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Julie and Brian Simmons Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Julie and Brian Simmons 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.

$884k
Granted FY2024still arriving
43
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$255k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$1.6MArts & Culture$724kRecreation & Sports$694kScience & Tech$364kEnvironment$185kAnimals$153kFood & Nutrition$121kHealth$90kOther$0
02FY2024 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k17 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $309k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $281k
  • $250k+1 grant · $255k
$10,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COX SCIENCE CENTER AND AQUARIUM$255,000
CHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND$100,000
PRESERVATION OF PALM BEACH$75,000
US SKI & SNOWBOARD ASSOCIATION$55,500
RANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL$50,000
GLADES ACADEMY FOUNDATION$25,000
NANTUCKET COMMUNITY SAILING INC$25,000
EVERGLADES FOUNDATION$25,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA$25,000
SOCIETY OF THE FOUR ARTS$25,000
NORTON MUSEUM OF ART$25,000
LINCOLN PARK ZOO$18,500
GREENHOUSE SPORTS$10,257
LEEDS ENDOWMENT$10,000
THE LORDS PLACE$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, $56k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 55% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHALLENGE ASPEN: $5k → 6%UNITED WAY OF WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM: $10k → 9%CHALLENGE ASPEN: $5k → 6%CHALLENGE ASPEN: $5k → 6%LEEDS ENDOWMENT: $10k → 11%LEEDS ENDOWMENT: $5k → 11%LEEDS ENDOWMENT: $5k → 11%LEEDS ENDOWMENT: $5k → 11%LEEDS ENDOWMENT: $5k → 11%LEEDS ENDOWMENT: $600 → 11%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

ME
IL
MI
NY
MA
PA
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
KS
TN
NC
SC
DC
TX
FL
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.6M · 52 repeat orgs$658k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +35% for those funded once.

52 repeat relationships: 32 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

52
42

Total granted

$3.6M
$541k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+35%

Still filing today

87%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $117k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyEnvironmentRecreation & SportsHealthOther
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

  • TO
    TRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY
    6× · 2017–2023 · $413k · revenue +122%
  • CS
    Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc
    3× · 2022–2024 · $325k · revenue +82%
  • US
    United States Ski Association
    7× · 2017–2024 · $194k · revenue +58%

Funded once

  • WP
    WEST PALM GOLF COMMUNITY TRUST INC
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue -43%
  • CA
    CEIS ANTIFRAGILITY FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • SC
    ST CHRYSOSTOMS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
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
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
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
4
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
5
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
6
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
7
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
8
Rhode Island School of Design

The mission of rhode island school of design, through its college and museum,is to educate its students and the public in the creation and (see schedule o)appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to…

Education
9
Us Naval Academy Foundation Inc

To support, promote, and advance the mission of the naval academy.

Education
10
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
11
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
12
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nantucket Community Sailing Inc; the most unlike its peers is Faraja Fund 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

75 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. 75 of the 106 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
75/75
Grantees still filing
56/75
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: $500,000 · EducationCHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY: $412,829 · EducationTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMYTeach for America Inc: $185,000 · EducationTeach for America IncSEWICKLEY ACADEMY: $60,000 · EducationPREP FOR PREP: $55,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $54,000 · EducationGlades Academy Foundation Inc: $50,000 · EducationRANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL INC: $50,000 · Education+9 more: $41,000 · EducationPRESERVATION OF PALM BEACH: $367,000 · OtherPRESERVATION OF PALM BEACHWEST PALM GOLF COMMUNITY TRUST INC: $250,000 · OtherWEST PALM GOLF COMMUNITY TRUST INCSTART EARLY: $80,000 · OtherSTART EARLYLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $88,500 · OtherLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETYCHICAGO CARES INC: $60,500 · Other+54 more: $541,005 · Other+54 moreCox Science Center and Aquarium Inc: $325,000 · Arts & CultureCox Science Cen…The Society of the Four Arts Inc: $110,000 · Arts & CultureThe Society of …THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 · Arts & CultureTHOMAS JEFFERSO…NORTON MUSEUM OF ART INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $25,000 · Arts & CultureWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $37,000 · Arts & Culture+5 moreUnited States Ski Association: $193,500 · Recreation & SportsUnited Sta…NANTUCKET COMMUNITY SAILING INC: $184,094 · Recreation & SportsNANTUCKET …+2 more: $12,500 · Recreation & SportsTHE COLLEGE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $125,000 · PhilanthropyNANTUCKET GOLF CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · PhilanthropyCommunity Foundation for Nantucket Inc: $25,500 · PhilanthropyNANTUCKET YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 · Philanthropy+3 more: $6,500 · PhilanthropyTHE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 · Environment'SCONSET TRUST INC: $54,700 · EnvironmentSIASCONSET BEACH PRESERVATION FUND INC: $50,000 · EnvironmentNANTUCKET CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Environment+2 more: $4,923 · EnvironmentGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $85,000 · Food & NutritionPalm Beach County Food Bank Inc: $25,000 · Food & Nutrition
Education$1,407,829Other$1,387,005Arts & Culture$587,000Recreation & Sports$390,094Philanthropy$196,000Environment$184,623Food & Nutrition$110,000

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 budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: $500,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY: $412,829 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCox Science Center and Aquarium Inc: $325,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWEST PALM GOLF COMMUNITY TRUST INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetUnited States Ski Association: $193,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $185,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET COMMUNITY SAILING INC: $184,094 over 7y, 4.5% of budgetTHE COLLEGE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $125,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetThe Society of the Four Arts Inc: $110,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $88,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $85,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSTART EARLY: $80,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $60,500 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetSEWICKLEY ACADEMY: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPREP FOR PREP: $55,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budget'SCONSET TRUST INC: $54,700 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $54,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIASCONSET BEACH PRESERVATION FUND INC: $50,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetGlades Academy Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetRANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLEEDS FOUNDATION PBC INC: $30,600 over 6y, 4.2% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET GOLF CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCommunity Foundation for Nantucket Inc: $25,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPalm Beach County Food Bank Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTON MUSEUM OF ART INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Palm Beach Police and Fire Foundation Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBATH & TENNIS HISTORIC BUILDING PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $17,500 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetRehabilitation Center for Children and Adults Inc: $16,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCHALLENGE ASPEN: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPalm Beach Civic Association Inc: $12,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOAKCLIFF SAILING INCORPORATED: $12,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LORD'S PLACE INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEW YORK OPPORTUNITY NETWORK INC DBA THE OPPORTUNITY NETWORK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEVERGLADES PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNANTUCKET YACHT CLUB FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 over 5y, 9.9% 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 Ayco Charitable F…Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Goldman Sachs Cha…Community Foundation …The Chicago Community…Cme Group FoundationNational Philanthropi…Arie and Ida Crown Me…Circle of Service Fou…The New York Communit…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Bessemer Giving F…
The Ayco Charitable FoundationNY19.1× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · Cme Group Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Circle of Service Foundation · The New York Community Trust · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Bessemer Giving Fund

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 Julie and Brian Simmons Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Julie and Brian Simmons Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 170%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • The Lord's Place Inc: 12% of income from government
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Community Foundation for Nantucket Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association in: 9% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Nantucket Conservation Foundation Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Palm Beach County Food Bank Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
17get no government money at all
16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Julie and Brian Simmons Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Julie and Brian Simmons 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.

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 106 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 Julie and Brian Simmons’ 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