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Richard and Mary L Gray Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Richard and Mary L Gray Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$8.0M
Granted FY2020
43
Grants FY2020
8
States reached
$6.4M
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 2020.

Arts & Culture$8.2MPhilanthropy$6.4MEducation$5.1MEnvironment$161kHealth$107kInternational$40kCommunity Improvement$30kHuman Services$16kOther$0
02FY2020 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k27 grants · $92k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $285k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+2 grants · $7.6M
$5,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$6,370,664
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$1,197,655
PIERPONT MORGAN LIBRARY$100,000
ACCESS LIVING OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO$40,000
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$40,000
CHICAGO HUMANITIES FESTIVAL$25,000
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO$25,000
WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS$25,000
NEWBERRY LIBRARY$25,000
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO$20,000
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART$15,000
BRYN MAWR COLLEGE$15,000
MADISON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY INC$10,000
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY$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 (FY17–20, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%THE CONNECTICUT HOSPICE INC: $100 → 12%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $100 → 14%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $100 → 14%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $100 → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $250 → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $250 → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $300 → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $300 → 14%NIGHT MINISTRY: $300 → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $4k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $4k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $4k → 14%FAMILY FOCUS INC: $4k → 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
IL
MI
NY
OH
PA
CT
CA
MD
DC
TX
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.

64%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 109 repeat orgs$7.3M to everyone else

109 repeat relationships: 39 still active in FY2020, 70 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

109
40

Total granted

$13M
$888k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+49%

Still filing today

85%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 20% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6.4M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
Arts & CultureEducationInternationalHuman ServicesHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • University of Chicago
    3× · 2017–2020 · $4.8M · revenue +56%
  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
    4× · 2017–2020 · $3.9M · revenue +45%
  • CS
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    4× · 2017–2020 · $1.4M · revenue +58%

Funded once

  • GC
    GRAY COLLECTION TRUST
    one grant, 2017 · $799k · revenue -69%
  • UO
    U OF C GRAY CENTER FOR ARTS & INQUIRY
    one grant, 2018 · $50k
  • MC
    MUSEUM CAMPUS CORPORATION
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
2
The Arts Club of Chicago

The arts club of chicago was formed as a means to encourage, foster, and develop higher standards of arts craftsmanship, and to maintain the city of chicago facility for the housing of galleries and exhibitions open to the public and free…

Arts & Culture
3
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
4
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
5
Music Institute of Chicago

The music institute of chicago ("music institute") leads people toward a lifelong engagement with music, by providing widely accessible resources for high quality music teaching, performing, and service activities.

Arts & Culture
6
Boston Architectural College

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

—
7
The Richard H Driehaus Museum

The driehaus museum engages and inspires the global community through exploration and ongoing conversations in art, architecture, and design of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. its permanent collection and temporary…

Arts & Culture
8
National Academy of Design

The mission of the national academy of design is to promote the fine arts in america through exhibition and education.

Education
9
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
10
Children's Museum of Oak Park

To spark curiosity and creativity in all young children through positive, play-based learning experiences.

Arts & Culture
11
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
12
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Illinois Humanities Council Inc; the most unlike its peers is Colby College Charitable Tr. 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

127 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. 127 of the 157 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
126/127
Grantees still filing
92/127
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

University of Chicago: $4,811,058 · EducationUniversity of ChicagoTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $3,887,882 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO+16 more: $346,777 · EducationCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,370,664 · OtherCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION+65 more: $560,250 · Other+65 moreChicago Symphony Orchestra: $1,363,555 · Arts & CultureChicago Symphony O…WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $1,150,000 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORL…Chicago Humanities Festival: $180,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Humanities…+52 more: $511,230 · Arts & Culture+52 moreGRAY COLLECTION TRUST: $799,352 · Philanthropy+4 more: $43,500 · PhilanthropyHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $25,000 · InternationalPLOUGHSHARES FUND INC: $7,500 · InternationalTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $3,500 · InternationalSAVE VENICE INC: $3,000 · InternationalNEW ISRAEL FUND: $3,000 · International+2 more: $800 · InternationalFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $14,000 · Human ServicesTHE NIGHT MINISTRY: $900 · Human Services+3 more: $900 · Human ServicesMADISON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $10,000 · Environment
Education$9,045,717Other$6,930,914Arts & Culture$3,204,785Philanthropy$842,852International$42,800Human Services$15,800Environment$10,000

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 budgetUniversity of Chicago: $4,811,058 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $3,887,882 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $1,363,555 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $1,150,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetChicago Humanities Festival: $180,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $152,700 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $106,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetAccess Living of Metropolitan Chicago: $102,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $84,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $60,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $60,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMUSIC AND DANCE THEATER CHICAGO INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSTEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $35,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $30,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLANDMARKS PRESERVATION COUNCIL OF ILLINOIS: $30,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SOLTI FOUNDATION US CO Fiona Queen: $22,500 over 4y, 5.0% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $20,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Frick Collection: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHYDE PARK ART CENTER: $20,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY: $15,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $14,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMASTER DRAWINGS ASSOCIATION INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetHUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMADISON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of Florence: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNational Gallery of Art: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD MONUMENTS FUND INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRagdale Foundation: $4,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $4,077 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PARKS: $4,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetMERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSTUDENT ADVOCACY CENTER OF MICHIGAN INC: $3,250 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAVE VENICE INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWEXNER CENTER FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ISRAEL FUND: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSPERTUS INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP: $3,000 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 …The Chicago Community…Lloyd a Fry FoundationPolk Bros Foundation …Ncrc Community Develo…Jewish Federation of …Arie and Ida Crown Me…The Robert Thomas Bob…The Irving Harris Fou…Fulk Family Foundatio…Alphawood FoundationCircle of Service Fou…
John D and Catherine T Macarthur FoundationIL47.7× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Ncrc Community Development Fund Inc · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · The Robert Thomas Bobins Foundation · The Irving Harris Foundation · Fulk Family Foundation Inc · Alphawood Foundation · Circle of Service 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 Mary L Gray Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Richard and Mary L Gray Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Bennington College Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
38report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Richard and Mary L Gray Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Richard and Mary L Gray 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 157 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Richard and Mary L Gray’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