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· Private foundation

The Chris a Wachenheim 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.

$420k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$225k
Largest
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 2025.

Education$1.2MArts & Culture$898kFood & Nutrition$83kHealth$25kSocial Science$15kInternational$10kEnvironment$5k
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $350k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$8.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILLIAMS COLLEGE$225,000
RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL$125,000
COMMUNITY SYNOGOGUE OF RYE$25,000
FEEDING WESTCHESTER$15,000
JAPAN SOCIETY INC$10,000
FRIENDS OF RYE NATURE CENTER$5,000
THE CLARK INSTITUTE$5,000
RYE HISTORICAL SOCIETY$5,000
RYE FREE READING ROOM$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PAN-MASS CHALLENGE: $3k → 7%WILLIAMS COLLEGE: $225k → 12%DANA - FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE: $3k → 16%FEEDING WESTCHESTER: $15k → 9%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA: $10k → 17%WILLIAMS COLLEGE: $145k → 12%FEEDING WESTCHESTER: $15k → 9%THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART INC: $10k → 17%WILLIAMS COLLEGE: $125k → 12%FEEDING WESTCHESTER: $13k → 9%THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $8k → 17%WILLIAMS COLLEGE: $79k → 12%FEEDING WESTCHESTER: $10k → 9%THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $7k → 17%WILLIAMS COLLEGE: $75k → 12%FEEDING WESTCHESTER: $10k → 9%THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $7k → 17%WILLIAMS COLLEGE: $71k → 12%FEEDING WESTCHESTER: $10k → 9%THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $6k → 17%WILLIAMS COLLEGE: $25k → 12%FEEDING WESTCHESTER: $10k → 9%JAPAN SOCIETY INC: $175k → 17%THE CLARK INSTITUTE: $5k → 12%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $125k → 9%JAPAN SOCIETY INC: $140k → 17%THE CLARK INSTITUTE: $5k → 12%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $125k → 9%JAPAN SOCIETY INC: $140k → 17%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $75k → 9%JAPAN SOCIETY INC: $136k → 17%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $75k → 9%JAPAN SOCIETY INC: $135k → 17%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $40k → 9%JAPAN SOCIETY INC: $75k → 17%COMMUNITY SYNOGOGUE OF RYE: $25k → 9%JAPAN SOCIETY INC: $10k → 17%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $10k → 9%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $10k → 9%COMMUNITY SYNOGOGUE OF RYE: $10k → 9%RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $10k → 9%FRIENDS OF RYE NATURE CENTER: $5k → 9%RYE FREE READING ROOM: $5k → 9%RYE FREE READING ROOM: $5k → 9%RYE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5k → 9%RYE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5k → 9%BLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $10k → 9%BLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $10k → 9%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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 10 repeat orgs$33k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
5

Total granted

$2.2M
$28k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+46%

Still filing today

80%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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 & CultureEducationHealthInternationalEnvironmentOther
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

  • JS
    JAPAN SOCIETY INC
    7× · 2017–2025 · $811k · revenue +24%
  • Williams College
    7× · 2018–2025 · $745k · revenue +36%
  • RC
    RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
    8× · 2017–2025 · $470k · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +13%
  • TI
    THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +46%
  • PAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue +37%
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
3
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
4
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
5
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
6
Westminster College

The mission of westminster college is to help students develop competencies, commitments, and characteristics which have distinguished human beings at their best. see continuation on schedule o.the liberal arts tradition is the foundation…

Education
7
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
8
Stony Brook Surgical Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
9
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
10
Stony Brook Ophthalmology University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
11
Neurology Associates of Stony Brook University Faculty Practice Corp

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
12
The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection (the "Collection") operates an internationally recognized art museum and library program for the inspiration and enjoyment of the public and for the advancement of the study of fine arts and kindred subjects.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rye Country Day School; the most unlike its peers is Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 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

14 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. 14 of the 16 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
12/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Williams College: $745,000 · EducationWilliams CollegeRYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $470,000 · EducationRYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOLJAPAN SOCIETY INC: $811,000 · Arts & CultureJAPAN SOCIETY INC+3 more: $39,000 · Arts & CultureFEEDING WESTCHESTER INC: $82,500 · OtherCOMMUNITY SYNOGOGUE OF RYE: $35,000 · OtherTHE CLARK INSTITUTE: $15,000 · OtherTHE RYE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $12,500 · OtherRYE FREE READING ROOM: $12,500 · Other+1 more: $2,500 · OtherBLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $20,000 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $2,500 · HealthMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $10,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF RYE NATURE CENTER: $5,000 · Environment
Education$1,215,000Arts & Culture$850,000Other$160,000Health$22,500International$10,000Environment$5,000

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 budgetJAPAN SOCIETY INC: $811,000 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetWilliams College: $745,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetRYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $470,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetFEEDING WESTCHESTER INC: $82,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $26,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBLYTHEDALE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RYE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $12,500 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetRYE FREE READING ROOM: $12,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTERLING AND FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE: $2,500 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.

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 Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift FundNY13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Ibm International Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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 The Chris a Wachenheim Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Chris a Wachenheim Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Williams College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
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 The Chris a Wachenheim Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Chris a Wachenheim 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 16 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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