Illinois · Private foundation
John D and Alexandra Nichols 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.
- $5.6M
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 37
- Grants FY2025
- 42
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 36%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $3,275,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 42 to 54
- FY2020 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 8
- Total assets, FY2025
- $32M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 36% of the organizations John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 5% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $284k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 36 | $5.6M | 22% |
| FY2024 | 42 | $5.4M | 36% |
| FY2023 | 44 | $6.4M | 14% |
| FY2022 | 54 | $3.9M | 22% |
| FY2021 | 53 | $5.6M | 30% |
| FY2020 | 50 | $3.7M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Art Institute of Chicago | $11,030,000 | 6 | 1% |
| The Loomis Institute D/B/A the Loomis Chaffee School | $6,000,000 | 4 | 3% |
| Window to the World Communications Inc | $3,268,000 | 4 | 5% |
| Writers Theatre Inc | $2,355,000 | 6 | 13% |
| Ucan | $1,955,000 | 6 | 2% |
| Music Institute of Chicago | $1,751,280 | 6 | 6% |
| Foundation for Homan Square F/K/A Homan Arthington Foundation | $480,000 | 3 | 25% |
| The Joffrey Ballet | $234,325 | 6 | 0% |
| Winnetka Community House Inc | $210,000 | 3 | 4% |
| Lincoln Park Zoological Society | $115,000 | 6 | 0% |
Show all 68 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 39 recipients with no EIN on record ($2.0M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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 · Charles H and Beverly E Shaw Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Frank Family Foundation · Patrick G and Shirley W Ryan Foundation · Dr Scholl Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · The Canning Foundation · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation
How this is measured
Compare John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation?
Find your warmest path to John D and Alexandra Nichols 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.
About John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation
- How much does John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation give?
- John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation reported 37 grants totaling $5,647,344 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 42 and 54 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2024.
- What does John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (68%), Education (20%), Youth Development (7%).
- Who are John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2020 to FY2025: The Art Institute of Chicago ($11M), The Loomis Institute D/B/A the Loomis Chaffee School ($6.0M), Window to the World Communications Inc ($3.3M).
- Does John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 36% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, Charles H and Beverly E Shaw Foundation, John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation.
- Where is John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation based?
- John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation is based in IL.
Play a game based on John D and Alexandra Nichols Family’s filings →