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The Colmar Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Colmar 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.

$41k
Granted FY2019
12
Grants FY2019
4
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of The Colmar Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Mayo Clinic, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year The Colmar Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 8 organizations, $41k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

5
’17
9
’18
8
’19
4
’20
4
’21
2
’22
3
’23
0
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Philanthropy$1.1MArts & Culture$143kHealth$50kEducation$12kCommunity Improvement$12kHuman Services$2kReligion$2kFood & Nutrition$1kOther$0
02FY2019 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2019

  • Under $10k11 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$56k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AUDITORIUM THEATER$15,000
EASTER SEALS METROPOLITAN CHICAGO$9,000
RAVINIA FESTIVAL$7,000
HORIZONS AT ASHLEY HALL$4,000
ERIKA'S LIGHTHOUSE$1,400
JOFFREY BALLET$1,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES$1,000
AFRICAN WOMEN RISING$555
STONE CANYON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$525
HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE SOCIETY$500
MISERICORDIA$500
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES$250
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 (FY19–20, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT: $500 → 17%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $555 → 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

MN
IL
NY
CA
CO
AZ
SC
TX
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.

14%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$181k · 9 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +85% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2019, 3 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call). Read against FY2019, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
12

Total granted

$181k
$19k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+85%
+9%

Still filing today

56%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.1M went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CulturePhilanthropyHealthEducationHuman ServicesFood & NutritionOther
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

  • RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
    6× · 2017–2022 · $42k · revenue +53%
  • ES
    EASTER SEALS METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC
    5× · 2017–2021 · $34k · revenue +71%
  • SB
    SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $6k · revenue +239%

Funded once

  • TM
    THE MR HOLLAND'S OPUS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue -3%
  • FM
    FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue +15%
  • HT
    HOLY TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
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
The Colley Foundation
Philanthropy
2
The Kohn-Joseloff Foundation
Philanthropy
3
The Collins Foundation
—
4
The Columbia Foundation
Philanthropy
5
The Sergio Franchi Music Foundation
Arts & Culture
6
Collings Foundation
—
7
S H Cowell Foundation
—
8
The Kranzberg Arts Foundation
Arts & Culture
9
Cole Family Foundation
Philanthropy
10
Marshall Foundation
Philanthropy
11
Raymond Mallel Foundation
—
12
The Marguerite Foundation
Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Colmar Family Foundation - Southwest. 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

21 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. 21 of the 34 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)
21/21
Grantees still filing
17/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE COLMAR FAMILY FOUNDATION - SOUTHWEST: $360,306 · PhilanthropyTHE COLMAR FAMILY FOUNDATION - SOUTHWESTTHE JLC COLMAR FOUNDATION: $360,255 · PhilanthropyTHE JLC COLMAR FOUNDATIONTHE J&C COLMAR FOUNDATION: $360,255 · PhilanthropyTHE J&C COLMAR FOUNDATION+1 more: $3,000 · PhilanthropyAUDITORIUM THEATER: $81,000 · OtherAUDITORIU…SOUTH AMBERGRIS CAYE NEIGHBORHOOD W: $12,000 · OtherSOUTH AMB…CAYE EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $4,000 · Other+11 more: $11,125 · Other+11 moreRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $42,000 · Arts & CultureSANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL INC: $5,651 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $3,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $2,100 · Arts & CultureEASTER SEALS METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $33,900 · HealthMAYO CLINIC: $10,000 · HealthErikas Lighthouse A Beacon of Hope for Adolescent Depression: $3,400 · HealthLOVE HOPE STRENGTH FOUNDATION: $2,000 · HealthTHE MR HOLLAND'S OPUS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationASHLEY HALL FOUNDATION: $4,000 · Education+1 more: $100 · EducationAFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $555 · Human ServicesTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $500 · Human ServicesFRONTERA FARMER FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Food & Nutrition
Philanthropy$1,083,816Other$108,125Arts & Culture$52,751Health$49,300Education$9,100Human Services$1,055Food & Nutrition$1,000

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 budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $42,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEASTER SEALS METROPOLITAN CHICAGO INC: $33,900 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL INC: $5,651 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MR HOLLAND'S OPUS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetASHLEY HALL FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetErikas Lighthouse A Beacon of Hope for Adolescent Depression: $3,400 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBELLOSGUARDO FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOVE HOPE STRENGTH FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF ILLINOIS: $1,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRONTERA FARMER FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $555 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSRCC SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOX TUCSON THEATRE FOUNDATION: $100 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 Chicago Community…Jewish Federation of …American Endowment Fo…Baird Foundation IncVanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Renaissance Charitabl…The Blackbaud Giving …Morgan Stanley Global…Charities Aid Foundat…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…
The Chicago Community TrustIL17.7× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · American Endowment Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 The Colmar Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Colmar Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 34 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 2019, released 2019. 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
    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