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Illinois · Private foundation

Sethness 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.

$219k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
55
Grants FY2025
46
Organizations funded FY2024
9%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$2,500
Largest grant, FY2025
$15,000
Organizations funded a year
35 to 50
FY2020 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
16
Total assets, FY2025
$2.8M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 9% of the organizations Sethness Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 3% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
InternationalArts & CultureAnimalsHealthEducationPublic BenefitOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving54$217k20%
FY202446$190k9%
FY202347$191k19%
FY202250$258k24%
FY202149$226k39%
FY202035$178kn/a
99% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$307kHealth$164kRecreation & Sports$151kArts & Culture$111kHousing & Shelter$95kAnimals$83kInternational$67kFood & Nutrition$64kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
WA
IL
NY
MA
OR
IA
IN
PA
NJ
CT
CA
MO
VA
MD
TN
DC
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 59 grantees
All grantees of Sethness Family Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Big Shoulders Fund$75,50050%
Digs With Dignity Corporation$75,46555%
Nantucket Historical Association$50,00040%
American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches$45,00050%
The Hotchkiss School$35,00060%
New London Barn Playhouse Inc$33,50061%
St Lawrence University$26,00060%
Christopher Coffland Memorial Fund Inc$17,50050%
Lehigh University$17,00060%
Kent Place School$17,00060%
Lincoln Park Zoological Society$17,00060%
Share Our Strength$15,00010%
Kearsarge Food Hub Inc$12,50050%
Concern Worldwide (Us) Inc$12,50020%
Colby-Sawyer College$12,50060%
National Alliance to End Homelessness$11,50060%
Upper Valley Humane Society Inc$11,50040%
Achilles International Inc$10,50050%
Vanderbilt University$10,00040%
Central Park Conservancy Inc$10,00010%
Paws Inc$10,00051%
Depaul University$8,50060%
Ali Forney Center Inc$8,50020%
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust USA Inc$8,00050%
Chicago Childrens Charities$8,00037%
Tuesday's Children$8,00040%
University of Richmond$7,50060%
The Sentencing Project$6,00030%
Christian Herald Association Inc$6,00040%
John Hay Estate at the Fells$6,00060%
626 Landmark Foundation$5,50030%
Indian River Hospital Foundation Inc$5,0001n/a
School of American Ballet Inc$5,0001n/a
Ryan's Case for Smiles$5,00010%
The New London Hospital Association Inc$4,75050%
Womenone Ltd$4,50031%
Waterorg$4,00030%
Lake Sunapee Protective Association$3,50030%
Garden at Tracy Library$3,0006n/a
Riverside Theatre Co$3,00020%
Save The Children Federation Inc$3,00010%
Off the Street Club$2,00010%
Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere Inc$2,00010%
The Irish American Partnership Inc$1,50010%
Kezar Lake Protective Association$1,5003n/a
Old Town School of Folk Music$1,50010%
French Heritage Society Inc$1,50030%
Greater Chicago Food Depository$1,00010%
Kenilworth Community Fund Inc$1,0001n/a
ChiArts Foundation$1,00010%
International Dyslexia Association Inc$1,00010%
Little Sisters of the Poor Chicago St Mary's Home$1,00010%
Roosevelt University$1,0001n/a
Ela Public Library Foundation$1,0001n/a
Chicago Run$80010%
Alliance for the Great Lakes$5001n/a
Breastcancerorg$50010%
Ascension Outreach Incorporated$5001n/a
Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago$50010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 31 recipients with no EIN on record ($601k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Sethness Family Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $75,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDigs With Dignity Corporation: $75,465 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetNantucket Historical Association: $50,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $45,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Hotchkiss School: $35,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNew London Barn Playhouse Inc: $33,500 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetSt Lawrence University: $26,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetChristopher Coffland Memorial Fund Inc: $17,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetLehigh University: $17,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetKent Place School: $17,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLincoln Park Zoological Society: $17,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetShare Our Strength: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKearsarge Food Hub Inc: $12,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetConcern Worldwide (Us) Inc: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetColby-Sawyer College: $12,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNational Alliance to End Homelessness: $11,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUpper Valley Humane Society Inc: $11,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetAchilles International Inc: $10,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetVanderbilt University: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCentral Park Conservancy Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPaws Inc: $10,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetDepaul University: $8,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAli Forney Center Inc: $8,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust USA Inc: $8,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Childrens Charities: $8,000 over 3y, 7.2% of budgetTuesday's Children: $8,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Richmond: $7,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Sentencing Project: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetChristian Herald Association Inc: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJohn Hay Estate at the Fells: $6,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budget626 Landmark Foundation: $5,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetRyan's Case for Smiles: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe New London Hospital Association Inc: $4,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWomenone Ltd: $4,500 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetWaterorg: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLake Sunapee Protective Association: $3,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRiverside Theatre Co: $3,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOff the Street Club: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Irish American Partnership Inc: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOld Town School of Folk Music: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFrench Heritage Society Inc: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGreater Chicago Food Depository: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChiArts Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Dyslexia Association Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLittle Sisters of the Poor Chicago St Mary's Home: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Run: $800 over 1y, 0.1% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 50.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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 Ayco Charitable FoundationNY18.9× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ayco Charitable Foundation · New Hampshire Charitable Foundation · Citizens Charitable Foundation · Barrette Family Fund · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Natalie W & Leo E Wolf Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · The Burkehaven Family Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Circle of Service Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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.

Compare Sethness Family Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Sethness Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Sethness 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.

About Sethness Family Foundation

How much does Sethness Family Foundation give?
Sethness Family Foundation reported 55 grants totaling $219,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 35 and 50 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2024.
What does Sethness Family Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (24%), Health (13%), Recreation & Sports (12%).
Who are Sethness Family Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2020 to FY2025: Big Shoulders Fund ($76k), Digs With Dignity Corporation ($75k), Nantucket Historical Association ($50k).
Does Sethness Family Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 9% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Sethness Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Sethness Family Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Ayco Charitable Foundation, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Citizens Charitable Foundation.
Where is Sethness Family Foundation based?
Sethness Family Foundation is based in IL.

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 92 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

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