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· Private foundation

The Howard Ross 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.

$15k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$9k
Largest
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$27kInternational$25kReligion$7kEducation$4kHuman Services$3kEnvironment$1kYouth Development$1kPhilanthropy$980Other$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$250
Median grant
3
States reached
$335k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Friendship Circle International$8,800
Turning Pointe Autism Foundation$2,275
Individual grant recipient$2,000
Susan G Komen Foundation$650
PlayThinks$250
Jewish Sacred Society$250
Friedman Place$175
Chicago Botanical Garden$155
(Congregation) Beis Medrash Mikor Hachaim$150
Congregation KINS$150
The Hebron Fund$100
Torah Anytime$45
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 (FY20–24, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 15% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Turning Point Autism Foundation: $4k → 7%Turning Point Autism Foundation: $4k → 7%Turning Pointe Autism Foundation: $3k → 7%Turning Pointe Autism Foundation: $2k → 7%Turning Point Autism Foundation: $550 → 7%Zaka Search and Rescue: $550 → 20%Libenu: $180 → 14%Libenu: $50 → 14%Chicago Chesed Fund: $200 → 14%Chicago Chesed Fund: $200 → 14%Chicago Chesed Fund: $180 → 14%Shalva: $500 → 14%Shalva: $360 → 14%Shalva: $200 → 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

WA
IL
NY
KY
VA
MD
DC
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$69k · 27 repeat orgs$9k to everyone else

27 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 19 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
25

Total granted

$69k
$8k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+28%

Still filing today

67%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $995 went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesReligionInternationalEnvironmentEducationOther
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

  • FC
    FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE INTERNATIONAL INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $24k · revenue +11%
  • TP
    TURNING POINTE AUTISM FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $13k · revenue +72%
  • CL
    CHAI LIFELINE INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $9k · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $800
  • ST
    Shari Tzdek Miskan Yair Congregation
    one grant, 2023 · $700
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO
    one grant, 2023 · $650 · revenue +2%
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
Sherit Isroel
—
2
Zichron Avrohom Yosef
Philanthropy
3
Keren Yaakov Ben Menachen Tzvi Foundation
Philanthropy
4
The Jewish Agency for Israel

The jewish agency binds jews across ideologies and civilizations together in a worldwide jewish family with israel at its center. it provides the global framework for aliyah, ensures global jewish safety, strengthens jewish identity and…

—
5
The Shalem Foundation

To promote and foster the creation of a zionist intellectual infrastructure for the state of israel, the development of a jewish national culture, and the establishment and promotion of intellectual and economic liberty.

Crime & Legal
6
Keren Hayeshivot Trust

Keren hayeshivot trust supports religious institutions of higher education in the united states and israel to raise the level of torah and halachic observance in the sephardic orthodox jewish community.

Philanthropy
7
One Family Chicago

Believing that every jewish child needs and deserves to grow up in a stable and healthy home environment, and that the fabric of that home is woven from material, emotional and religious threads, one family chicago is committed to…

Human Services
8
Keren Hayeshivot Fund Inc

Keren hayeshivot fund supports religious institutions of higher education in the united states and israel to raise the level of torah and halachic observance in the sephardic orthodox jewish community.

Philanthropy
9
Chicago Rabbinical Council

The primary exempt purpose of the organization is to advocate, teach, and promote the study and practice of orthodox judaism, supervise kosher food production worldwide, provide a beth din court of rabbis for interpretation of jewish law,…

Religion
10
American Friends of Torah and Tefilah Ramat Eshkol Inc

To promote and support jewish religious charitable and educational activities in israel & usa.

Religion
11
American Friends of Tzohar

Support of tzohar-a school for special needs children located in israel

—
12
Torah Ore Seminary

To promote the furtherance of jewish religious and rabbinic education on a college and graduate level in israel and to increase the dissemination of scholarly research works in the fields of torah, talmud and halacha.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Agudath Israel of America; the most unlike its peers is Rails to Trails Conservancy. 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

35 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. 35 of the 58 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/35
Grantees still filing
30/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE INTERNATIONAL INC: $24,375 · ReligionFRIENDSHIP CIRCLE INTERNATIONAL INCCHICAGO MEZUZAH AND MITZVAH CAMPAIGN: $1,100 · Religion+2 more: $545 · ReligionIndividual grant recipient: $5,100 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPLAYTHINKS: $2,500 · OtherPLAYTHINKSSusan G Komen Foundation: $2,300 · OtherSusan G Komen FoundationSharsheret: $1,440 · OtherSharsheretJewish Sacred Society - Chevra Kadisha: $1,060 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $800 · Other+29 more: $8,509 · Other+29 moreTURNING POINTE AUTISM FOUNDATION: $13,450 · Human ServicesTURNING POINTE AUTISM F…SHALVA INC: $1,060 · Human ServicesSHALVA INCCHICAGO CHESED FUND: $580 · Human ServicesIsrael Magen Fund Inc: $550 · Human Services+1 more: $230 · Human ServicesCHAI LIFELINE INC: $9,000 · HealthCHAI LIFELINE I…The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $650 · HealthThe Susan G Kom…CANCER WELLNESS CENTER: $460 · Health+5 more: $742 · Health+5 moreCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $579 · EnvironmentRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $500 · EnvironmentCHICAGO GATEWAY GREEN COMMITTEE: $250 · EnvironmentHEBRON FUND INC: $880 · PhilanthropyKEHILLAH JEWISH EDUCATION FUND: $740 · EducationTzohar Halev Inc: $100 · Education
Religion$26,020Other$21,709Human Services$15,870Health$10,852Environment$1,329Philanthropy$880Education$840

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 budgetFRIENDSHIP CIRCLE INTERNATIONAL INC: $24,375 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetTURNING POINTE AUTISM FOUNDATION: $13,450 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCHAI LIFELINE INC: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLAYTHINKS: $2,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCHICAGO MEZUZAH AND MITZVAH CAMPAIGN: $1,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSHALVA INC: $1,060 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHEBRON FUND INC: $880 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetKEHILLAH JEWISH EDUCATION FUND: $740 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS: $700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $650 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $650 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO CHESED FUND: $580 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $579 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $550 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH SACRED SOCIETY INC: $500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetKESHET: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCANCER WELLNESS CENTER: $460 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAOT CHITIM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC: $430 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJUST ONE LIFE INC: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO GATEWAY GREEN COMMITTEE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGENERAL ISRAEL ORPHAN HOME FOR GIRLS: $230 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLIBENU: $230 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $208 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSCHOOL SOCIAL WORK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDRENS VILLAGE OF JERUSALEM INC: $150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHATZALAH CHICAGO: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKnitted Knockers Support Foundation: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTzohar Halev Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALS UNITED GREATER CHICAGO: $84 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA: $45 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25 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.

Aj & Sl Stern Family FoundationIL24.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Aj & Sl Stern Family Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · Bitton Family Foundation Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · Arthur & Sally Dordek Charitable Foundation · Elliott and Ronni Charitable Fdn · Todd a and Raphaela Stern Family Foundation · Noah Wolff Family Foundation Inc · The Novick Family Foundation · Lev Zahav NFP · Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago · Walder 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 Howard Ross Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Howard Ross Family 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%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Howard Ross Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Howard Ross 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 58 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

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