· 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k18 grants · $34k
- $10k–50k12 grants · $217k
- $50k–250k4 grants · $558k
- $250k+3 grants · $4.8M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO | $3,275,000 |
| MUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO | $912,750 |
| WRITERS THEATRE | $650,000 |
| WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE | $200,000 |
| WTTW | $158,000 |
| HARRIS THEATER | $100,000 |
| JOFFREY BALLET | $100,000 |
| LINCOLN PARK ZOO | $35,000 |
| UCAN | $30,000 |
| FIELD MUSEUM | $25,000 |
| SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITY LAB | $25,000 |
| MARINE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION | $25,000 |
| CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN | $15,000 |
| AMERICAN RED CROSS OF CHICAGO & N ILLINOIS | $12,394 |
| BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSN | $10,000 |
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 (FY20–25, $2.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 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.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +22% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.
62 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2025, 34 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
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, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $36k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- TATHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO6× · 2020–2025 · $11M · revenue +32%
- TLTHE LOOMIS INSTITUTE D/B/A THE LOOMIS CHAFFEE SCHOOL4× · 2020–2023 · $6.0M · revenue +41%
- WTWriters Theatre Inc6× · 2020–2025 · $2.4M · revenue +12%
Funded once
- HTHARRIS THEATREone grant, 2020 · $226k
- LOLyric Opera of Chicagograduatedone grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue +42%
- MAMUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INCone grant, 2024 · $75k · revenue +15%
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 chicago high school for the arts (chiarts) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar-artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory…
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…
Presenting free high-quality classical music performances and music education experiences in the Chicago metropolitan area for people of all ages and degrees of musical awareness so they can experience how music enriches life.
To inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature.
Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…
The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.
Operation of a nautical history museum.
The chicago academy for the arts transforms emerging artists through a curriculum and culture which connect intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity to impart the skills to lead and collaborate across diverse communities.
Chicago public art group brings artists and communities together to produce high-quality public art, extending and transforming the tradition of collaborative, community-involved public artwork.
Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra's mission as a professional orchestra is to utilize the universal expression of music to create profound, inspiring, and personal connections between the people and communities of Chicagos Southland.
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.
How this is measured
68 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. 68 of the 107 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 THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds THE LOOMIS INSTITUTE D/B/A THE LOOMIS CHAFFEE SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC ↗
- Who funds Writers Theatre Inc ↗
- Who funds UCAN ↗
- Who funds MUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds FOUNDATION FOR HOMAN SQUARE F/K/A HOMAN ARTHINGTON FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE JOFFREY BALLET ↗
- Who funds WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC ↗
- Who funds LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago ↗
- Who funds Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
- Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
- Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC ↗
- Who funds AFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC ↗
- Who funds MILLENNIUM PARK FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds MARINE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION INC ↗
- Who funds URBAN GATEWAYS ↗
- Who funds INGENUITY INCORPORATED CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds PAWS CHICAGO ↗
- Who funds INSTITUTE FOR THERAPY THROUGH THE ARTS ↗
- Who funds FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
- Who funds The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 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.
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
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
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.
Play a game based on John D and Alexandra Nichols Family’s filings →