LOS ANGELES INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetThe Hanalei Initiative Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $21,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: $20,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetDian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc: $18,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetKAUAI FOOD BANK INC: $17,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetWRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION: $17,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetSAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH INC: $16,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $12,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJOVENES INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBUTTERFLYS HAVEN FORMERLY KNOWN AS TREEHOUSE IMPACT GROUP: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetTHE MAYOR'S FUND FOR LOS ANGELES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKCRW FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetLOOK WHAT SHE DID: $7,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ASIA SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCivic Nation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRAINBOW RAILROAD USA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALLIANCE FOR WOMEN IN MEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $3,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFUNDERS TOGETHER TO END HOMELESSNES: $3,000 over 3y, 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 MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUND ↗
  • Who funds Carnegie Mellon University ↗
  • Who funds ALEXANDRIA HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds THE ACTORS' FUND OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY INC ↗
  • Who funds LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds CORPORATION FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ↗
  • Who funds Los Angeles Room & Board ↗
  • Who funds THE RAPE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SUNNYSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH ↗
  • Who funds The Thacher School Inc ↗
  • Who funds UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds Imagine Los Angeles Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE COLORADO COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL FOSTER YOUTH INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds ARRAY ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds GO FOR PAS ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds THE SCHOOL OF LOS ANGELES ↗
  • Who funds Big Sunday ↗
  • Who funds DOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF LOS ANGELES INC ↗
  • Who funds The Hanalei Initiative Inc ↗
  • Who funds HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC ↗
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES ↗
  • Who funds Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc ↗
  • Who funds KAUAI FOOD BANK INC ↗

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.

California Community …The Ralph M Parsons F…Jewish Community Foun…Conrad N Hilton Found…Liberty Hill Foundati…Weingart FoundationThe Deutsch FoundationRosenthal Family Foun…United Way IncThe Rose Hills Founda…Greater HorizonsGs Donor Advised Phil…
California Community FoundationCA26.7× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles · Conrad N Hilton Foundation · Liberty Hill Foundation · Weingart Foundation · The Deutsch Foundation · Rosenthal Family Foundation · United Way Inc · The Rose Hills Foundation · Greater Horizons · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

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 Marilyn Wells Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from John and Marilyn Wells Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    18report 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 102 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 Marilyn Wells 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