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Robert J & Helen F Johnston Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Robert J & Helen F Johnston Trust

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.

$89k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$89k
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, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$314k
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$88,996
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The Pontiac Elks Lodge Scholarship$88,996
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 (FY21–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 98% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY: $5k → 11%LORAS COLLEGE: $3k → 11%HAWKEYE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $3k → 17%BELMONT UNIVERSITY: $1k → 14%INDIANA INSTITUTION OF TECHNOLOGY: $1k → 12%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $2k → 19%CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON: $3k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $6k → 9%NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE: $4k → 7%JOLIET JUNIOR COLLEGE: $3k → 7%Illinois Wesleyan University: $5k → 11%The Pontiac Elks Lodge Scholarship: $89k → 12%NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY: $9k → 13%OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $9k → 14%BRADLEY UNIVERSITY: $5k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA- CHAMPAIGN: $3k → 19%SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY: $17k → 23%Illinois Wesleyan University: $4k → 11%THE PONTIAC ELKS LODGE SCHOLARSHIP: $67k → 12%ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY: $20k → 11%THE PONTIAC ELKS LODGE SCHOLARSHIP: $19k → 12%ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY: $8k → 11%THE PONTIAC ELKS LODGE SCHOLARSHIP: $19k → 12%HEARTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $6k → 11%ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY: $2k → 11%HEARTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2k → 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.
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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$238k · 4 repeat orgs$76k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
17

Total granted

$238k
$76k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-4%
+14%

Still filing today

25%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

  • TP
    The Pontiac Elks Lodge Scholarship
    4× · 2021–2024 · $193k
  • IS
    ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2021–2023 · $29k
  • IW
    ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2022–2023 · $8k · revenue -4%

Funded once

  • SI
    SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $17k · revenue +322%
  • ON
    OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $9k · revenue +4%
  • NI
    NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $9k
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
Benedictine University

Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…

Education
2
Loyola University

Loyola University New Orleans, a Jesuit and Catholic institution of higher education, welcomes students of diverse backgrounds and prepares them to lead meaningful lives with and for others; to pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue; and to work…

Education
3
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
4
Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the reformed christian perspective, dordt university equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary…

Education
5
Simpson College

Through innovative learning opportunities, individual student attention, and an unwavering commitment to inclusive educational access, simpson college cultivates a diverse community of learners to lead lives of meaning and purpose.

Education
6
University of the Ozarks

True to our christian heritage, we prepare students from diverse religious, cultural, educational and economic backgrounds to live life fully.

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
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
9
Excelsior University

Excelsior University provides educational opportunity to adult learners with an emphasis on those historically underrepresented in higher education. The University meets students where they are - academically and geographically, offering…

Education
10
Trinity University

Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

Education
11
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
12
Xavier University

Xavier is a jesuit catholic university rooted in the liberal arts tradition. our mission is to educate each student intellectually, morally, and spiritually. we create learning opportunities through rigorous academic and professional…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Illinois Wesleyan University; the most unlike its peers is Southern Illinois University Alumni Association. 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

10 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. 10 of the 21 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)
10/10
Grantees still filing
9/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Pontiac Elks Lodge Scholarship: $193,076 · OtherThe Pontiac Elks Lodge ScholarshipILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY: $29,000 · OtherILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITYNORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY: $9,000 · Other+9 more: $31,000 · Other+9 moreSOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: $17,250 · EducationSOUTHERN ILLINOIS …OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $9,000 · EducationOLIVET NAZARENE UN…ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $8,250 · EducationILLINOIS WESLEYAN …Cedarville University: $4,500 · EducationCedarville Univers…BRADLEY UNIVERSITY: $4,500 · EducationBRADLEY UNIVERSITYNorth Central College: $3,750 · EducationNorth Central Coll…University of Dayton: $2,500 · Education+2 more: $2,000 · Education
Other$262,076Education$51,750

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 budgetSOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: $17,250 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetOLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $9,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $8,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCedarville University: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRADLEY UNIVERSITY: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorth Central College: $3,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Dayton: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLORAS COLLEGE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBelmont University: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINDIANA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Cedarville University ↗
  • Who funds BRADLEY UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds North Central College ↗
  • Who funds University of Dayton ↗
  • Who funds LORAS COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Belmont University ↗
  • Who funds INDIANA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC ↗

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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Donor Advised Charita…
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCA6.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

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 Robert J & Helen F Johnston Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert J & Helen F Johnston Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 21 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

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    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
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    The regranting layer
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    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
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