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The Hardison Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Hardison 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.

$450k
Granted FY2024still arriving
13
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$70k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of The Hardison Family Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, 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 FY2024, the last year The Hardison Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 11 organizations, $450k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

10
’17
8
’18
10
’19
12
’20
11
’21
11
’22
11
’23
11
’24
0
’25

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

01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$11MFood & Nutrition$1.2MHealth$830kInternational$560kEducation$485kHuman Services$260kReligion$120kAnimals$60kOther$0
02FY2024 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k8 grants · $180k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $270k
$45,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK$70,000
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S$50,000
ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$50,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA$50,000
GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY$50,000
SHRINER'S HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN$45,000
NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK$45,000
OREGON FOOD BANK$20,000
ECHO INC$20,000
NORTH COUNTY MEALS ON WHEELS$20,000
COTTEY COLLEGE$10,000
CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION$10,000
PEO INTERNATIONAL$10,000
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 85% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SHRINER'S HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 13%SHRINER'S HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 21%OREGON FOOD BANK: $20k → 12%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $100k → 17%BLESSINGS IN THE STORM: $20k → 10%NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $45k → 8%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%SHRINER'S HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 13%SHRINER'S HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 21%OREGON FOOD BANK: $20k → 12%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $50k → 17%BLESSINGS IN THE STORM: $20k → 10%NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $45k → 8%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%SHRINER'S HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 13%OREGON FOOD BANK: $20k → 12%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $50k → 17%NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $45k → 8%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%SHRINER'S HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 13%OREGON FOOD BANK: $20k → 12%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S: $50k → 17%NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $45k → 8%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%SHRINER'S HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 13%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S: $50k → 17%NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $45k → 8%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%SHRINER'S HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $45k → 13%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $50k → 17%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $50k → 17%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $50k → 17%ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $50k → 14%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $75k → 14%HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK: $70k → 11%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $75k → 14%HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK: $50k → 11%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $50k → 14%HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK: $50k → 11%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $50k → 14%HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK: $50k → 11%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $50k → 14%HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK: $50k → 11%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $50k → 14%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $50k → 14%GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $50k → 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
NY
OR
SD
IA
OH
CA
MO
VA
MD
TN
NC
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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 20 repeat orgs$45k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +47% since the first grant, against -22% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down. Read against FY2024, 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

20
3

Total granted

$3.5M
$45k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
-22%

Still filing today

60%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
Food & NutritionHealthInternationalEducationHuman ServicesOther
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

  • GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $450k · revenue +140%
  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $450k · revenue +145%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $400k · revenue +98%

Funded once

  • HO
    Hands of Hope
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue -22%
  • GIVEDIRECTLY INC
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue -32%
  • SP
    SIMPLE POSITIVE PLAY
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
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 Global FoodBanking Network

To nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.

International
2
The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri

The food bank for central & northeast missouri is a regional disaster and hunger relief network that acquires and distributes millions of meals each year to help neighbors get the food they need to thrive. (continued on schedule o)the…

Food & Nutrition
3
Nourishing Hope

Nourishing hope provides food, mental health support, and social services to help all our neighbors thrive.

—
4
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

The mission of the global alliance for improved nutrition (gain) is to improve the consumption of healthier diets for all, especially the most vulnerable, by improving the availability, affordability, desirability, and sustainability of…

Food & Nutrition
5
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
6
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc

Gleaners' mission is to be a leader in the fight against hunger. we do this by joining with others to optimize equitable access to nutritious food for those of us facing hunger and working to overcome the conditions causing food insecurity.

—
7
Institute of Food Technologists

As an organization, the institute of food technologists is focusing its work in four main areas, or "roles and goals." each is wide-reaching and helps to advance our mission.steward for the profession and its community - provide learning,…

—
8
Food for the Hungry Inc

Food for the hungry is a christian humanitarian aid and global development organization that has designed, developed and delivered solutions for more than 50 years so that children, families and communities can flourish. (continued on…

International
9
Partners in Food Solutions

Improve the food value chain in developing countries by mobilizing corporate volunteers to share knowledge and expertise with small and growing food processors.

International
10
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
11
International Development Enterprises

See schedule o for a more detailed description of ide's mission statement and achievements.

International
12
Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wi

Second harvest foodbank exists to end hunger in southwestern wisconsin.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northern Illinois Food Bank; the most unlike its peers is North County 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

15 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. 15 of the 24 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
9/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $10,530,237 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUNDGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $450,000 · Food & NutritionHARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INC: $300,000 · Food & NutritionNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $245,000 · Food & NutritionNorth County Meals on Wheels: $85,000 · Food & NutritionST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $450,000 · HealthTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $270,000 · HealthSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $90,000 · HealthSALVATION ARMY: $180,000 · OtherOREGON FOOD BANK: $100,000 · OtherALL THINGS POSSIBLE MINISTRIES: $80,000 · OtherCARE AND REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE: $60,000 · OtherMERCY HOME FOR BOYS & GIRLS: $60,000 · OtherPEO FOUNDATION: $60,000 · OtherBLESSINGS IN THE STORM: $40,000 · Other+3 more: $45,000 · OtherMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $400,000 · InternationalECHO Inc: $120,000 · InternationalHands of Hope: $20,000 · InternationalIllinois Institute of Technology: $400,000 · EducationCOTTEY COLLEGE: $80,000 · EducationGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $20,000 · Human Services
Community Improvement$10,530,237Food & Nutrition$1,080,000Health$810,000Other$625,000International$540,000Education$480,000Human Services$20,000

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 budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $10,530,237 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $450,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $450,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $400,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetIllinois Institute of Technology: $400,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INC: $300,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $270,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $245,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetECHO Inc: $120,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetOREGON FOOD BANK: $100,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $90,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNorth County Meals on Wheels: $85,000 over 8y, 29% of budgetCOTTEY COLLEGE: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHands of Hope: $20,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $20,000 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.

  • Who funds FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
  • Who funds GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds Illinois Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INC ↗
  • Who funds THE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds ECHO Inc ↗
  • Who funds OREGON FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds North County Meals on Wheels ↗
  • Who funds COTTEY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Hands of Hope ↗
  • Who funds GIVEDIRECTLY INC ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Hardison Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Hardison Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • Oregon Food Bank: 21% of income from government
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 Hardison Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Hardison 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 24 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 Hardison 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