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Ross Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ross 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.

$119k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$114kHousing & Shelter$73kHuman Services$53kArts & Culture$44kPublic Benefit$42kEducation$27kInternational$27kHealth$24kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $97k
$2,700
Median grant
3
States reached
$422k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES$25,000
CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA$25,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$25,000
GARY SINISE FDN$12,000
MARGARET'S VILLAGES$10,000
ERIE FAMILY HEALTH FDN$6,000
WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE$4,100
Individual grant recipient$2,700
NATURE CONSERVANCY$2,700
DOWN SYNDROME$2,500
ERIKA'S LIGHTHOUSE$1,500
NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER$1,000
JUST HARVEST$400
SKOKIE CC EDUCATIONAL FDN$400
TOYS FOR TOTS$394
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 (FY17–25, $29k) 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%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $25k → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $1k → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $1k → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CTR: $300 → 14%NORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $150 → 14%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $200 → 14%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $1k → 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

IL
WI
NY
MA
IA
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
TN
NC
DC
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.

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$386k · 34 repeat orgs$248k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
69

Total granted

$386k
$235k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+14%

Still filing today

56%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $13k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureInternationalEnvironmentHealthHuman ServicesPhilanthropyOther
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

  • ALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES
    4× · 2021–2025 · $63k · revenue +34%
  • GARY SINISE FOUNDATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $42k · revenue +47%
  • AN
    American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
    2× · 2018–2025 · $26k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • SF
    STRIDES FOR PEACE INC
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue -46%
  • NC
    NEHEMIAH CHICAGO ECCO HOUSE
    one grant, 2019 · $11k
  • SS
    ST SABINA FUND
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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
American Water Works Association

To promote public health, safety, and welfare through the improvement of the quality and quantity of drinking water and the development and furtherance of understanding of the problems relating thereto.

Public Benefit
2
Chicago Sun-Times Media Inc

Chicago sun-times serves the public interest by strengthening the well-being of our local communities and our democracy through independent local journalism.

—
3
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
4
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
5
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
6
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
7
Lincoln Park Zoological Society

Lincoln park zoo is dedicated to connecting people with nature by providing a free, family-oriented wildlife experience in the heart of chicago and by advancing the highest quality of animal care, horticulture, education, science and…

Animals
8
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
9
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.

—
10
Goodwill Industries of Metropolitan Chicago Inc

Goodwill industries of metropolitan chicago, inc. ("goodwill-chicago") is a nonstock, not-for-profit illinois corporation, whose sole member is goodwill industries of southeastern wisconsin, inc. ("goodwill"), a wisconsin nonstock,…

Human Services
11
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.

—
12
International Center for Research On Women

The international center for research for women (icrw) is a global research institute, with a mission to advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and structurally excluded populations with actionable evidence and solutions.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Connections for the Homeless Inc; the most unlike its peers is Meals On Wheels. 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

54 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. 54 of the 107 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/54
Grantees still filing
36/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES: $63,000 · OtherALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKESOPENLANDS: $22,500 · OtherOPENLANDSCHICAGO METRO HOUSING DEV: $17,500 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $16,200 · OtherSTRIDES FOR PEACE INC: $15,000 · Other+75 more: $271,511 · Other+75 moreCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $26,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PUB…WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $15,600 · Arts & CultureWINNETKA CO…CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $8,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO SHA…FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $7,500 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEU…Chicago Humanities Festival: $6,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Hum…AMERICAN INDIAN CENTER: $2,500 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $42,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $2,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $99 · PhilanthropyNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $23,000 · EnvironmentWELCOME HOME ANGEL INC: $6,500 · EnvironmentTHE WETLANDS INITIATIVE: $3,500 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $3,000 · Environment+1 more: $1,000 · EnvironmentMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $20,000 · InternationalCONTEXTOS NFP: $9,000 · InternationalFINCA INTERNATIONAL INC: $4,000 · International+3 more: $3,000 · InternationalSt Leonard's Ministries: $20,500 · ReligionMARGARETS VILLAGE: $10,000 · ReligionAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $26,000 · Human ServicesNORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $2,450 · Human ServicesNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $1,000 · Human Services+1 more: $200 · Human Services
Other$405,711Arts & Culture$66,600Philanthropy$44,099Environment$37,000International$36,000Religion$30,500Human Services$29,650

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 budgetALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES: $63,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $42,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $26,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $26,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $23,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetOPENLANDS: $22,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSt Leonard's Ministries: $20,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $16,200 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $15,600 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSTRIDES FOR PEACE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetErie Family Health Foundation Inc: $11,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMARGARETS VILLAGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCONNECTIONS FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCONTEXTOS NFP: $9,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER: $8,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWELCOME HOME ANGEL INC: $6,500 over 1y, 11% of budgetChicago Humanities Festival: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILD INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSUMMER SEARCH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOB WOODRUFF FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTeamwork Englewood Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBRAVEN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetErikas Lighthouse A Beacon of Hope for Adolescent Depression: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFINCA INTERNATIONAL INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WETLANDS INITIATIVE: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRole Model Movement Inc (NFP): $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWILLIAM GUY FORBECK RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGOOD NEWS PARTNERS: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JOSSELYN CENTER NFP: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH SHORE SENIOR CENTER: $2,450 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKENT LAND TRUST INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVITAL VOICES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWINNETKA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $875 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE VOLUNTEER CENTER: $250 over 1y, 0.3% 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 Chicago Community…Charles H and Beverly…Tinberg FoundationKemper Educational an…Greater Chicago Food …United Way of Metropo…Sheila Reynolds Berne…Field Foundation of I…John D and Catherine …Barbour Family Founda…Patrick and Anna M Cu…Forefront
The Chicago Community TrustIL28.2× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Charles H and Beverly E Shaw Foundation · Tinberg Foundation · Kemper Educational and Charitable Fund · Greater Chicago Food Depository · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Sheila Reynolds Berner Foundation · Field Foundation of Illinois · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Barbour Family Foundation · Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund · Forefront

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 Ross Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ross Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
15report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Ross Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ross 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 107 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 Ross 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