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Michael and Pamela Gordon Family Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Michael and Pamela Gordon 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.

$46k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$9.5MRecreation & Sports$120kArts & Culture$45kPhilanthropy$41kCivil Rights$26kReligion$24kHousing & Shelter$13kPublic Safety & Disaster$6kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $31k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$132k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HIGH JUMP$15,000
HORATIO ALGER ASSOCIATION OF CANADA$8,367
JEWISH UNITED FUND$5,000
AMERICA RED CROSS$5,000
BROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES$5,000
TEMPLE SHOLOM OF CHICAGO$4,000
CHICAGO AREA RUNNERS ASSOCIATION$2,000
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO$1,000
START EARLY$1,000
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 (FY19–24, $14k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, 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%BROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES: $5k → 17%BROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES: $5k → 17%BROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES: $2k → 17%BROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES: $1k → 17%CIRCESTEEM: $500 → 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

ME
VT
MN
IL
NY
MA
IA
PA
NJ
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.

4%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$346k · 11 repeat orgs$9.5M to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
24

Total granted

$346k
$9.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+36%

Still filing today

82%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationRecreation & SportsArts & CultureHuman ServicesCrime & LegalCivil RightsOther
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

  • Northwestern University
    4× · 2019–2023 · $100k · revenue +34%
  • HJ
    HIGH JUMP
    5× · 2020–2024 · $84k · revenue +21%
  • AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE
    2× · 2020–2023 · $26k · revenue +68%

Funded once

  • PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $1.9M · revenue +44%
  • WC
    Wellesley Collegegraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $1.9M · revenue +42%
  • PA
    President and Fellows of Middlebury Collegegraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $1.9M · revenue +28%
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
3
President and Fellows of Harvard College

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

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
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
6
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
7
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
8
Lake Forest College

Provide post-secondary education leading to a baccalaureate degree. Program service expenditures are made in conjunction with the operation of a liberal arts college spread over 107 acres with approximately 63 educational and support…

Education
9
Illinois College

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…

Education
10
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
11
Roosevelt University

Roosevelt university is an independent, non-profit, metropolitan university and national leader in educating socially conscious citizens for active and dedicated lives as leaders in their professions and their communities. the university's…

—
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Carleton College; the most unlike its peers is Start Early. 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

29 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. 29 of the 38 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/29
Grantees still filing
22/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE: $1,875,000 · EducationPRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGEWellesley College: $1,875,000 · EducationWellesley CollegePresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $1,875,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Middlebury CollegeWilliams College: $1,875,000 · EducationWilliams CollegeCARLETON COLLEGE: $1,875,000 · EducationCARLETON COLLEGE+7 more: $134,350 · EducationNorthwestern University: $100,000 · Recreation & SportsChicago Area Runners Association: $12,000 · Recreation & SportsUNITED STATES SOCCER FEDERATION: $7,500 · Recreation & SportsHORATIO ALGER ASSOCIATION OF CANADA: $31,117 · OtherNORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $25,500 · OtherTEMPLE SHOLOM OF CHICAGO: $21,900 · OtherAMERICA RED CROSS: $5,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF NEW YORK: $5,000 · Other+12 more: $9,575 · OtherAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $25,500 · Civil RightsCHICAGO CHILDREN'S THEATRE: $13,075 · Arts & CultureTUTORING CHICAGO: $11,000 · Arts & CultureBROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES INC: $13,000 · Human ServicesCIRCESTEEM INC: $500 · Human ServicesJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Education$9,509,350Recreation & Sports$119,500Other$98,092Civil Rights$25,500Arts & Culture$24,075Human Services$13,500Philanthropy$10,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE: $1,875,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetWellesley College: $1,875,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $1,875,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWilliams College: $1,875,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCARLETON COLLEGE: $1,875,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNorthwestern University: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH JUMP: $83,600 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE: $25,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFrancis W Parker School: $23,250 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO CHILDREN'S THEATRE: $13,075 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBROADWAY HOUSING COMMUNITIES INC: $13,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Area Runners Association: $12,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTUTORING CHICAGO: $11,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES SOCCER FEDERATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSTART EARLY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLITERACY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMobilization for Justice Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPlanned Parenthood of Illinois: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE: $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCIRCESTEEM INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEGAL AID CHICAGO: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHICAGO BAR FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHIPPS NEIGHBORHOODS INC: $175 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $150 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 Sidley Austin Fou…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …The Goldman Sachs Cha…The Blackbaud Giving …Polk Bros Foundation …The New York Communit…Gs Donor Advised Phil…National Philanthropi…Jewish Communal FundAmerican Endowment Fo…
The Sidley Austin FoundationIL23.9× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Sidley Austin Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · The New York Community Trust · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Jewish Communal Fund · American Endowment 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 Michael and Pamela Gordon Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michael and Pamela Gordon Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Middlebury College: 1% of income from government
  • Wellesley College: 1% of income from government
  • Williams College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
8report 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.

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 38 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 Michael and Pamela Gordon 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