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Richard and Judith Stern Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Richard and Judith Stern 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.

$49k
Granted FY2025still arriving
17
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Philanthropy$84kHealth$69kReligion$45kEnvironment$41kEducation$37kInternational$34kArts & Culture$33kSocial Science$30kOther$0
02FY2025 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,500
Median grant
8
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL WOMENS LAW CENTER$5,000
JAPAN SOCIETY$5,000
CHICAGO PSYCHOANALYTIC INSTITUTE$5,000
THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$4,000
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND$3,000
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE$3,000
LINCOLN PARK ZOO$3,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO$3,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LABORATORY$2,500
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$2,500
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER$2,500
NEW ISRAEL FUND$2,000
SANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION$2,000
THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR$2,000
NEWMAN NATION$1,500
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 (FY20–22, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 49% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%SOAR: $100 → 11%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CHICAGOLAND AND NORTHWEST INDIANA: $500 → 7%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CHICAGOLAND AND NORTHWEST INDIANA: $500 → 7%AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND: $400 → 7%AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND: $400 → 7%AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND: $400 → 7%AMERICAN RED CROSS OF GREATER CHICAGO: $500 → 14%JEWISH CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 14%JEWISH CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $500 → 14%JEWISH CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES: $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

NH
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
TN
DC
OK
AL
GA
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$382k · 69 repeat orgs$49k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

69 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 58 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

69
15

Total granted

$382k
$37k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
0%

Still filing today

68%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $13k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalHealthEducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsCrime & LegalOther
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

  • JU
    JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
    3× · 2020–2022 · $75k · revenue +13%
  • CP
    CHICAGO PSYCHOANALYTIC INSTITUTE
    5× · 2021–2025 · $30k · revenue +1%
  • Rocky Mountain Institute
    5× · 2020–2025 · $26k · revenue +183%

Funded once

  • WJ
    WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS (AMERICAN SECTION) INC
    one grant, 2022 · $15k · revenue -40%
  • GD
    GEORGETOWN DAY SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -7%
  • PAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +11%
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
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
2
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
3
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
4
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
5
Committee to Protect Journalists Inc

The committee to protect journalists promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. cpj ensures the free flow of news and commentary by taking action wherever…

Civil Rights
6
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
7
International Crisis Group

Crisis group works to prevent and resolve deadly conflict around the world by informing and influencing the perceptions and actions of policymakers and other key conflict actors. to this end, we endeavour to talk to all sides and provide…

International
8
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.

—
9
Council On Foreign Relations Inc

The council on foreign relations (cfr) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and…

International
10
International Life Sciences Institute

Ilsi is a global, nonprofit federation dedicated to generating and advancing emerging science and groundbreaking research to ensure foods are safe, nutritious and sustainable, and that they improve planetary and human health and well-being…

Science & Tech
11
American National Standards Institute

To enhance both the global competitiveness of u.s. business and the u.s. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

Public Benefit
12
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is International Center for Research On Women; the most unlike its peers is Newman Nation. 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

62 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. 62 of the 90 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
61/62
Grantees still filing
44/62
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WJC AMERICAN SECTION (WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS): $30,000 · OtherWJC AMERICAN SECTION (WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS)Rocky Mountain Institute: $26,000 · OtherRocky Mountain InstituteMAYO CLINIC: $18,500 · OtherMAYO CLINICALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH: $15,000 · OtherALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCHJAPAN SOCIETY INC: $11,000 · OtherWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $9,000 · Other+57 more: $110,650 · Other+57 moreJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $75,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND…+1 more: $100 · PhilanthropyTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $15,000 · EducationTHE ART INST…University of Chicago: $11,500 · EducationUniversity o…PROCTOR ACADEMY: $10,500 · EducationPROCTOR ACAD…GEORGETOWN DAY SCHOOL: $10,000 · EducationGEORGETOWN D…CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $2,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationNEW ISRAEL FUND: $14,000 · InternationalAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $6,000 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INC: $6,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN: $2,000 · InternationalAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR SHAARE ZEDEK HOSPITAL IN JERUSALEM INC: $1,500 · International+4 more: $2,075 · InternationalCHICAGO PSYCHOANALYTIC INSTITUTE: $30,000 · Social ScienceTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $15,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $3,000 · HealthFRIENDS OF YAD SARAH INC: $1,500 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,500 · HealthAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH: $1,500 · HealthISRAEL CHILDRENS CANCER FOUNDATION INC: $900 · Health+1 more: $200 · HealthWORLD JEWISH CONGRESS (AMERICAN SECTION) INC: $15,000 · Religion
Other$220,150Philanthropy$75,100Education$50,000International$35,575Social Science$30,000Health$23,600Religion$15,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PSYCHOANALYTIC INSTITUTE: $30,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetRocky Mountain Institute: $26,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $15,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD JEWISH CONGRESS (AMERICAN SECTION) INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $15,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ISRAEL FUND: $14,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $11,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJAPAN SOCIETY INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPROCTOR ACADEMY: $10,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGETOWN DAY SCHOOL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $6,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEWMAN NATION: $4,750 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $4,150 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Child and Family Services: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR SHAARE ZEDEK HOSPITAL IN JERUSALEM INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF YAD SARAH INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INC: $1,200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $1,200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CHICAGOLAND & NW INDIANA: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK COOPERATIVE NURSERY SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetISRAEL CHILDRENS CANCER FOUNDATION INC: $900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC: $900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Anti-Cruelty Society: $600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $600 over 3y, 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.

John D and Catherine …National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL13.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Richard and Judith Stern Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Richard and Judith Stern 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%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Feed the Children Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 90 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Richard and Judith Stern 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