· Public charity
The Morton Arboretum
To collect, study, display, and conserve trees and other plants from around the world to inspire learning, foster enjoyment, benefit communities, encourage action, and enhance the environment.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k6 grants · $39k
- $10k–50k37 grants · $777k
- $50k–250k5 grants · $325k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| CITY OF CHICAGO | $75,000 |
| ROSELLE PARK DISTRICT | $73,443 |
| CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY | $70,494 |
| FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT OF COOK COUNTY | $55,000 |
| OPENLANDS | $51,414 |
| VILLAGE OF WESTCHESTER | $40,000 |
| HAWTHORN WOODS | $40,000 |
| CITY OF NAPERVILLE | $30,000 |
| BELVIDERE TOWNSHIP PARK DISTRICT | $27,933 |
| VILLAGE OF BECKEMEYER | $27,331 |
| VILLAGE OF OSWEGO | $25,000 |
| CITY OF OTTAWA | $25,000 |
| VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD | $25,000 |
| VILLAGE OF GLENDALE HEIGHTS | $25,000 |
| VILLAGE OF LAKE BLUFF | $25,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 61% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
Grants abroad, by region: $324k on the FY2024 return
Schedule F, as filed: 3 regions, $169k to organizations and $155k to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.
Stated purpose: GLOBAL TREE CONSERVATION RESEARCH SUPPORT
Stated purpose: GLOBAL TREE CONSERVATION RESEARCH SUPPORT
Stated purpose: CONFERENCE SPONSORSHIP · GLOBAL TREE CONSERVATION RESEARCH SUPPORT
How this is measured
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 8% of The Morton Arboretum’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 77% of the giving stays in IL; by stated purpose, 75%.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +109% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.
41 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 28 since wound down; 34 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 33% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $769k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- OOPENLANDS6× · 2017–2024 · $278k · revenue +166%
- TATHE ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN INC4× · 2021–2024 · $179k · revenue +70%
- MBMONTGOMERY BOTANICAL CENTER3× · 2021–2023 · $100k · revenue +78%
Funded once
- CPCHICAGO PARK DISTRICTone grant, 2023 · $100k
- TLTHE LAKE COUNTRY FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICTone grant, 2022 · $60k
- KCKendall County Forest Preserve Districtone grant, 2022 · $50k
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.
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.
The holden arboretum connects people with the wonder, beauty, and value of trees and plants, to inspire action for healthy communities.
We harness the power of plants for humankind and share the joy and beauty of tropical gardening with everyone. fairchild tropical botanic garden is a museum of tropical plants within a world famous, 83-acre designed landscape. it was…
The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…
To discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.
The mission of heartlands conservancy is to empower and colaborate with the people of southern illinois to advance and protect the health of our distinctive communities and nationally significant natural and cultural resources.
To enrich life by perpetuating tropical plants, ecosystems and cultural heritage through discovery, scientific research, conservation, and education.
Phipps' mission is to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants, to advance sustainability and promote human and environmental well-being through action and research, and to celebrate its historic glasshouse.
Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…
Rancho santa ana botanic gardens promotes botany, conservation, and horticulture to inspire, inform and educate the public and scientific community about california's native flora. the garden is devoted to the collection, cultivation,…
To connect people with plants, especially plants from the rocky mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone.
To enrich life through discovery, education, and the conservation of plants and the natural environment.
How this is measured
20 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. 20 of the 149 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 OPENLANDS ↗
- Who funds THE ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN INC ↗
- Who funds MONTGOMERY BOTANICAL CENTER ↗
- Who funds BOTANIC GARDENS CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL US INC ↗
- Who funds THE LAND CONSERVANCY OF MCHENRY COUNTY ↗
- Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds FAITH IN PLACE ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF THE FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT OF DUPAGE COUNTY ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Openlands · Metropolitan Mayors Caucus · Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation · Ageoptions Inc (Fka Suburban Area Agency on Aging) · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · Forefront · Trees Forever Inc · The Experimental Station · Greater Chicago Food Depository · The Dupage Community Foundation · Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation · Fulk Family Foundation Inc
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Morton Arboretum funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Morton Arboretum. Bigger dots raise more.
- Montgomery Botanical Center: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Morton Arboretum’s filings →