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Nicklas Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Nicklas Family Foundation

Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$100k
Granted FY2022
3
Grants FY2022
2
States reached
$50k
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 2022.

Health$265kEducation$265kPhilanthropy$220kCommunity Improvement$160kSocial Science$100kReligion$50kHuman Services$25kPublic Safety & Disaster$15kOther$0
02FY2022 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$25,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$50,000
STANFORD GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 80% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AMHERST COLLEGE: $50k → 12%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $45k → 8%LA POLICE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%OTSEGO LAND TRUST: $10k → 13%CLUBHOUSE INTERNATIONAL: $5k → 17%AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTION: $50k → 14%THE UNIT SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $20k → 16%AMHERST COLLEGE: $25k → 12%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $25k → 8%PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $150k → 14%DIFFERENT ABLE FOUNDATION: $100k → 17%AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTION: $50k → 14%STANFORD HOOVER INSTITUTION: $25k → 8%DIFFERENT & ABLE FOUNDATION: $40k → 17%AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTION: $50k → 14%STANFORD GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL: $25k → 8%DIFFERENT & ABLE FOUNDATION: $40k → 17%AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: $25k → 14%STANFORD HOOVER INSTITUTION: $25k → 8%DIFFERENT ABLE FOUNDATION: $30k → 17%STANFORD HOOVER INSTITUTION: $25k → 8%THE BRICK CHURCH: $25k → 17%STANFORD GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL: $25k → 8%THE BRICK CHURCH: $25k → 17%STANFORD GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL: $25k → 8%DIFFERENT & ABLE FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE: $25k → 17%WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE: $25k → 17%WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE: $25k → 17%WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE: $25k → 17%WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE: $10k → 17%NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: $25k → 17%CARNEGIE HILL NEIGHBORS: $10k → 17%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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 23% of Nicklas Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Nicklas Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

73%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$755k · 7 repeat orgs$285k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +88% since the first grant, against +47% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2022, 4 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
9

Total granted

$755k
$285k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+88%
+47%

Still filing today

29%
89%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22
PhilanthropyEducationCommunity ImprovementEnvironmentHealthSocial ScienceOther
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

  • DA
    DIFFERENT & ABLE FOUNDATION
    4× · 2018–2021 · $220k · revenue +1%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    3× · 2020–2022 · $150k
  • WC
    WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE
    5× · 2017–2021 · $110k

Funded once

  • PC
    PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $150k · revenue +57%
  • NY
    New York Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue +30%
  • AE
    AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCHgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +47%
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
National Science and Technology Medals Foundation Inc

The nstmf's mission is to build inclusive stem communities across the united states. fundamental to these communities are the significant, inspirational connections we foster between the individuals who have received national recognition…

—
2
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
3
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
4
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

We educate the next generation of leaders to improve the health of our society.

Education
5
The Graduate Center Foundation Inc

The graduate center foundation is committed to promoting and safe-guarding the success of the graduate center by raising funds and managing and investing donations for use by the graduate center. the board of trustees of the foundation…

—
6
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
7
The Central European University

Ceu is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. it aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social…

International
8
Drexel University

Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…

Education
9
Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

The trustees of the university of pennsylvania (the "university") sees itself as having a public service mission. in such regard, the university aims to provide a rich and diverse educational environment for its students; to pioneer…

Education
10
Hillsdale College

Hillsdale college is a private liberal arts college with approximately 1,500 students. founded in 1844, the college remains, in the words of its articles of association, "grateful to god for the inestimable blessings resulting from the…

Education
11
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
12
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Amherst College Trustees; the most unlike its peers is Different & Able Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

11 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. 11 of the 17 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)
11/11
Grantees still filing
9/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $150,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientWEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE: $110,000 · OtherWEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGESTANFORD GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL: $75,000 · OtherSTANFORD GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLIndividual grant recipient: $75,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE BRICK CHURCH: $50,000 · OtherTHE BRICK CHURCH+1 more: $15,000 · OtherDIFFERENT & ABLE FOUNDATION: $220,000 · PhilanthropyDIFFERENT & ABLE FOUNDATIONPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $150,000 · PhilanthropyPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATIONGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $25,000 · PhilanthropyGARY SINISE FOUNDATIONAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $75,000 · EducationAMHERST COLLEGE TRU…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $70,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTE…New York University: $25,000 · EducationNew York UniversityUNIT SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $20,000 · EducationUNIT SCHOLARSHIP FU…AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $25,000 · Social ScienceCARNEGIE HILL NEIGHBORS INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementOTSEGO LAND TRUST: $10,000 · EnvironmentINTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR CLUBHOUSE DEVELOPMENT INC: $5,000 · Health
Other$475,000Philanthropy$395,000Education$190,000Social Science$25,000Community Improvement$10,000Environment$10,000Health$5,000

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 budgetAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNew York University: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIT SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetCARNEGIE HILL NEIGHBORS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetOTSEGO LAND TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% 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.

Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Nicklas Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Nicklas 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Amherst College Trustees: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Nicklas Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Nicklas 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.

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 17 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2023) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2022, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Nicklas 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