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The Simms Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Simms 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.

$50k
Granted FY2025still arriving
26
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$3.9MHealth$589kEducation$385kAnimals$328kArts & Culture$263kHuman Services$143kRecreation & Sports$128kScience & Tech$123kOther$0
02FY2025 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k25 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$1,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$5.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAX MCGRAW WILDLIFE FOUNDATION$15,000
NCH HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION$7,500
ADVOCATE HEALTH FOUNDATION$5,000
BELFRY MUSIC THEATRE FOUNDATION$5,000
EMBERS ACADEMY$2,500
MAX MCGRAW WILDLIFE FOUNDATION$2,500
ARTIS-NAPLES$1,600
Individual grant recipient$1,000
SALVATION ARMY$1,000
GENEVA LAKE CONSERVANCY$1,000
THE ARABIAN HORSEMEN'S DISTRESS FUND$1,000
RONALD MCDONALD$1,000
ST BENEDICT$1,000
WALWORTH LITERACY COUNCIL$500
MAKE LIFE BETTER GLENVIEW$500
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 (FY17–22, $160k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 62% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%AVOW HOSPICE: $35k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $5k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $5k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $5k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $5k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $5k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $1k → 10%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $2k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $1k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $1k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $1k → 14%CENTER OF CONCERN: $1k → 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

NH
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
CT
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
KS
TN
DC
OK
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.

38%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 118 repeat orgs$3.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

118 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2025, 99 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

118
47

Total granted

$2.3M
$3.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+20%

Still filing today

47%
34%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • MM
    Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation
    9× · 2017–2025 · $321k · revenue +83%
  • AC
    ADVOCATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2019 · $303k · revenue +18%
  • AT
    AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION
    4× · 2017–2020 · $91k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • CC
    CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $3.7M
  • CC
    CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SIMMS FAMILY FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • SV
    SAINT VIATOR HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2018 · $11k
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
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
2
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
3
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
4
Boston Architectural College

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

—
5
American Astronomical Society

The american astronomical society (aas), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in north america. the basic objective of the aas is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of…

Science & Tech
6
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
7
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
8
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
9
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
10
American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Founded in 1780, the american academy of arts and sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together "to…

Social Science
11
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
12
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hoag Hospital Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. 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

77 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 77 of the 173 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
75/77
Grantees still filing
58/77
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3,684,049 · OtherCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONMax McGraw Wildlife Foundation: $321,150 · OtherMax McGraw Wildlife Foundation+122 more: $1,102,258 · Other+122 moreADVOCATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $302,500 · HealthBoca Raton Regional Hospital Inc: $20,000 · HealthSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $18,000 · Health+10 more: $21,956 · HealthYERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION INC: $102,000 · EducationALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION: $60,000 · EducationEMBERS ACADEMY: $53,500 · EducationDENVER CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $20,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $13,250 · EducationPARK RIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $12,500 · EducationLYNN UNIVERSITY INC: $10,000 · Education+7 more: $23,100 · EducationAVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $90,500 · Human ServicesAVOW Hospice Inc: $61,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $7,000 · Human Services+1 more: $4,000 · Human ServicesNorthwestern University: $61,500 · Recreation & SportsGENEVA LAKE SAILING SCHOOL INC: $60,500 · Recreation & SportsARTIS-NAPLES INC: $46,200 · Arts & CultureROCKY MOUNTAIN REPERTORY THEATRE: $31,000 · Arts & CultureBOCA BALLET THEATRE COMPANY: $13,500 · Arts & CultureTHE PLANETARY SOCIETY: $7,000 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $12,050 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $17,500 · EnvironmentGENEVA LAKE CONSERVANCY INC: $17,500 · EnvironmentGENEVA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC: $5,750 · Environment
Other$5,107,457Health$362,456Education$294,350Human Services$162,500Recreation & Sports$122,000Arts & Culture$109,750Environment$40,750

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 budgetMax McGraw Wildlife Foundation: $321,150 over 9y, 1.4% of budgetADVOCATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $302,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetYERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION INC: $102,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetAVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION: $90,500 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetNorthwestern University: $61,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAVOW Hospice Inc: $61,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGENEVA LAKE SAILING SCHOOL INC: $60,500 over 7y, 3.5% of budgetALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEMBERS ACADEMY: $53,500 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetARTIS-NAPLES INC: $46,200 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN REPERTORY THEATRE: $31,000 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: $27,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $21,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBoca Raton Regional Hospital Inc: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $18,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $17,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGENEVA LAKE CONSERVANCY INC: $17,500 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetNORWOOD LIFE CARE FOUNDATION- B: $14,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetBOCA BALLET THEATRE COMPANY: $13,500 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $13,250 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetST MATTHEWS HOUSE INC: $12,950 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Institute: $10,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetLYNN UNIVERSITY INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY: $7,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetTHE GOW SCHOOL: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PLANETARY SOCIETY: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBENTLEY VILLAGE FOUNDATION INC: $6,100 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetChiaravalle Montessori School: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGENEVA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC: $5,750 over 8y, 2.5% of budgetAURORA UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetParrot Outreach Society Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARKINSON'S FOUNDATION INC: $4,300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINLAND LAKE YACHTING ASSOCIATIONIN: $4,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE CENTER OF CONCERN: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGENEVA LAKE MUSEUM INC: $3,750 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetEVANS SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBEACON ACADEMY A MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOULDER BALLET: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSCIENCE AND ARTS ACADEMY: $3,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPark Ridge Community Fund Inc: $2,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetST NORBERT COLLEGE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFUND FOR THE NEW SCHOOL BOULDER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $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.

  • Who funds Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ADVOCATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YERKES FUTURE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds AVENUES TO INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds AVOW Hospice Inc ↗
  • Who funds GENEVA LAKE SAILING SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds EMBERS ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds ARTIS-NAPLES INC ↗
  • Who funds PARK RIDGE CIVIC ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds ROCKY MOUNTAIN REPERTORY THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds THE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ↗
  • Who funds COLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Boca Raton Regional Hospital Inc ↗
  • Who funds DENVER CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds GENEVA LAKE CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds NORWOOD LIFE CARE FOUNDATION- B ↗
  • Who funds BOCA BALLET THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ST MATTHEWS HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds PARK RIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗

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.

Kunes Family Foundati…John & Linda Anderson…Dean L & Rosemarie Bu…Carol Bernick Family …The Chicago Community…Otzen Family Foundati…Kikkoman Foods Founda…Shodeen Family Founda…Alben F & Clara G Bat…Andrew Family Foundat…The Griffith Family F…The John a Miller Fam…
Kunes Family FoundationWI23.3× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Kunes Family Foundation · John & Linda Anderson Charitable Foundation · Dean L & Rosemarie Buntrock Foundation · Carol Bernick Family Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Otzen Family Foundation Incorporated · Kikkoman Foods Foundation Inc · Shodeen Family Foundation · Alben F & Clara G Bates Foundation · Andrew Family Foundation · The Griffith Family Foundation · The John a Miller Family 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 Simms Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Simms Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
  • Lynn University Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Boca Ballet Theatre Company: 0% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
  • Avow Hospice Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 173 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

Play a game based on Simms 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