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Ted & Ruth Johnson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ted & Ruth Johnson Family Foundation

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.

$83k
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$212kEnvironment$145kHealth$83kCivil Rights$69kCrime & Legal$37kInternational$30kReligion$24kHousing & Shelter$21kOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k23 grants · $48k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $35k
$2,500
Median grant
11
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROCKY HILL SCHOOL$35,000
ROBERT C MAYNARD INSTITUTE$3,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA$3,000
PULITZER CENTER ON CRISIS REPORTING$3,000
GIFFORD LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE$3,000
FIRST PARISH-WOMENS PARISH ASSOC$3,000
J HOPKINS CTR FOR GUN VIOLENCE SOLUTIONS$2,500
COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION COLLECTIVE$2,500
JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE$2,500
CHICAGO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS$2,500
GEORGE SCHOOL$2,500
INTERNATIONAL OCD FOUNDATION RESEARCH FUND$2,500
MEDICAL DEBT RESOLUTION INC$2,500
WNRI OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT$2,000
THE CONSERVATION FUND$2,000
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 (FY17–24, $29k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 58% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%LUSTGARTEN FOUNDATION: $5k → 6%MEDICAL DEBT RESOLUTION INC: $3k → 13%CROSSROADS RI: $2k → 14%CROSSROADS RI: $2k → 14%CROSSROADS RI: $2k → 14%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $2k → 8%CROSSROADS RI: $2k → 14%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $2k → 8%CROSSROADS RI: $2k → 14%CROSSROADS RI: $2k → 14%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $2k → 8%CROSSROADS RI: $2k → 14%CROSSROADS RI: $1k → 14%GARDEN GATE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $1k → 8%THE JOYFUL HEART FOUNDATION: $3k → 17%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
NY
MA
IA
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
VA
MD
DC
LA
AL
GA
TX
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$603k · 49 repeat orgs$85k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against -2% for those funded once.

49 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

49
35

Total granted

$603k
$76k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
-2%

Still filing today

73%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentInternationalHuman ServicesCrime & LegalHealthCivil RightsOther
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

  • RH
    ROCKY HILL COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
    8× · 2017–2024 · $150k · revenue +21%
  • Cornell University
    6× · 2017–2022 · $30k · revenue +59%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $26k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • NL
    New Life Centers of Chicagolandgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +68%
  • ML
    MARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue -16%
  • NP
    NATIONAL POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY PJT INC
    one grant, 2020 · $4k
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
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
2
Conservation International Foundation

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

Environment
3
Cdp North America Inc

Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…

Environment
4
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
5
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
6
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
7
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
8
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
9
Climate Leadership Council Inc

To develop and promote a carbon dividends framework - based on carbon fees whose revenues are rebated to citizens through dividends - as the most cost-effective, equitable, and politically viable climate solution.

Environment
10
The Climate Group Inc

Climate group advances climate action by mobilizing business and government leadership to drive systemic decarbonization across energy, transport, and industry, while engaging the public through large-scale convenings and global platforms.…

Environment
11
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
12
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

Educational & charitable. to provide legal and scientific information to public interest attorneys and scientists in numerous countries.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Defense Fund; the most unlike its peers is Friends of the West Tisbury Public Library Inc. 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

69 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. 69 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
66/69
Grantees still filing
43/69
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROCKY HILL COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $150,000 · OtherROCKY HILL COUNTRY DAY SCHOOLWORLD WILDLIFE FUND GLOBAL: $25,000 · OtherWORLD WILDLIFE FUND GLOBALTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYFIRST PARISH-WOMENS PARISH ASSOC: $24,000 · OtherFIRST PARISH-WOMENS PARISH ASSOCGEORGE SCHOOL: $23,000 · OtherGEORGE SCHOOL+41 more: $172,625 · Other+41 moreNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $17,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOU…GREENPEACE FUND INC: $12,500 · EnvironmentGREENPEACE FU…SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $11,000 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB F…WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $9,500 · EnvironmentWORLD WILDLIF…350ORG: $9,500 · Environment350ORGTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $8,500 · EnvironmentTHE ALLIANCE …THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $5,500 · EnvironmentTHE CONSERVAT…CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $3,750 · Environment+6 more: $10,375 · Environment+6 moreSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $25,500 · Crime & LegalEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $12,000 · Crime & LegalMARCH FOR OUR LIVES FOUNDATION: $4,500 · Crime & LegalVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $4,000 · Crime & LegalVIOLENCE POLICY CENTER: $3,400 · Crime & Legal+1 more: $1,000 · Crime & LegalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $14,500 · InternationalTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $11,500 · InternationalHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $6,850 · InternationalA JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE: $5,000 · InternationalKIVA MICROFUNDS: $3,000 · InternationalRAINFOREST TRUST: $2,500 · InternationalTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $2,000 · InternationalCAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $2,000 · International+1 more: $1,000 · InternationalTHE COMMITTEE TO REDUCE INFECTION DEATHS INC: $15,000 · HealthInternational OCD Foundation Inc: $14,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $13,750 · HealthTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: $2,000 · HealthAmerican Association for Cancer Research Inc: $1,750 · Health+1 more: $1,000 · HealthCROSSROADS RHODE ISLAND: $11,500 · Human ServicesMARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $6,000 · Human ServicesMEDICAL DEBT RESOLUTION INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesJOYFUL HEART FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Human Services+2 more: $1,500 · Human ServicesCornell University: $30,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · Education
Other$419,625Environment$87,625Crime & Legal$50,400International$48,350Health$47,500Human Services$31,500Education$31,000

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 budgetROCKY HILL COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $150,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetCornell University: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $25,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $17,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMITTEE TO REDUCE INFECTION DEATHS INC: $15,000 over 6y, 2.4% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $14,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetInternational OCD Foundation Inc: $14,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $13,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREENPEACE FUND INC: $12,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCROSSROADS RHODE ISLAND: $11,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $11,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHORSE PLAY: $11,500 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $11,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budget350ORG: $9,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of The West Tisbury Public Library Inc: $7,000 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $6,850 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $6,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS: $6,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetA JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNew Life Centers of Chicagoland: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDICAL DEBT RESOLUTION INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY STUDY INSTITUTE: $4,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION COLLECTIVE: $4,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetMartha's Vineyard Sexual Wellness Inc: $4,500 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetMARCH FOR OUR LIVES FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetYMCA of Martha's Vineyard Inc: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $3,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVIOLENCE POLICY CENTER: $3,400 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetKIVA MICROFUNDS: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLogan Square Neighborhood Association: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPULITZER CENTER ON CRISIS REPORTING: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetISLAND FOOD PANTRY OF MARTHA'S VINEYARD INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR CARBON REMOVAL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOYFUL HEART FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCoalition to Stop Gun Violence: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% 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…John D and Catherine …Martha's Vineyard Com…The Joyce FoundationAbbVie FoundationJpmorgan Chase Founda…The Pfizer Foundation…New Venture FundThe Ford FoundationGs Donor Advised Phil…Aetna Foundation IncNational Philanthropi…
The Chicago Community TrustIL16.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation Inc · The Joyce Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund · The Ford Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Aetna Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 100%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Martha's Vineyard Community Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Island Housing Trust Corporation: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
10get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 Ted & Ruth Johnson Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ted & Ruth Johnson 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 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Ted & Ruth Johnson 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